Breaking out of Area 51

Chapter 4

The rest of the day went by slowly. I was given dinner though it was the same as yesterdays lunch but it did have beans!

Another tally on the wall and I was asleep, thankful the same dream as last night didn't fill my mind.

I didn't see Jamie again the next morning. I don't know if I'm disappointed or not, I'm still confused as to why he even came to my cell in the first place.

The lunch alarm sounded so I got up and started walking. Right, left, right and into the cafeteria.

For some reason I immediately tried looking for him, but he wasn't here so i walked around everyone to the usual table.

"Andy? Helloo". I blinked and looked up to see the other three staring at me. "Huh? What?".

They chuckled, "we asked if you had dinner yesterday, they didn't seem happy when you left. They dragged the mute boy out straight after".

"Jamie".

"Huh?", said H.

"His names Jamie", I said nonchalantly, looking down as I ate. I didn't hear a reply so looked up to see three shocked faces staring back.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"How do you know his name?"

"Seriously?" They all said at once making me take a minute to process it.

"How do you know his name?" H tried again.

I didn't realise they would be so angry about this, or scared? I don't know how they're feeling but it feels a little more aggressive than I thought it would be. "He came to my cell yesterday. He didn't say anything so I asked him his name. He said Jamie", I shrugged.

"Do you want to die?" Harley asked with a straight face.

She must have sensed my confusion so carried on, not forgetting to roll her eyes. "He's obviously with them! He doesn't have a power, he gets treated way better and they've started to treat you worse! We've all noticed it".

"Right, but what if he's not?" I tried to reason. "If we were in his shoes wouldn't we side with the guards to make life easier?"

"Absolutely not", Harley replied straight away, not wanting anything to do with that statement.

"That's only because we're bitter about being treated this way. But if we never were, it would be easier wouldn't it? Anyway I don't think he's one of them, I think he's as scared as we are, didn't you see his face yesterday?"

The girls didn't seem to like that answer but Carter pulled his eyes up in thought before nodding in agreement. And its true, he did look scared and he's been here for loads of kids disappearances so why would they get him involved in mine? It wouldn't make sense.

He walked in as everyone was finishing their food, as usual flanked by two guards as he collected his tray. His head stayed facing the ground until he sat down, when he suddenly looked up searching for something. He found my eyes and stared for a fraction of a second before looking back down and eating his food.

"He's definitely working for them", chimed in Harley after seeing the interaction.

I got to finish my food this time without being dragged away which was nice but being back in the cell was so boring despite having so much going on in my mind. Ive probably been here for half my life yet the last two days have been the most eventful so far.

I started getting tired which meant it was probably getting late so I led down on the blanket and stared up at the ceiling. I would say it made a nice change to the wall, but the only difference is the lack of tally marks. But anyway, you learn to look forward to the small things.

Just as I was on the brink of sleep and the thoughts in my head hid away, I heard the latch click sending me jumping up.

Scraggly brown hair made me breathe out, "fucking hell Jamie, you scared the crap out of me!" I whisper shouted as I knelt by the door.

"Are you ok?" I asked after he said nothing.

He looked down, I wasn't sure what he was thinking about but I wanted to know so I waited.

"I-i-I hea-hear your n-name", he said deathly quiet.

I furrowed my brows at the statement to trying to figure it out. Clearly Jamie was a man of few words so its probably best to ask as little questions as possible, but I still didn't understand.

I had to ask a question. "Who's saying my name?"

He didn't answer but motioned his eyes around him.

"The other kids?" I tried, but he shook his head. The only other people were the adults.

"The guards?"

This got a nod from the boy and my stomach dropped as everything fell into place.

They were clearly talking about finally getting rid of me. I watched over the years as the older kids slowly started vanishing once they reached a certain age or stature.

I thought I was ready for it, I knew it was coming, I've been thinking about it for a while. But now it was finally happening I suddenly wanted to stay in the cold concrete prison.

I had learnt to keep my emotions in so I pretended to be calm about it, not even because I didn't want Jamie to see but rather so I could convince myself it wasn't happening.

"When?" I asked simply.

He bit the inside of his cheek which I noticed he does a lot, before shrugging his shoulders. His eyes changed and looked.. sad?

Like lots of other kids here he also seemed to hide his emotions which just emphasised my point to the others that he's just like us.

However his eyes showed how he felt if you looked straight into them. If you don't really speak or communicate at all then I guess those feelings have to go somewhere.

"What happens to those kids?" I didn't want to ask but curiosity has got the better of me. It's probably Carters and rubbed off on me.

He looked down so I couldn't see his eyes but they looked slightly wider and his mouth looked downturned like a frown. That was clearly not a good sign and neither was the fact he didn't answer and after a moment closed the latch and left.

Once again by myself. I don't think I'll be able to catch that edge of sleep again and these thoughts are definitely not hiding away for the night.