It is the year 4041, and the world has only one language- English. To preserve the peace of the present world, the world leaders believe that religion is the cause. And to stop the world from practicing any religion, they set up a secret army- Peacekeepers in a location, Etyes. Carl was kidnapped to be one of the secret army. No one knows why young adults are being kidnapped. And those kidnapped cannot come out to tell the world the secret they know. Follow the Mad awakening happening around the world.



Genre: Science fiction
Subgenre: Utopia and Dyposia; Speculative Fiction

The full book is available
Okadabooks 250 naira

https://www.okadabooks.com/book/about/purified_tomorrow_the_mad_awakening/17712

Smashwords (Epub, Pdf, Txt, Online): $1 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/797234?ref=Writertain

To get a free copy, drop a review of the former books (if you've not posted it online) here...

http://writertain.com/2018/03/01/drop-reviews-for-akintayo-akinjides-books-here


Nairaland is removing some quotation marks, I'm still trying to correct them.

Read First
'It's simple', Ashley Peters said into the microphone in front of her. 'We would simply lie to them that the world was destroyed by the aliens'.
'Yes, their God and gods are all alien', someone suggested from the audience.
'Yes. These gods of their, as well as the various languages of the world, brought factions, religions and this turmoil', someone else agreed with the first speaker.

'World war 3 would see everything go into extinction. Humanity, religion and our language. We just have to do it', Ashley said and looked about. 'We would ensure we save the English language and fresh mind and humanity. Our work now is to make sure that we start removing items that has God or gods off the net. Remove all vocabularies or anything at all. Remove God, remove worship, remove prayer, remove every damn thing. We need humanity in its original form'.

Someone from the back raised his cup and shouted something inaudible. She looked about with the hope of catching the phrase, but didn't until the people around this person took it up and they all began to say, 'For English language, For Peace'
She smiled at the English loyalists, who were also atheists. There was no way they would allow the pure form of English to die. She raised her hands, and there was silence in the underground hall they were using. Her eyes roved over them and she was happy she handpicked them, right.

'We have four years to make everything in this plan. Micah, contact Chioma of Fortunecity, Nigeria. Tell her to initiate her plans on the World war 3. For English Language, For Peace', she said and raised her cup.
'For English, For Peace', they all chorused and raised their cups.

1 Opposite Love


Fred was stupid. Carl always knew, but he could never believe his stupidity would be heightened to this state. He was ranting about a girl that would never love him. Carl looked around with the hope that he would find anything or anyone that could be stupider that Fred. There was nothing to compare it to. Even those fanatics, Grousters, that had taken it upon themselves to face the world over a crazy existence of something that wasn't there, weren't as stupid as Fred. Many of them had been crying that humans weren't the only things living on earth. They believed the aliens that destroyed the world were back. But, they weren't as stupid as Fred. At least, they were fighting for a cause. Fred was blabbing and scattering Carl's line of thoughts on the surprise gift he would get for his girlfriend, Joyce.
'Can you keep quiet already? That's what you should be doing at this time', Carl said disdainfully as they walked down the usual lonely road towards the mall. Fred had insisted that they get a flash drive for a background check they needed to do about the earth. They had been meeting obstructions while trying to discover something about the world, and it had made Carl tired, but made Fred curious. Carl was a seventeen-year-old guy, whose body and sense of fashion could deceive anyone into believing he was in his late twenties.
'That's being stingy', Fred said nonchalantly as he typed rapidly into his phone. His baggy trousers danced around his fat body. A fly buzzed around him, he slapped it away but missed; instead, he hit his earpiece. He jumped after the rubber protection that fell off as if the earth would swallow it.
At this point, Carl felt like slapping him repeatedly until his numb brain came back to life. 'I'm just saving you from falling into a pond'.
'So you'll say'.

'So it is. You know me. That's what you should know already'.
Fred stopped and faced Carl. 'I've seen the joy that radiates from your face whenever you see Joyce. I want to have that joy also and I won't let you deny me of that.
Carl stared at his fat friend whose face always looked awkward without his glasses. 'My friend, stop deceiving yourself. Sonia doesn't and would never love you. That's a fact'.
'That's just jealousy. Pure jealousy. Tell me you love her'.

Carl stopped in his track, and burst into laughter, brushing the dust off his trousers. 'Me?'
'Yes. You do. I've seen the way she rallies around you the same way fishes swim around a worm. Well, that was since she returned from... from wherever she was kidnapped to'.
'Can you hear yourself? How many times do I need or have to tell you that no lady can take my eyes off my Joyce? Joyce is the real deal. That's the only thing that should ring in your head'.
Fred gave him a mocking nod. 'Then, you must have forgotten the saying that goes silence means approval'.

'What are you insinuating?'
'When she came to you, teasing you ...and...and doing, you know, doing sexy things to you, why didn't you resist or stop her?'
Fred's phone rang.
'That's because...' Carl began to say but stopped when Fred frowned and placed a finger to his lips to stop him from talking. Carl felt like slapping him for such act. Sometimes, having a friend like Fred was bad in itself. Although there was no doubt he was the best in anything called Knowledge”; he breathed knowledge; lived on it; knowledge was his food, but still, he was stupid.

'She said she's just around the corner', Fred told Carl excitedly after he had finished talking to whomever he was talking to on the phone. He looked at his oversized striped-shirt and began to dust off imaginary dirt from it. 'How do I look?'
Hey! Stop, you are raising dust, Carl moaned. He felt like shaking his fat friend to come out his virtual reality into the real world, where the only girls that liked him were the animations in the papers he stuck to his computer.

From all indications, Sonia never loved Fred and there was no way she would ever love him. Some things couldn't just happen. Before her sudden disappearance, he had watched Fred do everything to catch her attention, and he felt sorry for him. But, she didn't care about anyone except Carl, only him. He avoided her like plague. And her disturbance only stopped when she wanted to take the exams into the University. At that time, she was a class ahead of him. Now, he was awaiting his own results. He couldn't stand his mother's nagging if he ever missed going to the University that year. She would lecture him on how she worked herself up to make sure he had the best of everything.
'I said how do I look?'
'You know what I will say'.
Fred nodded. 'Yes, you will spill out the truth without thinking of my feelings'.
'You look like a cow... A goat... No… A Mule. But that's not news'.
'Whatever! I will have my joy'.

'Oh, My! My friend will disgrace himself. He will fall into the mud and roll there like a fat pig. Hope youre not holding that filthy can of yours? Carl said and tapped down Fred's body.
What can?
Fishing rubbish.
Fred shook his head, disgusted.
Wait! Why does she want to see you?' Carl said, biting his fingernail.
'How will I know? But of all the 395 reasons my head is processing, I'm sure it's to give me an answer'.
'An answer to what question?'
'I texted her'.

'You textedSo? What's new about that?' Carl hissed as he sighted a public toilet. He hurriedly hatched a plan. The toilet was the best place to hide from her incessant tease, that accidental touch, that flirty look. He wanted to be away from her by all means. The gate of the toilet had gotten its own share of being defaced. One of the Grousters had scribbled the mumble jumble that “the humans weren't alone”. Each man should be with his belief, but trying to force it down people's throat was as disgusting as anything. Yet, he wouldn't blame the Grousters alone. He would also blame the people that agreed with them. The world leaders have sent the aliens away.
'I've told her I love her'.
Carl inhaled a mouthful of cold air, roared with laughter and pointed towards the toilet. 'I'm in the toilet'.

He doubled up, laughing again as he pushed the gate into the toilet's compound, and closed the gate behind him. The reason the toilet had a compound was still unexplainable. And the fascinating part of its awkwardness was that there were flower beds on each side of the compound's walls. Most times, it looked as if one was going into an orchard. The ground was floored with beautiful tiles. The robots cleaning the ground stopped the moment he placed a foot on the first tiles.
When he entered the toilet, he checked his hair in the mirror and patted it. He shouldn't have to worry about Sonia now that Fred assumed he was in love with her. December 2nd was the World's Revamping Celebration, and he ought to buy something that would mean their world of love was being revamped.

He patted the hair again and hope to have a robot brushing his hair too. Nothing must ruin his good looks. That hair cost him a fortune, and he wouldn't want anything to ruin it. He looked around, stared into the mirror and wondered what the creator of the mirror was thinking about before he created such a useful item. It probably was water because when you stare into the water, you are certainly going to see a clear reflection of yourself. The human mind is just too complex. He loved it. He loved to see how many of those beautiful minds existed in the former world.

According to history, aliens invaded the world in the year 2020 and few experts were saved around the world, children were also saved. But he couldn't wrap his mind around the ridiculous history. There was something fishy about it. Even the story about their creation was too ridiculous and he would go to any length to make sure he discovered what happened. All he needed was the right motivation, and Fred was doing that.
'The way I see life is that a man can always love two women equally. According to cultural history, Nigerian men were known for marrying more than one woman', Sonia said behind him. Carl could recognize her cracking voice anywhere, and the effect it always had on him. He couldn't stand for long in the room because her voice always got him on the edge.

