Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

The cell is all white. The floor, ceiling, and walls are all white. It confuses me to a point where I get dizzy and have to hide my face from the rest of the world. The only color is me. Even the bed and toilet are white. The security camera I know they have in here is nowhere to be seen. I’m isolated from people. From what I can see there is no door, no windows. Just a white room with me placed in the middle, shackles binding my wrists and ankles to the wall. I’m vaguely aware the toddler isn’t with me anymore.

                Somehow I always fall asleep at seven in the morning, twelve, and then seven in the evening. After I wake up, there is breakfast, lunch, and then dinner with one cup of water at every meal. Their bread is bland without jelly or butter, the water tastes funny, and their meat is rotten and full of bugs.

                So I refuse to eat of late, but I sleep deeply. I’ve gone about six weeks without seeing one person. Frequent but fleeting thoughts of Ryan, Sean, Ian, and the rest of our group pass through my mind every day. I cannot help but wonder about them, wonder if they’re okay like I am, in a cell like I am, crying and broken like I am. I’m horribly skinny. My bones push against my skin and my chest seems to stick out more. I know they watch me and the way I act. They’re testing my limits.

                And I bet they’re doing the same thing to the others, measuring us for either battle or slaughter.

                A few hours later I fall asleep. When I wake up, I am in the room with dinner, but there’s a window. The food is different. Steak sits on a decorated plate along with mashed potatoes and gravy. I glare at it. My stomach growls at me to eat it, but I don’t trust the good food. It looks suspicious after the three weeks I spent not eating.

                I look up at the window and see two men and a woman with a clipboard looking at me. I raise my eyebrow and stare at them. They watch me for a while, ready to write anything down. I stand up shakily and walk towards the window. When I’m a foot away, I start talking.

                “Can you hear me?”

                The woman nods and presses something unseen on the panel. “We can hear you fine.”

                A loud click goes off in the room.

                I c**k my head and look at the two men. They’re dressed in suits. Both of them look like businessman, but they both have guns in their hands and sunglasses on their faces. Their mouths are pressed in a straight line and frown lines are pressed into their forehead. They look like Neo from the Matrix.

                “Who are they?” I say nodding towards them.

                She glances at them. “Protection in case you can break out. They stand outside your door all day.”

                I shake my head. “If I had a chance of getting out don’t you think I’d be out already?”

                “Probably,” she says.

                “Why am I in here?”

                The woman frowns. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

                I put a hand on the glass and glare at her. “Obviously not.”

                “You’re in here so we can make you weak so when you come out, you’ll obey the battle teachers.”

                I laugh. “You think that will work?”

                She shakes her head. “Not at all, but someone does.”

                I raise my eyebrows. “Who?”

                “The president of the Federation.”

                “That explains why they think that. He knows nothing about me.”

                “Except that you and Ryan obviously have a thing for each other.”

                I turn a sharp eye on the man who said that. “What do you know? You’re a pampered a*****e who couldn’t ever begin comprehend what we had to overcome. Could you survive for a few years in that city?”

                That shuts him up.

                I turn back to the woman. “When are you going to put me in classes?”

                “Tomorrow. You’ll be in a special room without any of the people you knew. The rebels you are friends with are split up too, so don’t worry. Only the refugees are allowed to be in the same classes.”

                I put my other hand on the glass and press my face against the glass. “Why didn’t you kill us when you found us?”

                She smiles. “I only have time to answer this last question. Are you sure it’s the one you want answered?”

                “Yes,” I say without thinking.

                “We didn’t kill you or Ryan or Sean because you’re all very special cases.”

                “What kind of special cases?”

                The only answer I get is a loud click and the sound of footsteps walking away. The two men stay where they are and the window starts to close. I take my hands off the glass. I pick up the plate of food and throw it at the wall, smashing the plate. The steak and potatoes splash everywhere. I walk back to the bed. I lay on it and surrender myself to whatever they have in store for me while I fall asleep and wait to be called for class.