Chapter 22: Victor

A siren blared and Rook's area was lit up by a powerful beam of light. A voice from the tannoy sounded crackly and full of static, "Move to the nearest gate" Rook nodded and headed in the direction of one of the gates. He turned around and saw the other Slig still lying on the floor. He walked back and held out his hand, "Come on, get up"

The Slig grabbed Rook's hand and pulled himself up. Rook smiled, "There you go, what's your name?" The Slig turned to face Rook, it's "Baeny" Rook chuckled, "Okay Baeny, let's get out of here" Rook lead them out to the nearest gate. They could hear other people still fighting and firing paintballs at each other.

Flek was there with the other red cap officers. He walked up to Rook and saluted. Rook saluted back, along with Baeny. "At ease. Good job Rook. You have now been promoted to red cap status. However, you're about to learn something new which will surprise you" Flek took out a spare red cap and gave it to Rook. "Look towards the front of the hat and tell me what you see" Rook squinted and could just make out five tiny black dots. "Dots, what are those for?", he asked. He looked up at Flek and saw that he had a big grin on his face. Instead of the five black dots on Flek's cap, he could see four golden stars, with a single black dot to the right of the fourth star.

Flek chuckled, "Like these? It took me two years of dedicated service to earn them" Rook gasped, "Wow Flek, I had no idea about these" Flek smiled, "Of course not. After all, it didn't concern you before. Now it does"

Flek then turned to look at Baeny. "As for you, you have failed and as such... you may not apply for the exam for another three months" Baeny gasped, "Three whole months?!" Flek frowned, "Take the time to improve your skills. You managed to shoot Rook twice, which was good. But we can make no exceptions. Everyone who failed the exam will have to wait as well. You are not alone" Flek placed his hand on Baeny's shoulder, before leading him away.

Rook had totally ignored all of this. He looked at the red cap with the five black holes. "So close, no matter how far" He placed the cap on his head, turned away from the maze and let out a single tear of happiness. 'Thanks Flek', he thought to himself.

The next year would be tough for Rook, but he would be ready. He had friends, he had a few enemies too... but most importantly... he had hope.