Passing Grade: Short Story

Prologue

He entered the very modern-looking building, filled with fear and nervousness. Inside the chilly hallway of the testing area, Oscar had no idea where he was going. People surrounded him, as the swarm kept walking forward led by a short, plump middle aged man. The interior of the structure was very dark, which matched the feeling of the crowd. They suddenly stopped, and heard a loud voice.

“Today all of you will be starting your sixteenth year, which means you will be taking the TE/ET (The Exist/Expire Test), or as many of you know it, The Test. You will all be sorted by your surname,” the man who was leading them announced. He started ordering different people into different rooms. Oscar followed the group of people he was to take The Test with, feeling more nervous than ever. There was a woman standing in the front of the room, as if she was the teacher. She had a hooked nose, with a large piercing embedded in it. Once she had finished seating everyone in, she started passing out tablets with the words TE/ET printed on the back. After, she passed out scratch paper and pencils.

“You will now be starting The Exist/Expire Test. You will have 3 hours to complete it, starting…now.” Oscar hastily got to work, and flew through the problems including math, english, science, and lastly government. He glanced at his watch. Two hours left, problem 23/67. One hour left, problem 50/67. Time flew, and he had thirty seconds left, and he had one problem left. Then finally he had finished, with ten seconds to spare. Most of the teenagers around him were finished awhile ago, relaxing in their seats. Then, the ugly woman came into the room, and shouted in a threatening voice, “NO ONE WILL TOUCH THEIR TABLETS NOW!! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR DESKS!!” Then in a calmer voice, she said, “Now your screens will show your scores.” Oscar glanced at his screen, and his score appeared in a bright red. He gasped, as he read, 31/67, and under that, it said EXPIRE. He had no idea what this meant, but all he knew was that he did bad. The boy in front of Oscar had gotten a 65/67, and underneath, wrote EXIST. Another sixteen year old had gotten a 40/67, and underneath said EXIST/EXPIRE.

The chubby man who had led them through the hallway now entered and announced, “Those who have an ‘EXPIRE’, follow me. Everyone else please wait here patiently until further instructions.” Oscar got up, and followed the man.

“Hey, dude, do you know what is happening? I got an 18/67,” a freckled, skinny, blond kid asked as they walked down the corridors of the building.

“I d-d-don’t know what they’re gonna do, b-but I got a 31/67. I think whatever they’re g-g-gonna do isn’t gonna be good,” stammered Oscar.

“Yea, I don’t think this is gonna be good, but anyways my name is Charles,” said the boy.

“Nice to meet you, Charles. Name’s Oscar,” he said as they shook hands. They then took a left, as they entered a large room with the words EXPIRE on the door. Once inside, they were instructed to stand in the back of the room. Oscar’s heart was pounding like a piston of a car. He could hear it, and every pump of blood hurt his chest.

The man walked to the front of the room, straightened the papers in his hand and started talking. “Everyone standing in this room has been expired. In other words, everyone in this room has gotten a score of 31/67 or less which means you will all be…executed.” Many audible gasps came from the room, and a loud “NO!” came from a tall girl in the corner. A guard escorted her out. Oscar had been one point away from escaping death. If only I had focused on one more problem! He thought angrily at himself. The man continued, “Now, since you think you are being killed for no reason, I will provide you with an explanation. As you know, the population on this planet is rising, and currently is at 17 billion people. Since we need our population to be decreased, all the new sixteen-year olds take a test, and only the best survive. The middle ones, or the ones that get a score of 32 to 50 live, but as servants or low paying jobs. And now, we will be performing your executions…”

“But this is dumb! Where are our parents?” a frightened boy asked.

“Your parents, are either dead or alive. If they are currently living, they are either located near your childhood town or at place we call ‘Extwowood’. Now, moving on. Each of you will be filed out of the building individually, escorted by a guard. No more complaints, ple-” Before he could finish his sentence, Oscar saw Charles bolting out of the room, as a guard chased him down the hall. Without thinking, Oscar too ran out, following Charles. In his peripheral vision, he could see everyone charging out of the class. “GET THEM!!” the man yelled, but it was no use. There were about 100 students and 3 guards. The man was pummeled with students, charging over him. “OPEN FIRE!! KILL THEM ALL!!” the man shouted desperately. Then everything went black. He could hear the blood pumping in his heart, his head throbbing. Oscar felt the solid, cold floor as he fell, and became unconscious.

