Thoughts on the new cover?
*

We arrived at the complex at 0500.

The final part of the test was in an arms reach and I never felt more conflicted about how I felt.On one hand this nightmare would soon be over, on the other my life is taking a turn for the worst no matter what.

The journey to here had taken approximately 13 hours.I repeat I have been crammed in a bus with teens for 13 hours, if I do anything that could be considered harsh in the following moments I should not be held accountable.

The front gate was a towering chain linked fence gate with barbs at the top, on both sides of it two watchtowers which were even taller shone a spotlight on us making the inside of the bus light up with blinding white light.Past them a humongous wall was erected running as far as my eyes could see on both sides in the darkness beyond.

A security guard stood watch by the gate, stopping each bus for a while before allowing it to move past.I assumed he was checking out the driver, probably making sure that along the way we weren't hijacked or something of the sort.The bus moved past the gate after which we followed yet another stretch of road.Being on the road was really getting old why did they even have to make the gate that far off?

Straight ahead of us all I could see was the back of another school bus and I secretely held envy for the kids who got to be at the very front.I tried to imagine how the line of metal beasts looked like from above which somehow made me think of ducks followed by their little ducklings, not one of them left behind with all of them following their mom everywhere she goes obediently, no questions asked.

I wondered how long the line was, how many buses there were, how many kids there were.There had to be tons if every single sixteen year old in Mideocris was here, how would they even fit us in one place there had to be thousands of us.If it were more than 30 years ago this would be far past impossible but of course the war had dwindled our numbers greatly.

Millions of us had been massacred that year, the population in what was previously called America went from a third of a billion to a measly hundreds of thousands in the span of a few months.All because of a stupid war and the centenary plague didn't really help the case.2020...the year the world went mad, who knew we were gonna have another roaring twenties but this time it was on steroids.

The bus bumped here when we hit a few potholes in the road.Light poles were erected about every 2 meters on the side of the road illuminating the path ahead.I opened the window that I had been leaning on for so long I felt as if it's mark would forever be imprinted on my right cheek.

Immediately fresh air drifted into the bus which made me realize how stuffy it had been before, maybe in the heat of the moment I hadn't realized it.The bus turned a corner and slowed down before coming to a hault, hissing angrily before stopping.The doors opened with a whoosh and everyone hastily stood up from their seats and headed straight for the doors, seems like everyone was in a dire need to stretch their legs.

I noticed the two guys who sat behind us passed our seat a little too quickly, not too much that everyone would think they just saw Bloody fucking Mary but enough for it to be noticeable.That's right y'all better run.Blake stood up from his seat, leaning his head a little to compensate for his height and I followed suit, I bowed my head slightly too even though I was far from tall but hey as Jesus...or Ghandi or I don't know Hitler? said fake it till you make it.

I hopped off the bus and tried to get a bearing of my surroundings.Right infront of us was a huge building about three stories tall with a few other buildings adjoining it.I could see do other buildings peaking behind it, all of them lit up like a Christmas tree.There was so much artificial light the stars above us were barely.

A man wearing a reflective jacket for some reason held a megaphone over his mouth and kept shouting a bunch of instructions over and over. "Be sure to leave anything that you might have brought with you at the front desk.Do not move past with anything but the clothes you have on, any contraband will not be tolerated." I moved within the crowd behind Blake trying my absolute best to not get lost in it.In a few moments we were in front of one of the many glass doors that lined the front of the building with the Altera logo.

A line is waiting for us.A row of four desks were set up at each side of the double doors.People in weird all-white outfits were manning the desks.Yet again the Altera logo was imprinted on the shirt part of their uniforms right on the left breast.The lines were moving quicker than I expected.

"So the boys and girls are separated which means we won't be able to see each other?" a tall guy with a heavy frame asked the woman manning the desk.

He was hand in hand with a girl who I assumed was his girlfriend. "You will be able to see and interact with each other during the day when you're free but you won't be able to do that after hours when you go to the boys dorm to sleep.Public displays of affection are also not permitted and could result in disqualification so you need to be careful," as soon as she said that they stopped holding hands. "but no need to worry this part of the process only takes around two to three days after which you will be taken to your designated provinces where hopefully you will still be together." The woman gave them a genuine smile.She seemed nice.They were then given other instructions that I paid no attention to before both left in different directions after giving each other longing stares.

I've never been one for relationships, they always seemed a little too corny for my taste but moments like these make me wonder what it feels like to actually like someone that much.I will probably never find out since I'm more of the 'die alone and get eaten by your cats' type of girl.

Blake went next and after exchanging some words with the woman he turned to me. "See you on the flip side?" he reached for the back of his neck and scratched it awkwardly.We were both thinking it but none of us wanted to make the first move, so I did.

I hugged him tightly with which he returned with an awkward pat on the back, he was never a good hugger. "Don't forget me when you make it A." We both didn't know what was about to happen past this point so we might as well say our goodbyes just in case and hope that this isn't the last time we see each other.

"Me?...forget you?Never." I hesitantly pulled back and watched as he moved to the back of the line and headed to a door on the far right side of the building.Which I assumed was where the boys section was.

I moved up to the front desk and now that I was right in front of her I saw she held a tablet akin to the ones the other officials had. "Aella Quinn right?" she asked catching me off guard. "Yes...that is definitely me." I wanted to ask her how she knew my name but decided against it.I'd probably be wasting her time. "Dorm 18, please proceed through the door to the left, there you will find a woman holding a placard with the number of your dorm, follow her and she will lead you to your dormitory where you will be given official instructions."

Before I could say anything she had already moved on to the girl behind me.I suppose this is it then, I moved to the back of the line and headed left before suddenly tripping on something and falling to the white tiled floor.

What the hell just happened? I looked up to find a boy looking down at me and holding out his rather large hand.I immediately recognized him as the guy who winked at me during the first part of the test.Although this time I could see his features more clearly with his hood off.

Strong jaw, messy jet black hair and a muscular frame.I took his hand after which he quickly helped me up, so fast I felt like I was about to be thrown across the room.He leaned in close to my ear and I could feel his warm breath on the side of my neck "Change is upon us, I hope you're ready...Ella" he whispered to me. "What?" But he was already gone, in what seemed like a flash he was already heading towards the door to the far right.

I felt chills running down my back and the amount of confusion I was left in made me feel light headed.This has got to be the most eventful day of my life, it is to be expected but not this much...I felt like I was about to have a seizure from it all, too much was going on in such a short time.

Change?What change?And how did he know my name?I continued my short journey towards the door, this time without any attractive guys deciding to trip me and talk in gibberish.

*
A/N-So...how's everyone doing?