Leaving Alexander's car I walked towards the test hall. On the other side of the school I could see the big yellow bus which would drive those that had passed the test away to Overworld. All the kids came in with suitcases and bags just in case they were chosen. With them were parents hugging them like it was the last time. I knew mom and Eve would be out in the crowd of adults somewhere after the test. If you passed the test we had been told you would have 20 minutes to say goodbye to them. Still it looked like the entire population of Spring Falls had turned out to witness the choosing of the uninfected.
Seeing everyone brought home to me that the day of the test and my mouth was drier than a cowboy's boots. I arrived at school and hooked up with Marta. We queued to get our bags scanned. The entire morning would be taken up with bags being checked through an mobile X-ray machine. This was in case anyone brought bombs on to the bus with them for the trip to Overworld. We stood around while the people from homeland defense kept getting bags stuck in the machine. You might think it would be smarter and quicker to test only those who had passed the test, but I'm sure pointing this out would have you send off to Overworld on the bus as possessed faster than Martha could drop a boy friend.
Thinking about that Martha certain went through boys quicker than tissues in a flu clinic. Every time I mentioned dating someone she would say 'I dated him. He was pretty bad. I've got a half eaten sandwich I've not finished you want that as well?' Kind of made you wonder what he was looking for in a boy. I kind of realised Alexander was the first boy friend like material Martha hadn't pre-driven for me.
"Are you ready for the test?" said Martha after the scanner. Her eyes brightly excited while we stood in line to get our identities checked. I looked at the posters.
'America needs smart mothers' said the poster. There was a picture of a Russian woman 'If you don't, with my production of babies we will win capitalist scum'. I looked at the picture of the Russian woman in traditional dress. I wondered if the people making the posters did know that communism had fallen? Hard to be sure what people thought about the world outside now. The bag scanning took all morning and after lunch, we had to go outside and get organized.
For some reason, we were being marshalled to stand in particular orders. The idea was we could march into the test hall and walk to the end of the row and all be in the right order without having to pass anyone. It' seemed like a lot of effort and checking to make sure we entered the examination hall and started in the right seat but it took more than a couple of hours standing around getting organized in order to take a 40-minute test. Captain Ness stood ordering people around. Around the edge of the school, you could see soldiers standing casually around on guard in case any possessed decided to run at the last minute.
Martha was standing next to me she would be in the row next to me int the test.
"Martha,you" I said feeling nervous "If either of us has to go...." I began.
"Yess?" said Martha.
"...tell me who is on the your foot. Your secret love of your life." I said. It would bug me.
"You mean who's closest to my soul in the entire universe", said Martha.
"Yeah," I said suddenly getting why she had done the tattooo there.
"Well if you get taken away. I' promise I'll tell you" she said smiling.
"Tease," I said.
We marched in and sat down. Before me was a booklet face down. It was grey and the cover had a the home land defence logo on it. We were told not to pick the booklet up until told to. There was a line at the top on the back to write our name down. We were yet again reminded not to write our names until the end of the test for some weird reason.
I sat through all this and waited. I had worked out my strategy - I would pick randomly, that way I know I would get a low score. We waiting until 2:00 then all around the country people would be all tested at the same time. The big clock struck 2:00. This was it. The head mistress shouted and were told to get started and good luck. Luck would be my co-author today. Everyone picked up the test booklet and began to read the questions.
I looked at question 1.
IS A GRANARY AN OLD FOLKS HOME?
Obviously the answer was no. How they did this as multiple choice was beyond me.
Question 2: IS A NURSERY A PLACE FOR NURSES TO STAY IN?
I got to thinking - Nursery. If I was looking for somewhere which is the opposite end from a bone yard then perhaps they mean not a place of death but a place of birth. Perhaps the opposite end of the town of the grave yard was the Maternity hospital? Yes that had to be it. I suddenly had a desire to rush out of the building and go to the Maternity hospital. I quickly ran through the test randomly. I had figured out that getting a zero score was as suspicious as getting a perfect one. People must get questions right randomly ...right? So my plan was to ticked the questions off trying not to look at them. I knew that if I picked a multiple choice test with 6 items right I would pick one in six right meaning over the 100 questions they gave you I could get 17 questions right randomly.
I looked up. Around the hall were heavily armed guards. They were looking over examination hall like stern searchlights. Everybody else was heads down desperately trying to get as many answers right as possible. Here was I trying to get as many wrong as possible. I had to ask myself who was the idiot here?
I got back down to my paper. The examiners had created and insanely complex system. Each question was multiple-choice. You ticked the correct answer. There were other columns to correct your first column. Then when you are done you copy your final answer until final sheet and then copy that sheet which you kept. There was a number at the top of each sheet. The only reason for all these other columns and copies was that they would at the end collect all the tests, these are the ones with you actual name on it. Then they would go over the correct answers. You could mark yourself and know what your final score would be. Who came up with such a tortuously complex system, and why, was beyond me?
My random choice finished quickly then I looked at the questions and made sure I got the unsuspicious number of 16 correct. Looked at everyone working away. Eventually the exam officially ended. Everybody finally relaxed. We were told to pass the papers along to the person to our right. I picked up the papers past to me from my left, put my paper on the top and pass this to Martha to my right.I had been please to think about the Nursery. I had to go as quickly as I could to get to the next clue.
