THE CULLING TRIAL

CHAPTER 7 — SOME SORT OF PUNISHMENT

Lex's words hit me as poison fire crawled through my veins. Each heartbeat drove the venom deeper—needles stabbing my skin, metallic blood taste, vision bleeding colors together.

Breathing turned to panic. The toxin shut me down piece by piece, fingertips going cold. Through fading sight, I watched Kambi and Lex search for supplies.

"What is it?" Kambi's voice echoed distantly.

"Something I swore I'd never use again." Lex's hands shook, pulling out an unmarked vial of silver liquid. "Experimental military antidote. No idea if it works on these toxins."

Everything spun. Tobi's face flickered above me.

"Will it kill him?"

Lex hesitated. "It's an antidote, but not for this strain. Still in trials."

Molten lead poured through my arteries. My heart stuttered, pumping poisoned blood, black spots dancing across my vision.

"Do it," I croaked.

Lex knelt beside me, vial trembling. "This will hurt like hell."

The needle hit my chest. Silver liquid struck like lightning.

Every muscle locked. I jackknifed off the floor, an inhuman scream tearing from my throat as liquid fire exploded through my veins, warring with ice-cold serum.

"Hold him down!"

Tobi and Kambi grabbed my arms while my body convulsed. Two armies battled in my bloodstream, organs as their battlefield.

Then, everywhere became calm.

Dead quiet except for ragged breathing. Burning faded to weird tingling spreading from my heart.

"Did it work?" Tobi's voice cracked.

Lex checked my pulse, face unreadable. "We'll know in hours. Either the antiserum worked, or..."

"I'll stay with him," Tobi said, voice unsteady.

Lex handed him a device. "Anything weird, hit the red button."

"What should I watch for?"

"Seizures, breathing trouble, fever, unresponsiveness. But also the opposite—if he gets too energetic. This serum works both ways."

"Comforting," Kambi muttered.

Lex shrugged. "This mutant species is new, probably still in testing. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Need anything?" she asked.

He shook his head.

After they left, Tobi pulled a chair to my bed. The apartment went quiet except for my ragged breathing.

"Don't die on me," he said. "We've got trials to survive."

He gripped the device, eyes fixed on my face.

I managed a weak laugh. "Tell me something I don't know."

He talked about Mila by describing her room-filling laugh, her terrible cooking attempts, how she'd scold us for tracking mud through her clean house.

"I'm going to marry her," Tobi said suddenly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Planning ahead?"

"The second we escape this place. Whatever prize money they give us, I'm using it to settle down with her."

"I could be your bridesmaid and best man," I grinned. "Save money on the wedding party."

Tobi laughed. "Only if you wear the dress."

Warmth spread through my chest, fighting the remaining poison. "We'll stick together. Both make it back to her."

"Deal.”

Morning came. Lex arrived with pills.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck. Still hurts, but not dying anymore."

Lex nodded, grabbing medication from his bag. "The serum has built-in painkillers, but they won't last. You'll need proper treatment at my lab eventually. Use these when pain gets unbearable."

"Safe to take however many?"

He shrugged. "Your call."

I pocketed them.

Kambi returned with fresh uniforms and breakfast. "Change first. Get rid of any trace before you eat."

"What about those creatures?"

"Back in the lab." She gave us a look that could freeze hell. "Don't tell anyone what happened. You weren't supposed to see them."

We nodded fast.

"Why are they here?"

"Research. That's all you need to know.”

We made it to the training center and found Jokob still breathing. Relief hit me like a wave.

"Five out of twelve," he whispered to us. "That's all who made it through."

The girl who'd warned us about the champions had survived too.

Today's intelligence session was this brutal combination of complex puzzles, pattern recognition, and strategic thinking while under pressure. We had to navigate virtual mazes while solving equations, decode encrypted messages while balancing on beams, and build structures from scraps with a ticking clock breathing down our necks.

I bombed it completely. Failed at stuff I should've been good at, all thanks to my body still being a wreck.

We rushed to the cafeteria, some of the guys shoving past girls in their desperation for food. But when we got there, our hearts just sank.

Two hundred of us stood there staring at ten measly plates scattered across the serving table. Each plate had some rice, bread, vegetables, and meat scraps—barely enough to feed two people, let alone twenty.

"This has to be some kind of mistake," this hollow-cheeked girl whispered. "Where's the rest of the food?"

Xavier walked in with his crew and found us all standing there like lost sheep.

"What seems to be the problem?" he asked, and suddenly everyone started talking at once, voices overlapping, everyone trying to be heard.

After we finished our complaining, Xavier looked about as sympathetic as a stone wall.

"Many of you seem to have trouble following the rules around here." He picked up one of the plates, fixing us with this ice-cold stare. "I'm a practical man, so think of your punishment this way, you're in a wasteland with limited resources. How do you survive?"

"I don't understand" a girl spoke up "How does that correlate with our meal?" 

Xavier's cold stare made her whimper back, he looked visibly terrifying. 

A boy rose his hand. "We'll scavenge for resources."

"Excellent response." Xavier applauded "but not enough. What if someone had that resource alone and there was no other way to get it? What will you do?" 

"Fight for it." a boy replied. 

That answer alone erupted the room. Some people asked what sort of game was he playing? Another asked if this was part of the trial we should expect? Others protested that they had nothing to do with whatever happened last night.

Instead of answering, Xavier just gestured to his subordinates. They pushed the food forward where everyone could see it.

"Figure it out," he said, then walked out with his team.

What does he mean by that? That they should fight for it? But looking around, I could clearly see that that was on everyone's mind.

This was going to get ugly.