Free Savage Run by E. J. Squires Page B

school nickname. “I see how it is. Tit for tat.”
    “ Gotta stand up for
myself.” Peering out the window, I see Volkov Village. From what
I’ve read in the Daily Republic, the city will house the
participants in Savage Run and travel around to different
continents where the obstacle courses will be taking place. The
perfectly round oceanic city used to be gray, with oil stains
around the edges and on the docks, and made up of squat, iron
buildings. This city was the very one that brought General Volkov
and his Unifers to our country sixty-six years ago. A few years
later, after President Volkov Sr. had completely restructured our
society, it was turned into a cargo ship carrying crude oil, goods,
and Laborers to different parts of the world. When the rest of the
world rejected the notion of tiered societies shortly after, they
put pressure on President Volkov Sr. to conform. He flat out
refused and immediately made it illegal to trade or do business
with any other nation. President Volkov Sr. had structured Newland
to be one hundred percent self-sufficient, so it didn’t affect us.
And when President Volkov Jr. took over, he just continued on as
his father had done before him. However, the leaders of the other
nations were dependent on Newland’s supply of oil—the only known
oil left on the planet—and asked him to reconsider. He told them to
go to hell.
    Now, the city is quite changed from what it
used to be, with skyscrapers in the middle and shiny metal
buildings gradually shrinking the closer they get to the outer
edge. In fact, it looks like an upside down spinning-top.
    But there’s something I hadn’t expected to
see around the city on the water. Barges and tankers—ships that
carry crude oil—are leaving the docks. “Where are the ships
heading?” I look at Nicholas.
    “ Thanks to Savage Run, the
hosting countries will have their share of oil for an entire
year.”
    “ Why did he create the
Savage Run, exactly?
    Mai interrupts and points. “Volkov Park,
named after…I’ll give you one guess.”
    I wonder if her intrusion was intentional.
Do they think I’m asking too many questions? I look at a bare steel
area at the edge of the city. In the center of the park, there’s a
statue of a man holding his right arm out in front of him. The
statue must be gigantic, since I can see it all the way from
here.
    The aircraft flies past the city and does a
U-turn, after which it descends rapidly and lands on the water.
After the plane touches down, it glides for a while before arriving
at the front of a dock. The captain turns off the seatbelt sign. I
take a deep breath and try to ignore the butterflies attacking my
stomach.
     
     
     

Part 2
     
    Survival
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    The moment we step off the aircraft, I climb
into one of four oversized transporters, making sure I don’t get
into the same one as Johnny. It’s a quick drive to the gated
facility we are to spend the night. A long row of Unifers stands at
attention outside the walls, gripping their firearms, and they all
carry the same hateful expression, like everyone around them is an
enemy, a suspect to ward off.
    We drive in through shiny steel gates with a
“V” on one gate and a “V” on the other. Am I just entering another
prison? Another world in which President Volkov can control me?
What will really happen if I survive this program? Ruth said that
trusting him is like digging your grave with three sticks of
dynamite. What did she really mean by that?
    Passing through the middle of two long rows
of Unifers, I see a huge banner above:
     
    Those who trade in
essential freedom for fleeting security deserve neither freedom nor
security. Welcome, Savages!
     
    We drive by a few office buildings, and a
cafeteria. My stomach rumbles—I haven’t eaten since this morning
and I feel weak. Will they be providing us with food? The
transporter stops in front of a huge roundabout. The place is
already crawling with participants and their