Several ladies had boldly thrown themselves at him to no avail, but she was the only one who knew how to make him remain speechless. He stared at her and knew he was staring at one with the qualification of a model. If she was beautiful before being kidnapped, she was now stunning. Yet, he couldn't be her boyfriend as she had wished. His mother had constantly warned him about women. She said his generation had that problem in their blood, that the love of women killed his father and grandfather. So, he had made a promise to himself that he would stick to one woman. He loved Joyce, just Joyce.
'Fred is outside', Carl said as she strode towards him, her eyes fixed on him.
'Okay'.

'Okay, what? That means I'm not doing this today. Sonia, no', Carl said as she blocked the way.
'Tell me you love me'.
'No'.
'It would last me for another year. Your love kept me burning when I was kidnapped', she said as she moved nearer and blew him a kiss. She smelt different, like water, but pleasant.
'You know what? You're insane. This is the last time I'll have this conversation with you', Carl said as he pushed past her, out of the toilet, out of the gate.
'Fred', he called.

Fred wasn't outside. The street was empty. Carl turned towards the toilet just as Sonia came out.
'Where's Fred?' He asked, biting his thumbnail.
'He was right here'.
No matter what happened, Fred would have stayed behind. Even if there was an emergency, nothing could make him leave without Carl. Except, he was angry.
'Did you make him angry?'
'Me? No', she said as she pulled her nose.
'Sad'.
'Erm... I can't say'.
'What do you mean?'

'He told me he loved me. That he wanted to have a relationship with me'.
'He said that?' Carl asked with an amused look. His curiosity overcame his fear of being around her. 'Hope he didn't stutter?'
'No. This time, I think you've really encouraged him'.
'Well, I guess you said no'.
'Of course', Sonia said, rolling her eyes and pulled her nose. 'I mean Who says yes to a cow?'
'I'll find him'.
'It takes one to know one. Carl love me. We were made for a greater purpose. Greater anything in the world. Me and you'.

He has gone home, Carl thought, disregarding her ramble, and spun towards their house. They were next-door neighbors. The most painful part of it was that Fred had just proven him right: he was stupid. Now, Carl would have to return home to drag him back to the mall. However, the moment he turned, he saw one of the rubber protection on Fred's earpieces, lying on the ground. Fred listened to music regularly, to Carl's chagrin and he wouldn't have left without the protection, even if the world was crumbling. But before he could think much of it, his phone rang.
J.
Carl, Im in serious trouble.

2 The Filthy Micro Card

Carl looked about him to check for any sign of struggle and found none. Maybe Sonia had really made Fred angry. But if it was so then Fred has just confirmed his belief. How would he leave like that? Carl hurried off to Joyce's house.

'Are you leaving me here?, Sonia called after him. He turned his head sideways and hissed.
Joyce rarely called whenever she was in trouble, no matter what might have happened. She always had a way to solve it. That means if she called him, she was indeed in big trouble. The estate she lived in was made specially for people the government decide to sponsor. They got their stay at this estate because the government had brought harm their way, one way or another. The process of getting such house was a grueling one. Yet, he was surprised at the ease with which Joyce got hers.
Just as he got to a street before her estate, someone rushed out of a bush. The man was bald and his skin was wrinkled. He looked pale as if he hadn't eaten for days. The oversized blue, worn polo he wore made him look like a skeleton. And his eyes, big ones, were red as if he hadn't slept in days.
'We're not alone in this world', the man whispered as he firmly held Carl's shoulder. The man glanced around, looking skyward. Carl wriggled out of his filthy touch. The man was panting heavily, and Carl had to cover his nose from the man's foul breath.
'We are not alone', the man said louder this time. From Carl's look, one could fathom that he would give anything in the world to scramble away from this man's presence. He was in trouble with another Grousters. Many of them always looked as if they were searching for the thing that was living with the humans on earth.

The man dug his fingers into his own mouth, and rolled it, making his eyes bulge. Carl looked away hurriedly as the man groaned as if he would pour out vomit anytime. The man groaned irritatingly.
'What's...What's all this?' Carl asked as he retreated from the man. However, the man's firm grip held him in place.
'Leave me, old man', Carl said as he yanked the man's hand off his arm and tried to leave but the lanky mans grip returned to his cloth. Carl yelled as he stained his cloth. The man vomited a micro card.
'Take'.

Upon seeing it, Carl gasped for breath. It was really irritating especially when the man pointed it at him. The micro card was covered with spittle. A security drone flew over their head. The robots were in color and they had a way of flying by without one noticing them, but this one was too conspicuous, as if it was reckless pursuing something.
'Leave me' Carl shouted as he pulled his arm away from the man's. The security drone honed on them. The man glanced up and back at the Carl.

'Shut up! They will kill you. They will kill us both. Give this chip to Joyce Felix. When the time comes, those that would tutor her on how to use it would get it'.
Carl batted his eyes and took a quick glance at the part of his cloth the man gripped. It was stained already. There was no way he wouldn't unleash his madness on the man. He would beat the man until the only thing people would see would be his grey hair. Suddenly, twigs began to break on the path that led from the bush as heavy feet hurriedly landed on the ground. Carl opened his mouth to shout. But, as if the man had anticipated it, he pushed the micro card into Carl's mouth, covered it and pushed him into the bush.

'Hide', the man whispered. 'Give it to Joyce Felix'.
Carl was angry. His cloth was stained and his body might have been scratched. Whoever the man thought he was, he had no right to push him into such messy place and to ram that filthy chip into his mouth. Carl rose to accost the man, but the man was faster. He pushed Carl further into the bush and covered the part of the bush. Stay put.
The moment was like a dream. That action was definitely insulting. He must show the man what stuff he was made of. As he began to fight his way out of the bush, someone shouted, 'stop'.
Carl froze, but as he looked around, he saw the order wasn't for him. He looked through the thickets of the bush and saw three men pushing the lanky man to the floor. The man tried to rise on his feet, but one of them kicked him in the mouth. The man groaned, and that seemed to aggravate his assailants' anger because the three of them took turns to hit him with their heavy boots. He groaned, and when he tried to scream, the only sound that came out of his mouth was like the croak of a frog. Blood poured from his wounded lips.

'You're an enemy of the land, the world and its leaders', the tallest among them said with a guttural voice said. His hand gripped the gun he was holding as if it was a pillow.
'Your leader is making a grave mistake. We are not alone in this world. All Grousters know this and would prove it'.
The shortest one, who hadn't made any sound since they caught up with the man, cocked his gun, and stood firm, and said, 'It's no longer news but nobody must know because a little knowledge would be the foundation for World war 4 or its equivalent. Even your founder, Groust, is dead and would remain so'.
He shot the old man in the head. It took Carl a great effort to stay sane. He batted his eyes repeatedly. The drone gradually rose into the sky. The world seemed to spin around him as he watched blood splash to the ground and the only thing that kept him from screaming was the filthy micro-card.

3 Deserted in the Quagmire


Carl stumbled out of the bush after he had confirmed that the men were gone and that the drone had gone into hiding. He had never seen that type of Uniform before. The men's uniforms had the pattern of a chameleon's skin. Its color changed to that of anything near it. And these men were not only Nigerians, there were also Europeans among them.

The first thing on Carl's mind was to spit the filthy micro card from his mouth. Even the thought of it being there made him feel like puking. He spat it out, and hurriedly wiped his mouth. That man should have given him the choice of accepting it with something neater. Carl dusted his clothes to rid it of any dust or soot he must have encountered in the bush.
With trepidation, he bent to touch the ground. After the uniformed men shot the old man, they searched his body and were angry that they found nothing. So, they poured a liquid substance on him, which immediately melted his corpse to become dust. The uniformed men scattered the sand with their feet, and scrambled off.

Whatever the man wanted Joyce to know must have been a very vital information or else he wouldnt have been killed for it. And whatever was wrong with Joyce could be worse, so he rose to leave but first he had to hide his micro card. He peeled a small hole from the sole of his shoe and hid the micro card there. Joyce had always wanted to be a detective and one of her goals was to haunt him with security tips. She built that small hole herself, and ensured she did it in all of his shoes.
The moment he knocked on Joyce's door, she rushed to the door, looked both sides and dragged him into the dim room. For some absurd reason, she had all her windows locked and the window blinds pulled down. Joyce wouldnt have raised all the window blinds; yet, she was an advocate of good ventilation.
'What's happening, J?' He asked the moment she locked the door.
'I'm in trouble...'
'Calm down'.

Joyce walked up and down the room as her hand vibrated vigorously. 'No, you don't understand. I was just returning from work, and I saw Mrs. Jefferson who was singing that I didn't belong in this generation because I got support from the government. Was it my fault that I lost my parents at childbirth?'
'So, what happened?' He asked and wished to hold her down, but she explained things better whenever she was in that state, and his imagination was still filled with the dead man's red eyes. He removed the micro card from his shoe, gently placed it on the arm of the chair, and waited for her to finish talking before giving her.

'But I overlooked her rant like a rest on a musical tone, and entered the house, and he knocked, and I opened the door'.
'Who's the 'he'?'
'Matthias... You know him'.
'Matthias, what does he wants from you?'
She had told Carl about Matthias' numerous advances, and she had warned him several times to stay off her, but he was adamant and kept coming again.

