Ignition (MHAH)

45

"Levi.. Levi wake up! Levi.. Levi please wake up!" Ali's voice pleads.

With a groan and a few aggressive blinks, I finally open my eyes to see an all-too-familiar surrounding. Ali was chained to the wall across from me, thankfully fully clothed.

"Where are we? Is this.. is this the-"

"The barn." I finish her sentence, turning to glare at the door. The concrete walls and steel door loomed around me as if I had never left. Our only light source was the dying bulb that hung over our heads and a small cutout at the top of the wall, the sky peeking in from outside. It was no bigger than a few inches, and unreachable at the height it sat at.

"They- they took Eli!"

"They didn't take him Ali." I groan, despising the pain that shot through me as I shifted my legs, eyeing the mouse that creeps out from its hiding hole.

"Where is he then?" She insists, clearly scared.

"He was in on it-"

"No he wasn't! He wouldn't-"

"He was fucking in on it Ali! He was the rat! You got played! We all fucking did!" I shout hoarsely. She shuts up after that, sulking in her own denial.

It wasn't until the next sunrise that anyone came to see us. Of course, it was only a simple hose-down and a tray of slop tossed into the middle of the room; sitting there, taunting us with what we couldn't have.

When the sun finally began to set, in walked the fat bastard who stole my childhood. Our rodent friend came back every so often to scour for food but always ran off.

"God, it feels good to have you back." He taunts, walking in front of me. "I thank you for our new addition-"

"Wanna lay off the porkchops and booze? Your breath reeks even from down here." I grit, glaring at him as he steps forward. He sends a kick to my gut, ignoring as Ali screams at him.

"Save it.. you two are gonna have to prove you're worth the resources and time soon enough." He growls, waddling away as guards come in and detach us from the wall, tossing two trays of food onto the ground. Their uniform had changed.

As stupid as it was to focus on that, it brought me calamity. Instead of ragged old coveralls, they now wore red cotton shirts detailed with black lines and seams, a baton attached to their hip. They had black cargo pants and combat boots, each and every one of them carrying assault rifles. When I realize the mouse doesn't come back to steal a nibble and Ali scrambles towards it, I speak up.

"Don't touch it.. it's laced." I take my time standing up and walking towards the trays as my joints screamed at me with every step, hating the pleading look in her eyes.

"I'm hungry Levi.."

"He's sending us to die." I grit, picking up the two trays. "You eat that now and the next time you wake up, you'll find yourself fighting for your life." I tell her, chucking the trays at the door.

"We need food!" She insists.

"And we'll get food!" I snap, tapping my leg over and over. A.. R.. E.. N.. A.. Let's hope Justin was right about this fucking tracker.

"Tell your waddling piece of shit that we want real food!" I shout at the door, banging the tray on the steel barricade.

"Shut up!" A guard bellows, his voice distant.

"I'll tell him you touched us!" I shout. "He'll kill you! We both know he hates his merchandise getting tainted!" Footsteps echo down the hall, closing in on our cell. I back up just in time for the door to swing open.

"You? Tainted? You're a slut. The scum on my shoe. You've been taking dick since thirteen!" He snarls, gripping his baton.

"Don't touch her!" I scream. "Leave her alone! Get your hands off of her!" Ali catches on and joins in, screaming as loud as she could, kicking her shoes across the room.

"Stay away from me! Get- Get your hands off of me!" The guard glares at me, swinging his baton for my head.

"Shut the fuck up!" He bellows, slamming the door behind him on his way out.

"Ali, we have less than a minute.. you- you gotta tear your shirt a bit." I rush, crawling over to her to yank her pants down just the slightest bit. She makes haste with ripping bits of her shirt as footsteps storm over to the door. I move away a bit and lay on the ground, clutching my head as the door slam open again, ali covering her body with her arms.

"What the fuck were you doing?!" He roars as the guard follows him into the room.

"He was trying to touch her." I groan, slowly sitting up. "I-I tried to tell him not to-"

"You lying little bitch!" The man growls, storming over to me.

"Then why is her shirt ripped?" I blurt out. I could see Ace seething as the man fumbles for a reason, jumping as a gunshot echoes throughout the room.

"Fucking imbeciles.." the man grits, his eyes catching on the food splattered across the doorway. "Really?"

"Like I'm gonna eat that laced bullshit." I snarl, regretting it as he storms over to me and shoves the barrel of his gun into my mouth.

"Be grateful you even got food. I could just blow your brains out right now." He seethes. I stare him dead in the eyes and I push the gun further into my mouth daring him to do it. His eyes trace over my face before his scowl turns into a cackle. He takes his gun out of my mouth and waddles out of the room. When Ali's certain he's gone, she reams me out.

"Are you fucking stupid?! What if he pulled the trigger?!"

"He won't."

"You don't know that!"

"He thrives off breaking his hostages.. he hasn't broken me yet, which means he's not bored of me yet. He won't." I tell her, scooting back over to her. "...I'm sorry you had to tear your shirt." She shrugs, playing with her fingers.

"Levi? What's going to happen to us?" I take a deep breath before talking.

"I'm pretty sure he's gonna put us in the arena."

"What's that mean?"

"We fight for our lives. Kill or be killed." I tell her as the door swings open again. Four guards come in to drag the body away, one staying behind to drop new trays of food off. Ali eyes me when I stare at the food, a soft smile playing on my lips when the mouse finally comes back to get his meal.

"We're good." I tell her, pulling the trays towards us. When the mouse stares at us, I toss a piece of bread on the ground, the little fella rushes to grab it before hurrying off.