Chapter 1

Peris, sitting in bed, glanced at the calendar. It was the twelfth of February, year 2140. There were exactly 18 days until his sixteenth birthday. The clock ticked in the background, second by second. Peris was known as a troublemaker, always pulling pranks. Only last week he had set the fire alarm off in his school, but unfortunately, he was caught. His monitor was notified, and instructed him not to leave his room. Peris didn’t live with his family, his parents had already taken “The Test” at the age of sixteen. No one knew what happened after you took The Test, and most people are not comfortable speaking about it. The teachers take it very seriously but wouldn’t talk about it. There were many theories about what happened after you took The Test. Many people thought if you got a certain amount of questions right, you would pass, and if you didn’t you would fail. Peris took The Test very seriously, thinking about the consequences if he didn’t pass. To Peris, The Test had seemed to be something haunting he had to defeat. His best friend, Charles Davenport, had already taken the test five days ago, and Peris couldn’t help but think about how he was now. One of the reasons Peris was excited for his sixteenth birthday was he might be able to Charles again.

The feeling of sitting still for a long time disturbed Peris, and he desired to escape his confining room. He decided to take his chances, and quickly creaked open his worn out window. He checked what layed around him outside, and surveyed for any monitors or guards near his room. Once the coast was clear, he leapt nimbly through the window, and closed it behind him. In the same motion, he climbed swiftly up and over the chain-linked fence. Peris raced down the deserted street narrowly avoiding obstacles. No one was in sight, and enjoying the wind rushing into his smiling face, Peris pushed on harder, although he had no idea where he was heading. He took a sharp right, and as he accelerated, adrenaline flew through him. Before he knew it, he was in the city’s center, with shopping centers everywhere with people bustling around the streets. He kept on, ignoring the disapproving stares fixed on him. He didn’t care if he got in trouble. He was going to take The Test, it’s not like they could disallow him to take it, could they? His legs were now immersed into an area with thick grass. Soon enough, he reached a bright yellow sign that read “Restricted Area Do Not Go Beyond This Point.” As always, he ignored it and kept going. There were many abandoned belongings and it was covered in very tall and yellow grass. He slowed to a walk as he entered, and again surveyed the area for any other people. As he walked blindly through the massive blades of thirsty grass, he heard movement behind him. He whipped around, trying to spot anything out of place. Another movement came from the left this time, and he spotted the grass shifting in position. His eyes squinted, he started to back away from what seemed like a threat, but backed into an old tire and tripped over it. Scrambling back up, he was posed to defend himself. Then suddenly the figure stood up, and faced Peris.

“Charles! What in the world are you doing here?” I yelled, both relieved and excited. Charles, Peris’s old friend quickly put a finger to his lips to order Peris to be quiet. Charles was also very startled, wondering what his friend was doing here. He beckoned Peris to follow him and mouthed be quiet. They walked briskly through the grass, feeling the blades brush their arms. After about a quarter of a mile, they reached an abandoned shed.

“Get in,” Charles instructed as they approached the door. Charles quickly glanced back to see if anyone was watching, then following Peris, and entered the creepy shed.

“Why are you here?” asked Peris.

“Long story, long story,” replied Charles. Charles asked Peris for a drink or a snack, but Peris politely rejected it, and kept pressing on, asking why Charles was here.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but that means you have to stay here with me and you will not be permitted to leave,” Charles commanded in a very stern voice.

“But - but I have to take The -”

“No, I said you are not leaving this shed, and so you will not leave,” said Charles very seriously.

“Okay, okay, I get it, but will you please tell me why you are here?” begged Peris. Charles nodded, but then told him he would tell him later. After a little tour of the place, and another reminder to Peris that he couldn’t leave, Charles went to take a nap in a small bedroom in the shed. Peris wondered why Charles was here, out of all places, in the Restricted Area. As he continued to ponder, exhaustion overcame him, and he too headed to his bedroom to take a nap. Oscar walked across the creaky, wooden floor and entered his bedroom. He got into his bed, thinking about the coincidence. He was running through the streets and entered The Restricted Area, and ran into his best friend, Charles. Eventually, he slipped off into an uncomfortable sleep.

Chapter 2

He woke up to the sound of Charles screaming in his ear, telling him to get up. He had no idea how long he had been sleeping, but quickly got up. “What are you doing? I’m trying to sleep here!” Peris asked impatiently.

“Shh! TE/ET Association is here! I’ll explain later! Get down and follow me!” Charles whispered loudly as they crouched down, crawling across the floor. BANG!! BANG!! The door shuddered as the intruders pounded the door. They entered the bathroom where Charles motioned for Peris to follow him closely. Charles took a lever near the corner of the bathroom and pulled it, where a trapdoor opened. BANG!! BANG!! “Quickly!” Charles mouthed as they climbed through the trapdoor, Peris first, then Charles followed, closing the trapdoor and locking it. They slid down a ladder as if it was a pole, landing on a dirty, hard surface. Peris immediately recognized where the were. They were in the south sewer, now heading east. They ran through the empty sewer, trying to get as far away as they could from the intruders. As they came to a stop, Peris realized what was happening. This was Charles's escape route. On the sewer wall, Charles tapped in a preset pattern, which resulted in a small hole just big enough for a human body to fit through. They both leapt through nimbly, where Peris found himself in a huge room which resembled a living room of a modern house. He saw Charles quickly shut the entrance with a new pattern of taps on the wall. It sealed shut, and Charles let out an audible sigh of relief.

