The Elevators

Chapter 15 - Letting Go

Carrie couldn't stop grinning at me.

"What?" I would ask, and she would look away and grin. Harry is still sleeping. 

"Come on!" I whisper-shout at her.

"It's nothing!" Her smile gives away. Eventually I give up. 

.....

Hours passed and the doors opened. We found the other remaining candidates panting and covered with mud on their faces. I see Leo with Henry and another girl that I picked for their team. All of them looked beat. I stood and ran towards Leo. "You okay?" I asked.

"What happened?" Carrie came and asked.

Leo looked confused and fazed. "You don't wanna know..." he said with an eerie tone. Me and Carrie looked at each other and we nodded, having a silent agreement not to ask about the seventh floor. We guided Leo to a near wall to let him breathe. He looked so different. As if his soul and spirit had been sucked out of him. I instantly regret not choosing Leo to be with me. 

"Leo, I'm sorry. If I had known-" He shook his head slowly.

"It's alright Bree." He whispers and he fell silent. It must have been a very bad floor. I looked around at the others. They too seem depressed. Their eyes seem empty as if they had the most traumatizing time of their lives. Sympathy had washed over me. I pitied them. Then a thought had occurred to me: These guys haven't even graduated yet. They weren't fully soldiers. What is it like to be real soldiers? Facing real combat and the possibility of death. And here I am looking at them tired and zombie-like as if they had just gone to war. What is it like?

"We faced severe punishment because of that asshole." Leo rasped. I seem shocked that he could even talk after god knows what happened. Me and Carrie stayed silent as we had agreed.

An elevator door appeared and we were ushered in by Simon's hologram. The elevator was smaller than usual. Then again, our numbers were smaller. Nine left. We're close to the top. I'm close. I try not to get excitement over my head but I couldn't help it. I miss the twins. I miss their laughter. How white and sparkly their smiles were. I could remember taking care of them when they were just babies, Dany rarely smiled as a baby. However Mary could smile and laugh all day long. Her laughter would fill the house and could banish your sadness away. I sighed. I want to hear their laughs again. I will hear their laughter again.

And Caleb's.

A pang of guilt had struck me. I almost forgot about him. But who could blame me? I am trying to fight for my life. And flirting with a certain someone.

Stop, I tell myself. Just focus on what's going on now. 

.....

We rested for the whole day. Actually we don't really know if we did rest the whole day. Time really does not play a part in here. It's suffocating and it's slowly messing up my mind. I try to think of trees and rivers, the sun and the moon but it seemed helpless. It made me miss the outside more and how I took nature for granted. I wonder about the broadcast. The whole nation seeing us in here. Will I be able to see the broadcast if I get out of here? When Caleb got out and became a champion, he refused to watch the re-runs. I asked why but he kept turning me down. I couldn't understand why back then but maybe now I do. Especially after seeing the others drained because of the previous floor.

We were having breakfast (I think) and an announcement came : "Next floor is in one hour."

I looked at Carrie and Leo. Leo was still silent even after he had a nap. The elevator was quieter than before now that they are only 9 of us left. Not too long now.