The war

chapter 5 of Idabell

A small beam of light illuminates a damp cell. Cold winds blow in creating a permanent frost covering the metal walls. I jolt up. another prison. I was really hoping i would just end up back at home and this would have just been some type of weird dream. But no, it had to be real. I notice 3 hunched over figures in the corner. We are all wearing blue jumpsuits.
“Hello?” I call out. A girl sits up so fast she almost knocks over the other hunched over figures.
“You must be new.” Her voice is wispy and seems to blend with the wind.
“Uh, yeah I guess.” A boy sits up from the huddle. His face is chapped and raw.
“What did you try to impress the queen with?” His voice is rough and doesn’t seem to fit his young childish eyes.
“What?”
“Did they wipe your mind?” I notice the last figure has sat up. She is smaller than the others and looks like something from a fairy-tale.
“I guess.”
“Oh great now we have to explain everything to you.” The boy groans and leans back against the frozen wall.
“Well, Every five years we have to impress the princess with handy-crafts.” The girl with the wispy voice sighs. “But if you don’t impress her she send you here.”
“The coldest place on earth!” The small girl exclaims.
“They half expect us to freeze to death.” The boy rolls his eyes. “We learn to be tough.”
“I guess we should introduce ourselves.” The girl with the wispy voice sighs again, “I’m Pandora.”
“I’m Oliver.” The boy grumbles. “Call me Ollie.”
“And I’m Gretel.” The small girl frowns.
“Do you remember your name?” Pandora asks.
“Yeah, Izzy.”
“That’s a weird name.” Gretel slowly moves closer and closer to me.
“It’s a nickname.” I smile. Ollie and Pandora have already huddled over.
“Come on.” Gretel tugs at my arm.
“Is this all we do?” I mumble as Gretel drags me towards the group.
“Yup.” Ollie moves over and Gretel immediately fills the space.
“We should try to escape!” I don’t move into the space Pandora has made for me.
“You’ll freeze there is no way out.” Pandora moves back closing the gap.
“Fine.” Pandora makes room and I squeeze in. It’s barely warmer.

I crouch there breathing and inhaling the others breath. Soon I hear Ollie start to snore. It’s more boring than anything. I think everyones asleep except for me. I pass the time trying to to think of escape plans. But it seems every way has a flaw. Maybe they were right there is no way out. After what seems to be hours the door begins to creak open. I lift up my head to see a robot setting down a tray of food. Almost immediately after it leaves, the others all run towards the tray. I slowly follow behind. There is a glass of half frozen water, and a very stale half loaf of bread.

Pandora begins splitting the bread into pieces and dividing them into four piles.  I nibble on the bread and take a sip every time the water is passed around. But soon hunger takes over. I devour what’s left of my bread and start taking larger gulps of water like the others.
“What year is it?” I ask half in between bites of the hard bread.
“100,000,000 years after we evolved.” Gretel boredly grumbles. I start to wonder if this is some other world that Earth. Almost before I know It I’m back in the huddle.