After Earth.

Chapter 12

Ndeshi

These beings are evil.

'Inhumane, awful, sickening' That was all my head kept on repeating. The nausea that once rested at the bottom of my stomach was slowly forcing its way up. How could they keep people in such a place? Not even an animal would deserve to live in such conditions.

"I never say things I do not mean," Astras said standing behind me. The room was engulfed by darkness with small ceiling lights spread far apart from each other. The light given off by the lamps was unsettling, their flickering would reveal the cells that rested beneath them.

The cells were long cages, with thick bars smeared with blood. I took one step forward followed by another as I looked into the cells. I saw the faces of people. People who I did not know, ones stuck in this endless abyss of torment. They were thin to the bone, looking almost non-human and disturbing. The smell grew more pungent the further I walked in.

There were groans everywhere, I could not distinguish whether they were groans of pain or hunger. I walked further until I was stopped by a small voice. "Please". The voice said. They sounded young and innocent, their little plead shattered my heart. I slowly approached the cell and I could hear light footsteps approach from behind the steel bars. I had to use my hand to swat away the flies that would rest on me the closer I got to the cell.

"Forgive me. Please, I need something to eat" When my eyes fell on the source of the pleas I could not help but gasp. It was a child. A boy no older than 14. He stood there with his boney hands clenching the cage, his eyes dead and his skin coated in dry blood. What was behind him was even more revolting. It was a bloody corpse, the body appearing to be someone older. Their hand was missing, and the insides of the corpse decorated the floor.

"I did not want to eat him. After all he's my Dad. But I had to, I had to I swear. I'm so hungry, I feel like I'm dying". The more he revealed the more dreadful I became. My legs gave out and I used the bloody bars to support myself. I bent down to look at the child, I had no words that could offer him comfort. He will never be the same again, whether he lives or dies, he will never recover from this.

I said the only thing that ran through my mind at that moment, "I'm going to kill them, I'm going to kill them all. I'm sorry" I started choking on silent tears, not wanting Astras to hear me. Although he stood at a reasonable distance I knew he had heightened senses "I'm so sorry, this isn't fair. It's not your fault okay? You had to do it, you were hungry" I let out. He stared at me biting his hand, it was like his mind was vacant, and he kept muttering something under his breath. The flickering light revealed his dilated pupils and raggedy attire. He did not have any pants on, just a big shirt that made no effort to conceal his unnaturally thin legs.

I must have forgotten. This is who the Zephonians were, peace and freedom? For who? The ones they choose? This is what they do to the rest, this is what they do to the men and the boys. I wiped the blood off my hands onto my dress and straightened my posture. This was just the beginning, I started mentally preparing myself for what he would show me. What he had done to my friends.

I put on a stoic expression and continued to look through the cages, I had to ignore the begging. The cries and the screaming, the pungent smell of torture. I had to ignore them because I could not help any of them. "Where are they?" I asked facing forward.

"We're almost there," He said in a deadpan voice. He stood in front of me, hands behind his back while he gracefully walked past the cages. He did not even bat an eye at the people behind them. He ignored all the rattling and begging. The animosity I felt for him while he walked ahead of me was indescribable. I don't know how I would do it, I don't know when or where, but this man would feel the exact amount of  pain that I felt at this moment.