Percy POV

As soon as the door swung open, white lights flashed around me and Annabeth. I gasped as my hands raised to shield me from the blinding lights.

I heard Annabeth scream from beside me, but I had no idea where she was. My vision was still blotchy from the light.

A dark figure suddenly stepped in front of me.

"No, get away," I shouted.

I swung the knife and hit someone. However, it simply bounced off the guard's protective padding. He grabbed my wrist and kneed the blade out of my hand. Adrenaline pumped through my blood as I punched him.

The security staggered back. Honestly, I was pretty sure that the punch hurt me more than it hurt him. After all, his mask was made out of tough plastic.

I tried to run, but the guards tackled me to the ground. Several screams and shouts were reverberating through the room.

"Percy," Annabeth's voice exclaimed.

I groaned as some guard's knee pressed into my back. The floor was cold, and the pressure was aching. Then, they lifted me and placed me into a chair. Metal cuffs fixed my arms and legs to the chair.

I was stuck yet again.

"Subjects in room #4 have passed phase 1," a monotone voice spoke. The speakers buzzed obnoxiously before cutting off.

For the first time, I took notice of my surroundings.

Fourteen chairs were set up in a large circle, some of them were filled while others were empty. Logic dictated that the others that were already present were also kidnapped. We were all kidnapped and forced to escape.

Right now, besides me, there were 7 others tied to the chairs. My gaze locked onto each one of them as I studied my fellow prisoners.

One woman (who looked a few years older than me) was visibly pregnant. A large Asian dude was bleeding from the forehead, but he seemed okay. Another African American girl couldn't stop fidgeting in her seat.

Suddenly, screaming erupted behind me. I couldn't see what was going on, but the menacing (all-in-black) guards quickly dragged two more candidates into the seats. One of them, who had blonde hair and electric blue eyes, was strapped in next to me. His gaze was wild, probably because of the initially blinding lights.

I realized that everyone was in their early-to-mid twenties.

"Who are you people?" I shouted.

"QUIET," a guard snapped. A hard punch smacked my head. I felt blood pool in my left ear as my head knocked to the side. God, damn.

"Subjects in room #11 have passed phase 1," the same robotic voice informed.

My gaze locked onto Annabeth, who was already looking at me. A silent message passed between us. We had to be careful or they'll hurt us.

Several minutes passed by similarly. I was simply looking around the room at the security guards who were stationed to collect escapees. Then, I studied the other kidnapped members of our group. Some certainly seemed more able than others.

"I was literally on campus when they took me," the boy next to me whispered. He frowned as he shook his head.

I turned towards the blonde guy. He was someone that I could see myself being friends within normal life. He seemed genuine.

"I was walking home from work," I said quietly.

His blue eyes locked onto mine as he nodded. I could see him gulping down his emotions before trying to break out of the bonds. But, it was useless. We were trapped by metal.

"This room is too white," he commented. "Also, they kidnapped more people than the amount of chairs present."

This guy was smart. I hadn't even realized that, but it was true. There were 15 steel doors around this circular room. If we assumed that each door had two 'subjects', then that made a total of 30 kidnapped individuals. Yet, there were only fourteen chairs, most of which were filled. Also, a single set of golden double doors were between doors #1 and #15.

Only two chairs remained.

"Subjects in room #15 have passed phase 1."

I noticed two guys walk through door #15. They were immediately stunted by the lights, and the security guards easily locked them into the chairs. All fourteen chairs were filled.

"Congratulations, subjects, for passing phase 1," a female voice expressed.

I watched as a hole opened in the ceiling. A few TV screens moved down into the room in the middle of our circle. They were tethered in the air by mechanical cables. There were three TVs so that everyone could see the video.

The screen that I could see was broken into three parts. Room #s 2, 8, and 9 were labeled in the corners of each subsection. I watched the individuals in the rooms through the cameras. They were still trying to figure out the clues or find the keys.

Whoever kidnapped us had eyes on us the whole time, I realized.

Suddenly, a gray gas started flowing into the rooms. They stared in horror as the people started to gag, cough, and crumble.

"No, no, they're dying," someone in our circle exclaimed.

I tried to look away, but I couldn't. Hot tears were burning my eyes though. Then, the screens started moving back into the ceiling. Mostly everyone's faces reflected horror, and I disliked those who didn't show that type of emotion.

Two girls in our circle were crying in their seats: the African American girl and a Cherokee-looking girl.

Then, the golden doors opened slowly.

The security guards immediately straightened and went into a circular position around us. There were at least twenty guards.

I stared at the two individuals walking into the room: a man and a woman, both of whom were in all white clothes. They had a god-complex that I immediately hated. They walked into the middle of the circle and gazed at us all with intrigue.

"Congratulations to the fourteen of you for passing phase 1. You are very lucky to have survived. As you all saw, over 50% of our subjects have been exterminated in our initial examination phase," the man said boldly.

My hands clenched into fists.

"Who the hell are you people?" a blonde guy with a chin scar asked angrily. It was one of the guys who didn't show any horrific emotion to watching people die; as such, I had mixed feelings about him.

"We are Elysium," the woman said calmly. Her eyes sparkled with light in contrast to her dark, braided hair. She had a sick smile on her face. "We are here for the betterment of the future."

"By killing people?" the pregnant girl commented.

"Natural selection at work," she said easily. "Only the fittest will survive, and we are here to study who fall into that category."

"We don't want to play your sick game," another guy shouted angrily.

"Well, you don't have any option," the man in white exclaimed.

His booming voice shut us all up. Everyone in our circle (who were trapped in their seats) had feelings of anger, horror, and helplessness. All those emotions were validated too.

"Listen, kids, you are stuck at Elysium now. The only way out is through."

