Two large men ordered me and a dozen other people to open our eyes immediately, it was very early in the morning I could tell by the sun still not rising. My eyes began to adjust as I made my way out of shackles to restrain all of us into a straight line. We all pulled and tugged but to no avail as it was made out of Kerkanium one of the strongest metals and the rarest out of the materials that are used by many countries. Kerkanium was found at the highest points in the world. The place I saw in front of us was a barren wasteland, devoid of life nothing but a gigantic headquarters which I could only assume was to be used to harvest only the best materials. We were the workers, we did the hard labor whilst the Avalon people especially the rich profited off of us being unpaid. We worked hard hours and if you refused the guards would lock you into a solitary confinement room where the person had no contact with anyone else and was treated unfairly. Most didn't dare to disobey them and the main person who gained the profit from us working these long hours was Patrick Kratskowi who was a rich businessman and understood the stock market like the back of his hand. He was known for mistreating everyone and abusing his power. I met a person exactly like Alexander but I had my suspicions about him. The next day, I awoke at 4:30 AM to the ringing of a bell and people screaming to get up. I kicked the bed above me which housed Pëter. He was oblivious to this and continued his slumber, what a freaking idiot! Did he not remember that the guards had yesterday beaten him to the point where most of his bones were fractured. He had to be rushed to the ICU and most of the caves were not used that day, to our luck we survived another day in this outlandish and tormentiveworld. The world was cruel, I began to let that fact sink deeper into my stomach and the hope I once had was then replaced with doubt. My mind began to think that this was my new home, that I should be grateful for the place that I was in. Most people were either tortured or imprisoned for crimes that had not been committed. The only bit of hope I had left was for Sorek a country known for it's industrialization was going to enter the war. The morning wake up calls had become a regular occurrence in my every day life. The guards began to open our cell door, they called out for " Eizebel, Pëter you are to be frisked for anything that is considered illegal or contraband by the Republic oof Avalon" My roommate just laughed at them disregarding their stern faces and turned to me and told spoke in a language that we had been using to confuse the guards. One of them gripped the shirt of Pëter and threatened him with an ultimatum, either he listen to their commands or else he face going to Barkesnon considered the worst prison of them all where there was a high mortality rate there. His eyes began to bulge and sweat dripped from his head and armpits. It was easy to see from where I was in the situation, on my non-padded bed listening to the ordeal happening in front of me. Pëter called out for help but I only watched at the helpless person fighting to survive. The guards awarded me for being a bystander by giving me a break on Saturday to relax while others were put through more of the same grueling work trying to get Kerkanium to build the tanks and other military weapons that were needed to fight and invade other countries, it wasn't uncommon for people to throw others under the bus to save themselves from their impending doom. I was one of those people who wasn't afraid to get people into serious trouble for quote " treason". Many tried to bribe the guards into letting them get food from the cafeteria where the prison personal worked, some were lucky enough that the bribes were enough to convince them to let them through secretly. Though many were hard to convince and often you were reported to the Warden for you acts. One of my many fears was to see the face of the Warden, his cold eyes staring right into my soul searching for any information inside of us. Wanting to incriminate the person for anything they could find. One of the days we were taken to the back to hear an announcement from the President of Avalon requesting that some people to take from here and allow some space for other people to enjoy there stay here. He yelled for his assistant to bring up the raffle picker. He began to draw names from the machine one by one announcing them with great pride. I had no worry for I was very loyal and didn't deserve to be taken to another place.
"Sarah Tressman, you have been one of the lucky few to be selected to be relocated to another camp." I shook my heart practically skipped a beat. This couldn't be possible, I hadn't even put my name inside of the contest so how was I chosen. " Come up here dear, don't be afraid celebrate such a tremendous achievement." Everyone's attention then switched from the TV to look in the crowd there eyes full of mockery as they began to spread apart to allow me to walk down the pavement and reach the podium. The man gave me a reassuring smile that I couldn't tell if he was hiding anything sinister or if he genuinely felt bad for me. People from the streets started to cheer and chant, the day had passed and people were giving me dirty looks assuming that I would have a huge ego after such a special occasion, truth be told I didn't like the idea of going someplace different where I would be judged for my nationality and among other things I was very young and an easy target for people to gang up on. One person cornered me into the small space near where the cafeteria lady's workered. He threateningly told me to watch my back and to sleep with one eye open, I tried my best to look unaffected by his comments. When in reality I was freaking out, these people were double my height and worked out more often. They always acted very violently that many girls decided to join groups of girls that were also imprisoned within the prison. Though some of the girls seemed to like having protection by the boys, I resented them for not trying to stick up for themselves.