'He started by deceiving me into allowing him to enter my house. I saw nothing harmful about it'.
He watched her carefully, and held his breath as he began to deduce what she would say. He was sure Joyce had finally broken her faithfulness, and had slept with Matthias. Carl gritted.
'Then, he made an advance towards me, this time he came right at me. I pushed him away and I think that made him upset...'

'So...?'
'He came towards me and tried to rape me'.
'What?'
'Yes. I fought him. And while we were at the struggling stage, I grabbed my trumpet. You know that new one you gave me on my birthday. I was rehearsing with it before he came. I hit his head with it'.
'That's good. The idiot deserved more than that... How come nobody came to your rescue?'
'In this area? You know how Mrs. Jefferson had poisoned the heart of many after her son was taken to prison because he tried to rob me. So, I didn't cry out'.

'Then, you're good to go. Wherever Matthias would be now, he would learn to never try rubbish with you'.
'Carl, he's dead'.
Carl froze as if he had just been hit on the face with a plank. He blinked several times and swallowed hard.
'The trumpet... I don't know. He just stopped breathing. I tried different methods, but he was dead. I'm in serious trouble'.
'Where's his body?'
She pointed at her room and whispered, 'he's in the wardrobe'.
Carl was perplexed.


***
Joyce stared at Carl as he made the plan as if he was merely eating, as if he was writing another song like Kenny G. He always made plans with such calmness that she always wished to be him, to have the same confidence he had. That would make her one of the best detectives in the world because she had all the tactics needed to be exceptional. She looked at him and nodded after he asked her if she understood him.
'Good, let the plan begin'.

They carried Matthias corpse into the parlor, laid him roughly on the ground and Carl went out. After about five minutes, she screamed. That was the plan. She screamed again and began to scatter the chairs in the room. Then, she tore the cloth she wore. She screamed for help. Then, someone barged in. It wasn't Carl. It was supposed to be Carl. The plan was that he would pretend to be in the estate when the rape began, and would claim to witness the person being hurt, that he fought with the person and that person whom he would later discover to be Matthias crashed to the floor at a shove from him.
Mrs. Jefferson trailed the steps of the person that entered.

'I didn't want to come but...' Mrs. Jefferson said and looked down. 'You've killed him. Is that not Mr. Paul's son? Is that not Matthias? Help! Joyce Felix has killed Mr. Paul's son'.
Joyce's eyes dashed to the door, and she realized what had happened: Carl ran away. He left her to face the music herself, even with a bad plan.
'Mrs. Jefferson, it was a mistake. He tried to rape me, and I hit him on the head with my trumpet', she cried and knew she sounded like a broken record, but she couldn't do better than that at the moment.
'Shut up! Hey you, what are you waiting for? Call the police. Call them'.

The gentleman that came in first scrambled out of the house and returned almost immediately as he fished out his phone from his pocket and dialed the police. Joyce felt the world crumbling under her feet. Carl had just deceived her and had hung her out to dry. He must be in a corner, laughing at her foolishness. If she had stuck to her own plan, maybe the police wouldn't be involved.
The police came in, took her statement but refused to arrest her despite Mrs. Jefferson's incessant rant that she killed the man. For some unexplainable reason, the police felt bad for her and assured her they wouldn't press charges.

Joyce took her phone and deleted Carl's number. Nothing in the world would ever make her know him again. Whatever love they shared was over that instant and had got to its place of rest. No verse of it would ever be revisited. And from that day, her heart was locked away from every man. No one would ever get the chance to cross that line with her again.

She stormed to the frames that held the picture of the two of them and tore the pictures, and also deleted all his pictures from her phone.
'Carl, we are done', she whispered as she crawled into her bed, tears streaming down her eyes. 'We are so done'.

Terhide5000 Meneski Speedstaro9 Seunnla patjane cyberprince Clemzy16 iyoha240 Diamondwriter Creeza Lawlahdey
Adesina Jagugu88li allylic ashatoda opal4real prinxxdave Little95 Dannyj19 Marvwhite bigbauer flourishbliss Mariinee favour155 saxwizard sofiaAmrozia preciousuweh Damibiz dhehbbor iamloyalty matrycx precial419 finalboss koopanated kimkardashian
kimberlywest TheBlessedMAN bibijay123 Honeywealth MichaelBlake40 istandi eROCK247 nostradamus Whiydhee amikeem HORLADSTAR great moorevic eniola7 joedreamer Mrmoore14 DOLLAT7852 Lexytee loverboi97 Erinola057 icezi ERF SNOWBOI360
lildiamond Okhagbuzo Akimwale14 glory419 yorubadboi09 Lotiababe harleypearl Queenitee

Divepen1:
Terhide5000 Meneski Speedstaro9 Seunnla patjane cyberprince Clemzy16 iyoha240 Diamondwriter Creeza Lawlahdey
Adesina Jagugu88li allylic ashatoda opal4real prinxxdave Little95 Dannyj19 Marvwhite bigbauer flourishbliss Mariinee favour155 saxwizard sofiaAmrozia preciousuweh Damibiz dhehbbor iamloyalty matrycx precial419 finalboss koopanated kimkardashian
kimberlywest TheBlessedMAN bibijay123 Honeywealth MichaelBlake40 istandi eROCK247 nostradamus Whiydhee amikeem HORLADSTAR great moorevic eniola7 joedreamer Mrmoore14 DOLLAT7852 Lexytee loverboi97 Erinola057 icezi ERF SNOWBOI360
lildiamond Okhagbuzo Akimwale14 glory419 yorubadboi09 Lotiababe harleypearl Queenitee

though Divepen1 didnt invite me but i go kukuma find seat for myself .

vickyluvspices:
though Divepen1 didnt invite me but i go kukuma find seat for myself .

Don't kuma vex, I'm inviting everyone... oh! And Slimberry

Divepen1:
Don't kuma vex, I'm inviting everyone... oh! And Slimberry

i no vex again.

vickyluvspices:
i no vex again.

ehen... Popcorn is coming

Divepen1:
ehen... Popcorn is coming

anks with holandia yougurt pls...

