Free *Editing*

Chapter 8

Birdy and Barn decide to escape into the common room to talk. The medium sized, square room is identical to the others, and reminds them both of the canteen. Rows of identical round tables with chairs are available to sit at, and to their surprise they manage to find a small on tucked away in the far right corner. They pull the chairs so they are sitting side by side and whisper in hushed voices. Barn begins-

"We need to stay side by side at all times Bird." Birdy nods. "I guess it's a blessing and a curse the city only has one jail." Barn scans the crowd of mixed genders and ages. "I think they are going to keep forcing us to fight in the Colosseum." Barn hopes that Birdy is going to give him a new idea or perspective She unfortunately agrees with him.

"Sense we survived the last one, and we are convicted murderers-" She makes quotation marks with her fingers. "-apparently. I assume they would." Barn swallows and stares off into the distance. "What do we do about Huld?" Birdy crosses her arms and leans back in the chair exhausted. "We can't do anything. Maybe we can get some sort of weapon to protect ourselves." Barn blinks rapidly. "I'll see what I can do." he's implying he's going to make one for her. She turns towards him- "I think he want to go after you. Call me crazy." Barn may be smart, but he can be surprisingly thick when it comes to people's intentions.

"Why would Huld want to come after me? No offense, your the one who smacked his brother over the head with a rock." Birdy is insulted. "Thanks." She loosens up again.

"No worries...but ya, I don't think he liked the way you talked to him." Barn scoffs. "Seems like some ass-hole high on his horses." Barn looks around. "Speaking of which, this doesn't make sense. Over half of these people look like starving homeless." Birdy sighs.

"They are..." Barn tightens his lips together. "So, Huld's the rare seventy percent?" Birdy nods. "He's a part of a gang apparently. Nitro's. They send individuals into the jail on purpose to fight the dragons in the Colosseum." Barn's eyes go wide. "Oh, for fuck sakes." Barn places his head in his palm.

"I shouldn't have brought us here." Birdy wraps her arm around his shoulder and pulls him close. "This isn't your fault. I thought I already told you that." Barn nods and sits up straight. Birdy's arm returns to her lap- "I'll take us back to the Outskirts. I promise." Birdy wants his promise to be a spark of motivation, but it feels more like a hopeless promise meant for an arrogant child. Birdy knows the truth about the situation, they have been thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Afternoon roll call. All prisoners line up."

It's the same announcement as this morning, and her plain lifless voice is already stuck in Birdy's head. The two of them are forced to leave their seats and line up into the halls. They stay silent, and eye up the crowd worriedly. Birdy holds the back of Barn's shirt and his fists stay clenched by his side. In the main hall they can hear another fight break out, and Birdy has to close her eyes and try to block out the chaos.

They go up the stairs together, and Barn gives Birdy's hand a tight squeeze before leaving. She tells him they can meet back up in the common room and he agrees.

When Birdy gets back up to her cell, Arednia is already standing at attention as are the other prisoners. She nods her head, signaling her to hurry up and she scampers to her spot in the line. The same guard as before, goes down the line and sluggish checks of their names on his tablet. When he gets to Birdy, his eyes alight in annoyance.

"This is your last chance to go get cleaned up." he barks. "I see you covered in blood and shit again, your going to solitary." All Birdy can do is nod and say she understands.

One floor below, Barn is standing stiff beside his new cell-mate. They haven't had a chance to meet yet. Barn glances over. He has large blue eyes and scruffy dark blonde hair. His skin is tan and he has small marks across his arms and face. The young man looks at him as the guard gets further down the line-