Discernment

Chapter 19

I woke up in a dark, cold room. There was a mattress in the far corner, but I was on the ground. I get up and start looking around. On the wall, it said, "They can't make me follow their culture. Heavenly father, I will always be with you." I shake my head and look toward the large door, with a decent sized window and a man standing on the other side. "Hey! Asshole! Let me out of here!" I yell to the man. He turns to me and walks off. "Where the fuck am I?" I mutter to myself.

A few moments later, the man comes back with Joel. "Look sir, I told you he was awake." The man says. "Alright, don't be a fucking dick about it Ryan. Now, get the fuck outta my way so I can talk to him." Joel commands. "Sorry sir.." Ryan mutters.

"Thomas good man! Wonderful to see you're awake. Welcome to this wonderful community!" Joel greets me. "Why the fuck am I here? How did you get me here?" I ask, squinting, since my eyes are burning still. "Well, Thomas, your good friend Elliot made a deal with me. I will leave your group - His group, I should say, alone. In return, I get to keep you as prisoner, and one of your friend's heads as my prize. We had this whole thing planned out. When he rampaged off and went outside, we pulled up to him. Made him that offer. He wanted to get rid of you and the one lady... Forget her name.. I think it was Hilda.." Joel explains. "H-Hilda? You killed her? He killed her? What the fuck?!" I scream at Joel and pound on the door. "You are under special watch, Elliot told me you were a fighter. So, don't try to fucking escape. Right now, you get some rest and you can come out for some food and maybe make some friends."Joel adds in, then walks away.

I sat down on the mattress and I wipe my eyes, trying to get the pain away, after about thirty minutes of that, I just sat at the bed, studying the room. I have to get out of here.. I just have to. But I obviously can't do it right now, I'll have to do it at night. While still looking around, I found somethind. It was a good size rock.. I bet if I could sharpen that, make it into a small, stone blade of some sort. I put the rock in my pocket then pull the mattress out a little bit and I find a small tear in it. I'm sure I can find a use with the contents in here. I do remember when having the talk with Joel that there was a crack in the window, meaning it was weakened. I could probably check out what some weak points out there are before I even think about doing anything in here.

I sit down for a little bit, study the room one last time. I'm definitely not staying here a full day.. After what seemed to be an hour, Ryan, I believe that's what Joel called him, comes to the door. "Alright, time for you to eat and have some free time.. Then it's straight to work. Joel's orders." Ryan says to me. No.. That's not right. Joel wouldn't make me work, he knows I'll refuse. And I'm obviously too valuable for him to kill. Something's wrong, but I decide to go with it. I walk over to the open door where Ryan was waiting for me. We begin walking down the hallway, and I looked in all of the other rooms that were filled with people. "Listen, Thomas. I'm not even supposed to let you out." Ryan stops me. "What are you doing then?" I reply. "Well, if you haven't noticed that I'm missing an arm.. I'm looking to get me and these other prisoners out of here. There's a small girl being forced to work here, her name is Dani. I'm going to help you two escape tonight, you take Dani back to your home. Then, maybe in a week, I'll come back with the prisoners. We can live with you, start up a community. You just need to cooperate with me though, trust me with this?" He offers.

I think about this.. This is actually a huge deal, and it will help me and other people get out of here, where they have a home to stay.. That I will run! I nod with a small smile, "I'll do it.." I accept his offer. "Good, for now, I'm going to let you look around, search for some weak points. I think you'd do a better job at making up plans.. I don't know.." Ryan says. I nod and he shows me to the open room with groups of people standing around. I slowly walk around, while Ryan goes to talk to some other guards, and I slowly walk around the perimeter of the open room. I find a lone door soon after, it's slightly open. I tilt my head and grab the door slowly and open it.