4 The Place of No Return
Carl opened his eyes sluggishly, and took a long time to understand that he wasn't in Joyce's place. He tried to accustom his eyes with the thick darkness he was in. His eyes fluttered as he rolled his neck, trying to figure out where he was. At least if one was in a dark place, there was no way the darkness would be so thick, but the place seemed impenetrable by any ray of light, making him assume he was finally dead. One of those philosophy teachers in his school once theorized that when they died that everything might be dark and they might remain in the darkness of the abyss, useless and for nothing. But how could he be dead?
All he remembered was that he was coming out of Joyces house to get ready for his own part of the plan. He was being careful to check if the street was empty, when he saw a head materialize out of the air. He was so stunned that he couldnt shout before the man covered his mouth. The man wore one of those chameleon types of uniform. They had a bit of struggle, but before he could get hold of himself, another head materialized and stabbed him with a syringe. Whatever was in the syringe made him lose consciousness immediately, but not before he saw the other man putting on a sort of cap that made him become invisible. His fear now was that the uniformed men he witnessed the other time later saw him after they killed the old man. If it were so, he had to find a way to escape from the place he was.
With every part of his body blaring an alarm, he decided to stand, but was stopped by something that held him down. The thing was metallic. It held him in place. There was also metal chains holding his hands and legs firmly to the chair. Staring about to check for any ray of light, or anything to help him know what part he was sitting on, he was sure he might finally meet his demise in this place. The thought of being there was infuriating on its own. His eyes roamed in its socket as he hoped his eyes would blend with the darkness. Everything was silent.
He wondered what could have happened, and why they must have wanted him. He wasnt from a wealthy family. He wasnt exceptionally brilliant. He wasnt a geek like Fred. So, he was so sure the person that kidnapped him would see his worthlessness and return him to help Joyce. There was no way she would even believe anything he told her, but he would still give it a trial. She must have been expecting him. No one could tell him how many hours he had been out. If he had been gone for long, then someone other than him must have gone to her rescue, and that meant they would have alerted the police.
Suddenly, someone yelled, where am I?
Carl almost jumped out of his skin, and might have probably jumped out of the metal chair if the metals didnt hold him in place. He never assumed anyone was there with him.
Who is there?' Another voice yelled.
Where are we?’ Another voice shouted. He would have calmly watched them scream and not flinch, but the darkness was making him falter in his calmness. Everything made him edgy. The noise retrogressed to murmur, then sprung into a full-fledged hysteria. Noises diffused into the dark hole or room or whatever they were in. Carl was very sure the people in the place were insane because they were all getting on his nerve. He held his breathe with a little assurance that the humanity ingrained into them would soon resurface, but none of them seemed to waver. He was so annoyed and vexed now and was sure that the frustration was getting to the 100% of his breaking point. He assumed he would keep his emotions together until a lady began to shriek. That was the crux of the whole matter.
He screamed, Shut up! Shut up! Shut your trap! Shut your trap! Shut it!
Everywhere became silent. He cleared his voice as he tried to stabilize his voice. He still always wondered why humans have to behave like chickens whenever they are in terrible situations. They all kept quiet as if they were expecting an instruction. He wasn't the speech-giver type of guy. He never loved climbing the podium to address people. He was always the background type of guy. There was no way they were getting any word from him again, other than for him to yell, if they mistakenly reverted to their former noise.
Someone got tired of waiting and shouted, 'where are
The light came up, making the person's voice fade. Carl closed his eyes, and tried opening it again, slowly this time. His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced about in surprise. Like he suspected, they were in a train-like vessel. The top was rigged with strong black metals that stretched from the place he was to the end. There were several air ducts under every fifth seat. The air ducts looked more like an exhibition than a real thing. Their chair was made from the same type of silver metals held them in place. Everyone in the place wore the same grey silver uniform that had semblance with swimming trunks; and the color stretched down the line until what looked like the end of the train, which looked as if one was staring at a tiny bird in the sky.
He could see the same look on almost everybody in the room. They all looked surprised, and he was sure he wore the same look too. The people that were shouting seemed too shocked to utter a sound. Before anyone could make a comment about where they were and before Carl could try to fathom what that place was, the door beside him slid open. Despite the silence with which the door opened, most people glanced towards the door, and those that didnt see the door open were informed by their neighbors or they noticed what everyone was doing, and did the same.
A young lady strutted in. She was wearing the same uniform as theirs, only that hers was red. She was followed by two people with the yellow uniform. They held guns and looked fierce. The lady was slim and could pass for a model. Her curves weren't too pronounced but she definitely had a shaped that a lot of women would kill for. Only that she had an unusual gait and balance that would make anyone continually scared of her. And despite her beautifully packed blond hair, something was eerie about her. She had a diamond shaped face, which looked like that of a robots. And her eyes were very tiny, black, lifeless; another reason to be afraid of her. Someone whimpered in front of Carl. He hurriedly glanced at the fearful person, and back at the lady.
Good morning, my name is Diana, and I welcome you to Etyes, the home of Peacemakers, she said into a public address system.
Then, she pointed a remote control at them. Let's start with the first lesson to peacekeeping. We follow the pattern of the ants, not the rowdy ones. But the workers among them. They move in a straight line. Even when an intruder tries to scatter them, they are known to always return to their initial positions. In that regard, youd follow me orderly. The person at my She shook her head as she dangled her hands as if she was weighing the idea. Okay. The person on my left should come first'.
She pressed the button, and the chains holding them in place slid off and disappeared into the chairs as if they weren't there initially. Carl sighed and brushed his hair as others murmured and rose. He rolled his wrist, and rose to follow her. He hoped the hair wasn't ruined.
Suddenly, someone screamed from the end row. Why are we here? Why did you kidnap us from our place, you nincompoops?
Diana rolled her eyes as if she was dealing with another insolent little child, and that she knew just the right way to show her power. She turned towards them, and Carl couldnt help but hold his breath. Diana stared at the wall and said. Computer, who spoke?
She stared at a point not visible to any of them and sighed. Take the offender to the punishment room.
Immediately, person shrieked, and her voice faded, but was soon substituted by a brief shout of surprise mingled with fear. Then, the noise transformed into silence.
Now, lets go, Diana turned and the guards moved sideways, out of reach. The Peacelearners followed her out of the train and kept going. The place that led outside looked just like the place they had just left. The only difference, this time, was that there wasn't any chair there. Diana didnt look back, but nobody dared do anything stupid. Or so did Carl think until someone came out of nowhere, and overtook him. His movement was so silent that it surprised Carl.
Whats this? Carl whispered. The guy turned and gave him an icy look as if he was daring him to do his worst. Carl gritted and wished to land a heavy punch on his stiff back, but he only stared and hissed. The guy moved on majestically, but didnt get to move far before an alarm blared. Carl hurriedly looked at his feet and brushed the dust that might have stained his silver cloth.
Diana turned and her dark small eyes scanned the room as if she had a laser in them. She raised her hand, and everyone stopped. Carl felt his heart pound so hard that he could feel the warmth of the fear in his mouth.
Diana looked up and said, Computer, what happened?
A robots voice replied, Peacelearner with the code number 7429 swapped places with Peacelearner 7428. Body temp showed that that Peacelearner 7428 was angry, but controlled his anger immediately. Meanwhile, Peacelearner 7429 was ready to fight if 7428 decided to pick one.
Diana stared at the stern looking guy for a few seconds, then her face cracked into a phony smile. She stroked his chin. I like your guts.
Immediately, her face reverted to the form it was as her eyes roamed to Carl. He was sore afraid the moment she pointed at him. She brought the P.A system to her mouth and said. 'Peacelearners, learn from this and let it be planted in your consciousness because this lesson would be used to punish people till the last days in this place. Young man, what is your name?
Different television screens shot out of the wall. They made sounds like that of a marching army. Carl glanced at them. The Television screen spread from where he was to the far end, where the Peacelearners might be. One of the screen was also at their side, so Carl could see himself from the corner of his eyes. The screen showed Diana as she placed the P.A system in front of Carls mouth. Stuttering, Carl said, CarlCarl Cokers.
People, be like Carl Cokers. He is the epitome of a true Peacemaker. Peacemakers dont fight in the public. They mingle with everyone and are never controlled by their emotions or overzealousness. They are controlled by their need for peace. And as for Whats your name?' She asked with her phony smile and placed the mic in front of 7429.
Jeremy Jephthah.
I want you to remember Jeremy Jephthah, the name. I want you to remember it and this lesson attached to him, she said as she stepped back, and glanced up. Computer, dump Jeremy Jephthah in the punishment room.
Immediately, an iron shoe pierced its way out of the ground and held Jeremy's feet to the ground. A laser drew a square shape around his feet, and the ground under him parted into two. He yelled as he dropped into the hole, while frantically trying to hold on to something. His noise kept reducing as if he was still going to a very far place. Carl swallowed hard as he watched the ground close, and become normal as if nothing had happened there. The lasers brushed over the place Jeremy fell and continually did so, to and fro, until there wasn't a crack on the floor anymore.
For the first time, Carl knew there was someone he was afraid of and a place he wanted to leave at all cost. His eyes batted repeatedly as others gawked at Diana. She winked at him and turned. Lets keep moving, Peacelearners.
If no one was afraid after the first encounter, they became afraid after this one.
***
Joyce kept moving the moment she entered Carls street. She was supposed to be angry at him, and was supposed to never confront him. But she needed him to be bold enough to present the truth to her that he ran with his tail between his legs. He had left for over three hours, and hadn't returned to check her. She wasnt supposed to demand an explanation from him.
She had lived alone for years, and had lived in different orphanage homes. Or where did he think she got the name Felix from? She could live without him. She would make him know that even the most invisible part of life worth more to her than he.
The crazy paintings made by Grousters, defacing the walls, only aggravated her anger at everything. Why do the people, who were meant to be close to her, always run away from her? The only way she would believe Grousters' claim would be if their invisible thing could find her parents. They kept disturbing her to join their team, but she had a better life to live than to fool herself with the dream of a man, Groust Fleming. The world had turned upside down since the man published a fiction based on his dreams. The world leader had him killed, and banned the book from existence. The world leader's foolish act aggravated some lovers of the book, who saw deeper meaning to the book, and the act.
Joyce turned sharply from going to Carl's house before her emotion took over, but her thought of Carl disappeared immediately because she saw someone scrambling to hide at the back of a house. That was curious. Something was certainly wrong because that was the second time she would be noticing such movement. She wrapped her sweater around her body, and knew it was time to show her evasion skills.
She moved into a corner, and waited patiently to see if the person would come after her. But nothing happened. So, she moved into another part of the road, and made sure no one was following her. She entered another crescent that would make it nearly impossible for the person to move unnoticed.
Just as she turned two streets away from her house, someone came out of the shadows, and pushed something hard into her ribs. She groaned as she noticed that it was a gun.
If youre cooperative, nothing would happen.' The man growled into her ear. He pulled her back into the shadow. Within a few seconds, a black sedan drove up, and parked five feet away. Someone opened the door, the man pushed her into the car and the car drove off.
What do you want from me?
Someone is watching you, Joyce Felix.
Of course. Were you not the one watching me?'
The man raised his gun to show her he didnt plan to harm her, then he slowly dropped it. I'm here to help you, but I also need your help.
And you expect me to believe you, a man with the Smiths.
Hey! Look, I'm the good guy here.
Joyce nodded sarcastically. I believe you. A good guy who abducted me at gun point.
We dont have time. Im a P.I
Private Investigator?
Joyce calmed a bit. She should have known. She had always wanted to be a Private Investigator herself, and had only one company in mind, Blanj. They had branches worldwide. Although compared to the map of the previous world, she would call it countrywide. The whole worlds population had shrunk to the size of a country. Their teachers had shown them how other places of the world looked like. And they have been taken in planes to sightsee the other parts of the world. It was desolate, and was looking terrible that it would take a very great resource to rebuild it. The only thing that surpassed the former world was their sophisticated level of technology.
I work for Blanj.
She held her breathe. His statement piqued her interest. She sat straight and tried to figure out if he was lying. She glanced at his hand and sighted the small signature on the smallest time ticker of his wristwatch. She knew it anywhere. She had always dreamt of having one. Everything in her mind and body was ignited as she watched him with awe.
What What do you want from me? She asked after trying hard to conceal her happiness. 'Just mention it... I mean you could have just asked'
Were recruiting you.
Me?
And you have to start your work immediately.
She blushed and sat up. That implied they had been watching her for long, and they must have noticed the training and drilling she had subjected herself to.
Weve been following a series of kidnapping around the world and we've discovered a pattern. They take two people from each country'.
She bit her lower lip as she tried to show how excited she was about the case. The case had been included in the numerous unsolved kidnappings. If she could be the one to come out with the real information, Blanj would make the world know she did it. So, how does that concern me? I mean I can do it But why me?'
We dont know their criteria for picking people, and where they are taking these people to. And we think youre the next from Nigeria.
Whoa Whoa... Me? I'm the next?
Yes. A boy that came out of your house today was the first.
Carl? Wait Did Carl send you to plead on his behalf?
On what or whose behalf Who is Carl? The man stared at her for some seconds. The boy Carl? He was kidnapped by some mysterious uniformed men, one of those watching you. Our investigation made us know they are not in any organization and they are only found at every disappearance. But the problem is that we always meet a dead-end as to where they go'.
That means you want me to spy on them? Allow myself to be kidnapped, Joyce lamented. Her heartbeat raced faster and she exhaled loudly.
Yes. We will plant a signal into your body. It has been known to work anywhere. Even in dead ends, the signal is always strong. You will activate it only when you are fully into the system.
Joyce stared at his black mouth and felt like ramming her fist into it. 'Thats callous. Instead of protecting me, youre sending me into their den. No
I thought you always wanted to be a spy, to work with us. Remember. Only when you're into the system.
But not without proper training or backup. What if What if they want to kill me... to kill all the children?'
Why? Who kills children irrationally? The law of the world, this berserk world, even commands us to be married to populate the world. We have men around the world ready to help you. All I need is your consent.
Let me think about it.
You dont have that luxury. It is either now or never. If you step outside this car, that's the end for all of us.
She stared at the dark, well-trimmed P.I. In a case like this, she loved the odds to be in her favor. No matter what, those people might still come for her. She gave him a curt nod with pinched lips.
'This would be painful', he said as he opened a small black case, and injected something into her body. She groaned as the pain surged through her body, and subsided in a little second.
'You're jumping down in 5, 4, 3'
Joyce was perplexed but braced herself.
'Go'.
The car stopped and she came out of the car, and headed home with trepidation. As she began to climb the staircase towards her the door, her phone rang to show Carl's mum trying to reach her. If that man was right about the disappearances, then it wasn't right for her to pick the call. The moment she inserted her key into its hole, still staring at the ringing phone, the expected pain came and she blacked out.



