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

but which tonight was party central.
    Cheers came from the doorway of dorm building seven nearby, and he looked to see five boys come busting outside with their arms full of as many toilet paper rolls as they could carry.
    “Someone successfully got into the supply closet,” Zero chuckled.
    In no time at all, dozens of toilet paper rolls were being tossed high in the air over the crowd, leaving tails of white as they flew. The sound of the bass drum pounding from the speakers in the cafeteria, the feeling of so many little ones constantly pulling on his clothes and screaming—it was all just too much for him.
    “Is this really what life is about?” Lefty asked, apparently feeling the same level of anxiety.
    “I sure hope not,” Zero said.
    “Tonight is the biggest party of the year. It looks fun and all, but if I had my choice for ‘one last hurrah,’ it definitely wouldn’t be this.”
    “What would it be, then? A crocodile wrestling party?” Professor Bird leaned over to peek out the window at the sea of teenagers below.
    Zero looked at Professor Bird in surprise. Jokes were not typically his style, but it seemed like the party was rubbing off on him, even if he was stuck up here with the new arrivals.
    “Maybe,” Lefty grinned, and then thought about it for a moment. “In fact, more than maybe. If I were to have one last hurrah, I think I’d spend it doing the one thing I regret not doing. I never did swim across the river.”
    “River? You call that swamp a river?” Professor Bird chuckled.
    “It’s wet, isn’t it?” Lefty smiled. “My idea of fun would be to jump the fence, swim across the river, and climb the outer wall. I’d love to sit on top of that wall for hours just to watch the old world from above.”
    “The old world isn’t that great, really,” Professor Bird said.
    Zero’s eyebrows raised. “Really? You’ve been out there in the old world?”
    “Well, not really. I’ve heard stories. Some interesting. Some not.” A roll of toilet paper hit the window next to his head, making him flinch. He laughed. “Although, I’m really intrigued by the concept of snow.”
    “Snow?” Lefty shrugged his shoulders.
    “Yeah.” Professor Bird leaned out the window, looked up at the clouds, and then pulled his head back in. “Snow is frozen water that comes down from the clouds when it’s really cold.”
    Lefty belly-laughed so loudly that half of the little kids in the room turned to look at him. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. If ice fell from the sky, it would kill us all. If the weather outside got so cold that it would freeze the clouds, everybody’s blood inside their body would freeze solid.” Lefty shook his head and looked at Zero, who had no response. “Seriously. Where do you hear this stuff?”
    Professor Bird shrugged his shoulders.
    “Professor,” Lefty’s face turned serious. “Have you ever seen the place where these kids come from? Where all of us come from?”
    “No. I’ve only left the schoolyard twice since I came here as a little boy. One time was to go take my placement test, which I aced, but then they brought me right back here to teach. The other time was when I got really sick and had to be taken to one of the Elite hospitals.” He lifted his shirt and traced his finger along a scar before tucking his shirt back in. “It was my appendix. They took it out.”
    “I remember the place we lived before we came here,” Zero said.
    Lefty looked really confused. “How could you? You came here the same day I did.”
    “I remember. Not a lot, but I remember a little.”
    “Like what?”
    “I remember how traumatic it was for me when I had to leave. Not so much that I had to go, but I remember there was this little stuffed elephant that I used to carry everywhere. I think I named it Elephant Baby, if I remember right. Anyway, I remember feeling traumatized when they took it away from me. They took it from me right before putting me on the