Rite of Passage

 

Chapter 1- Rite of Passage

 

“Pencils down class” Vault 101 Teacher Mr. Botch called out to the class, the teenagers lined out in neat rows of seats before him. Michelle Dark dropped her pencil onto the desk, throwing her head back and clasping her palms over her eyes, rubbing her fingers into the tight muscles in an attempt to release the tension which had been building up inside of her.

“Alright, class dismissed. Remember to hand in your test papers. You don’t want to know what happens to those who fail the G.O.A.T. To everyone else, well there are always openings in the maintenance department”

Michelle begrudgingly rose silently to her feet, feeling her muscles strain under the influence of the mental fatigue the G.O.A.T had inflicted upon her. She looked across the room at the dismayed faces of all of the others who had just suffered through the test- some showed relief, others confidence in their success, most hover looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Among the rows of familiar faces she noticed Amata- she was different, unique. Amata’s expression was not bland and simple like the others; her features showed a sea of conflict amid dozens of emotions and thoughts. Something which was not easily deciphered.

Michelle approached the front of the classroom, handing her paper into the Mr. Botchs waiting hands. Mr. Botchs eyes scanned across the papers- reviewing the answers with a keen eye. “Well it seems that you are set up to be the Vaults Chaplain. Looks like our souls are all heading downwards from here”

She smirked at his response. “I am afraid so sir. You better get in a few extra prayers as insurance before I take over”

He chuckled “I might just do that”

Michelle stepped away; she could hear the next engagement unfolding behind her “Congratulations Butch, looks like you are destined to be a Hairdresser”

“Barber! I’m a Barber” He cried in his defence.

 

***********************************

Michelle left the dark confines of the Vault classroom, stepping into the brightly lit corridor. Before she could react she felt a strong presence forcing her against the solid wall, soft warmth pressing her against the cool cement.

“Heh, heh. You really are too easy to fool” Amata giggled as her best friend writhed and squirmed beneath her, Amata Almodovar’s palms pressed against the wall to keep her pinned.

“Hey, let me go!” Michelle cried out in protest, attempting to wiggle her way out of her friends grasp.

“Or what?” Amata spoke with the sly, surly grin of someone on a high after discovering they were destined to take over as Vault Overseer.

“Come on, what if Butch or our dads see this?” Michelle’s voice was laced thick with fear.

Amata considered the prospect, and eventually surrendered, releasing her hold on her friend. Michelle stepped back, giggling gleefully as she watched her friend attempt to make any sense of the last few moments.

“Ah, lighten up Mich, just having a little fun after facing down the ‘terrifying’ G.O.A.T” Amata joked.

“Yeah. Easy for you to laugh, you’re the Overseer’s daughter; even if you got marked down as a ‘Garbage Burner’ they would still rig the results to say ‘Chief Supervisor’”

“Yeah, great to have a powerful dad isn’t it?” Amata said sweetly.

“Heh heh. Yeah, sure. Come on, let’s go down to the generator level, I wanna test my new laser sight for my BB gun”

 

*****************************************

Crack. The round impacted the target, swinging it around wildly on its support, finally coming to rest after several rotations.

“Nice shot” Michelle congratulated her.

Amata reached for another clip of ammunition, thrusting each individual round in the weapon with the precision skill born of years of practice.

“Roach!” Micelle called out.

Amata turned to face the new threat- finding the target. She fired on the creature- blasting the creature’s hind legs right out from underneath it. But the creature persisted- clawing its way into the safety of the darkness. But Amata dropped the beast with her next shot. “Yeah! One less roach for the security guards to deal with”

“Confident are we?” Michelle retrieved the weapon, taking aim. “Watch this” Three shots. Three rotating targets. “Beat that”

“Alright, how about a contest- first to hit all three targets simultaneously wins the round”

Michelle clasped her palm into Amata’s “Can’t refuse the overseers daughter.

Amata took aim- striking each target effortlessly, one after the other.

She handed the weapon to Michelle, watching as she downed the target with uncanny precision- striking each target without even pausing to take a breath. She smirked at Amata. “Looks like I win”

“Bullshit, I’ll show you how to shoot”

She snatched the rifle from her, repeating the ritual with the same lack of effort and achieving identical results.

“Alright” Amata said. “How about we increase the stakes”