Subject A12: The Daughter

Awakening

The first thing that I registered was the sudden silence of the whirring, the clunking, of the box as it abruptly halted. My head bounced a few inches before slamming back onto the cold metal, waking me up from a blackness which I’d never thought I’d escape.

Silence engulfed me. It was surreal, I could hear myself breathing; heavy and deep, like I’d just woken from a nightmare.

Gingerly, I sat upright to get a look at where I was and what was around me. Large barrels, there was probably two or three, were tucked as tightly into the far right corner as possible. A couple of crates, stacked neatly on top of each other, sat next to them; containing jars of something I couldn’t quite make out. The liquid looked dark, even with the dim lights that lit the walls with a ghostly glow.

And that was it. It didn’t seem like much to behold, rather dismal.

I lowered my gaze and scrunched my eyes tightly closed as I tried to grasp something in my memory to help all this make sense; because it didn't. My mind, however, felt empty. A void of nothing, I couldn't grasp onto any memory other than one and one alone.

Stella. That's my name...Stella.

A loud alarm sounded as the lights flashed red. I jolted, suddenly, and pivoted, scooting hastily against the barrels, pushing as far into them as possible. There was a clunk then a slit of light appeared from directly above, ever expanding before the darkness of the ceiling disappeared into a luminescent white light.

I looked away, squeezing my eyes shut and then opening them to try and adjust to the sudden change in brightness. When I looked up, a dozen people or more had encircled the opening and were now looking down on me. The harsh light created dark shadows on their appearance and I couldn’t see the details of anyone’s faces or clothing. The only thing I was certain of was that they were all boys.

I tried to control my breathing, calm myself down. There was no way I was going to break down in front of them all, it would only show a great weakness.

One of the boys jumped down and unlatched a hook that I didn’t even know was there. He pulled back half the door whilst a different boy, one that had also followed suit, pulled back the other. Then they both crouched down and looked at me, analysed me, as if I were their prey and were to be their next meal.

“It’s another girl!” The guy on my upper right shouted out to the group. His booming voice seemed to echo all around but then a few cheers erupted from the crowd, a couple of whistles too, that drowned it out.

“Alright! Settle down!” The same boy yelled out. This caused the cheers to stop. “Same rules with her as we had with the other. No one touches her, unless you wanna spend the night sleepin’ with the Grievers!”

I frowned slightly and sat myself more upright to get a better look at these people. The guy who’d just spoke had dark skin and, by the looks of the glint of light shining off his head, was bald. He was also quite muscular with broad shoulders and thick arms. Adding his tone of voice made him seem, actually, a little threatening.

“Well, get her out then!” Someone from the crowd spoke out.

With a roll of his eyes, the dark skinned boy jumped down and into the box next to me. I shot up into a standing position, stunning him for a moment as he stopped to stare at me with wide eyes. But then he composed himself; hiding his fleeting moment of surprise: “C’mon, I’ll help you out.”

A rope was lowered, it looked worn but sturdy. There was a loop tied at the bottom, to place your feet onto.

I looked at the boy who stood by my side, he gestured, with a tilt of his head, for me to grab on.

Taking a couple steps towards the rope, I placed my right foot into the loop and grasped it tightly with both hands. With a jerk, I was hoisted upwards and out of the box. The rope was pulled from my grip, before being lowered down to my welcomer, who still waited below.

The group of boys swarmed in front of me and I almost lost my balance to fall back into the box. A slight wave of vertigo suddenly overcame me and I looked at the ground for a sense of calm.

“Oi! Don’t bloody crowd her, give her some space!” Someone else yelled out, from behind me. It was probably the first boy, who jumped to unlatch the lock. He had a thick accent and spoke more calmly, like he was trying to organise a small squable rather than overhear a boxing match.

I looked up to see, what looked like, even more faces that had been pushed into my vision.

I have to get out of here! I thought, a wave of panic and claustrophobia washing over me and pushed aside person after person.

Though I seemingly hadn’t quite fully recovered from my awakening of the blackout, everything was slowly starting to spin.

“Hey, come back!”

Who shouted that, I wasn’t sure. But I had worse things to contemplate as now I felt like passing out, people around me blurred and my mind felt empty.

After managing to burst through the crowd of boys, I got a brief look at my surroundings. Four immense concrete walls barricaded us in on all sides, trapping the inside from whatever was out there. They were vast and foreboding.

I gulped in lungfuls of air as my head grew light. The floor felt like it was tilting at dramatic angles. I hunched over and fell to my side.

“Somebody grab the Med-jacks! Hurry!”

I lay, trying to fight the darkness that was ever consuming me, with no luck. I felt a pair of hands move my head further back, so I could gasp greater gulps of air into my lungs and then they took both my wrists and lifted my arms over my head. Someone else grabbed my ankles then I was being hoisted into the air and hastily moved to somewhere else.

“Take her to the Homestead, find out what’s wrong with her!” It was the boy with the accent who’d yelled that time. I could tell him apart from the others easily. “And tell me when she bloody wakes up!”

That was the last thing I heard before the darkness pulled me under.