The Recall Trials Chapter 75: Twelve Graves Before Breakfast

Vincent’s POV

The mont I stepped through the exit door, blinking against the brightness, the heat of the lava pit was still clinging to my skin, making the cold outside feel like ice.

One by one, the others stumbled out behind ..burned, shaking, breathless. Only a handful made it.

The heat behind vanished like it had

And then...there they were.

The masked n.

Lined up like statues, identical in their matte-black uniforms. Their faces hidden behind those blank, circular masks.

Behind , the heavy door creaked again as the others stumbled in...what was left of them.

Coughs. Wheezes. I turned my head and saw one of the contestants, a tall boy with dirt sared across his face, trying to muffle his cries into his palm.

Next to him, a girl trembled as she leaned against a wall, hands bleeding from the burns on her palms.

Zaara stumbled through next, gasping, her eyes darting wildly across the hallway like she was looking for soone.

Two other contestants.

She ran.

Her arms wrapped around them with a broken sound in her throat. They collapsed into each other, crying, shaking. There were no words..

"She made it," I heard one of them whisper. "Oh my God, she made it."

Soone else was sobbing hard behind . I turned to see Luca.

"It’s not fair," he muttered.

Another contestant, Dinesh was gripping the side of his head, muttering curses under his breath.

"They killed them. They killed them all. This ga is a f***ing slaughterhouse."

Still... the masked n said nothing.

And then..

"Carter?!"

Jojo called out, panicking.

Heads turned towards her.

Her eyes were wide, frantically scanning the group. "Where is he?" she scread. "Where’s Carter?!"

The silence that followed was deafening.

"No, no...he was right behind !" she gasped. "He was behind !"

Zaara stepped forward. "Wait... the tir. There were only seconds left..."

"Oh my God. Ten seconds. There were less than ten seconds...." Jojo turned toward the exit door. "We have to go back! I have to go back)!."

She and Zaara moved forward in sync, charging toward the still-open door.

But then...

A figure erged.

A slow limp.

A silhouette swaying with every step.

Carter.

His body was battered, blood trailing down his arm, one shoe missing. But his face was set, like he’d stared death in the face and walked anyway.

Gasps rang out.

Jojo froze. Her hands flew to her mouth.

Zaara let out a sharp breath.

He made it.

The masked n stepped forward, shutting the door behind Carter.

It was ti to go back.

One of the masked n raised a gloved hand and pointed forward.

Back to the room.

None of us questioned it.

We followed in silence....

so dragging their feet, so limping, others leaning on each other just to stay upright.

The mont we stepped back into the main room... silence.

But not for long.

Every bed now had a tray placed neatly at its center...

Breakfast.

Eggs, toast, so kind of at. A red juice. Too red.

"I’m gonna be sick," soone cried.

"You think we can eat after that?" another shouted, flipping the tray. The food clattered to the floor, as scrambled eggs flew.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THEM?" soone else scread at the ceiling. "You expect us to eat like nothing happened?!"

Another boy just sat down on his bed and laughed."They’re feeding us like cattle before the next slaughter."

I watched.

Zaara sat quietly on the edge of her bed. Her face was pale. Her eyes t mine as she kept staring at .

Across the room, Jojo slowly lowered herself onto her bed. Her bandaged hand trembled as she picked up a piece of bread, stared at it...then put it back down.

Dinesh broke down again beside his tray, pushing it away like it offended him.

"There were eight-two of us this morning," he sobbed. "Now we’re seventy . And we’re just supposed to eat?"

"You’re saying..." jojo whispered.

"Twelve didn’t make it."

Dead silence.

Then Carter spoke.

"Twelve people... died. In twenty minutes."

"What sort of ga is this?"

"That wasn’t a ga," Nomi said softly. "That was hellfire."

Soone let out a bitter, broken laugh.

"They said ’Trust your instincts,’" Luca mumbled. "My instincts told to stay in bed."

"So this is what they do? Drop us into volcanoes and serve us scrambled eggs afterward?"

Carter gave a dry, lifeless chuckle.

"Death for breakfast. Trauma with toast."

Soone near the wall broke down crying again.

Jojo stood suddenly.

"Twelve people just died. We can’t pretend this is normal. We can’t just eat and move on like it’s a normal goddamn Tuesday."

"Then what do we do?" Theo asked. "Refuse to eat? Starve ourselves? Throw another protest?"

Then the speaker crackled.

"Congratulations, contestants. You’ve made it through the sixth trial."

"You now have 48 hours to rest before the next ga begins."

People shifted uncomfortably.

"And guess what?" the voice continued.

"A party will be hosted tonight in the lounge. Music. Drinks. And... ten private rooms with beds and soundproofed walls. If you want to satisfy yourselves before the next trial...well, now’s your chance."

My head tilted slightly.

I caught Zaara glancing at .

Quick. Hesitant. Like her body moved before her mind caught up.

She looked away just as fast.

"Your new outfits are already waiting in your lockers."

"Oh," the voice added.

"Your prize money has officially increased to $800 million."

The speaker clicked off.

Nomi snapped, standing. "Are they really encouraging people to hook up after half the room burned alive?!"

Silence.

Until I said it...out loud.

"Let’s toast to the fallen. At least the dead don’t have to dance."

Eyes snapped toward .

"You’re sick."

"You’re a goddamn psycho," Luca muttered.

"You smiled while people burned," Jojo hissed her teeth.

I shrugged.

"Their instincts failed them. That’s not my fault."

Dinesh’s fist hit the wall.

"You enjoyed it?! People scread for their lives!"

"And they died beautifully," I replied.

Gasps.

Zaara stared at and whispered, "You’re a monster".

"Finally," I said. "Soone gets it."

Then Dinesh laughed...

He pointed between Zaara and .

"You know what’s funny?"

No one answered.

"No, really. It’s hilarious," he said louder. "She’ll probably still hook up with you tonight."

Everyone froze.

Zaara’s face went pale.