Divided On Earth

~3~

I woke up at around 4:00 the next morning, to the sound of someone beating one of the cells with a wrench.

"WAKE UP CHICKEN SHITS!" A guard yelled, flicking on the cell block lights.

I squinted in the light that poured into the cell. I coughed, and sat up. The mattress I slept on was almost non-existent, an inch of cloth, and then a metal slab on the floor. There was no pillow. My head hurt like madness, as people in the cell block started to wake up, spitting curses at the guard.

"To hell with you." Mark growled, loudly, as he rolled off the mattress onto the floor.

"What's going on?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Welcome to Day 1 of your new life." Mark said, annoyed.

"Fun." I said.

I got up, my bones creaking, and my muscles aching. It was a restless sleep that night, but that didn't matter anymore. It was daytime now. We shuffled out of our cell, most of the refugees starting to do the same. They all looked the same. Tired, annoyed, and sleep deprived. I noticed that a couple of them remained in their cells.

"Why aren't they getting up?" I asked.

"Some don't care about the wake up call... they get punished by the guard captain later... some don't hear it... others don't wake up." Mark sighed, as we followed the crowd out the cell block and down the hallway.

"They... die?"

He hesitated. "Let's not talk about that right now."

I nodded. "Where are we going?"

"The mess hall. We eat breakfast, and then it's off to the mines."

I paused. "Mines?"

"Yeah. They have us working in the coal mines, a couple miles away from here. It's how we keep this place running."

I sighed, and then shook my head.

"There are children here." I said, in disbelief. "What about child labor laws?"

"All that fell after Booker declared martial law." Mark told me, grimacing.

At this point we were walking down an unfamiliar hallway, with gray bricks lining the walls, and floodlights illuminating the room. At the end of the hallway was two big steel doors. Two soldiers stood guarding them, and on arrival of the front line of boys, opened the doors. There was a shriek, and someone yelled "FOOD" and, everyone started running.

Immediately, I was shoved forwards, by the people behind me. Mark swore, and grabbed my arm, pulling me to the side of the mob.

"Get down!" He yelled, throwing me against the wall.

I yelled out, and sank to the ground, extremely confused. People were rushing by, kicking at my sides, yelling, until finally, the crowd thinned, and a few tired stragglers lagged behind.

"You alright?" Mark asked, suddenly next to me. He held out his hand.

I took it, and he helped me up.