“What was that all about? And what is this TE/ET Association? They never mentioned anything about an association,” Peris asked with a confused look on his face.

“Ok, do you know what TE/ET stands for?” Charles asked seriously.

“Uh… well I know it’s like The-something-Test. Right?”

“Yes, but it stands exactly for ‘The Exist/Expire Test’. What this means is if you fail, you expire, and if you don’t fail, you exist. In other words, if you fail, you die, if you don’t fail, you live.” Then Charles went on to tell his entire story with Oscar, how everyone had rampaged out of the room after he went first, and how 3 people were shot in the process, and which one of them was hiding in this confinement they were located in.

A shabby teenager walked into sight, and he looked like he hadn’t showered and shaved in a year! There was a large, blood-covered bandaged located on his right shoulder. “Hey, you can call me Oscar. I was with your friend Charles the day we took TE/ET. I assume he already told you the story. I was one of the few who were shot by the guards. Barely got away,” he rasped as he paced around the room

Peris pointed out, “Well, this is a nice place. Pretty fancy. Did you make it?”

“Well, I helped make it, with the people with us during The Test who also escaped helped. They’re all probably in Escape Room 3, 5, and 6. This is Escape Room 4, and the place Charles was staying at is Escape Room 1. You’ll get to see all of them once you join the A.T.R, or the Anti Test Rebellion,” replied Oscar. “What we’re trying to do here at the A.T.R is one, inform all of the innocent citizens who haven’t yet turned 16, and two hopefully get enough people to start a rebellion against the TE/ET Association, are as we call it, the T.A. We have currently recruited 143 members, plus you, so 144. There are 7 escape rooms, and 3 safe rooms, which are basically the same thing, but safe rooms are larger and include more security,” he answered.

“So this is an escape room?” Peris asked as he eyed the room, “‘Cuz it’s pretty big. Is a safe room like a mansion or something?”

“No, it is not a mansion, but yes, safe rooms are pretty big,” he replied, now starting to walk away. Oscar left the living room and closed the door behind him as he entered the bathroom.

“So, want some dinner?” Charles inquired. Peris nodded excitedly, and after a filling dinner, they each went to their own rooms. Peris almost fell asleep instantly after pondering on how this action-packed day would not have happened if he hadn’t left his room.

Chapter 3

“Okay, you remember the plan? So you go in there, take The Test, and obviously you will get full points. Victor will be reading you the answers through your earpiece. Once you do, we have no idea what is going to happen, but Fonte will be following you disguised as a guard. He will escort you guys to wherever you guys are going, while we rescue everyone who has failed. Once you arrive at the place where everyone who passes goes, you will report back to us, and live a normal life there. Your only purpose is to spy on what is happening there. You will also inform as many people as possible about the truth. Got it?” said Charles while Peris nervously fidgeted with his watch. Peris recited the plan to Charles, who gave a thumbs up. They parted ways, waved goodbye, and Peris was off to take The Test. Peris walked across the dirty sidewalk, where he waited at the sign that read “TEST TAKERS WAIT HERE”. It was 10:46 in the morning, and the bus was supposed to arrive in 14 minutes. There was already a large crowd of around 300 people around the sign. There was a maximum capacity of 450 people per bus, and there were around 50 bus stops in town.

“Ready?” asked Victor through the earpiece.

“Yes, I’m just a little bit nervous,” whispered Peris. Time flew as Peris played on his phone, and the nine buses eventually arrived. He climbed up the steps of the bus number four, and sat in the nearest available spot. The bus was full of a diverse amount of people, with ripped leather seats. Junk littered the ground, and it was completely silent you could hear a pin drop. Once Peris was situated, he pulled out his black iPhone Century®.

“Hello everybody! I will be your bus driver to TE/ET Association Headquarters. The drive will be about 30 minutes long. Please fasten your seatbelts, and good luck!” the bus driver announced. YOU FAILED! Peris slipped his phone back into his pocket after failing the 52nd level for the millionth time. The boy sitting next to him was snoring, and drool oozed down his chin. Outside the window, cars zoomed by as they drove on the highway. They came to a stop, and as Peris looked outside, he could see a huge, modern building with the words TE/ET Association Headquarters painted on it. It looked like it had 30 floors! Sweat was building up on his palms, and had a thought inside him. What if I don’t get the answers right even with help?