She motioned her hands towards the guards. The guards all moved in sync. Their footsteps echoed in the room as they approached us from behind. I could feel someone's hands near my throat. Everyone's eyes widened in response.

From the visual across the room, I could see that the guards were holding a syringe in their right hands.

"Survive till the end or Perish. The choice is yours," the woman expressed.

Then, a sharp pain exploded into my neck. My eyes rolled back before my head fell to the side. My muscles fell numb.

I was 100% conscious but completely lacking control. They carried our limp bodies through the building for a few minutes and paused at a solid mechanical door labeled Sector 3. The guards threw our bodies into a pile within the Sector 3 hallway.

My head fell against the pregnant lady's stomach. I wanted to move, but I couldn't. None of us could move our muscles due to the paralysis.

The guards stood neatly behind the steel doors. One of the lead guards pressed a code into the wall panel.

I watched in horror as the steel doors closed shut, trapping us inside.

...

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," I said quietly.

I held my hands out to help the pregnant girl into a sitting position. She was massaging her stomach as I helped her sit against the wall.

"It's okay, I think that the baby's fine," she said. Her voice was shaking as she gazed down at her baby bump. The woman had dark, short hair. She was dressed in black jeans and a black blouse. To be honest, she gave off a biker lady type of physique.

"Besides, it's not your fault. We're just kidnapped," she said tensely.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Thalia and my daughter will be named Luna," she said quietly. I nodded as I helped her stand up. She was at least 6 months pregnant.

Annabeth also helped Thalia will fixing her shirt over her stomach. She was helping Thalia remain dignified despite the situation, which I admired.

"Do you both know each other?" Thalia asked us.

"We were in the same room," Annabeth explained. "Honestly, Percy, the arrow definitely would've pierced me without you."

"It's all right, Annabeth, I just don't understand what's going on," I said.

"We're stuck in here. Elysium is making us play in a series of phases or games or something. They kidnapped us to be subjects in this experiment," Annabeth said firmly.

I sighed. Thalia was still using my hand for leverage as she stood. We looked away from the steel door and looked through the hallway. The others had already started to walk through. The hallway led to a dead end, but there were a bunch of doors between the two ends of Sector 3.

We looked through each room slowly. The boy with electric eyes who sat next to me joined us with the Cherokee girl. Jason and Piper. They were in their room together, and they were almost the last group to escape.

5 rooms: a swimming pool room, a weight-training gym, a blue-lit room that was empty, a cafeteria with tables and trashcans, and a dorm room.

Everyone settled into the dorm room.

7 sets of bunk beds, so fourteen beds in total were situated against the North and West walls. A table and simple couches were in the middle of the room. The southeast corner of the room had some food and hydration stations.

"Guys, there's only one bathroom with a few stalls and a few showers," someone exclaimed.

My gaze turned towards a red-haired girl, who was panicking. She was near the doorway that connected this room to a small locker room and a five-person bathroom. Based on her clothes and attitude, Rachel was a rich and popular girl.

"Hey, Rachel, calm down," a guy snapped in annoyance.

He was the same one with a small facial scar, who didn't seem to understand that people were allowed to have emotions, especially now. His name was Luke.

"Don't yell at her," the Asian guy exclaimed.

His name was Frank Zhang, and he was currently getting Annabeth and Hazel's (the African American girl's) help with his head wound. It was a simple wound, and they were trying to stop the bleeding. I liked him for defending Rachel.

Thalia sat down on her bed. Each bed was labeled with a name and had a bag of amenities and clothes in it.

My bed was on the top bunk above Jason's, next to Thalia's. We were sitting on Thalia's bed as everyone provided their input into what was happening. I realized quickly that we were a diverse group of individuals, but our age was a common point.

Elysium purposefully picked college-age subjects.

"Does anyone still have technology on them?" Leo asked. He was a smaller Latino dude, but his voice was out-there. He was energetic despite the situation. He was looking for a solution.

No one spoke up, so that was our answer.

"Okay, so they took everything that could transmit or help us. All we have is our bodies and our brains," Ethan said.

Ethan was your typical jock. He was a big guy similar to Frank, so they would probably be most helpful for physical activities. Ethan was sitting next to Drew and Will, who seemed very awkward to be near Drew.

"Were you two in the same room together?" I asked hesitantly.

They were sitting on the bed next to ours, so they turned towards me in surprise. Drew batted her eyelashes at me, which was not appropriate at all. No wonder Will was uncomfortable. I noticed that Will was wearing an EMT stitch on his sweatshirt.

"Yeah, Drew and I escaped together," Will answered.

"Hey Will, could you help me see the contents of the first-aid kit?" I asked. I pointed towards the mini first-aid.

"Yes, absolutely," Will said in relief. We walked towards the water fountain.

Nico di Angelo was currently smelling the water at the hydration station to check that it was okay. When he deemed it safe, he took a sip and nodded. I could tell that Nico was another smart person here, but he stayed by himself.

He saw us coming and quickly walked away to his bed.

Will and I took the first-aid kit and spilled the contents on the floor. I simply suggested this to get Will out of his awkward position; I didn't know anything about medicine.

"Thanks for the help back there," Will said. "No disrespect to Drew, but I'm not a fan of her flirtations."

"She made me so uncomfortable," I whispered slyly to which Will chuckled quietly.

The hours passed by with random comments about what was going on. No one liked this situation, but we were stuck. We searched throughout Sector 3, but we found no means of escape. The hallway and the five rooms were fortified.

All I knew was that I had to survive.

I needed to get back to my mom. I needed to see my mother again before the end. Tears were flowing down my cheeks as I stared at the ceiling.

I laid in my hard bed. I couldn't sleep.

Everyone was struggling to sleep. I could hear the silent sobs of the girls and the angry huffs from the guys.

However, one thing was clear. We were now stuck in this together.

...