The Cardinal by Elif Kaya (booksvooks .TXT) 📖

They all seem untroubled and as free as birds. There are teenagers from all kinds of ethnicity and backgrounds. But most surprisingly, they seem unaware of the big scheme called the Test. They can all stomach the fact that almost none of them has passed the exam. Most got into the Academy thanks to the wealth of their families. They might not be your typical criminals but they are for me.

I sometimes come back to Cardinal to visit my home. I detest it every time. I can't bear seeing Cardinal people. They disgust me. The fact that all they do is ignoring the ugly truth disgusts me. My parents don't even have graves. I don't know what they have done to their dead bodies but I would rather not anyways. I sometimes just wish that I was still that little girl who was excited for the Test. I wish that I was as carefree as the teens I am watching at this very moment.

While analyzing each face in order to determine which one would be the easiest to trick into showing me to the storage room, I see someone familiar. Everybody seems to steer clear away from him. His uniform differs as well. I squint and attempt to see the details elaborated on the cloth. He is a Phoenix. He has a bony face and strong built. I find myself staring too long at his green eyes. I know him. I have seen him before but something inside me stirs and that is when I finally remember where we encountered. He is the guy from the race. The one who caused me to sprinkle my ankle and wave goodbye to my dreams.

I watch him strut in the corridor. He is headed to the military office. I shouldn't follow him. I need to get the supplies on the list that Hunter gave me. That guy is a part of my past. I shouldn't open old wounds. However, it wouldn't hurt to see why he is going to the military office. Maybe I can find a clue about the new shifts of the recruits and the next check up of the pub so that I will have a notice beforehand to go and hide.

Decision is done. I will go after him but I can't just walk into the office. I need a uniform. I start crawling towards the bathroom in the air vent. I screw the lid off and fall to the tiles on the bathroom floor. I get up in a rush and leave the bathroom. In the corridor, I approach a girl which looks like a freshman.

"Hallo! I am the new exchange student. Maybe you have heard of me. Nein? Ok. No problem. Look, I forgot my uniform at meine Gastfamilie's house. Could you show me to the room where I can find a new one. I heard from meine Gastschwester that teachers are so strict. I don't want to get chastised." I say with a thick German accent.

She looks at me with understanding eyes and then shows me to the laundry room and warns me:

"Be careful! They can send us to the discipline council because of sneaking in without permission"

I try not to roll my eyes and say:

"How nice of you! Danke für everything. I owe you one, aber can you leave me alone? I need to get changed."

I don't forget to smile in order to spice my Oscar worthy performance. She nods shyly.

"If you need help, I will be waiting outside. "

Why is she so clingy?

"Nein, you don't have to. You have already done a lot. You should go directly to your class. I don't want to get you in trouble in case you get late. "

"Ok, then. Bye! "

"Tschüss! "

Oh God! I really need to revise German some time. I really lack in the vocabulary department. Why the hell I'm thinking of my German when standing in the middle of the Academy. Me and my "splendid" and sick mindset.

As soon as she leaves I put on the uniform. It is plain and clean of any badges but it is expected of a new recruit which I will pretend to be anyways. I open the door slowly. Before getting out directly I look at the hallway in order to see if there are any teachers or administration officers. I wouldn't like it if my facade to go down the instant it actually started.

The hallway is empty. I jog towards the exit and see the entrance of the military offices. I begin to plan how to take down the two guards in front of the door. It then downs up on me that I am no longer an intruder in this campus. I mean not until I get caught of course. I try to slow down my heart beats and not to stare at their guns for too long as I make my entrance.

The offices fail to meet up to my expectations. I imagined them to be full of hologram technology and all. On the contrary, everything is old fashioned in here. If a fire ever occurred, every furniture and even the whole building would turn into ashes. I guess that this building isn't the heart of all militaristic activities. There must be another base. I need to talk to Hunter about this. Maybe he heard about it while he was studying in the Academy.

I can't see the guy from the electives anymore. Which office did he enter? I look around by making circular moves in the middle of the room. The main gate opens and a Guard who drags a skinny, malnourished girl behind him enters. He looks at me from head to toe and says:

"Good! You must be the one who is sent to help me bring this waste of space to the Sergeant, right? Don't stand there fish. Come on! Give me a hand!"