Chapter 4

“Alright, fifteen minutes left!” the test administrator announced. Peris had already finished ten minutes ago with the assistance of Victor. Most of the test takers were still fixated on their tests, scribbling on their scratch paper and tapping their tablets. Meanwhile, Peris was scribbling on his scratch paper, trying to pass time. In the corner of his eye, Peris saw an Asian girl glancing at her smartwatch every five seconds. Obviously, she was cheating. There was a sign in the room that specifically said “UNAUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC DEVICES ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED”. Peris had already dropped his off in the bin holding all of the electronic devices. He had no idea how the girl had got the smartwatch past the security without having to give it up. “Surely she would be caught!” thought Peris. The girl observed the surrounding area, and as she did, she caught Peris staring at her. He quickly averted his glance at his paper, and continued scribbling. After about another five seconds, he stole a glance at her again, and again, she was looking at her watch. The test administrator in the front of the room was surveying the room. Peris saw the girl quickly tap her watch, take it off, and stuff it into her shoe. This quick movement stood out the test administrator, and she walked towards the girl, kneeling down and whispering to her.

“Hey, hey, dude. Peris!” shouted Victor through the earpiece, “Dude, is there a small Asian girl in your testing room?”

“Yea, I can’t really respond, but yes,” Peris whispered as quietly as he could.

“Okay, well I’m also assisting her through the test. She’s also part of the A.T.R.,” Victor said.

“Uh… she’s talking to the test administrator because I think the test administrator saw her using it,” Peris responded a little louder than he intended. He got a few weird looks from people around him. As he went back to scribbling on his led-covered paper, he muted Victor for the moment. At this point the test administrator had brought the girl outside, and sounded like he (the test administrator) was questioning her. Peris quickly unmuted Victor.

“The girl has been taken outside for questioning,” he quickly said.

“It’s fine. Just work on not being caught yourself. I’ll figure it out. We’ve hacked into the system at the headquarters, and we can see all of their files and set any alarm off at any time. Just relax and focus on acting normal,” Victor said calmly. There was a soft “beep” when Victor muted him, and Peris did the same after. Not a long time later, the test administrator returned, but the girl did not come. Click! The door closed behind her, and at that exact second, blaring alarms sounded. Some people started screaming in surprise. Peris smiled, knowing Victor had set it off.

“Everybody stay calm! Remain in your seats, and do not panic! We have it all under control!” the test administrator yelled at the top of his lungs. After a long, deafening ten minutes of ringing, it finally stopped, and the time left for testing was down to two minutes. Peris already knew he had passed the test. The room was now filled with people rapidly tapping and pushing buttons on their tablets. Only five dim lights were on, and the main source of light was from the tablets. Tick, tick, tick. “Time’s up! Drop your pencils, and hands in the air!” Almost everyone followed her instructions, but a few people ignored her and kept working. “I SAID HANDS IN THE AIR! DROP YOUR PENCILS!” he shrieked, now looking threatening. Then, like he was a robot, his voice turned calm as undisturbed water, with a new sweet look on his face. “Your test scores will now appear on your screens,” he said. Peris was not surprised at all when he saw he got a perfect score. The test administrator gave everyone a few seconds to look at their scores, then announced where everyone would be going. Peris got into his line, and when he did, he saw the girl who apparently was part of the A.T.R.

Chapter 5

Peris and his new friend strode through his new city, where everyone who passed the TE/ET stayed. Life here was peaceful and lively, especially when you shared a room with Katie.

“Hey, I have a question,” Peris suddenly said while they were walking.

“Okay, well I have an answer,” replied Katie coolly.

“Why did you have a smartwatch during the test? It’s so visible and you could’ve easily been caught,” asked Peris

“For the millionth time, I said you aren’t ready. You’re still only a Member, which is the second rank. The second! Out of how many? Ten! You’re not allowed to know until you’re an Elder, which is the fourth rank,” she said, sounding annoyed. At this point Peris gave up.

“Testing, testing. Peris, you there?” a voice came from out of nowhere, and at this, he spun around, trying to find out who or what had said that. “Dude! Are you there or not? It’s Victor, I’m suppose to check in.” Katie laughed at this, and Peris turned red, his ears hot.

“Yea, I’m here,” he replied.

“Currently, we have about 35% of the people on our side, with the rebellion. We need more people from your city to join,” Victor said.

“Okay, okay. Chill, we’ve only been here for like what, six days?” Katie nodded, as he continued, “We’ll get to work, don’t worry. We’re just taking time to explore the city, that’s all.” The beep sounded, as Victor muted them. They walked in silence the rest of the way.

Once they reached their destination, it was finally surveying time. The two would go around asking people if they knew what happened if you failed the test. They got many answers, but only one of them was a confident “Yes”. “You know what happens?” they asked him skeptically. Eventually, they proved to him that they knew too. After the long conversation, they had finally recruited one more member into the A.T.R. But Peris had an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. His eyes may have been playing tricks on him, but he was pretty sure out of the corner of his eye, he saw a badge sewn on the new member’s shirt which said TE/ET Association. What this guy part of the group who murdered innocent people?

To Be Continued…