Read Testing Zero: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 1) for Free Online Page A

you guys lost?” Flea asked in a dull voice, as if bored.
    “Hey, what happened to your foot, Flea?” Lefty couldn’t resist. He stood blocking the door.
    “Move.”
    “Or what? You gonna kick me?”
    “I may have a hurt foot, but I can still make you move.”
    “I don’t know about that. Zero, do you think he’s up to it? I’m not so sure he can get around on that foot, being all torn to pieces like it is.”
    Flea smirked. “That might be the case if it had been a real fight. But with you …”
    “Is that so?”
    Flea rolled his eyes. “Move.”
    “All right. All right. We’ll get out of your way.” Lefty stepped aside, but just as Flea reached for his doorknob, Lefty stepped back in front of him.
    Flea glared, saying nothing.
    “I’ve got a proposition for you,” Lefty said. “Tomorrow we leave the school grounds for the placement tests.”
    “And you want to have dinner together and hold hands. Is that it? I’m not interested.”
    “You wish.” Lefty chuckled. “For those who choose to sign up, I hear they have some awesome cages set up for fighting. How about if you and I throw down together? Just you and me.”
    “It’s tempting. I wouldn’t mind one last thrill.” Flea appeared to consider his options. “If I do this, I won’t hold back.”
    Lefty clapped his hands together. “It’s settled then. I’ll meet you at signups tomorrow afternoon.” Lefty gave Zero a smug wink. Zero in turn wore the usual worried look on his face.
    “I didn’t say I’m in,” Flea said. “I said I’d think about it. Why the sudden interest in stepping in the cage? Why not right here, right now?”
    “Because I want to prove to everyone that you’re not as tough as you think you are. I want everyone to see you fall—that you’re nothing but a big bag of wind.”
    Flea watched him for a moment but then brushed him aside. “I’ll think about it.”
    “Step forward during signups tomorrow—if you’re man enough.”
    After Flea went inside, Zero sighed as if he’d been holding his breath through the whole conversation. “Do you think he’ll show?”
    “Yeah. If not, I’m going after him. There will be Elites all over at the testing place. He’s going to fight me in front of them either way, even if I have to pick a fight with him during the written test.”

***
    Zero and Lefty waited by the front gates until the buses came with the new arrivals. As they poured out of the buses, some of them looked to be scared out of their minds, while others were excited. All of them were oblivious to the fact that this would be the only place they would know for the next fifteen years.
    Zero was relieved when it was announced that the new arrivals would be split up into six different rooms, but once they had separated into groups and went to their assigned room, Zero felt even more crowded than he had outside by the buses. It had been a long time since he had spent any time in one of the toy rooms, which occupied the entire fourth floor of building six. He was surprised at how small the room felt now. He remembered it being so much bigger years ago when he used to sit alone in the corner stacking building blocks.
    The kids started out with what he assumed was their highest level of energy, but he was wrong. The more time passed, the more hyper the children became.
    “It’s because they’re starting to get really tired,” Professor Bird said.
    “That doesn’t even make sense. When people get tired, they slow down,” Lefty said.
    “Not when they’re this age.”
    The concept seemed ludicrous, but Professor Bird was right. The more tired the kids were, the wilder they became.
    The room was so busy Zero felt like he was standing in a beehive. He needed some air, so he walked to the window and pulled it open.
    Now that it was dark, thousands of students filled the sidewalks and grassy areas between the buildings below him. Dance music poured out of the building that was normally used as a cafeteria,