We have a zero! A zero is the first number!
The balls tumbled around in the drum, each one skirting across the hole, missing its purpose. The next slotted into place and the crowd held their breath.
A zero! Another zero! We are still waiting folks!
That ruled out Eta Tower, And Theta Tower. This was the normal start. Next ball was another zero. Had to be. The balls continued round and round and the children danced in circles. Daley Cartwell cheered and the crowds sat with their hands together. All eyes were fixed on the drum, the coloured balls leaping over one another as if they didn’t want the responsibility of being next. Another fell into the hole. Another zero?
We have an eight. An eight! The first number of the winner is an eight!
Every resident of Delta leapt to its feet, rising as a single unit. Even Leonard. It could be a citizen of Delta. There were six numbers in total, and the first two were always zeros. The next was always a two or three, except for the first draw when it was a five and somebody from Gamma won. But now it was an eight. Some had started crying just knowing they were this close. It looked as if it being close could be enough for them. Or maybe the thought of leaving was too much. To lose a second life for something else unknown, just like before, well, maybe that was worse than staying here. At least here you knew what you had got. Zack tried to focus on the screen even though everybody, Leonard included, was still up on their feet cheering. He sat, tried to breath. Somebody knocked him from behind, winding him. Somebody else was shouting for everybody to calm down. It could have been a Guardian. People were shouting all around and like the balls of the machine only snippets of information made it through to his ears. The rest was just noise filtering rampantly through the crowd, carried on a wave of excitement. Daley Cartwell was already announcing the fourth ball.
The crowd settled down but not in the same lifeless way that it was normally subdued. There was a stir of trepidation, people wanting to be calm and listen but unable. Zack was no different. He stood, he sat. He held his hands together and then rested them on the table. None of the Guardians moved. It was as if they wouldn’t dare. What were the numbers? Leonard was sitting talking to himself, his head in his hand. He was crying. Zack focused on his shoulders shaking, and the tear as it fell from Leonard’s face and struck the metal table.
“I’m out. I’m out. It’s over, Zachary.” Zack looked towards the television screen over a sea of sad faces. Some were holding their heads, others pulling at their hair. Some were crying and others, stronger types, the ones who would try to pick people up again when it was all over, were already trying to calm their neighbours. This was the only time when Zack had ever believed there was some element of community amongst the Delta residents. People just like Leonard were realising their chance was over, their excitement replaced by fear that they had no hope of a brighter tomorrow. Whatever tomorrow was. It would still be today. It would be yesterday, and the day before. An endless Groundhog Day where there was no choice left, and they just had to get on with it.
As another person sat down there were only three people left on their feet. One of them was Zack. Zero. Zero. Eight. Six. Five. Five balls out. Zack glanced down at his tattoo even though there was no need. They were his numbers. He was one number away. He clutched his wrist, his left thumb covering the length of the tattoo, only the triangle for Delta visible.
And the last number is……. wait for it, Delta Tower. We know it’s one of you. What do we have?
The camera panned to the children, then the crowds, then the president’s seat, and then back to Daley Cartwell.
Number two! We have a winner. Delta Tower, who is your winner? Is he there with you now?
As the final ball fell into the hole, with the orgasmic announcement of the last number, the woman and the man near the front of the Food Hall fell to their knees. Zack’s thumb pressed down harder on the tattoo, stifling it, smothering it. He covered the triangle, squashed it out, before closing his eyes. There was silence for the briefest of moments, before a bullet strikes, the look in the eye of a lamb before slaughter, the moment before impact when there is no turning back. The noise began to filter back in, the muffled sounds destroyed as Leonard shouted at him, his hands gripping Zack’s upper arms. He was shaking him.
“You’re in! You’re in, Zachary!” He was crying tears of joy mixed with tears of loss and sadness. He let go and threw his arms around him, his short stature causing his hairs to tickle at Zack’s slack jaw. “You’re in!” he said again. “You won!”
Zack’s knees buckled and he collapsed onto the bench, pulling the weight of Leonard with him. People nearby, red-faced and disappointed, smiled and congratulated him, satisfied that it was at least one of them. It was the selfless kind of happiness that a parent might feel for a child’s success at the expense of their own. They consoled themselves in the hope that the chosen one might share their dreams and help make their life better. Perhaps Delta would be remembered, unforgotten in the future of the Republic of New Omega.
Delta Tower, we have the name of your winner.
“It’s Zack,” somebody shouted.
“We already know it!” shouted another.
Zachary Christian, your moment has arrived! The future of your tower begins with you, right here on this night! It’s time to get to the lobby. We are coming for you!
The crowd in Omega Tower was clapping, their applause still controlled and the smiles on their faces measured and planned. The children were forming two lines, those at the front carrying the Omega flag, the green background and blue central diamond, topped by the yellow sun with eight rays to represent each tower. The crowd in Delta Tower was crazed. He heard somebody shouting, “It’s Zack, it’s Zack.” The voice was running away, filtering the news down into the lower levels. He started thinking about Leonard who was still crying, rubbing Zack’s arms from his position at the side. Nothing but pride on his face.
Get ready, Zachary. Tonight you sleep here with us. Omega Tower welcomes you!
Somebody pulled him to his feet. It could have been Leonard. He was walking, moving, being pulled. There were Guardians forming lines keeping the crowds away. One of them pulled at Leonard but Zack clung onto him. No Guardian would strike him now. Not before the cameras arrived in Delta. Nobody wanted a winner with a bloody face. Somebody guided him into the lift and he became squashed by bodies before somebody……….
Samantha was sitting on the dining table. She was wearing only her underwear and a shirt of Zack’s, blue stripes and oversized. She was balancing her feet on the bench seat and smiling over her cup of coffee. She was looking in Zack’s direction whilst he buttered the toast, her almond shaped eyes almost no wider than the slits of oysters. She looked at him with such cheek on her face, like they were both in on a joke. In this moment the world was their own. His hand stretched out and took the coffee cup from her before he took a sip. He pushed her backwards and she began to unbutton the shirt.
……….shouted that the lift had been over-filled and that it wasn’t moving. There were too many people and the Guardians were pulling people out. Zack saw an Assister rise up and strike somebody’s shoulder. Somebody was shouting that he didn’t want to get out and that he wasn’t the last in and that he was my friend and he wanted to…………..
Zack’s mother positioned the hat on his head, just to the side as he had insisted. She helped him drape the blue and red scarf around his shoulders so it hung properly over the black gown. His father watched. He was smiling and saying how proud he was. He was saying what a wonderful engineer he would make and that today was the first day of his future. His mum kissed him and his dad made a joke about the lipstick before rubbing his cheek with his thumb. Samantha was nearby with her parents. She was looking over her shoulder smiling too.