Air rushed into her lungs. Her muscles ached. Her head screamed. Her neck throbbed. Flashing open, her eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a barn. An old barn. Made of wood. She was wearing a white jumpsuit with the number “Twenty-One” printed on it. Slowly she rose to her feet. A sudden gasp startled her as she spun around. It was a man, with messy hair, wearing the same jumpsuit as her but with the number “Eleven” printed on it. He was only a few feet from her. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, spinning around, shocked by his environment. His eyes then locked onto hers.

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” she quickly replied, shaking her head while stepping back.

“Who are you?”

She looked at her hands, and then returned to his gaze, “I don’t know...”

When he saw how frightened she was, his demeanor softened. Staring behind her, he broke eye contact. She turned to find a massive opening in the barn. He sped towards it.

Once he left the barn, he found that it was surrounded by an endless field of wheat. The sky was a light blue, with perfect clouds hovering above him. The woman joined him, amazed by what she saw.

“Do you remember anything?”

“No,” she replied.

Abruptly they heard a snap. When they turned to see what had caused the noise they found an odd package wrapped in brown paper lying on the floor of the barn.

Entering the barn, the man (Eleven) approached the package, Twenty-One followed. A white note was attached to it,

For Eleven and Twenty-One

Cautiously, curiously, and carefully, he ripped apart the paper and opened the package. Inside was a shiny shotgun. Picking it up, he examined it. The gun was heavy, and seemed newer. Eleven peaked inside the chamber of the firearm, a single shell was lying inside of it.

“Is it loaded?”

Eleven nodded.

“Just a single shell. But why?”

Suddenly, a masked man burst out of the wheat field, rushing into the barn wielding a sharpened knife. Twenty-One screamed, rushing behind Eleven. He speedily pointed the barrel towards the masked man. 

“Stop!”

The masked man continued charging.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!”

He raised his knife up high. Eleven aimed at the man’s legs and pulled the trigger. An explosion went off, small pellets burst from the shell and were released from the firearm. A pain filled roar rang out. The masked man fell onto the floor, his knees gushing with blood. Eleven warily walked up to him and kicked his knife away.

“Who are you! What have you done to us!”

The man didn’t respond, Eleven beat his knee. The man screeched, sending shivers down Eleven’s spine. It was unearthly.

“Who are you!”

The man continued to ignore him. Eleven proceeded to kick the man’s injury again but Twenty-one stopped him.

“Please, he’s not talking, just stop.”

Abruptly, the masked man lunged forwards and grabbed Twenty-One's leg, pulling her to the ground. Quickly Eleven smashed the gun into the man’s head, immediately knocking him out. He pulled Twenty-One to her feet.

“Stay behind me, understand?”

She nodded, Eleven peeked inside the gun to see the strangest thing. Another shell lying in the chamber. He checked for a magazine but found none. He had fired the gun, yet another shell had miraculously appeared in the chamber.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s loaded. It loaded itself.”

“That’s not possible.”

A horn blared. Eleven and Twenty-One shook, the sound piecing them to their core. Three more masked men emerged from the wheat and entered the barn, all gripping deadly knives. They began charging. Eleven once again cocked the gun and began firing at the masked men. He killed two, but left the third one injured. Walking up to the injured attacker, Eleven pointed the barrel at his head.

“Where are we?”

No response.

“I’ve killed three of you already, you will be no different.”

The man continued to ignore him. Eleven reached down and ripped the mask off. 

What Eleven saw petrified him. 

He stumbled back.

The enemy stared back at him with blank eyes.

It’s features were all blurred except for it’s piercing black eyes.

“What are you?” 

Suddenly, with unearthly strength and speed, it lunged forward. Impulsively Eleven fired. It’s blood sprayed onto the barn’s once white wall.

“That, that’s impossible.” Twenty-One was shaking. Eleven grabbed a knife from the dead body and handed it to her.

“Take this, go search this place for weapons, food, anything.” 

Twenty-One nodded and looked around the barn. On the right wall of the barn were four doors. That’s where she would start. Tightly wrapping his fingers around the handle, Eleven cocked his gun. 

He waited. 

Waited. 

Waited. 

Then they came. 

Five masked men emerged from the wheat at full speed. They sped into the barn.

Bang.

One dead.

Bang.

Two dead.

Bang.

Three dead.

The last two were lying on the floor, struck by stray pellets.

Eleven kept his distance, aware of what they were capable of. Quickly and hatefully, they began crawling towards him with unearthly speed.

Bang.

One dead.

Bang.

Two dead.

Eleven’s ears hummed, blood pooled around the dead bodies. The smell of death began to fill the barn.

_______________________

Twenty-One ripped open the first door to find a large empty room. Not a cobweb or hair dwelled in the soulless space. Rushing out of the room, she approached the second door. Once it opened she heard the first shot. Then the second. She covered her ears, it was too loud. Finally it stopped, she looked back to see five new dead bodies lying on the ground. 