The full book is available
Okadabooks 250 naira
https://www.okadabooks.com/book/about/purified_tomorrow_the_mad_awakening/17712
Smashwords (Epub, Pdf, Txt, Online): $1
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/797234?ref=Writertain
To get a free copy, drop a review of the former books (if you've not posted it online) here...
http://writertain.com/2018/03/01/drop-reviews-for-akintayo-akinjides-books-here

Divepen1:
Terhide5000 Meneski Speedstaro9 Seunnla patjane cyberprince Clemzy16 iyoha240 Diamondwriter Creeza Lawlahdey
Adesina Jagugu88li allylic ashatoda opal4real prinxxdave Little95 Dannyj19 Marvwhite bigbauer flourishbliss Mariinee favour155 saxwizard sofiaAmrozia preciousuweh Damibiz dhehbbor iamloyalty matrycx precial419 finalboss koopanated kimkardashian
kimberlywest TheBlessedMAN bibijay123 Honeywealth MichaelBlake40 istandi eROCK247 nostradamus Whiydhee amikeem HORLADSTAR great moorevic eniola7 joedreamer Mrmoore14 DOLLAT7852 Lexytee loverboi97 Erinola057 icezi ERF SNOWBOI360
lildiamond Okhagbuzo Akimwale14 glory419 yorubadboi09 Lotiababe harleypearl Queenitee

present sir

HORLADSTAR:
present sir

You're so welcome

The starting point and storyline is great, but Divepen, I think the word "Computer" should be given a name cause it's an Artificial intelligence, and it shouldn't be just called "Computer".

Thanks for inviting me.
The place of no return, Hmmm.

Godwinfury:
The starting point and storyline is great, but Divepen, I think the word "Computer" should be given a name cause it's an Artificial intelligence, and it shouldn't be just called "Computer".

Yes, there were some artificial intelligence that were given names in the a story. But the world leaders want it to remain computer since the same computer is being used everywhere in the world.

queenitee:
Thanks for inviting me. The place of no return, Hmmm.

Yes. the place of no return

Divepen1:
Yes, there were some artificial intelligence that were given names in the a story. But the world leaders want it to remain computer since the same computer is being used everywhere in the world.

