Read Online The Culling by Steven Dos Santos - Free Book Online Page B

envelope bearing the seal of the Establishment. The seal depicts a lone fist clenching the hilt of a sword; the tip of the sword is jagged and broken, the missing piece presumably resting in the heart of the past. Cassius then trades the box for a golden letter opener Valerian hands him, which looks more like a dagger. He nods and wedges the blade’s point into the envelope’s edge, then tears straight through.
    Mrs. Bledsoe winces. One hand clutches her chest. I wrap my free arm around her, pulling her close. No one should have to experience this terrible feeling once in their lifetime, let alone twice.
    Cassius tilts the envelope and pours five small computer chips into the palm of his hand—five lives that will change forever in just a few moments, along with those of the ones they hold most dear.
    The chips momentarily disappear from view when he clenches them in his fist and strides toward a pedestal known as the Revelation Terminal.
    “Citizens of the Parish,” he announces. “I now give you this year’s Recruits. May they serve the Establishment and its people with all the courage of those that have come before them.”
    He inserts the discs into the terminal. Outside, the jumbotrons surrounding the Citadel come to life, flashing bright colors from all over the spectrum, interspersed with fragments of faces compiled from the town’s records of all the eligible candidates in the Parish. A drum roll builds to a crescendo as the crowd waits in a mixture of excitement and dread for the first name to be revealed.
    The whole thing is pretty theatrical, as Cassius could just rattle the names off and be done with it. But this is what the Establishment does best—prey on the fears and sanity of its citizens.
    The screens explode with a graphic of shattered glass, revealing the image of the first Recruit.
    A girl with long curly red hair. Then the still image morphs
into a live feed, where her bright blue eyes are opened so wide it looks like she doesn’t have any eyelids. She’s looking around frantically, as if she’s not exactly sure what’s going on. A hand comes into view and points her toward one of the viewing screens. My stomach sinks when I see the fear soak her eyes, as she realizes in front of thousands that she’s been selected.
    “Ophelia Juniper!” Cass announces. “Come forth to serve your country!”
    Ophelia looks dazed. Behind her, I catch a glimpse of two cloaked figures holding on to her before she’s prodded away by an Imposer working the crowd.
    “What’s going on?” I can read her lips until the directional mic picks up her audio like a sniper’s target. “Where do I go?” The surveillance feed tracks Ophelia’s movements through the crowd, which parts to give her a wide berth as she makes her way toward the reception area. She attempts to go left, scratches her head, turns right, then left again. “I’m so sorry. I’m a little confused.” She teeters in a circle a bit until an Imp grips her by the arm and guides her up the stairs.
    “Why is she crying?” Cole’s lower lip quivers.
    I shift my stance to try and block the screen, but it’s pointless as the image is visible from everywhere. In all the excitement, I’ve forgotten that this is the first Recruitment Cole has actually witnessed. “She’s just sad because she has to go away from her family a little while, that’s all.”
    “You mean like when Mommy and Daddy had to go away?”
    My mouth goes dry. “No, not like that at all.”
    “You’re right,” Mrs. Bledsoe blurts out, her voice heavy with emotion. Her eyes are glued to the screen. “This is very different.”
    Cole’s arms wrap tighter around my neck, his cheek like ice against mine.
    The jumbotrons are doing their thing again, flashing a collage of desperate faces. This time there’s a graphic of an explosion, replaced by an image of the second Recruit— a spectacled face I recognize from the Instructional Facility.
    “Gideon Warrick!” Cass’s