Gaea [ON HOLD]

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I’m gonna break out. Not that it would be that hard anyways, but I’ve made up my mind. I’ve got it all planned out: First, I break the wooden handles, then I jump kick the guards, then I escape. Perfect plan.

I crawl up to the source of light. It’s night time, so the guards are probably asleep. Sweet. I take out my makeshift knife. It’s made of a sharp stone, and… yeah that’s my knife. I try slicing the wooden shafts. It doesn’t work. I try cutting it like you would cut an apple. It only makes a dent. What the heck? Why doesn’t it break? I have a theory- it’s not wood, but they made it look like wood. No, they couldn’t have done that. Then what? It’s killing me, but I decide to hold it off until tomorrow; I feel a headache coming on.

The next morning, Brook comes back with a container of water and a bowl of food. She unlocks the opening, then swings it open. She shuts it behind her as she crouches down and sets the bowl and container down. She sits. “So, what does it feel like? I mean, like, being on the island? I’ve been here one of the longest, and you look like you just came.”

“Yeah,” I croak as I pick up the cup and take a sip. Water. “It’s fine here, except for the fact that I’m stuck in stupid jail on the girls side.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be out soon.” She says with a wink, then she leaves. What does she mean by, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be out soon’? Something’s not right here; I need to figure out what.

…..

I wake up to the sound of pounding. I jolt awake, wondering what’s trying to get me. I don’t see any threats, but that doesn’t deceive me. “What’s there?” I ask cautiously. More pounding. Ugh, where is this coming from? It’s from my right. I turn and shout, “Who’s there!”

I hear a faint voice. “It’s me! The girl that you saved.” Great. Just what I wanted to hear.

“What do you want?” I ask, suddenly bored.

“I just wanted to say- I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For running away. I mean, like, after you saved me.”

“Whatever. But why are you in jail? Shouldn’t you be taking some crops?”

“No, they arrested me because of my significance with you. I’m bound to die in four days.”

The severeness of what she said hits me. "Die? Why?"

"Because. That's the rules. Mingle with the guys and you die."

Wow. Those are harsh rules. I don't even know the rules to if you meet a girl. Probably just something like 'No dinner for a day' or 'One day in the jail'. But die? They must hate us with a passion. I think that they hate us too much. "But why? Why do you hate us so much?"

"Our paranoid leaders think that you guys put us in here, so they hate you. They send us out to kill you, when we just want to negotiate."

THUD THUD THUD. THUD. "Ey, what's going on in there?" One of the guards shouts. "Will you tell me or should I come in there myself?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I thought I heard something from this wall. I guess not." The girl says.

"Okay, but if I hear voices one more time, I'm coming in there!" I hear her leave. I realize that I never got the girl's name.

"Hey!" I whisper-shout.

"Yeah?"

"I never got your name. What is it?"

"Sky." That's all she says.

.....

 

"Come on, you're going." Brook says as she pulls me out of my cell. I yawn and shield my eyes from the sun. Ah. Fresh sunlight and warmth. I shake my head.

"Where are we going?" I ask with curiosity.

"The Mountain. It's our biggest building." Oh, so she's talking about their House.

"Why are we going there?" I ask as we walk across the bright green hillside, towards the cluster of buildings, and most importantly, the 'Mountain.' The usually electric blue sky is now a light gray, with clouds covering up the sun. Huh. That's weird. The sun was just out a few minutes ago. How did it turn so cloudy in a short amount of time?

"Are you even listening?" Brook asks, clearly annoyed. "I said that you're gonna be questioned." We take a left and end up behind one of the buildings, a few to the right of the Mountain. Brook looks at me, then suddenly kisses me on the forehead. "Good luck. You're going to walk to the Mountain and then go up one floor. Then, you'll be questioned, and it won't be easy. Stay strong." Then she walks away.

I walk toward the Mountain, thinking how hard it is to be questioned. It's just questions, and I'll answer 'em. Simple. I turn the knob and push the door forward, and it creaks open. I step in to find myself at the point of a gun. I try to stay calm. "Uh, what's this?" I ask. "I'm here to be questioned."

"Who are you?" One of them says.

"Uh, I'm a prisoner, that you people caught."

"What prisoner? We haven't had any for a half year now. Now tell me, why are you here?" I try to process what she said. Wait, so I'm technically not a prisoner? But I am? I realize with a start that something went wrong with the system. This is the time to run. I step back and in a fraction of a second, I drop to the floor and trip the girl. She cries out. I kick her hand and pick up her dropped gun. By this time, backup is running down the stairs. I slam open the door and start sprinting towards the wall. I figure out my wound is healed. Good.

The wall is five feet away. When I'm there, I see the holographic pad and place my hand on it. The wall opens. It occurs to me later that it's strange that the girls' side knows my hand print. The wall slides open and I'm about to dash out of this side when the people on the other side see me. I'm caught.