After five minutes Sindy returned to the room and directed the main groups towards a set of sliding doors, and the 4 tributes to another set.

It wasn't a heartfelt separation, no hard goodbyes, Johns parents were just about as disappointed as the rest of his tribe and couldn't really meet his gaze. It was the same for Carmen.

And it seems the other tributes were equally as alienated by their tribes. Two of them were elderly, and one was younger but they rubbed John the wrong way. The look in their eyes made him... Uneasy.

Carmen tried to stay with John, and make a case for Laura as well, but when a few robotic beings appeared and Sindy demanded him to follow his group, there was nothing he could do.

So there he was, with three others walking down a hallway.

"Where do you think we're going?" an elderly woman asked.

"I don't know, maybe they have a worse planet for us."

"They probably wanted a chance to cull the outcasts, and used us as a barometer for who the outcasts were." the strange man said. He had pale white skin, and dark eyes with dark hair.

"Slave labor", is what the old man said.

"Possibly..." John said, though he was likely only an outcast because of a recent mistake. It really was just another kind of program the aliens had, in all likelyhood. They were just not going to a world with magical powers. But the sky was the limit besides that.

They arrived at a set of small doors. It was human architecture type doors, with knobs. It was surreal to see them surrounded by mechanical spaceship innards. Panels and vents. Then there was a wooden door with brass handle.

A voice emerged. "One tribute to each door."

There were slight differences to each door, from color and build, to the type of doorknob.

The elderly woman walked up to a white door with pink flowers on it. It has a glass doorknob. "Good luck." she said as she walked in. "You're just... Going in?"

"I'm too old to wait out here with you all."

She closed the door behind her.

The other older man walked to another door, it was heavy and brown, with a lever handle.

John looked towards the strange man. There were more doors than tributes in the hall. Plenty more to choose from.

He scoffed and walked to a seemingly random door and went inside.

John stood alone in the hall. Which door should he choose? Did it matter? He walked to a glass door, it was like a greenhouse door, from the old magazines.

He pressed his hands against his brow and the door trying to block the light and see into the black interior. It was no use.

He stepped back and examined the door. There was dirt and grime gathered around the edges. Seemed harmless enough.

John took a deep breath, pulled the brass lever and stepped inside.

He took a few steps and then the ground disappeared. Falling through blackness he screamed out. Then light surrounded him and he fell onto a soft squeaky surface.

He heard a pleasant chirping noise. The sun shown brightly into a room past white drapes. Golden sun flowers could be seen just outside the window.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Rustic furniture lined the walls, odd little knick-knacks cluttered the room.

He was in a wooden house- an old farmhouse or rather, a new one?

John heard thudding footsteps on the hardwood floor outside the room, a toddler burst through the door and jumped onto the fluffy white bed sheets causing it to squeak.

He climbed into Johns arms and looked up at him expectantly.

"You're up! Finally! Can I open my presents?"

"Your... Presents?"

The kid laughed. Another one appeared in the door, carrying a stuffed animal. A little girl. She was wiping her eyes.

Then a woman appeared behind her,

"I told you to let your dad wake up on his own." she scooped the boy up in her arms and kissed John casually.

"Uh... Where am I?" John shook his head, and grabbed the sheets of the bed. It felt so real.

"What do you mean? Are you okay?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just uh... Woke up.", he rubbed his head. The aliens sent him here? Was this real, or a very real dream?

"Okay well perk up I have coffee ready downstairs."

Coffee? John never had it, but he's heard of it. A bitter drink that gave people a boost of energy before they crash out.

"Come on kids get your breakfest before it goes cold." She a gave John a 'hurry up' look as she left.

John looked out of the window.

The morning sun was rising over fields of sunflowers and corn. There was a massive barn with a shiny metal roof. A tractor sat outside it with someone working on it. "Mother-fucker!" they shouted.

There was fences where some barn animals were, horses and cows.

Then he noticed the smell, it was... So much. In the snow, John hardly smelled anything in the cold air. But here, he could smell the land. The air. It was gross, but also the best thing he's ever smelled.

"You're still getting ready? Make sure you wear what I laid out for you, for the pictures." the woman put a hand on the door frame and looked in for a moment.

"Yeah." John said as she left.

He walked over to a white collared shirt that was hanging on the a closet door. This fabric was so thin, what could it protect against? Why even wear it? He thought.

After getting dressed he walked down the hall. It was all so... Peaceful. He walked into the kitchen and smelt what must've been coffee. And the sweetest meat he's ever smelled.

"Bacons done!" the woman turned around from the stove and started plating it on the childrens plates. He ogled the precious resource being served out so casually.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit off this morning, are you feeling sick?"

"Maybe a little bit, sorry."

"It's okay." she walked over and placed the back of her hand on Johns forehead. "You do feel a little warm."

"I'm done! Can I open my presents?" the boy said as he set his silverware down loudly around his empty plate.

The woman laughed, "Okay okay! But watch your cartoons, we'll will be in in a minute."

John rubbed his face, this was all way too surreal.

The kids ran from the room.

She looked towards John with concern.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." John smiled.

"Good." She walked up and adjusted his collar. "After all, it's his special day." she kissed him again. As she went away she had a confused concern on her face hesitantly leaving the room.

John grabbed the mug of some hot brown fluid and drank it. It was the best thing he ever drank and quickly emptied the cup.

It made his heart beat faster and woke him up. Which he did feel as those he just woke up, even though he just walked through a door.

He was still himself, his reflections said so. Why was he here? Did his tribe get another life and he got someone else's? He had hoped not, as much as he liked this place, he felt like an intruder and wanted nothing else but to leave.

But then what would the kids think?

John walked out of the kitchen into a type of living space with couches and a flatscreen TV.

The kids were sat in front of it watching a yellow square in a suit talking to a squirrel in an astronauts outfit under water. It smacked a pink thing on the head and it sprang back up with broken teeth.

"-Haha!" John laughed, he quickly caught himself- but it was so unexpected. The kids looked over their shoulders smiling.

"Alright alright let's get to it then." John walked to the couch and plopped down. He was still getting used to his senses, they were all firing off to new experiences.

Hopefully they just thought he was having a slow morning.

"Yay!" the boy said and ran to the corner of the room, there was a table with some colorfully wrapped packages on it.

John just went with the flow and tried to act natural. This was his family. Play the part.

He frantically unwrapped a package. The woman walked over and sat at his side.

"It's a switch!", "Oh nice!" his sister told him.

"You got him video games? What happened to your rule?" The woman asked John.

"Uh... Well, you know?" he coughed.

"You big softie." she squeezed his arm.

Honestly, he could get used to this.

"Can I play it?", they looked towards John.

"Don't you have others first?" John said glancing towards the table of presents.

The screen on the TV changes instantly, from a talking crab to a concerned man in a suit, talking to the camera with a stack of paper in his hands.

The words "Emergency broadcast" were displayed at the bottom.