100 Days and Nights

Chapter 1

The alarm was going off, awakening me from my sleep. As soon as the alarm sounded I knew another prisoner was trying to escape. I don’t know why people tried. The Japanese had tight security around the perimeter of the camp so no one could escape and if you did, you were killed instantly, no questions asked. I wasn’t even sure how you could escape, especially when we were trapped in these prisoner cells until one of the soldiers allows you out, mostly to eat, to use the bathroom or to let us outside so we aren’t always stuck inside. But it wasn’t like we were free to go anywhere we wanted to go. Everything was monitored and showed case on screens. If anyone was killed, it showed it on the screen for everyone to see.

It has been twenty days since the Japanese took over Lynnville. We were just a small suburb in the western suburbs of Sydney. They hadn’t taken over the whole of Australia yet, but they were working on it. I wasn’t even sure why they were taking over our country. They came in the middle of the night, dragging us out of bed and forcing us onto buses, shooting anyone who tried to get away. They used the Lynnville jail to hold us prison. A lot of the prisoners who were in there already were killed, so were the prison guards. They blocked off all connections we could have with the outside world. No one knew what was going on. Neighbouring towns just thought we were in quarantine from some horrible disease which is what the Japanese army went to say so no one was allowed in. They were afraid of the Australian army taking over them. Don’t know exactly what they are doing yet but I know they are planning an attack on the rest of the country.

I glanced over at my mother and my sister Sophie who was a year younger than me. Dad and my younger brother Jamie were in another cell. They separated families and the genders, putting us into these small cells that were only meant for one person. There was only one bed and each night Mum would allow Sophie or I to take turns sleeping on it while she slept on the floor. I was glad that Jamie had just turned thirteen. If he was twelve and younger, he would have been killed. I have no idea but they didn’t want any children around and only kept teens and adults. They also killed the elderly.

We stood up as the bars opened. We walked out just as other people were doing the same thing, and if they didn’t, soldiers would come in and force them up. Since someone had attempted an escape, they were doing a roll call so they knew exactly who was here and who wasn’t. Every morning as we come into the cafeteria for breakfast we had roll call and just before we go to bed. They strapped these steel bracelets around your wrist, which is extremely heavy to have on. It feels like it’s dragging you down to one side. The soldiers places these laser guns or something, whatever they are called, over the bracelets, reading the microchip that’s inside and showing your identity on the screen of their gun. Even if you aren’t feeling well and didn’t want to eat anything for breakfast or dinner, you still had to show up for roll call.

Sophie stood closely to my mother as we spotted the soldiers at the other end, demanding for people to come out of their cells or to hold out their hands so they could tag them. I glanced down at the third cell down from the right of me. My friend Nelly wasn’t standing outside her cell. I knew she was going to get into so much trouble for not coming out of her cell that she shared with her mother. Nelly doesn’t like to be disturbed from her sleep. The soldiers were approaching fast and I feared of what was going to happen to her. But just when I thought she wasn’t going to come out, she came out with her mother, half asleep.

I glanced to my left where Zack stood beside me. He stared down at his shoes. Since the Japanese killed his parents on the day of the invasion, he hasn’t spoken a word at all. His elder brother Scott stood beside him. I turned away and glanced over at the soldiers. They were up to Nelly and her mother now, tagging their wrist before moving on.

Within seconds they were standing in front of my cell, tagging my mother. I stood still, staring ahead. You weren’t allowed to make eye contact with anyone around you when they were in the middle of tagging you. If you do, they will bash the crap out of you. They will put you up on the screen so everyone can see it.