Salvation

XI

It isn't fair, for a boy so young to be so doomed at only 14.

How did the good people in life always seem to draw the short stick? Life seemed to spit in their faces as if they didn't care that Aiden was stuck on the island. Forced to live his days there with a weak immune system. And this boy who has no name, to be forced to live as entertainment for these sick people.

His skin was beading with sweat, the droplets rolling down his pale skin, dipping into the rivets of the cracked surface. But a smile stayed all the same.

He was strong, stronger than I would ever be.

He spoke of his dreams, the things he always wanted to do. He wanted to travel to the mountains, he wanted to try to find his father. While his mother was apart of the Desert Lands, she had loved a Mountain man for the few nights he stayed in her village.

And when he left her pregnant and was gone without a trace, it broke something in his mother. While she knew he was a traveling man she had hoped he would stay for her.

So, she gave birth to their son and refused to name him. She told stories to the child sitting in front of me, hoping that one day he would travel to the mountains to find the man who helped in his conception, and then, only then, would he finally be named.

The boy tried to explain it, from what I understood as my body laid on the floor, struggling to heal myself, was that the Desert men were the ones who named their children.

Those whose fathers disappeared or died before they were born, were never given a name.

"How do they live a life with no name?" My questioning was cut off as those in the cages around us quieted down from farther down the dark tunnel.

He had told me that they only stopped their cries when someone was coming, they couldn't show weakness in front of their captors. Those who are weak were taken first.

The boy and I were leaning against the wall, I could finally move without my head spinning and my mind pounding and screaming at me.

I couldn't bring myself to look down at his mutilated legs that were missing. We sat in silence, our previous easy-going conversation forgotten as we waited in bated silence.

If I strained my hearing, I could hear the harsh footfalls and whimpers from those that were pulled from their cages as the metal squealed. I could faintly see the outline of the person coming down the hall as the boy grasped my hand. As happy as he seemed, he was still a child who was terrified of these people who took him from his home, from his future.

I gently squeezed his hands back as we were suddenly blinded by the artificial light shining directly into our eyes. I blinked rapidly, ducking my head as black pinpoint stars covered my vision.

I could barely make out the burly mans words as I was trying to force my vision to come back to me. "She looks ready, tell him that she will be good to go by tomorrow."

I heard their laughs as I peeked up at the man standing on the other side of the metal, the artificial light pointing at the ground. "Who knows," Another said from in the darkness. "She seems docile enough, maybe her running was a total fluke."

The monster in front of me grunted. "She will be judged tomorrow." His brown eyes locked on mine as he grinned before continuing down the hall and pulling the scared from their cages.

The boy didn't say anything from beside me until the crying and pain filled whimpers filled the room. "We have no time." He whispered frustrated beside me."

"No time for what?" My dry lips pulled down, my body slumping at the thought of having to deal with any of the giants that just passed us.

That didn't matter as the boy's eyes met my own, confidence brimming in them. "You have to be chosen as a breeder, so you have a chance at running and surviving. I am getting you out of here."

"I don't understand, what's so different of a breeder than what you and everyone else here is?" I wasn't following with his fast paced talking as he fretted over my life. Me, a girl who he had just met when she woke up in his cell.

How do people have such big hearts like that. How is this nameless boy who has had barely any love in his life, wanted to save me.

"Why do you want me to survive so much?" I frowned, my lips turning down- the skin stretching uncomfortably as the dry skin split painfully.

He himself frowned, the first frown I've caught from him. "You don't belong here."

He smiled softly then, nodding his head as his curls bounced slightly from his movement. How could he be this happy when he was so hurt. "You have to be docile tomorrow, you can't allow them to think you're weak, but you cannot fight them either. You fight too much, they won't take the risk. You're too weak, you turn out like me. Make yourself limp, but glare at them."

"Okay, I can do that." I nodded along with him. "What do I do once they take me through?"

"Do not let them take you into a room when you leave the tunnel. It will be too late. You must find a way out quickly. Fight them and run as quick as possible." He took my hands in his, holding them tightly. "You have to promise me that once you're out you will not look back. Run to where you threw your bag off and don't look back."

I scowled at the younger boy as he grinned. "I can't promise you that."

"You will."

I shook my head, the greasy tendrils whipping my face. "How do you expect me to make that promise?"

He gently pushed the hair from my face, his hand warm and feverish against my cold skin. "You will do it because we are all dead in here. And I can't let anyone else die in here without trying to get them to be free."

I caught his heavy eyes, harsh and dark. "You can't expect me to just forget about you, about this place."

"I'm just a boy with no name." His filthy, fiery hair fell into his eyes. My limbs were too weak and sore to try and push it away from his eyes the way he had just done to help me.

I grinned them, my lips splitting painfully. "If only that were true." His brows furrowed but he didn't say a word as we sat in silence together.

Tomorrow was going to be a rough day, and I don't know if I was ready for it. But the boy with no name and I didn't speak of it as we ate the slice of bread and dirty water, we were each provided for dinner. And we were comforted by each other's presence.

He would spit out little tidbits of advice he thought I would need as we sat and waited for the day to be over with.

"Don't get lazy," He fretted as we heard footsteps coming down the hall before quietening as another guard passed by us.

"The more isolated you are the better." His hand squeezed mine as the screams started again, and that was the last we spoke for the night. I mentally tried to prepare myself and push my family from my mind.

Tomorrow would be about survival. What the mainland is truly about.

What my Father had tried to protect me from for so long.

We held hands, and I tried not to think about how his hand felt so much like Aiden's. We sat in silence as those around us were deposited back in their cages as they screamed so hard their voices shook and their cages rattled.

Because tomorrow could end in both of our deaths.