other final years stride across the broken ground. A moment later, a skimmer appears and they hop inside.
Before the skimmer can clear the horizon, the other teams are racing across the weathered wood bridges toward a building partially hidden by yellow and brown trees.
“We need to get going,” Will says, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Enzo and Damone are anxious to get moving too. My instinct is to go along with the others automatically—after all, I’m the youngest of my team. In Five Lakes Colony, I only raised my hand in class or took the lead in an assignment if I was one hundred percent certain I was correct. But as much as I want to get started, I am not going to run blindly into a situation I know nothing about. A mistake now will cost more than the time it will take to read the clue. So, I sit down on the ground, open the green bag, and search for the information contained inside.
As I rummage through the contents, I do a quick inventory. Four bottles of water. Four bags of dried meat. Raisins. Apples. Not a lot of food or water, which means this Induction will either be quick or require us to find more sustenance along the way. My fingers dig to the bottom of the bag and close over a large gray envelope. Inside is the promised list, although what help it could be is hard to tell:
Animals, Plane, Law, Learning
.
After handing the list to Enzo, I pull out a second slip of paper and read, “A silver treasure was brought here to eat, mate, and rest. Can you now find what is left of this treasure’s nest?”
“We’re supposed to find a bird’s nest somewhere in that building?” Will asks.
Enzo takes the paper from me and frowns. “That seems like the obvious answer.”
This adventure is being orchestrated by University students. They are the best and brightest of our country, which means anything obvious is most likely incorrect. “Why don’t we head inside and see what’s there?” I suggest. “The clue will probably make more sense once we figure out where we are.”
After sliding both my University bag and the team’s green one onto my shoulder, I head across one of the bridges. The bright rays of the early day make it easy to see where newer slats of wood have replaced old ones. Those repairs are the only signs of improvement. Whatever this place is, the United Commonwealth has not deemed it important enough to revitalize. At least, not yet.
The building peeking out from between overgrown trees and bushes is a dingy grayish green. There are holes in the roof and branches sticking out in places where animals have probably set up their homes. Dozens of sickly yellow- and brown-leafed trees grow around the structure. Though this area was not hit by the bombs that destroyed so many cities, this diseased ground demonstrates that nothing in our world was left untouched.
On the right side of the building is a tunnel strewn with leaves, branches, and broken rock. As we pass through, I notice the ceiling of the tunnel has, like the bridges, undergone recent repairs. We emerge from the tunnel into an area filled with scraggly plants, more unhealthy trees, and lots of buckled and uneven stone walkways jutting up in front of us in different directions. I can see other buildings off in the distance.
“Which way should we go?” Damone asks.
Since we don’t know what kind of place this is, traveling along the stone pathways, as damaged as they might be, is the safest way to start exploring. Unfortunately, none of the walkways goes in a straight line. Instead, they bend and curve around the terrain. If we are not careful, instead of saving time, we could waste it getting lost or turned around.
With that in mind, I pull the Transit Communicator out of my bag and turn on the compass. At least we won’t get lost. Will peers at the device and says, “If no one has a better idea, I say we go left.”
He takes the lead, and we follow the path as it curves around an area to our right. This space
Before the skimmer can clear the horizon, the other teams are racing across the weathered wood bridges toward a building partially hidden by yellow and brown trees.
“We need to get going,” Will says, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Enzo and Damone are anxious to get moving too. My instinct is to go along with the others automatically—after all, I’m the youngest of my team. In Five Lakes Colony, I only raised my hand in class or took the lead in an assignment if I was one hundred percent certain I was correct. But as much as I want to get started, I am not going to run blindly into a situation I know nothing about. A mistake now will cost more than the time it will take to read the clue. So, I sit down on the ground, open the green bag, and search for the information contained inside.
As I rummage through the contents, I do a quick inventory. Four bottles of water. Four bags of dried meat. Raisins. Apples. Not a lot of food or water, which means this Induction will either be quick or require us to find more sustenance along the way. My fingers dig to the bottom of the bag and close over a large gray envelope. Inside is the promised list, although what help it could be is hard to tell:
Animals, Plane, Law, Learning
.
After handing the list to Enzo, I pull out a second slip of paper and read, “A silver treasure was brought here to eat, mate, and rest. Can you now find what is left of this treasure’s nest?”
“We’re supposed to find a bird’s nest somewhere in that building?” Will asks.
Enzo takes the paper from me and frowns. “That seems like the obvious answer.”
This adventure is being orchestrated by University students. They are the best and brightest of our country, which means anything obvious is most likely incorrect. “Why don’t we head inside and see what’s there?” I suggest. “The clue will probably make more sense once we figure out where we are.”
After sliding both my University bag and the team’s green one onto my shoulder, I head across one of the bridges. The bright rays of the early day make it easy to see where newer slats of wood have replaced old ones. Those repairs are the only signs of improvement. Whatever this place is, the United Commonwealth has not deemed it important enough to revitalize. At least, not yet.
The building peeking out from between overgrown trees and bushes is a dingy grayish green. There are holes in the roof and branches sticking out in places where animals have probably set up their homes. Dozens of sickly yellow- and brown-leafed trees grow around the structure. Though this area was not hit by the bombs that destroyed so many cities, this diseased ground demonstrates that nothing in our world was left untouched.
On the right side of the building is a tunnel strewn with leaves, branches, and broken rock. As we pass through, I notice the ceiling of the tunnel has, like the bridges, undergone recent repairs. We emerge from the tunnel into an area filled with scraggly plants, more unhealthy trees, and lots of buckled and uneven stone walkways jutting up in front of us in different directions. I can see other buildings off in the distance.
“Which way should we go?” Damone asks.
Since we don’t know what kind of place this is, traveling along the stone pathways, as damaged as they might be, is the safest way to start exploring. Unfortunately, none of the walkways goes in a straight line. Instead, they bend and curve around the terrain. If we are not careful, instead of saving time, we could waste it getting lost or turned around.
With that in mind, I pull the Transit Communicator out of my bag and turn on the compass. At least we won’t get lost. Will peers at the device and says, “If no one has a better idea, I say we go left.”
He takes the lead, and we follow the path as it curves around an area to our right. This space
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