Kat's Era by Amy Fawcett and Taran Chahal (read aloud books .TXT) 📕

Master smiled in satisfaction. He had played his cards just right, and the path that was unfolding ahead of the two teenagers, crying over their friend’s dead body, was exactly the one he had prepared for them. He made a signal to his guards, who immediately shot the only survivors with tranquilizer darts. He smiled as their life signs on his control panel dimmed slightly then checked again in shock. Had some others survived after all? There were two very faint lights on the screen. Either these were some of the animals that hadn’t been killed or orphans 12984 and 99345 weren’t the only survivors.

☯


Kat opened her eyes slowly, her lids leaden with the death of her best friend and a splitting headache. She couldn't even remember falling asleep. She thought she must still be on the island. She wished Lily could be with her, and then felt her throat ache and tears well up. She would never see her again.

She sat up and waited for her vision to clear. She was sitting on a padded floor, like the one at the gym back at the orphanage, only newer. Hitoshi was sprawled, sleeping on the other side of the room. What had happened? She scoured her memory for what had happened before she had fallen asleep.

Vaguely, at the back of her mind, she remembered a sharp pain in her right arm, and then a woozy, sleepy feeling. She looked down at her arm and spotted a small half healed cut. They’d been tranquilized. Most likely with darts. She also noticed that all of her wounds had been dressed, and Hitoshi’s broken arm was in a cast. Where was she, and how long had she been there?

The Master smiled to himself as he watched the proceedings through a screen. These kids were smart, especially the girl, and they had looked strong in the fights. He could hardly wait to put them through the training. He wondered if they would survive.
☯
Eventually, Hitoshi woke up. He had looked happier when he was asleep, Kat noticed. He propped himself up against a wall and stared into space. That was when the doors hissed open.

And there stood the master. Hitoshi and Kat both stood up immediately. Was he the one behind everything?

“Well.” he said “How nice to see you again, 12984 and 99345.”

Kat and Hitoshi looked at each other in confusion; what was he on about?

“I hope that you are feeling well rested from your time on our island, but now you are going to return to training. Only this time at a superior school”

Kat’s eyes widened. She had just realised that this was the first time she had seen the master without bodyguards. In a fight, she and Hitoshi would have the upper hand. Hitoshi gave a half nod. He had noticed too.

“Not so fast” said the master, and before Kat and Hitoshi could do anything, he slipped a slim katana from his sleeve and stood in fighting stance.

For a small man, he looked pretty scary. But this didn’t worry Kat. She could fight without weapons, her aim would just be to disarm him before he could do her or Hitoshi and harm.

The Master smiled, sensing their intentions. He pressed a button on an interface moulded into his arm and Hitoshi and Kat found themselves barred to the wall which they had been leaning against.

“Well, if you’re not going to be reasonable, then we’ll have to do this differently”

With that, he walked out of the room, turning out the lights as he left and plunging them into complete blackness.

Kat decided that the only thing she could do was go to sleep.

☯

Hitoshi jerked in is confinements when he heard the sound. It was similar to the sound the door had made when the master had come in, but he couldn't tell.

The lights flickered on and his eyes struggled to adjust, but when he could see he wondered if he was hallucinating. It seemed as if the walls had just disappeared into the ceiling, so that they were now strapped to the wall in a huge room, with small groups of people about his age placed at regular intervals. There wasn’t a happy looking face in sight. He closed his eyes, and once again slumped against the wall. He guessed that he and Kat would have to get through it all somehow.


To be continued...

Imprint

Text: Amy Fawcett and Taran Chahal
Images: Amy Fawcett
Editing: Orla Fawcett, Amy Fawcett, Taran Chahal
Publication Date: 02-05-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To our English Teacher, for his Disbelief.