I Am Alive Read Free Page B

information about us and connects it to the iAm from the day we are born until we’re sixteen. Right now, the iAm and the Summit know that the owner of Eva’s iAm is a Monster, and that the owner of mine is a Seven. Switching the iAms now will work. I’ve been studying this for a whole year, and I know what I am talking about. There is a program that allows you to divert the iAm to a different receptor, which means a different teenager. This is how the Summit forges the results when they want to get rid of rebellious teenagers.”
    Mrs. Delacroix, although still dizzy from the shock, must be wondering how I know all this. How I suddenly changed from that damsel-in-distress girl to a rebel. She takes Eva’s iAm, opens it, and starts working her magic.
    “You know that this will make Eva a Seven, and you’ll become a Monster. Don’t you?” She locks the iAm, and types on the computer. I see Eva’s data and mine being switched. “Why would anyone do this? Why would you want to be a Monster?”
    “None of your business,” I threaten her by pushing the electric cattle prod closer to her.
    After she finishes, I snatch the magnetic card that opens the door away from her, and tuck it in my pockets, along with the two iAms.
    “I wanted to cry,” Mrs. Delacroix mumbles. “When I killed my children. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t.” An unborn teardrop seems to argue its way out of her eyes. “You know why I couldn’t? Because the iAm would pick up on it, and I didn’t want that to happen. In our nation, we have to accept these sacrifices, right? It’s for the best interest of us all. It’s our fate that we can’t control.”
    I throw her one last disgusted look, and I don’t hesitate to buzz her to sleep. “I guess I’ll have to sacrifice you now. I’ve decided that this is your fate, child-killer.” I walk to the door with the only magnetic card that opens the door from the outside. Mrs. Delacroix won’t wake up for hours to ask for help, and no one will know she is hurt. They will think she is working inside.
    The first thing I do when I get out is plaster a naïve and innocent smile on my face again, before I stumble intentionally over another boy’s shoes. I’ve managed to fool them all, but that’s only the start.

4
    The students in the bus celebrate like crazy. We’re entering Faya’s capital, Sol, the most beautiful city in the world. Sol is a half hour drive from my town, Eve. Everyone is excited as we enter underneath the beautiful palm trees and hills surrounding it. The drones of celebration are euphoric. This year is going to be special. Not just because it’s Ranking Day, but because it’s the tenth year of the Monster Show, which was invented when I was six years old. We pass by a huge effigy of a Burning Man on our way. The Burning Man is no joke. We have to lower our voices and heads, and pay our respects to the symbol of Faya. The Burning Man is a representation of our God Almighty.
    The bus enters the neighborhood where Grand School is located. This is where the graduation will take place. Fireworks will blast against the night sky during the ceremony later, and I see white zeppelins floating and watching us. Teachers and senior students are waving at us from the zeppelins’ balconies, wishing us a happy Ranking Day.
    In front of us, dozens of other buses drive slowly toward the Grand School’s dome. Booming speakers are pumping music that sounds like restless heartbeats on a dance floor. To the left and right, girls are dressed in bright yellow latex trousers, dancing with colorful pink scarves in their hands. Beautiful, muscular boys are playing the big drums that are strapped on their broad shoulders. Senior boys tease and take pictures of us. Ariadna poses for the camera instantly. I shy away, but she pulls me into the frame. I plaster my fake smile on, and let the flashes hit me. I blink like always, and mess up the photo shoot.
    Hundreds of girls, younger than sixteen, jog