Foxtrot

Chapter Four

"Hey."

Everyone turned to face the voice.

It was Stripe.

"Look. I know you want to be a hero. We all do." She stood slowly, ignoring the protests of some of the others telling her to sit down. "We can't be the main character, newbie. Life isn't like in the books we've read. This isn't the precursor to a fiery rebellion and revolution. This is how things are run." Her voice was shaking almost as much as her body was. She wasn't speaking as a leader who wanted to control the situation. She was speaking from experience.

Nadia met her gaze and saw only pain there. She nodded slowly, looking at the other girls. All eyes were fixed on her.
For the first time, Nadia actually looked around and saw the others who were there. Some of them were small, and not from malnourishment. They were children. Some of them clung together in groups of three or four.

The older girls all seemed to be in their early to mid teens, even Stripe, intimidating and broad, suddenly seemed to only be a kid. She had read their ages earlier but the realization was dawning. They were so young. They were scared, they were hungry, and they didn't know what to do other than what it took to survive. Why should they risk their lives for someone they didn't even know? Someone they hadn't even seen?

She had heard about Foxtrot. Everyone had. One of twenty six maximum security facilities set up throughout the country, their  record of brutality and no escapes was enough to spread rumors. The saying went that those who went into one of these facilities only came out in a pinewood box.

Nadia knew in the back of her mind why she was here. It wasn't a big mystery. Her uncle had been sent to Alpha, her friend Laura to Tango, and so many others to the rest of the twenty six. They were purging the community and they'd succeeded.

And now she was going to die here. Among the other poor souls that were deemed useless by the government.

"Ey, newbie? You listening?"

Nadia snapped out of her musings and nodded. "Yeah."

The room seemed to have gone back to normal, murmurs and quiet conversations filling her ears in a mindless muddle.  Some of the younger children had grabbed up pieces of charcoal and were drawing on the walls.

She walked over and knelt down to their level, looking at the drawings. They were little things like rainbows and unicorns, some had drawn houses and families. As she looked at the rest of the wall, she saw many more drawings. Some had faded with age and they all seemed to be of the same type.

Nadia still wanted to go run and save whoever was out there. She wanted to rebel. To be that hero she had read about in books.

But this was real life.

There was no author making sure everyone was alright in the end.

At the moment, she had to look out for her.

That's all she could do.