Once the group of people that included me were rounded up we were kept inside cells that were assigned with another partner that you were expected to follow the expectations put on each and every one of the prisoners. The guards laughed theirvoices echoing through the long and quiet line of cells except for the noise of the arguing of the prisoners. There are constant fights that send people every day to the ICU where they are in dire need of medical assistance, the staff would watch the person in such a horrific state that most would flinch at the sight of seeing the face and body of the prisoner. Many of them were very violent except for the person that was in my cell, he had the same personality as I did. He wondered if his family was okay and hoped that his house was intact, he told me that as soon as the war was over and the people were charged for their atrocities that he was going to build a successful tech business and support the poorer communities where he grew up and he felt a duty to help those in the same situation that he was in. I began to let my eyes cry, I was in the same situation as him and also worried what the regime would do to our families to gain leverage over us and make us do their bidding. That was always my worst nightmare, seeing my family with chains on them mining in the fields finding oil and other resources whilst being. It was the one thing that had kept me up at night, usually I screamed and disturbed the others sleeping but they didn't know what it was like to lose your family in an instant to see the consequences. They didn't care, they were happy with what they had and didn't argue.
I began to socialize with the girls in my sector and we bondend but some in the group gave me menacing looks to scare me away from conversations. They seemed to believe that I wanted all the fame and glory all to myself, as if I wanted to have all that I just wanted to go home and lie in my nice and cozy bed with a book on my nightstand. But right now I am currently stuck in a freezing cold cell with a cellmate I have never met in my life, nobody from my part of town in Skewekzy and no message about my family being safe.
" Morning Sarah, you ready to get some breakfast? I know I am" Pëter announced right into my ear. " Not right now I need a little bit more rest, you go ahead and grab something for yourself and me" I asked my stomach grumbling loud enough for him to hear it.
" Sorry princess, no can do you're going to have to do it yourself I'm not your slave remember that." He said with a sarcastic tone to his voice.
I grumbled I didn't want to get up, it meant having to walk barefoot all the way across the cafeteria. One of the things I would preferably not like to do early in the morning. " No thank you. I'd rather you go get something for me." I pleaded with him to go get something for both of us.
He began to leave the cell door when my feet touched the cold gray floor I shivered, the coldness going up my spine. I gathered my things putting my clothes on and beginning to walk towards the cafeteria. My legs dragging me along the path that I had walked many times before. I quickened my pace to catch up with my roommate to talk about our options about how to get out of here. My voice was speaking faster than my mind could comprehend the sentences that were coming out of my mouth. He chuckled and regarded me for someone who only cared about myself and that after the plan was for us to escape and go separate ways. Once we had reached the doors to the cafeteria sweat began to run down my arms and onto my hands as I gripped the handle there was no telling what the people would do, they would either mind their own business or chuck whatever they were eating or drinking right at me. I began to hyperventilate from the fear. The door was opened and I walked in my feet moved inch by inch I plastered a fake smile before reaching an open table and grabbing some things from the thepeople that were giving the food. I took whatever I could and ran away as quick as I could.
Someone yelled after me, " Hey Princess where do you think you're going?" I turned to see the man who was calling out to me. I screamed back at him " Go away! Leave me alone" His face contorted into something that could be recognized as a mischievous smile. Guards came and put him into handcuffs and put him into a room where he would be stuck inside. Whilst that was currently happening I ran back to my cell where I cried tears of sadness.
One of the soldiers came toward me and told me to gather my belongings because we were going to get moving to our new "loving home".
Everything from here on out got worse for us, everyone there though lowly of us. I was mistreated and malnourished by the guards, every time I complained I was told to " tough it out" this is when I hit rock bottom.
