Absence of Day

The Shallow End

"Sissy," A speaker directly in front of her boomed, its black and rectangular outline sharp against the soft blue sky and green rolling hills. 

"What?" Day stared in amazement at the beautiful scene. This is what she had only dreamed of, although the voice of her sister had only been a lure. Gazing at a bright blue sun burning about the size of a truck in the sky, she wondered how such a large sun hadn't swallowed them whole. Looking at the grass, she noticed it was still and dead, unlike the descriptions of the time Before, when it was said they waved and rolled with a kind of subtle harmony. This grass seemed spiky and dead. Extending her fingertips, Day felt only... cold. 

"Fake?" She wondered aloud. Taking a step forward, she felt herself run into something solid, and her heart dropped. Gripping the edge of the screen depicting the fake scene, Day ran her finger along it until her hand closed on... a door? Gripping it, she twisted and it opened up into the black stillness of a normal Earthen day now. Her disappointment was twisting her internally and eating away at her insides until there was no hope left. This was it. There was no day. 

"Thank you for helping us with this," A sharp, feminine voice said. "We appreciate it. You passed the simulations just as we expected." 

Day felt a surge of alarm crash through her veins. Had she and Josh been captured, and she being experimented on? That would certainly explain the pain she was just remembering she had felt before she had woken up in her room. Experimentation. What cold, hard people. 

"NO!" Day felt her voice let out an inhuman screech as she stumbled out of the room and started to run down an unseen hill. Switching on her watch light, it lit up just in time for her to jump over a creek and sprint into the trees. She kept on running, but soon she could hear the crash of a vehicle and march of people as they followed her. How had they done this so fast? As she ran, she heard them draw closer. But she couldn't let them catch her or she would be forced into a life of captivity under the government, locked away, beaten down, and chained to a wall for the rest of her life. And she knew the longer she ran, the less mercy she would get, and the worse her life would be. Yet that tiny voice in her head that whispered surrender, they'll catch you in the end she pushed away, pushing at that tiny spark of courage to run, run. Yet they were getting closer, and a voice boomed, "Surrender or UV firearms will be used." and she didn't doubt she wouldn't survive that. Stumbling to a halt, she put up her arms, and fell onto her knees as she realized what she had done. She had surrendered herself. There was no going back now. She was going to be captured. A list of possibilities of what she could have done ran through her head and she felt tears streak down her face. Freedom had been so close...

Then she was surrounded by light and men surrounded her. She was forced onto the ground on her stomach, forced with her arms out wide. The bravery she had felt was gone. Everything was gone. Not willing to struggle any longer, Day let the soldiers slip the sack over her head, fasten cuffs to her wrists and ankles, and carry her somewhere that light seeped from the cloth. Then a door slammed and she realized the cuffs were chained to the floor. She was chained to the floor... in a moving vehicle. And somehow, she was abruptly thrown against the wall and the light faded. 

Day jerked awake, heart crashing in her chest and sweat dripping onto her eyes. At last, reasoning that she was out of harm's way, she relaxed, closing her eyes again... then she froze, a horrible fright overwhelming her body. As she struggled to move it, she realized her arms were numb... but where were they? With blood suddenly pounding in her ears, and black crossing her vision as fear overwhelmed her senses, Day twisted around to find she was in an upright position, and her arms were bound above her head with thick chains. The metal burned against her skin, and she shuddered. Where was she? Looking up, she saw there were iron bands wrapped around her wrists and secured together with an iron bar. From the center of this bar was a chain that was attached to a hook in the ceiling. A hook. Struggling and shaking with the sudden exertion, she leaned forward and let out a small yelp as the metal rubbed, but she somehow managed to swing the chain off the hook, and she fell forward, not able to spread her hands to find her balance. With a pained shout, she crashed onto the ground and lay there, stunned, for a few minutes before rolling onto her back and pulling herself with the sheer power of her hamstrings. Raising both hands tentatively, she found she could also unhook the iron bands from the bar.