Estranged [Completed]

Burrito

She sat like that for ages. It could have been a week or a year; she had no way of knowing. Time didn't make itself known in this damned dungeon.

Then she heard a few shouts and calls from her fellow inmates at the far end of the hall, followed by the steady rhythm of two boots thumping against cement. She lifted her chin off her chest and saw a Warden approaching. She watched the dark figure's advance with dead eyes.

The Warden stopped at Kalei's tube. Kalei raised an eyebrow at him as she heard a grunt, and then the Warden pulled off his helmet. It was Wexley, the old weapon master. Well, Shenaia called him old – the man was in his late fifties, his hair not entirely turned to grey yet. Not that it ever would, considering the man was Estranged. Kalei knew him well from all the time she had spent at the range. She only belatedly remembered that he was in charge of solitary too.

As Wexley tucked his helmet under his arm, he grumbled, "Fuck protocol. This ain't exactly by the book to begin with."

Kalei smiled in spite of herself. She hadn't realized how desperate she was for information until she saw the man. "Hey, Wexley. How's it going? What's going on out there?"

Wexley studiously ignored her, walking over to the wall behind her tube where steps had been carved out of the cement. The steps created a slight, curving path that hugged the back side of her tube and climbed all the way to the open top about twenty feet above.

Kalei persisted, "Hey, Wexley. C'mon. At least tell me what you're doing. Shenaia and I took good care of your guns. Yeah, we might have burned through a lot of ammo, but we always cleaned up, helped you out around the range. C'mon, Wexley. Don't give me the silent treatment."

When he reached the top of the staircase, Wexley pulled something out of his pocket and dropped it into the tube. Kalei watched the small white package grow larger as it dropped. She held out her hands to catch it, but the object moved so fast it shot between her outstretched fingers and hit Kalei's knee with a soft thud. The package split open, splattering brown refried beans across the glass and hitting Kalei in the face. Kalei wiped the mess from her cheek and opened her eyes in time to see a burrito slide out of the white wrapping and fall limply to the ground.

Wexley returned to ground level and told Kalei, "Shenaia thought you'd want some food. Hell if I know why, but she wouldn't leave me alone 'til I gave it to you. Don't recommend eating it, though. There's no way in hell I'm cleaning out that cage when it comes back 'round." He winked at her. "Unless, of course, you got a little sugar to spare."

Kalei snatched up the remains of the burrito. "You can tell Shenaia I don't want her fucking burrito!" She attempted to throw it out of the tube, but within the confines of the glass, she couldn't pull her arm back far enough to make a decent throw. The burrito weakly flew several feet up the tube and then came falling back down, nearly hitting her again. Kalei managed to dodge this time, and it hit the floor with an unpleasant squelch.

Wexley laughed and said, "Well, have fun with that. And you're right, you girls were pretty kind to my guns. And pretty kind on the eyes too. Thank you for that." He winked again and turned to leave.

"Hey!" Kalei screamed. "What's going on out there? Is Fenn still alive? Wexley! Wait!"

Without stopping or slowing, Wexley yelled back, "Just be glad you got that much. I'm not allowed to talk to inmates, y'know." He reached the door at the far end of the hall and disappeared through its frame.

Kalei's world shrank once more to the size of her small glass circle. Except now she had company. She would have kicked the burrito, except she didn't want the damn beans all over her shoe. Not that they didn't already cover half her pants and most of the cell. Kalei sighed and smacked her forehead against the glass. After a moment, she reached up her hands and held its surface beneath her open palms. Then she slowly pulled her fingers closed, wishing she could pull the barrier away like a curtain. But it stood, impervious to her desires.