He practically throws the girl in my direction. I have no other choice but to catch her. I hold her arm firmly. The Guard leads us towards an oak door which also looks old like everything else that is situated here. He grasps the other arm of the girl and we step into the office together after a voice commands us to "bring her in".

The tension is palpable in the air. The air vent was more comfortable, I have to admit. I inspect the two in front of us. The man with an abundance of epaulets who I guess is the Sergeant looks satisfied with himself whereas the other person in the room is in aghast. Wait a minute! He is the one I have been following. His eyes wander on the girl, we just brought in. He seems lost. He doesn't seem to understand what he is supposed to do, but I do. He is one of those muscular machines who can't function without a direct command. He would make a perfect Guard or a successful soldier.

The Sergeant tells him to take the gun from the soldier that I helped. As he leans forward to grab the gone, he hesitates. Curious. A good and loyal soldier never gives a second thought to a Sergeant's command. However, this one seems to be calculating each step.

For the first time, I flank at reading into a person. I judged him too early. He looks like he has some common sense after all. I can intuit that he is struggling to convince himself that this girl is one hundred percent guilty.

When he shoots her I feel oddly disappointed but I can't say that I am shocked. I expected him to obey. What I didn't expect was his indecisiveness. Can he be smart enough to inquiry the system? Or is he just weak?

No. He cannot be weak. Otherwise I wouldn't be hearing what the Sergeant says next:

"Congratulations, Private Axel! I can assure you, your stay in the Academy will be much more enjoyable in your new squad. By the way, your parents haven't been notified and they won't unless you choose not to behave even when given a second chance."

Axel just nods. He doesn't smile or look like appreciating the news. He looks as if he is going to punch the Sergeant in the face. As I can see from where I stand in the room, his face twitches. He forces himself not to say something witty or roll his eyes.

Today, I got more than I hoped initially. A possible companion as well as the supplies I will steal on my way out of this hell. Hunter should be prepared for a long night, because we have a significant matter at our hands.

***

I am fully aware that I am shot but I believe my body is struggling at grasping the truth. I don't feel any pain. It must be the adrenaline coursing through my veins. The current still drags me along. Suddenly, I hear someone snoring and something hitting metal. It takes me a few minutes to grasp where it came from. On the right side of the River which is practically Outskirt, there are four silhouettes sleeping around a barrel which seems to be caught in fire.

As I get closer, I observe that none of them looks awake. I want to cauterize my wound. According to what mom told me - when I was younger and zealous to jump into the river- , the River is a welcoming home for diseases and bacteria since there are no restrictions about the spillage of waste into the stream. In other words, the river is the final stop of the sewer system. "Oh Jesus! Help me tonight and I will never ask for anything again." I mumble to myself

I get a grip of a brunch of a bush, I haul myself up. I tip toe towards the "camping" group. There are actually three of them. All of them have beard covering nearly the half of their faces. One of them must be shorter than me. However, he has the most bruises on his hand knuckles. The other two looks similar. They might be twins. One of them lacking an ear is probably the only difference between the two. I don't even want to wonder how one of his ears got chopped off. One of the twins has a nasty wound rather than his ear. A luster is visible in the pocket of the half-deaf. I inspect it more carefully. It is a blade -just what I was seeking out-

I take one more step towards the guy and reach down to the blade. I feel its cold grip between my fingers and palm. I prepare myself to run after taking it out. I lift my hand a few inches higher and a hand clasps on my wrist and pulls me down.

"Slow down, beauty? What are you gonna do with this? Blades are not for good little girls like you. Are they? If you are bored, I can provide you with better toys, you know?"

I frantically shake my head. He gets to his knees while pulling me closer to his face. His breath stinks cognac and I can also smell rotting flesh which obviously come from the cavity that once hosted his ear. I try to get out of his grip but he takes control of my other wrist and spins me over so that my arms are locked.

"Why do you hurry, little girl?" he slurs into my wet hair locks. "Let's wake others so that they can join our game."

He calls over to the other two. For an instant, I feel that his grip on my right wrist has weakened. I elbow him in the ribs. He doubles over and I use this to my advantage. I throw myself further and get on my feet. He grabs one of my ankles but I crouch down and find his blade on the ground which has fallen down during the fight.I take it and stab his hand. He wails and just like that the other two wakes up. I push myself off the ground