Alright sir *Salutes*

5 Tests
Carl watched Diana walk away as if she was a robot. He was sure she was a robot because he couldnt understand how she could get such swift, strong, flawless body. They followed her sheepishly as they passed through so many doors that Carl had to rethink his plan. If he got the chance, he might just run away immediately, probably hide anywhere in the train till he got the chance to escape into the real world. Being the first in the queue gave him the utmost advantage of seeing things ahead before anyone else. The last door opened to the most beautiful park Carl had ever seen. He stopped in his track and the person behind him pushed into him and was going to complain, but had to stop when he noticed the reason Carl stopped. The beauty of the place was too much for him to easily comprehend and keep off his mind. The sky was dark but there were various colors of light beautifying the arena.
There were a lot of flying cars dotting the blank sky. They were not the size of any car he had ever seen. They were smaller, slimmer, longer, and swifter. People gasped and murmured as they swirled beautifully, orderly. They dropped gently a few feet away from the place the Peacelearners stood, with a hushed hum.
A big banner was draped in the sky as if it was printed there, created with beautiful calligraphy and various colors, and it read Welcome, Peacelearners to Etyes. The sight of that alone made one of the Peacelearners walk on, with his mouth agape. He didn't notice the others had stopped walking but he kept staring at the sky. Carl was one of the very few to see what was happening to the guy. He smiled. However, what he saw next wiped his smile away. The boy took another step forward, and the ground opened. The fall was extremely noiseless and fast. The only thing that made others aware of his fall was the way Carl screamed for him to stop, which wasn't as loud as the voice of the boy.
Seeing this, many of the Peacelearners' voices rambled as they huddled together, disregarding people's complaint that they were being squeezed and stepped on. Many of them whimpered and screamed as they tried to avoid being pushed forward. People avoided the place at all cost. Their wide eyes and continuous banters were enough to send fear into the mind of anyone there.
Diana brandished her hideous smile, and placed the P.A system in front of her mouth. 'Even when something fascinates you, never lose focus on your surroundings. You would be having more of this exciting experience. Where they have gone is a place no one has ever come out of. Well, no one the system is aware of'.
Carl stood still in the realization that their training had begun. The little seed of fear Diana planted in him had really grown into a huge tree within a few seconds of meeting him. He wouldn't wait to see it bear fruit. There was no way he wouldn't escape from that place. The problem now was how to find the right time to do so. It would be very irrational of him to follow through his plan of staying behind on the train. He would rather bid his time, make a perfect plan, and see that he followed it through. They couldn't be picked like stones, and dumped in an unknown place. They were humans for crying out loud. They ought to have a better means of punishing people, not just this gruesome method of passing instructions to them.
'Now, you know. The ground is a trap, from here to the place you will be dropped. Meanwhile by tomorrow you will not come near this place until after your fifth year here; by the time you would be going on a field trip or killing expedition', Diana said.
Carl loved that part: killing expedition. And the only person he had a desire to kill at the moment was Diana. She whispered into the button in her hand. Immediately, the cars moved towards them and dropped softly in front of them. Someone made a shout of admiration. Carl was also surprised, but he knew he had to keep his emotion in check, especially in a place like this.
'Your journey wouldn't take long. All you need to do is to cross this trap to the other side. But because we want you to have a good time as Peacekeepers, the cars have been made to travel very slowly. In fact, you would have the feeling you weren't moving, and the essence is for you to be acquainted with your mates. Remember, Peacekeepers are orderly'.
The car had no driver, but he had to comply, being the first. He cleared his voice and climbed into the first car, and was followed by another teenage girl. She slouched into the fairly comfortable chair, and stared at him as if he was a wonder of the world as the car rose and moved very gently. When Carl had tried to no avail to understand its movement, he had to assure himself he was hallucinating about its movement. Except the initial lifting, there was no movement of any sort. At least, when one was in a car, one would have the feeling it was moving. He swallowed hard as he tried to get his mind off the reality that looked like a virtual one.
Sensing the opportunity to talk to the girl with the hooded eyes, and extremely skinny body, he rubbed his hands expectantly. Normally his first thought about her would have been how she coped to survive the various wind that had ever passed by her, and he might have blurted it out to her, but they were instructed to discuss, not to castigate each other. He wouldn't want to be another scapegoat, so he flaunted a big smile.
'This will really take a long time', the girl said and glanced at him. 'Don't you think it ought to move faster?
'I think the first thing we need is an introduction. That should be the first thing. I'm Carl Cokers.
'I caught your name the other time. I'm Regina Matt, and for the record, I detest being flirt with. I hate guys who woo ladies on first meetings. I am not '
'Calm down, typewriter. For the record too, I have a girlfriend. I have ladies outside this place, wherever it might be now, that love me. So, I don't have time to dote over any lady'.
'But none of them is here. And you're a guyWon't you?'
'Calm down, typewriter Regina. Are you not a bit inquisitive about where we are? That should be the priority at this time'.
'I guess I know'.
'Good! That's what I need at the moment'.
'I guess it's a secret world with highly sophisticated weapons, and cool control system. The train that brought us is sleek, even if it didn't move at the time we woke, and their control system is dope. Who can believe that this thing is automated and can be controlled by people with the authority, of course? But it's still cool. From the way we or should I say I was kidnapped, I guess we would be trained to do something big. I mean, you know something big that the police can't do'.
'Government corruption?'
She stared at him with a big sneer. 'Are you for real? It's something like world-war, or a bigger war. The latest research shows that the world has begun to come to a certain scientific realization that would become more than the power of the world leader. The scientists or philosophers, who are suddenly missing now, claimed that people are beginning to come to a realization to the extent that factions would soon rise. There would be a whole lot of breakouts in the system of things'.
Carl stared at her. He followed the news regularly. Although if it were up to him, nothing like news would have ever existed. However, his overbearing mother always ensured he listened to the news. 'I've never seen that in any news'.
She observed him for a while and said, 'come nearer'.
Carl was skeptical about that, but he saw no reason he shouldn't move nearer. At least, he was stronger than she.
Moving very close to his ears, she whispered, 'I got it off the blacknet. Like the death and evaporation of people'.
Shocked, he withdrew. 'You knew about that?'
'Yes. But no one knows why? I think I was about getting to that when I met myself here'.
'Then, they should have recruited us instead of kidnapping us'.
She shrugged. 'The world doesn't need to know. It would disintegrate the system'.
Regina removed her shoe and fixed it in a hole. 'Just like they don't need to know that I brought my game box'.
'But I thought we...Didn't we all... We blacked out, right?'
'Yes, but I built my game in such a way that How do I explain this? I have a fake tooth. It's a remote control. So, the game sort of hovers over me till I call it out. I made it invisible. And both my tooth and my game have passed the cloaking tests of all time'.
Carl stared at her for some seconds and grinned. 'I love your joke. That's really good for this mood'.
He slouched back into the chair as she kept fiddling with her tooth. The information he gave her was too much. He had to make his plan very well. He needed this girl in escaping from this place, but he had to take his time. All he needed was to keep a low profile. She finally removed the front tooth, and dangled it before his eyes.
'I'm not giving you false information'.
He sat up. 'But... That's impossible. They would have made us go through a test, that's even if your claim is true. But... '.
'Not in this world. What are you? Were you born yesterday? Technology is our baby'.
'So, where is it? Where is the game?'
She dipped her hand into her mouth, and croaked as she removed the false tooth. There was no way he would be accosted by another member of that man's gang. Carl rose from his seat as he backed away from her, with his hand in front of him. There was no way he would allow her to put a filthy thing in his hand or mouth like that man.
'Don't try rubbish?'
'Hey, Calm down, Carl. Why are you acting weird? You're freaking me out'.
'Not the way you're freaking me out'.
'The game box is here', she said and pointed to her chest. 'Put your hand here'.
He licked his lower lips, hoping she was joking again. 'You're out of your mind'.
'Seriously'.

Carl stretched his hand slowly and she gave him a reassuring nod. He proceeded. Suddenly, she pulled his hand and slammed it on her breast.
'What?' He yelled as he snatched his hand and jumped back. 'Are you insane? Hope this place is not a mental facility? No wonder that guy was acting weird and Diana...'

Regina fell back, laughing hard as if she would burst from laughing. 'Sorry, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to have a feeling of your hand, that fine hand'.
She winked, sat up and pressed a bulging part of the fake tooth. A small box that had the same size as the battery of a small android phone appeared above her.

Carl hissed. 'What's all these?’
'Watch and see', she muttered as she flipped the grey phone-battery-size box in her hand. Then her eyes brightened as she saw a small button. 'Ah ah'.
Noiselessly, the box unwrapped and expanded. Three screens emerged from it as well as different pads. Carl had to curl up on the small chair in the car to avoid it ramming into him. The games began to hum.

'How did you do this?'
The car began to descend. Regina pressed the button, and the game wrapped itself immediately within the count of five. He glanced up and removed Regina's shoe, that was when he saw a small camera placed there.
'Your shoe. How did you see the camera?
She winked. 'Thanks'.

The car stopped and the door slid open. She sighed loudly as warm air gushed in. 'I love this place'.
Immediately, two of the soldiers rushed into the car to the camera. Regina threw a glance at Carl, who smiled and immediately made a straight face.
The sky was surprisingly dark at that time. He moved back as other cars began to drop with a thud near him. He moved near one of them and checked to see if his hair wasn't ruined, and luckily it was still as perfect as he had left it. He exhaled in relief.
Carl was captivated by Regina and felt like listening to her all day especially as she never ceased to talk, even when they climbed what looked like a hill. Within the few times they had spent together, she had divulged a chunk of information to him, one that he found intriguing.
'Carl'.

Perplexed, he looked sideways to see Fred running towards him. 'Freddy'.
They hugged amidst Fred's heavy pant. For some awkward reasons, Fred's glasses were gone.
'They brought you here. I'm so glad I'm not alone', Fred said as they separated.
'Yes. Me too'.
'Your glasses?'
'I don't know. I think those that brought us here did something to my eyes'.

Carl looked skyward for the first time. They were in a very large field. The road was plastered and was brightened in such glamorous way that still made Carl wish they were recruited into such exquisite arena, and not abducted. A replica of the banner that greeted them at the train landing area was draped in that area of Etyes, also. However, something else caught his attention. An enormous screen indicated: Peace Learners Gather Here. Other people looked about and wandered about in the field. Most of them seemed to be strangers to each other, and hadn't really connected with the others as he had connected with Regina. They moved about like zombies with no leader and no focus. Those whose eyes weren't focused on the unmoving train, walked towards the big screen, slowly, cautiously, while a very few others looked about, exploring.

'If I ever died here, and you escaped, help me take care of Weaver'.
'Well, only my mom knows how to take care of fishes'.
'How I wish Sonia was here?'
Carl shut his eyes and gasped. 'Not again. By the way, Freddy, meet Regina. She's good'.
Regina stared at Fred for a while, transfixed. 'I know you'.

'I'm not sure. I've never left ourour side of the world. Okay, except the day we did that dreadful earth tour'.
'I've never left Ghana also', Regina said.
'You never said you were from Ghana', Carl interrupted her, spinning to face her.
'Yes', she said as she lowered her voice to a whisper. 'I sort of hacked into the exam board's website, and I saw the face of the person with the highest score, you?'
'Yes, you scored 499. Who scores 499 out of 520?'
Fred's face was smeared with a big smile. Carl looked at the sky as he tried to avoid laughing at Fred. Maybe later in life, but ever since he met him, Fred didn't know how to handle criticism and praises.

'I'm Fred and it's nice to meet you, despite the ridiculousridiculous way they brought us with the usage of Xfinus syrup to sedate us, which according to Professor Jones McWidell has caused the memory loss of over 2000 people and the way...'
Carl's mind wandered off again as he marveled at the way the two of them could bond on a level beyond his. He still wondered what he was doing there. Maybe there were others that were like him, but for now, he was the only one that wasn't really a nerd. There must be something else that made him one of the chosen ones. He looked around and at the screen. That was when he saw some very terrifying words on the screen.
'Erm... Geeks'.
The two of them kept discussing nonchalantly.
'Geeks, we have a situation'.
The screen read: 30 SECONDS TO BE WITHIN THE CLOSING WALL.

The seconds began to countdown. Without any logical explanation, a glass wall materialized from the sky, and gradually slid down. Carl ran and heard Fred grunting behind him like a mad pig. Although he wasn't one of the fastest runners, he had an edge over Fred. Despite looking for a way to escape, he preferred to be within the wall and its tyrannous rules than to be outside to know what would happen to those that didn't make it into the wall. Still panting, he ran into the circle, shifted back to avoid those dashing toward him as he fixed his gaze on the two geeks racing into the circle.
Immediately they were within the range of the falling glass, Regina turned to a panting Fred, and they burst into laughter. She held her knees to support herself.
'I told you we would get here withinwithin the next 12 seconds. We made it'.