How many would come for them?

Why were they attacking?

Where were they coming from?

Who were they, if not human?

The door was to a small closet. Speedily she searched through it. Empty. She sped out.

“Anything?” Eleven called. Twenty-One shook her head. Eleven cursed under his breath before returning his gaze to the large opening in the front wall. There was nothing to block the entrance. There was nothing stopping them from entering. Accept him.

Twenty-One opened the third door, entering a small room, however this one contained a closet. Quickly she opened it and at first glance found nothing. As she looked closer however, she discovered that there was something wrong with the floor. The wood planks were off. She crouched down, they appeared to be loose. As she lifted them up she found a small compartment in the floor, small, cramped, and empty.

Startled, Twenty-One jumped back as the shotgun began firing once more. Twenty-One counted the shots.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Two more than their last attack. Twenty-One exited the room to find Eleven examining one of the dead bodies. Only one door remained. She wrapped her hand around the door handle, and opened it.

___________________

The masked creature's skin was now a dark grey. Trying to figure out what it was, Eleven continued to inspect the corpse. Its skin was rough and cool, raising the hairs on the back of Eleven’s neck. It was an exact copy of the other masked attackers, bred for this exact purpose. 

To hunt. 

To kill. 

Suddenly, he heard it. A scream. Twenty-One’s scream. He turned to find her falling back with a knife painfully embedded in her shoulder. Before he knew it, another knife was flying directly towards him. It sliced open Eleven’s arm. As blood spilled from his wound, his gun clattered onto the floor.

 Charging towards him, the masked monster dove it’s fist into Eleven’s jaw. Eleven stumbled into a wall. Viciously, it’s knuckles dug into Eleven’s side, he yelled in pain and fell to the floor. The masked creature reached down and picked up the knife it had previously thrown at Eleven.

Turning towards Twenty-One, the creature began to approach her. Quickly she sped into the room behind her. Swiftly the monster hurled the knife at her. Grazing her head, it lodged itself in the wall. She slammed the door shut and immediately  locked it. Rising to his feet, Eleven snached his gun. He pointed the barrel towards the masked creature. He pulled the trigger, only to hear a click.

He tried again.

Click.

He gazed inside the chamber.

Empty.

The gun hadn’t reloaded itself.

Quickly, Eleven charged towards the masked creature. It spun around and prepared to fling it’s knife at him. Soaring through the air, the shotgun collided with its ribs. A loud snap rang out. Eleven darted towards it and smashed his foot down onto it’s wrist, immediately breaking it. Ripping the knife from the creature’s now limp hand, Eleven quickly slit its throat. Gulping in deep breaths, Eleven banged on the door, “It’s dead.”

The door opened, blood was slowly dripping from her wound. Worriedly he sat her down and assessed the wound. Her face filled with pain.

“Do we pull it out?”

“No, no, that’s the only thing stopping most of the blood.”

The wheat outside ruffled. Twenty-one’s face became pale.

“Did you find anything?”

“A compartment, that’s all.”

“Show me.”

Twenty-One and Eleven rushed to the compartment.

“Could you fit?”

Twenty-one began to climb in, she gasped in pain. The wheat ruffled once more.

“I know it hurts but this is your only chance.”

“What do you mean?”

“The gun, it’s empty, it’s not reloading. Listen, you can’t make a sound. Don’t leave until you know they’re gone, understand?

She painfully squeezed into the compartment. Eleven closed the door.

Exiting the room, he picked up two knives from the dead bodies. The wheat ruffled. The air became stiff. Adrenaline pumped through Eleven’s veins. They were coming. He locked the door to the room and readied himself, bloody knives extended, ready to fight. 

Viciously they burst through the wheat.

They entered the barn, knives extended, thirsty for blood.

Eleven killed the first three. 

A knife caught his side. 

He killed two more. 

A knife slashed his arm.

His strength grew.

He slaughtered five more.

A knife impaled his chest. 

He fell to his knees. 

He sliced open an attacker's knee.

Then, one final knife dug deep into his heart.

When Twenty-One heard the thump, she shook. She tried to stop trembling. At any moment she could be discovered. At any moment the trapdoor could be opened. At any moment she could be murdered by the masked creatures. 

She waited in the darkness. The air was silently still. Blood trickled down her arm.

She waited. 

And waited. 

And waited. 

Awaiting her fate. 

But it didn’t come.

Suddenly, pure white light burst through the cracks in the trapdoor. The sound of gears turning rang out. She slowly opened the trapdoor. Glowing rays pierced through the cracks of the walls. The room was empty. No blood. No bodies. No Eleven. 

Cautiously she exited the room, a blinding light bursting through the large opening of the barn. With her eyes squinted she exited the barn. At first, she couldn’t see anything because the light was too bright. But when her eyes did adjust, what she saw shocked her.

The beautiful blue sky above, was opening. She fell to the floor, bewildered and shocked, as a loud voice boomed from above:

“Test Complete.”