Just an Echo in the Darkness

~Chapter Twenty Four~

Ambria was so done with life. She couldn't do this anymore. It felt like everybody was falling apart from each other.

A year ago it was Ambria, Bryce, Hudson, Brielle, Harper, Carson, Julia and Sky.

Now Bryce was who knows where, Hudson was most likely brainwashed and somewhere else, Julia had died, and then they were all pretty much replaced by Greylan, Jossalynn, and Breylen.

Ambria laid in her bunk bed, she felt broken. Her foot hurt and was barely healing from the gunshot wound, her arms ached from the multiple medical shots in her arm, her heart ached and she missed all her friends.

Ambria wanted to cry, but there were no tears to cry. Ambria sobbed dry, terrible sobs. To be honest, all she wanted was to be home with her family. It didn't help that it was Julia's birthday. October 1st.

Ambria couldn't help but wonder how long they would be stuck here.

Jax has been here for almost seven years.

Ambria had only been here for about a month and a half, and she was done. She had been strong too long and she was done with it. She didn't want to be strong anymore.

Brielle groaned from the bottom bunk, and Ambria leaned down to check on her. She was tossing and turning. Ambria wanted to do something but didn't know what to do.

Whenever Ambria couldn't sleep at home she would have the notebook she hid in her desk drawer to hold on to and it helped her sleep. It made her feel braver maybe because it belonged to her grandfather, than her dad, and then Jax.

She only hid it because it was important to them, and the police wanted to take everything of theirs to help find them. Ambria didn't want them to take it, so she hid it and kept it for herself.

She still hadn't and couldn't get herself to actually read it. Ambria climbed down the torturous ladder and gave Brielle the only blanket Ambria had.

It seemed to calm her down slightly, with more warmth. She wasn't tossing and turning as much and Ambria laid in the cold, and eventually got a little sleep.

.- -- -... .-. .. .-

Ambria wasn't ready to wake up when the bell went off the next morning. There were no mirrors to tell, but she was sure that the circles under her eyes were darker than the sky.

She got ready, pulling her mess of hair back into her everyday ponytail. She would have stayed in the cell and sat all day, besides the fact that they check the cells and guard them all day.

She changed into the matching suit, like everybody else.

Once they were ready, the guards checked to see that everybody was awake and getting ready.

Like every day, they gave a small portion of oatmeal, and two slices of bread to share. They sat down by the tiny metal table and quickly ate the small amount of food, until the next bell went off, and the guards waiting outside the cell ushered them out into the open space.

The set up hadn't changed one single bit since the first day. Each rotation still had a fence by each area. The guards usually let you go to whatever area you wanted at first, you just had to work.

Ambria walked over to a new rotation that Carson was at, and Brielle followed.

"Hey, Carson," Ambria said, then turned her head and wished she could go back in time and walk to a different station.

"Hi, Ambria," Bryce said, pressing his lips together. Ambria hadn't noticed him until they were already there.

"Um, hi."