Arrow

Chapter Eighteen: Sacrifice

I pulled my boots on and made my way out of the main ward, keeping alert for any surprise guards or night-walkers. I listened carefully, one hundred percent focused on what was around me as I crept down corridor A which lead to an unmarked corridor. My boots were heavy, but with a light step I reached the end without any sightings. At the end of the corridor, was a bend followed by a door and behind that door, I could hear noise. I pushed forward, searching behind me and in front of me, just in case. The closer I came to the white door with a small window, the louder the voices became. I recognized one as I now stood a meter from the barrier.
It was Shaun.

"And there was no result?" I listened as he spoke

"No" Another replied "Not yet, we need... keep testing..." This voice was quieter than Shaun's. I edged closer, now standing directly beside the door, my ear nearly pressed against the wooden grain.

"We can't keep using these people Shaun..." The small voice sighed "It isn't fair"

"We can, and we will. The future of human kind depends on us John, it depends on you. And if that means sacrificing a few civilians, then that's what needs to be done" Shaun forcefully told him.
I knew the moment I heard the word sacrifice, that the something I had originally imagined to be wrong, was actually going on, it was going on behind that door. I could only have imagined what exactly was happening, until I got into the room myself.
But that wouldn't be today, not with them in there.
I continued to listen, pushing my ear against the door, waiting for more information. But before I could, I heard footsteps, footsteps nearing the direction I'd come from. I began to panic and ducked under the door window to bolt in the unknown direction of the corridor, around another corner. My heart began to race as I darted down the hall, the footsteps having continued past the door I had eavesdropped on. It was following me.
Eventually, the hall came to an end, as all things did. I now had two options: one, a broom closet to my left, and two, a door that led out into the prison yard. It was a difficult choice, only because I could see through the small window on the door to my right, a few people in the prison yard. If I emerged from this direction, and they saw me, they'd surely question it.
I weighed up my choices, and in the end, I avoided the claustrophobic situation of the broom closet and pulled open the door to the prison yard. The person behind me neared as I closed the door as quietly as I could.
Instantly, I ran across the open field, then stopped to walk as casually as I could.
The door I had exited from then opened and out came Max.
I breathed in roughly, and quickly released it, calming myself down as I walked across the yard, past the weights where one man sat, bench-pressing.
He hadn't bothered to notice me.

"Hey!" A female voice broke through the quiet outside air

I tried to ignore it, hoping it hadn't been directed at me

"Hey you, wait up!" She continued until my eyes caught a pair of waving arms. It was in my direction. Five seconds later, the woman was at my side.

"Hey" She repeated, breathing slowly as she walked alongside me

"Hi" I kept my head down, praying she hadn't noticed the door I'd appeared from

"We haven't actually formally met yet" She began "I'm Sinda"
Her name caught me off guard, my feet stopped moving and my head turned in her direction. She had a cut lip, and bruising to her jawline. She was the girl I'd beaten up.
I found myself staring, but quickly snapped myself out of it before she could become suspicious.

"Arrow" I told her, smiling as she slightly did

Sinda was an extremely attractive woman, probably only a few years older than I was. She had deep black hair, slightly wavy, pulled back into a short ponytail. Her skin was perfectly sun-kissed, her body like an Egyptian goddess. And then there were the marks I'd eagerly put on her flesh. I cringed.