'Yea', Regina said excitedly as she stood straight and raised her hand for a high-five. Fred gave her a heavy one that made her stagger and chuckle. People ran in from different directions.
'Where are those ones from?' Carl asked.
'There are other trains or the thing that looked like it. I think the train was continental', Fred said.
'Yes. I noticed we were mostly blacks in the compartment of our train. They seemed to pick people from different countries; I could hear the accent of other countries'.

'Yes. How come I never noticed that? You're good, Regina', Fred stated as if he was thinking.
'You too', she said and blushed.
They exchanged glances. Carl shook his head at them and turned to watch in horror as the wall closed off. People ran into it and hit the wall. When the wall was firmly locked, the people outside kept hitting it, while a few others tried to make sure their noses were pressed against the glass.
***
Diana watched the whole sides alongside other yellow-uniform supervisors. She only smiled when she saw Carl entered the circle. He was extraordinarily attractive, maybe because she always loved calm people. She clicked some buttons and the computer printed the information.
People within the wall:148
People outside the wall:243
Competition rate:91%
Chances of those to finish the program:15



Diana smiled. The number of people, who made it to the circle this year was 65 more than last year's, and only 5 of the last ones got to the end. But this year there was an extra person.
'Peacetrackers, who is the extra one and from where?'

The computer printed the information, and she smiled grandly. She had totally forgotten about Joyce Felix, the girl who had several factors that brought her down there.
'Peacetrackers, did she make it to the wall?'
The computer printed her information on the screen. Diana shook her head.
'Okay. Plunge those outside the wall into the trial room, and push those within the wall into the welcome room'.

A rectangular wall cut out of the round wall, and began to close in on those within the walls. A door at the far end opened. The Peacelearners hurriedly filed into the welcome room, some other people of their age range or a bit higher were waiting for them.
Meanwhile, the ground had parted ways under those outside the wall. They were plunged into a soft ground, into a thick darkness. No one had ever returned from that place.

Diana smiled. This was the life she wanted for her protégé, but the naughty girl chose a different company-man-like path. She placed her hand over her mouth and stared at the computer screen. 'Why do I still love her?'
No one needed to tell her that her Protégé was her weakness. She knew. But it was a secret.

Brilliant piece. .. kept me glued.. I hope there is more?

ERF:
Brilliant piece. .. kept me glued.. I hope there is more?

There is... The an book is avail able but if you're patient I'll post it here..

6 Poked


Carl was silent throughout their walk through the stampede from the glass box to a big hall labeled 'Conference Room'. Some of the soldiers wearing yellow uniforms opened the door, and stood by the door as if nothing could move them.

The Peacelearners spread across the hall. Despite their naivety, and fear, some of them began to pick their seat at different positions in the hall. The hall was so big that it could contain the population of the present world. It was draped with those banners, which he had considered beautiful at the beginning, but now considered one of the instruments of destruction. The hall was a good example of lovely halls and Coliseums used by the Romans, who believed in public executions and battles. He wished he had a better history about the Romans, the Greeks, the Asians, the previous world. All they gave them in history classes were crumbs of these people. The hall was beautifully adorned with theatrical lamps that danced from one end of the hall to the other. Cool air soaked the hall.
Carl carefully walked with Regina and Fred; the two geeks moved towards the beginning of the hall - prepared to grab anything if the ground opened. They kept rambling and whispering. He would have found it amusing or wouldn't have been concerned about them at all, if they didn't keep asking for his opinion on many things such as what formula could possibly help in the creation of the hall. How was he to know such details, when the only thing he cared about was his health, and ability to be an alpha male?

He glanced at them from time to time, wondering what he was chosen for. Many of the people there were more of geeks. He was nothing and would be of no use to this cause, which he was sure he was beginning to hate. He sat and took the details of the room in. Cool air brushed the part of his body that was opened. He rubbed his hands together. The white girl beside him rubbed her hands also, wheezed, and looked ahead like a statue. He wondered what was running in her mind and hoped to have the opportunity to sit like that for months undisturbed. Then, she sniffed.

'Are you alright?' He asked.
She nodded and sniffed again. Despite not knowing her, he rubbed her arm and smiled assuredly at her beautiful face.
'Calm down. It will be fine. That means crying shouldn't be part of our way here'.
The girl nodded severally as tears streamed down her eyes.
'What will happen to our parents? What will happen to those that were thrown into that horrible hole? What if I don't meet their standards? What will happen to me?'

'You are working yourself up. See, our parents are worried about us already. And we will not do them any good by crying or worrying about to them too. And for that hole, I'm also afraid. But I told myself, if I can make it to this hall without any fear then I can make it through anything they might want to bring'.
'You seems so confident', the girl said coyly as she rubbed away her tears.
He winked. 'I'm pretending to be confident. You should see me when we were running. You would think my tail was on fire. That means all these are for show'.
The girl smiled. 'Me too. Oh God! I thought I wouldn't make it'.

'Same here, as I was beside two geeks. By the way, if that fat guy over there could make it, I see no reason a beautiful, slim girl like you shouldn't make it. That means you're swift and beautiful'.
She smiled. 'I'm Iris'.
'I'm Carl'.
'You're the Carl. There's been rumor about you. We heard one of the Instructors or whoever they are took a liking to you'.
'Don't mind her. She just made me an object of attack', Carl said and pointed to the front. 'That's her. She is...'
'She is what, hot?' Iris said and winked.
Carl gave her fake frown. She laughed.

'Please, let silence be a part of this place', Diana said into a microphone. 'Today, we welcome a new set of Peacekeepers into our world, to our home Etyes. At this point, you will have many questions, but they won't be answered just yet. You would only be given such liberty when you would be made to go through a medical test. And by that time, there won't be room for much questions because you won't have need for any question. Some of you would want to run away. Don't try it. This is home now. However, I must tell you that people chosen to this place are those who got the highest in different exams. Some of you got the highest in their normal exams. While some of you got more than five of the hidden questions in your exams. This test required having the best attitude'.

Carl looked around to see curiosity staining the faces of most of the Peacelearners. But nobody dared mumble any question.
'All right then, proceed to the dining room, where you will meet your handlers. Remember, orderliness'.
Iris glanced at him and he shrugged as they rose. Everyone followed the person near the door she pointed to. Although the hall wasn't like the one they just left, it was massive and was fashioned in a way that one would know that it was a dining table. The only peculiar thing about their tables was that they had glass demarcations. Each of them had side demarcations too.

Carl opened his mouth in awe as he saw the large hall. It was very big and would house a great number of people. Light glowed from the big balls of tiny lights that had many colors. Their light raced from one end of the room to the other. Different chandeliers hung from the roof. The room was divided into six parts by barricades, and each section was labelled with different names. Carl could only see three of them- Peacelearners, Troublefinders and Mouths.
They followed Diana into the room labelled 'Peacelearners'.

Diana spoke into the P.A System, 'Find your names and seats. Oh! The last name first. Search for your last name.' Everyone moved about silently as they searched for their names. The hall was wrapped with in the serenity of a musical. A tiny guy ran into him and steadied himself. The boy shouldn't have been there, especially with blind eyes as his. He mumbled, 'Sorry', and ran off.

Carl stared at him as he stumbled away, and at his own silver cloth. The cloth made them look like a sort of experiment. If Carl was given the chance to pay back at the boy for being so stupid, he would have shown him the back of his head with a suitable slap. With the stature of the boy, he might begin to have a great hatred for lanky people; being around them meant trouble. He brushed dirt off his clothe.
'We look like an experiment in these things', he muttered to Iris as they both searched for their names.

'On the brighter side, we look like divers'.
'Drivers?'
'You heard me', she said and hit his shoulders. 'I'm looking for Cole'.
'Oh! That's cool. Coals are always cool. But when set on fire they can be hot like the beauty in front of me'.
Iris looked at him quizzically. Then, her face brightened as she realized he was playing on the words. She laughed. 'You're funny, cow'.
They searched for a few seconds and found their names beside themselves. The table was as wide as a table tennis board. However, it was very long.

'Hey, Carl. I found my seat', Fred shouted from the opposite side. He smiled at Carl. Everyone looked at Carl, some for too long. Regina was beside him. Carl looked at her quickly. The two seemed to get along easily and seemed not to care about what might happen next, as though they had no fear. Their countenances, unlike that of every other person around them, were different and incomprehensible. Carl smiled. They've given him hope, and he would wallow in that. A little hope was surely good for making the best plan in the world.
'Thank you', Iris said, making him come out of his fear.
'For?'

'For making me laugh. With you, I think I have no fear, as though you're a fear trashcan'.
'You shouldn't be afraid. That means that where fear treads, problem gets attracted to such place'.
Iris nodded. 'How do we get food?'
'I've been wondering too except they want us to eat the table'.
'Oh! Why didn't I think of that', Iris said and smiled. She sniffed again and smiled brighter as she shook her head.
'Have you seen your seat?' Diana asked.
Carl looked about and saw the lanky guy, who ran into him the other time, raising his hand. 'Yes, what's your name?'
The boy replied inaudibly.a
'I can't hear you. You will have to do better'.
'Jonathan Zane', the boy screamed as if he had been stung by a bee. Fear played in his voice.
'With that name, you should know that your name should be at the end of everything'.

