THE EXCHANGE

3

I jerked awake, feeling the dirty jumpsuit sticking to my body. Through bleary eyes, I tried to peek through the thick wall of darkness. The lights that lined the corridors opposite the cells were off, the black blanket in full concentration. The pungent smell of urine and poop took my nose once again. A dim thrumming took my ears by surprise. I came down the bed, following the sound. I soon settled onto the floor with my ear pressed onto it.

  The thrumming increased, my eyebrows furrowed. From all I had read I knew for sure that when Nigeria was still standing, it had experienced only a handful of earthquakes and even after the effects of the global warming, it had almost none, the only aftermath was the flooding and constant rainfall. The thrumming grew louder as I noticed through the peeks in the reinforced steel, a blue surge of light.

  Soon the floorboards began to tip up, my eyes widened slightly. The faint whir of a machine threaded into my ears as a drill glowing light blue cut through the platinum boards, heavily announcing its presence. Heart in my throat, I moved back, the blue glow threw shadows against the walls. I squinted against the sudden glare as the whirring and vibrating stopped. The drill was pulled back, darkness enveloping the cell again.

   What in the-

A hand gripped my leg harshly. Before I could process it, my back was scraping against the dark floors. I racked in the hold, grabbing wildly at the smooth floor. Bile crept down my throat as I fell through the hole. My gut churned with queasiness, gravity pulling me down to an abyss of black. Soon I hit against the ground, my back arched forward with the pain ricocheting through my downside.

I moaned, my head throbbing loudly. Voices rose around me as I fought against the onslaught of pain that alighted my senses. Light filtered into my vision, revealing three other masked figures. An arguement rung among them, my mind unable to grasp the words. Dizziness kept with my mind with a fondling touch.

"Who are you?" The tallest said, grabbing the scruff of my jumpsuit. Jerked out of my trance, the world around became clear once again. Fear drilled into me, unable to take in his eyes against the dim lighting. I wiggled, his strong hands like clamps.

How did he even get muscles such as these?

"Let's calm down." I tried to shake out of his hold, his grip tightened to disallow the chance.

"Where's Dana? And who in the world are you?"

It looks like someone doesn't watch the news.

  Despite the situation I rolled my eyes. The man seemed to be aggravated by that. Before I could answer, alarms flared up, catching onto the event that was taking place. Underneath their masks, their eyes widened, exchanging glances before the man let go.

  I landed on the ground. Red lights seeped through the hole as I heard the distant shouts, before I could move away I was grabbed once again. Soon after, I was crawling through a small tunnel, the corners grating against my nerves. My muscles cramped. The hairs on my neck stood, the earthen scent of soil wafting through my nostrils.

  My heart spun on its nose, reeling from what was happening around me. The others around me tightened the hole we crawled in. Nausea washed through me. My fear of cramped spaces kicked in, juts of stone scraped against my jumpsuit, drawing at its threads. It got stuck, holding my body back. The man at my back, hit harshly against the sole of my foot. The tunnel like shape seemed to close in on me.

My heart thundered loudly. I couldn't see past the two ahead of me. My throat clogged, sweat running down my back. The figures before me, crawled upwards, alerting me of the change in direction. Then they came out from the other side of the hole, light seeped in from somewhere above, lessening the crackling tension in my muscles.