Chained

Chapter 04

Me and Noah (Which I found out was his name) kept talking in Colonel Rogers room for a long time until the sun went down.

We were sitting on the floor as prisoners were not allowed on chairs or beds or anything of the sort. We talked about how unfortunate our lives were and our childhood. (Noah didn't share anything and he just listened to me. He said he had nothing to share about his childhood as he has never lived a normal life outside the camp walls.) So I told him details of how people lived outside in the normal world. At the end of the day I had talked with him so much that I kind of felt tired (Not that I don't feel tired all the time in this hell. But this was a different type of tired. Like the type of exhaustion you feel when you spend the entire day with your friends and finally it's time to go home.)

"You probably should leave now" He said.

"Don't you think I should wait for the Colonel?" I asked.

"It's past your work hours. All prisoners are required to be in their tents by 7.00pm or else the officer is required to take Max's permission to keep a prisoner past curfew."

"Fine, then I'll leave" I told him "Thank god he didn't show up."

"Bye Lilly" He said opening the door for me "We'll meet again"

And as I was about to walk down the stairs he said "I'm really sorry for making a joke about you both being alive that day. I didn't mean for you guys to get hurt by Max." He clenched his fingers into fists.

"I know" I said quietly. "Bye Noah"

I ran downstairs the flights of stairs hurrying to get to my tent before the bell goes off for curfew. If I was found lurking around past curfew I'll be shot dead. As I was running past the gun yard I heard a baby crying. A few seconds later I heard the sound of a gunshot and everything went quiet. I felt sick to my stomach. So the rumors are true. The other prisoners would say that by any chance if you were pregnant when you were captured and you deliver the baby as a prisoner, the doctors in the camp would deliver the baby for you. But on one condition. That is if the baby is a boy you would have to give the baby up at ten years old for working in the camp. But if it's a girl they would shoot the baby as soon as it is delivered.

I cannot take this madness any longer. I am going to die. This place is hell and I was never getting out of it. I heard the bell chime indicating it was time for us prisoners to be in our tents. But I didn't move. I was done feeling this way. I was ready to be shot. I waited for what felt like seconds and.........

"Hey! What the hell are you doing here you worthless hag?" I heard someone scream. "Get on your knees."

I looked around and there was no one close by. Then in the corner of the row of tents I saw a girl crying on her knees. And then came the gunshot. She was dead. She was almost at her tent and she was dead. I shouldn't give up so easily. If someone else who wasn't ready to die was killed outside her tent for being a few seconds late to get inside and close the flap, I wasn't going to be standing here waiting for them to kill me. I'm going to give everything I can to get out of this place. I vowed to myself. I crouched down next to a tent and waited for the guard to pass me and I ran to the area where my tent was. I quickly went inside and shut the flap. I was safe.

As soon as I turned around I felt a hard slap on my cheek and I was tackled down to the ground by Emily who was bawling like a baby.

"What the hell are you doing out so late?" She asked hugging me squeezing me tight. "Didn't you hear the bell?"

"I am sorry Em" I said stroking her hair. "I was asked to report to an officer's quarters today, and you know it's at the furthest corner of the camp. That's why I got late to come."

"I heard a gunshot and I assumed the worst Lilly. Please don't do this again. You are the only one that is valuable to me here and if something happens to you......" She started to cry again.

"Let's not talk about it Em" I said hugging her "It's all fine now"

"Which officer asked for you?" She asked me wiping her tears.

"Colonel Rogers" I said. "But he never showed up"

"Then what were you doing for all this time?"

"Do you remember the guy that made a comment about us being alive still and had Max beat you up?"

"Don't remind me about that snake. You know what someone should really shoot him in his empty brain. That would make me so happy." She said

"Well......I was with him the whole day" I told her

"You what? What did he do to you Lilly? Did he rape you?" She asked me panicking.

"No Em, He is also like us. He is water boy to the officers." And I told her about how he had been instructed by the officer to carry me to his bed and how the officer had left me thereafter and how he had kept me company until sunset.

"He is not our friend Lilly" She said "He got me beaten up"

"I know Em but he isn't that bad" I told her "He probably had to behave like a prick in front of Max and the others,

"Whatever you say Lilly. But I don't trust him one bit"

"Just forget about it Em. It's not like I'll meet him again." I said

"Yeah let's not waste our energy talking about him." She said pulling out a half eaten sandwich "Here I stole this from the kitchen. I ate one half of it and left the rest for you"

I quickly grabbed the sandwich from her hand and gobbled it up. It was tuna sandwich. I wiped crust off my hands. "Thanks Em"

"Yeah. Next time you won't be getting a crumb if you scare me again like today."

"Yeah yeah." I told her chuckling and fell on the sack to sleep.

It's not like I can fall asleep for another hour or so anyways. Emily started to snore softly indicating she was fast asleep. She always had the ability to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow (In this case a sack). I just lay on my back thinking about the day and what tomorrow might be like. There was nothing positive to think about anyways. I thought of the poor girl who lost her life today for being a few seconds late, the little infant that was shot because she was a girl. I also thought about Noah. The only positive outcome of the day was that I'd made a new friend. At least I hope he was a good guy and not what Emily thought him to be.