Mirrors

Chapter 7: Wanted Dead or Alive

Daven was chained once again to the wall across from Tyler. Struggling aggressively to try to break them, he put a foot up on the wall and pulled as hard as he could.

"It won't help. You'll just end up breaking your wrists. If they find out you're useless they'll kill you for sure." Tyler mumbled.

Daven ignored him and kept pulling, groaning as the cuffs dug into his wrists. He eventually gave up and fell back down on the cold stone floor.

"Told you, they're made of some kind of metal, stronger than steel, something to do with the whole backwards world thing." Tyler explained.

"Why? Why the hell are they doing this to us?!" Daven shouted.

"It's because we're criminals. We broke one of their laws. One day my mom got mad at me and I just hated her, so I came in here and broke my mirror, thinking if I couldn't get back that she couldn't tell me what to do anymore. Next thing I know the red-suits show up and drag me off here..." Tyler said weakly.

"I'm so sorry.." Was all Daven could say.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Tyler replied, "It was my fault, I committed a crime and now I'm being punished for it."

"You're just a kid! This is wrong!" Daven yelled.

"Mirrors are sacred to them, and I broke one. It was the worst crime you can commit. Don't try to defend me, I know I did wrong," Tyler said, staring blanking at the floor.

Daven couldn't believe what was happening. What had they done to this poor kid to make him think like that? Just before he could say anything else, the door unlocked and a red-suit entered.

"Let's go, you're about to get your number," The man demanded gruffly.

Daven was unattached from the wall and pushed down the hallway in the opposite direction. At the end, he was shoved into a room with a line of other people, presumably criminals as well. When he reached the front, a short woman grabbed his wrist and stamped something on it, taking a Sharpie and scribbling the number 333 below it. She screamed, "NEXT!" and Daven was shoved out of line. A red-suit motioned him to follow and they exited onto a long balcony overlooking a courtyard. Down below, dozens of other criminals mined away at various unknown substances embedded into the foundation of what Daven assumed at this point was a prison. The thalassic view of the lake from beyond the walls was breathtaking, but knowing he may never get beyond those walls made him feel even more depressed. The red-suit led him into another room with a conveyor belt running through the middle.

Positioning Daven at a specific spot between two other humans, the guard said, "Put the black rocks in the bin in front of you on the conveyor belt. You can handle that, can't you 333? Or are you just as useless as the stupid humans outside?"

Daven shook his head and got to work. Looking around, he saw lots of different people from all over the place. Behind him, a dirty blonde girl reached across and grabbed at the rocks in silence.

Daven turned around, "Hey, what are we doing this for?" He asked her, "Are these some kind of special materials?"

The girl looked up, "Nope, just regular rocks. The conveyer belt turns the gears that keep the power running, this little job is just to keep us busy."

Daven turned back, rolling his eyes, "Of course it is."

"I'm Candance, by the way," The girl told him, "Well, 127 as I'm titled here."

Daven looked over his shoulder, "I'm Daven, or 333 apparently."

Candance smiled slightly, then stopped when she saw a suspicious red-suit peering over the crowd at the two of them. Hurriedly getting back to work, she didn't speak to Daven again. After several hours of boring and uneventful labor, a whistle sounded and they were all filed out of the room into what seamed like a cafeteria. The food they were given was bland and tasteless, almost sickening. Daven refused to eat it.