Their Elemental Curse: Book 1

Chapter 17

*Beval Hernandez's POV:

I didn't know where the guards were taking us. My arm still had a burning sensation, even after the branding.

God, I was in such pain like I had never felt before.

They branded the number twenty-three on my arm, so it probably had something to do with twenty-three, maybe a cabin or maybe they were just identifying me by number.

They took us down a flight of stairs and out the back door of the building. I am guessing the only purpose of the "Front Office" building was just to brand prisoners. I had stitches on my right arm near my wrist that weren't there before and was it too much pain to move up my arm to get a closer look.

It was cold outside, probably thirty degrees. I looked up at the sky and realized snow clouds were almost among us.

I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. We didn't have our coats so there was nothing we could do to keep ourselves warm. Our coats were still at the library at Mina's house.

I looked out into the distance and saw a narrow pathway that lead to hundreds of cabins, all with numbers on them. There was also a huge tower with a big light, like a lighthouse. There was a big sign that said "Group 1".

"What is this?" Shimizu mumbled, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Those are cabins. Each of them can hold up to about 35-40 people. The prisoners in this camp are separated by age and gender. The camp is separated into three groups. In Group 1, the ages of the prisoners are from six to ten years old. It contains about fifty cabins. Cabins 1 to 25 are boy cabins and cabins 26-50 are the girls. In Group 2, the ages are from eleven to sixteen and there are sixty cabins. The boy cabins are cabin 1 to cabin 30 and the girl cabins are from 31 to cabin 60. In Group 3, the prisoners are seventeen years old and up and there are about 30 cabins. The girl cabins are from 1 to 17 and the boy cabins are 18 to 35" one of the Officer with me named "Tony" answered.

An Officer named Officer Charles spoke up after Tony.

"Group 2 is where you will be staying for a week or two until you are taken to the death chambers. First, let us lay some rules down before we take you to your cabins. If you try to escape, you will be shot dead. If you fight with another prisoner or get into a physical altercation with a guard, you will be shot dead. We need to maintain order in this camp and chaos will not be tolerated. If we ever hear or find out about you planning to escape, you will be taken to the death chambers immediately after. We have eyes everywhere and we hear everything. While you are at this camp we will put you to work, house and labor work. In Group 2, bedtime is at 9:00 pm, we will wake you up at 6 am. Breakfast is at 8 am, Lunch is at 1 pm and Dinner is at 6 pm. When you are not eating, you will be working, all day, every day. If you refuse to work, you will be sent to the death chambers. Oh! Also, don't even think about sneaking into the boy's or the girl's side of the camp, you will be taken to the death chambers if you do so. That's about it for the rules. Once we get to Group 2, I along with Officer Brandon, Jackson, and Jessup will lead the boys to their cabins. Officer Davis, Tony, Williams, and Donald will lead the girls to their cabins. Now, let's head out!" He lead in a firm and intimidating voice.

The guards nodded at Officer Charles before hitting us with the backs of their guns as a signal for us to make our way down the path.

I grunted in pain and starting walking. It was so cold that every breath that I made, I could see it as if it was cigarette smoke. The tips of my ears were starting to get not only red, but numb.

As we got closer and closer to Group 1 of the camp, I could see the prisoners. All of them were little girls. Clearly, we were on the girl's side of Group 1.