Exit Exam

Callum Forster

"I'm here for my exam?"

The doctor looked up to make out who it was. When he noticed the young looking boy. He saw that the boy had very short hair and a black-and-blue face. He looked just like all the other patients that came to see this doctor. But this boy definitely looked younger than most. A tear fell down the side of his face.

"What's wrong doc?"

The doctor was soundless. He was thinking.

"Ello? Are you alright?"

The doctor snapped out of his silence. "O-oh. Y-yeah I'm fine I just- something went in my eye." He rubbed his eye then stood up. "Okay, follow me."

The doctor led the young boy into a small white room. It was incredibly square and tall. There was a horrible atmosphere in this room. There were no windows or air vents. Just four tall walls surrounding the room. The air was awfully thin.

The doctor turned to the boy. "So, you're finally getting out of this place?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see my family again. I've been here for almost a year now."

The doctor looked down and turned around when the boy said that. He thought to himself for a few seconds. Then he continued setting up the bed and the wires. He told the boy to lie down. "I'm just going to run a few tests to make sure you are healthy enough to go back home."

The boy replied. "Okay. How long is this gonna take? Cos I got some serious catching up to do with ma family."

"It will only take a minute" The doctor continued. "If you don't mind me asking. How old are you?"

"I'm 16 now. It was my birthday last month. I was 15 when I was placed in this dump."

"That is a tad too young for this place isn't it? What did you do?" The doctor said. As he started to push the wires through the boys skin. The wires were as thin as needles so they could easily be inserted. There were hundreds of wires.

"I guess. The rest of the guys in here said the same."

The doctor carried on with his test; Writing down some words and mumbling them out loud to the young boy.

The boy supposed to the doctor. "So, what's it like out there now?"

"What do you mean?"

The boy answered. "Like, is it nice? Or has some mad guy taken over the world and made the world perfect and civilised by killing everyone that's bad! " The boy laughed at himself as he said it.

The doctor stopped working and thought about this question a lot.

"Well? Is it nice out there or not?" The young boy said again.

"Y-yeah, it's much more civilised." The doctor said as he continued with his tests. He thought to himself. "Yes. The world is more civilised now. This isn't wrong. This is the right thing to do."

The boy was smiling. He was so excited. He was happy. This was the right time to do it. The doctor walked back a few steps and said. "Okay, last check now. Sit still." He began to shake.

He walked up to a small switch and slowly counted to three. "One." He paused... "Two" He stood and quickly thought about things for a few extra seconds. Then when he was ready. "Three!" The doctor flicked the switch with his shaken, stunned, sweaty index finger. There was a horrific flicker of the lights and a quick buzzing sound. Then there was a tense silence. The doctor began to cry. He looked over at the boy who was now hunched over. He was dead.

"He deserved it." The doctor whispered to himself. "He was a murderer." He continued. "If I didn't he could have done it again."

The doctor kept trying to think that he had done the civilised thing. But then he would realise that what he did was horrible. He had done it to many people before. Some who really deserved it? "At least the boy was happy." He thought. "This is the most civilised way I could possibly do it? I would get fired if I didn't." He remembered how much the boy wanted to see his family. "The Government says this is the only way to do it."

The doctor walked out the room and sat down.

"Err...I'm here for my exam?" Said a young looking boy sitting opposite the doctor. A tear slipped down the side of his face.