metal and stone, monster and bone

chapter one- cor

We wait, onetwothreefourfive.

Then I roll from behind the truck, lob the grenade as far away from us as I can, and duck back behind it.

Nali looks at me , wide-eyed, "Did you do it?"

I nod.

We brace ourselves for the explosion, clutched close together, shaking.

five

four

three

two

one

But there is no loud boom! No screams, no footsteps, no fire that I can see.

Cautiously, I peek out. Two rebels are staring down at the grenade.

Nali taps me. "What's wrong?"

Shit. "I... forgot to pull the pin."
He curses, loudly enough that I have to clap my hand over his mouth, eyes wide with terror. After about a minute with no incident, I remove my hand.

"Sorry,' he whispers.

I nod, it's okay ingrained in the movement. There is no time for heartfelt apologies or escape plans. We have to wing it.

"Ey. Nali. Listen to me. We have to get out of here. They won't hesitate to hurt us, to fucking kill us if they find us. If they see us, we're fucked. So we've got to plan this carefully. We don't have time. You've got to run."

He isn't listening. His eyes are focused on something else, behind me. I turn and my jaw drops in shock.

It's a woman, but that isn't the surprising part. Her skin is paler than any Newlander I've ever seen, eyes colder, hair finer. She stares down at us apathetically.

"Hm." It barely escapes her lips, settles blankly on the air.

"Who are you?" Nali gets up in her face, all five feet of him. "Why the hell are you here? You don't have anything to do with this rebellion."
She laughs. "I lead this rebellion, smartass. And I'm better at it then you'd ever be." She snaps her fingers, prompting two rebels to run to her side. "Take these two to the prison barracks."
"Yes, ma'am," they chorus.

They haul us to our feet, drag us behind them until we fall into their one-two-one-two pace. We reach two long, low-roofed buildings at the edge of the base, up against barbed wire.

"You. That way- men's brig." He pushes me in that direction.

The other starts to haul Nali to the women's barracks, but I stop him. "Hey. That's my brother, douchebag. He sticks with me."

The rebel spits in my face and pushes him towards me. I grab his hand and stride towards the men's space, not once looking at him, afraid to see the expression on his face.

Walking, quickly, I don't want them to stare after us, to watch us shake in resignment, knowing how hard it will be to escape. "Come on, come on," I whisper to myself.

We make it through the door.

There's a hallway, doorways with no doors and no people inside the rooms at first glance. I let go of Nali's hand, walk past one two three four door ways before I finally enter a room.

There are four bunks pressed against the wall, three taken. Men lie on their backs, sides, staring at the ceiling and the walls and us.

Gaunt, some; fat, others; they sit up when we make our way to the fourth bunk and settle it.

A man made out of bones and paper whispers to us, the words almost swallowed by the air. "Welcome to hell."

I want to hide Nali from this, to shove him behind my back and cover his ears and keep him away from horrors. But he has already left me behind.

He shivers over to the man, looks him dead in the eye. "What have you seen here?"

I don't want him to hear what this man has to say. I don't want him to know what goes on beyond our world of jokes and alleyway fights.

But the man won't answer him, won't speak to him, just laughs with tears running down his cheeks.

I am already afraid.