"You forgot to put you name on the paper" said Martha looking. Yeah she was right we had to do that at the end for some reason. In the confusion I had missed the order.
"Don't worry" said Marta getting out her pen and writing. "I'll put it on for you"
I watched while the people in front of me argued which way the paper should be passing. Eventually they followed every one else and pass them to the security guards in the right.
Now instead of escaping the exam we had to sit there well we found all out all the real answers. I had my copy sheet ready like everybody else.
The headmistress shouting across the hall.
"This year you should know that the pass rate has been lowered. You need 16 correct questions to pass" she began.
I froze. Did they realise some people even picking randomly would get more than 16 right just by bad luck? I had spent an evening with a practice test and a dice to check this. With a pass rate as low of 16 correct questions, a gibbon picking randomly it would be treated as smart enough to be possessed. For a moment I felt like I was sliding down a waterslide of panic and indignation. Partly I was freaked out because I had checked I got 17 questions correct. Partly because at least some of my class will be going with me with no right but luck.
"Now, I will go through the questions one announcing the correct answer." The headmistress continued.
Everybody looked down at the papers on continued. I blanked out in terror for a second on and it was only on question 5 I tuned in.
"Question five. What is the definition of incinerator. It is not C a tour inside sin. the correct answer was A" she said. Good I got that one wrong. Amanda huffed in the corner.
"Question six. Is Ecuador the capital of the equator? No it's not. The correct answer was A." she said. This one I knew was correct and I had to get some right just to look normal.. I ticket it off.
The reading of answers continued. As we did I noticed it was questioned A that was correct answer each time. I had noticed this but assumed making A the answer each time was a cray mistake. I thought it was some double trick. Like no one would be crazy enough to have the same correct answer to every question to do that right?
The further down the list we got, the more I felt like was sinking on into quick sand. I kept looking over to the Martha who's eyes kept expanding. Later on I found I had made a mistake and I had actually got 18 right. That was fatal. I couldn't even ague this was due to chance as understanding that would mark me out as possessed. I looked to the corner where the team of markers were busily going through our Marks. By the time we got to the last questions I saw the marking team rushing over to the head mistress with a set of four papers. The excitement on their faces showed the they clearly had found someone. Captain Ness came over looked at the papers and nodded. The headmistress finished out reading the answers - yes. all A's. IF anyone picked all A's they were in a bad time. She took the list and announced.
"After extensive investigation and rigorous assessment. Given the complex and highly technical nature of the test this is the absolute and final unalterable result." The headmistress had began. Really ? Did she know we could see the guard marking the test were doing it at high speed in the corner I had seen the speed the markers had been going at. They had under an hour to mark all our papers. They were in a hurry they were bound to make mistakes. The headmistress continued "The list of those passing the 16 limit and will there fore be going to Overworld. Is ... In alphabetical order Zilton Zakary"
Zilton looked confused. He proudly stood up. I knew Zilton, he was a few if points up from the IQ a brick and that was being especially generous about the intelligence of bricks. Speaking of bricks he was built like a brick wall and would be handy if all the super smart people in Overworld were short of people for their football team.
"Yeah I is smart,peoples" said Zilton punching the air and smiling in amazement.
It didn't take me long to guess he was one of those sponsored by lady luck.
"Hugo Spheres" announced the headmistress.
Hugo well that was inevitable. Amanda looked on in smouldering disgust and anger. Hugo stood up and walked down towards Zilton and the head mistress. I could found this funny, if I wasn't sweating trying to think of how to get out. The doors of the exam hall were blocked with home land defence people. All I could think about was how was going to look after Mom and my sister? With a grown sense of dread I could feel my end approaching.
"Finally" the headmistress announced, this was going to me it had to be .... "Martha McGivens"
I looked at Martha next to me while she looked shocked and please. My eye's bulged. Martha? WTF. I was caught in the Venn diagram intersection of relief, shock I wasn't selected, irritation I that I wasn't smart enough to be shipped off to breeding school, loss at Martha's soon departure. It was a real explosive mix of emotional gumbo. People were applauding, I was feeling faint. I joined in clappig. Amanda was shouting that she should be chosen.
"How dare you not choose me!" said Amanda getting up.
"All decisions are final," said the head Mistress. "The test is absolute and perfect"
I looked up while Martha stood up and she waved at me like a bride coming down the isle on her wedding day. I sat there more dumbfounded than I had ever been in my entire life. Marta was possessed? How could I have not noticed? I reassured myself that this was another example of dumb luck.
"All decisions are final. That's not even a proper sentence" said Amanda now almost in tears.
I was in shock as I walked out of the test hall. How did that happen I had enough to go? What was happening?
A/N Hi - Thanks We hi 2,000 reads and it's a wonderful point. Billionaire's possession also hit #98 in the hot 100 ( yes we are in the hot 100!!!). To celebrate a couple of new chapters. As always the chart possition is entirely down to your highly appeicated reads. THANKS!! RK+Reb.