The boy throttled off. Carl watched him and smiled warily. He shouldn't be too hard on the boy. He must still be afraid, they all were. But if anyone could make it into the conference room, he was sure they were brave and strong enough to endure anything.
'Now, press the button in front of your table. It will take you through a tutorial of what to eat. But today, you're lucky. Your handlers have been informed of your arrival and they've been waiting for you', Diana said and pointed to the door.

A large number of young people filed into the room. Many of them would be around eighteen to twenty years old, Carl thought, since he was just 17 years old, and many of those he came with were within the same age bracket. He didn't expect anyone to be younger than that. Their uniforms were different- black, grey, white, and blue. These one had been there before them and he hoped to be with one that also had plans on escaping from that place. No matter how much he would have enjoyed the competition of this place, he wouldn't want to end up where the others ended.

'By the way, I'll like to welcome the youngest, and brightest among them. I would have told you her age but most of you might want to tackle her because of that and she might break your heads. She is in her second year. She was last year's best Peacelearner and had even beaten the ranks of a TroubleFinder. She was involved in the operation that brought many of you from Africa to this place', Diana said beaming. 'Fortunately she has been assigned to be the handler of the freshman, who had proven to be a great Peacekeeper. He also got the highest in our aptitude test. What's that his name again? Carl...Carl Cokers.’

Carl's eyes roamed to Fred, who gave him a thumbs-up with excitement glowing on his fat cheeks. Murmuring crept into the midst of the Peacelearners and it took a bit of cough from Diana to send calm into the hall again. Iris winked and flashed him a bright smile. By this time his heart was thumping. What if this handler decided to be a strict follower of rules? Those best students are mostly always upholding the rules of any organization. His handler might give him a tough time, and he hated the fact that his handler might top the list of those he hated, sending Diana to the second place.
'Her name is Sonia Banks. Please, come up here. Let the Peacelearners see you'.
Carl held his breathe as she walked past him. He glanced at Fred, who seemed to have stopped breathing too. His smile froze, and his mouth agape.
***

Richard checked the pad in his hand again as he fiddled with his pen. That was the third day, and he hadn't gotten a confirmation of Joyce's entry into whatever place they were. Such thing pointed to something: they were killing the children. Joyce was right and he had just led to her death. He bit his lower lips. No one must even hear of it. How would any of his superiors hear that he had done something as reckless as that? None of them gave him the go-ahead to do what he did. He knew what their reply would have been, so he didn't even bother to tell them what had happened because they would disprove it; instead, they would have wanted him to send in someone with enough training, which might take years that weren't available.

From what he could say, the kidnapping was for a big purpose. The problem was that no one could see the links between these kidnapping. They claimed they were random and he was angry at them for their shortsightedness. While they were having their regular secret meeting, some of them claimed that not only students from college were disappearing and that if they were really focused on children, they wouldn't have gone to the extent of kidnapping other people. He claimed that wasn't their Mode of Operation. They were meticulously picking college students from each country. They were being taken for a reason. But the others disproved his theory, saying that blood stains were found on some of the place of disappearance. Moreover, three people were taken out of Nigerian that year. How would he link those together?
Richard wore his glasses and pressed a button on the side. They resorted to using that method for communication after the world government began to tap their messages and calls etc.
'Get me the director', Richard said to the computer.
'The director has refused to see you until you start raking in money by finding missing people for the firm'.
Richard was perplexed. He had never known the director to treat him in such manner.
'Tell him I need his authorization for something'.
'I'm sorry Agent Richard', the computer said. 'I'll have to take you off the system unless you will like to talk to someone else in the organization'.

Richard stood from his seat as he made his conclusion. They needed to use a clog-effect. They would catch one of the kidnappers, then they would surely interrogate him till he gave them the necessary answer. The problem now was that they don't know who these kidnappers were, and what they wanted, and how to catch any of them. He picked his phone and called Tina, the only lady that believed him.
'Thin, I need to talk to the director'.
'You know what you have to do', she said coyly. He removed the phone and stared at it.
'C'mon. Give me something else. Another favor. I'll repay you'.

'That's what you've always promised. I need this favor. If you're ready, meet me at my place'.
Richard stared at the door. What does he have to lose? He was in a make-believe marriage. The law of the world was that everyone must be married and must bear children. But since he wasn't ready to have such lifestyle, he married a woman who didn't really believe in such too. They have lived happily after. And he wouldn't break his celibacy just yet. He dropped the glasses on the table, wore a polo shirt, picked his small car key and got out of the room.
***
There are some things that shouldn't be done or tried if you haven't done your calculations well. An example of that was what Joyce was about to do. She placed her feet down and someone screamed, 'who is that?'
She jumped and hit someone behind her. This person screamed. The whole place was so dark that even the eyes couldn't adjust to it.
'It's okay', Joyce shouted as she ran into someone else.

Someone else was shouting for calm as people began to mumble and fidget. The lady kept shouting for calm until everyone kept quiet. The lady's voice was strong and authoritative like someone that used to be Senior girl” in her school. Joyce stood her ground. What could she have done better? When she saw the wall, she should have run as if her mind depended on it. And yes, she did. But, she was just too late.
'Is anyone near a wall?' The lady shouted. Nobody answered. 'Are you telling me this place is an open space? Someone must be near something'.
'If it's of any of help, I am holding a sort of rail', a male voice shouted.
'That's good. I think since we are not dead they must have a reason for keeping us. So we need to be calm about what is coming', the lady said.
'But I didn't ask for this', a lady shouted.
'Yes...' Another affirmed.
'They brought us against our will. It should have been voluntary. At least, they would have gotten people dedicated to whatever training they were giving here'.


'Shut up your mouths, you rats, and new comers. You're disturbing us', someone shouted. 'If you need advice on how to endure here, you better come near. No one can ever leave this place, but I can tell you how to survive'.
'If we find our way around this thing, we can find a way out, at least to a place out of the dark', the first girl shouted.
'You will only waste your lives if you believe her. We've been here for how long? You'll all suffer, if you don't come near', the opposing voice said.
'I prefer to die, waiting in the dark than try something that is not real', someone else shouted.
'You're wise. If you don't want to die the same way many have died, stay here. We've been here for long, but it was better than anything you've ever known. It opens the mind to some philosophical truth that men can't fathom'.
'Whoever spoke last should shut up that nasty mouth. Cowards', the girl with the authoritative voice said. 'Now, I am near the rail. Anyone that isn't ready to die down here should follow me by signifying with a loud noise'.

'I', Joyce shouted before she could stop herself. She preferred to die than remain in the darkness. They've been there for long expecting redemption, but it wasn't coming. They had to find it themselves or die trying. She wanted to activate the tracker immediately they got down, but she knew how wise she was for not pressing it. If she died someone else would take the glory. She was the one that made the discovery, and she would be the one to get it. All she needed was to work with the right people and she would get all the access she need.

'Come towards the rail', the lady said,' towards my voice'.
'I', a male voice came also in reply, and about three other people joined the cause.
Joyce heaved as she hoped she was doing the right thing. A good PI should have a hunger for danger. And that was the reason she agreed to do this in the first place. If not, she would have kept running till someone found out about those kidnapping. She was good at running and would have done anything to avoid them.

People complained and yelped as she tried to find her way to the rail, but she was undeterred. The darkness was comparable to blindness.
'Any other person? The lady shouted near her. 'And if you are not for us, move aside.’
'Where should we move to?' A frail male voice asked.
'You ask my hand when it starts moving. I will count to fifty. Anyone coming should do so and anyone not with us should move away'.
'Why?' Asked the guy with the frail voice again.
'Because I build hope in the heart of those that have fear and I would not allow anyone take that hope from them'.

'I'm here', Joyce said. The lady seemed rattled.
'Oh! Let me start my counting'.
Joyce weighed her option as the lady counted the numbers, slowly and loudly. She wouldn't make any impact by staying back in that place.
'Right now, we want to see how we can get out of this stupid thing', the lady said after she had made sure they were alone. 'I plan to go first'.
'Don't you think we should wait for them', someone asked.
The lady was quiet for some time.
'Why are you here in the first place?' Joyce asked.
'That's the spirit', the lady said.
Joyce beamed. Yet, she wouldn't revel in the little achievement. They still had to leave the place.

hmm Gud sha

wow

Carl....Fred....Paul

Such 4-letter generic names.

This is another weak attempt at a genre so far no one on NL has gotten right.

ExInferis:
Carl....Fred....Paul

Such 4-letter generic names.

This is another weak attempt at a genre so far no one on NL has gotten right.

Learn to encourage people. Haba.

Présente

ExInferis:
Carl....Fred....Paul
Such 4-letter generic names.
This is another weak attempt at a genre so far no one on NL has gotten right.

Thanks for talking...

nuoladee:
Learn to encourage people. Haba.

Thanks a lot jare ...

nuoladee:
Learn to encourage people. Haba.

Thanks a lot jare ...