The File

The File ~ Chap. 26

Cole

I was left alone for quite some time.  All I knew was that I had been there for one night, since the light coming from the small window in my room was the only way I had of telling time.  No one came around, and so far I hadn’t been brought any food.  Even though I was starving, I didn’t want to have to beg for anything.  I didn’t want too show those people the satisfaction of weakness.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to.  A while after the sun rose, a small flap opened at the bottom of the cell door and a metal tray slid through.  My mouth started watering when I saw that on it were a bowl of cereal, a granola bar, and a glass of orange juice.  The granola bar made my stomach turn over, because I had eaten so many lately, but it was food.  And the cereal just looked amazing, since the amount of cereal itself was way more than I had had to eat for one meal since the day I had jumped the train.  The milk in it was a bonus.

Since the person who had slipped it inside was watching me to see if I would take it, I held back the urge to leap for the tray.  Instead, I calmly got off the bed and went over to it.  I lifted it up and walked back over to the bed.  I set the tray on the small stool and took the granola bar first, just to get it out of the way.  The person was gone when I glanced at the door.

I ate the food slowly, to savor it, since I wasn’t sure if they had an “all prisoners only get one meal a day” policy.  It seemed kind of silly for them to have one, but they were the bad guys, so they didn’t have to be normal.

Once I was finished, I put the cereal bowl back on the tray and went back over to the door.  I couldn’t figure out how to open the flap, and wasn’t about to waste my time trying to, so I just let the tray sit in front of it.  About a half-hour later, the flap opened and someone took the tray.

That was the only time I had any contact with other people that morning.  The afternoon, on the other hand, was different.  My cell door opened at one point and a guard was standing outside.

“Get out,” he ordered.

“Are you letting me go?” I asked.

He laughed heartily.  “Oh god no.  We’re just letting all of the prisoners out to get some fresh air and exercise.  You’re going to be working for us, you know.  We have to keep you fit.”

I stared at him.  “I would never work for you.”

“You say that now.  But you won’t say that when we get the electric bands and strap them on your wrists.  So whenever you don’t listen—” He lifted a hand and put it into a fist, then opened it up quickly just as he said “Zap!”

I flinched back from the guy.  I had gone through enough electric shocks for the time being—no, my whole life.

“Let’s go,” the guy ordered as I remembered the experience.

With a sigh of defeat, I stood up from the bed and stalked out of the room.  I noticed that there were a lot more prisoners.  When I first got there I thought that I was maybe one of five.  But seeing this, I was barely one of maybe thirty.  There were quite a few.

What was this organization about?

I drifted into the crowd of people milling towards the exit.  I noticed that I was the only teenager prisoner.  I should’ve expected that, because teenagers don’t usually work for federal agencies.  Usually, because in a way, Tate kind of worked for them now.  Anyway, most of the people were older men, with a few women thrown into the mix.  Even so, they all had one thing in common: They were all unhappy.

I knew how they felt.  Having the knowledge that you would never be able to get out and reach your family again was a downer.  And knowing that you would have to unwillingly serve the people who took you for the rest of your life.  It wasn’t what people said they would be doing “when they grew up.”