Purple | Cole Stewart -VERSION DISCONTINUED

Chapter 2:On The Move

Months. Months of torture. By now, it was almost normal to me, however depressing that might seem. The days melted into each other and became weeks, and eventually months. I watched silently as small groups of "Reds" and "Oranges" were dragged away after rioting.

None of them ever came back.

But it was fine, because I was fine. I wasn't the one being dragged away to my death, so why should I care?

The other girls in my cabin got to know each other. They learned names and hobbies and talents, and I just... didn't. What was the point?

Then one day, while we were eating what was supposed to be lunch, the warning siren for the White Noise went off.

Immediately, almost before I realized what I was doing, I was under the table, my hands cupped over my ears, listening to the screams of the girls around me.

Then the pain started.

Over the past few months, I had heard numerous people try to describe what the White Noise was. I had no explanation of it, and I never would. All I knew was that it hit us, the Reds and Oranges, the hardest. And somehow, it hit me worst of all.

I felt nothing but pain in every inch of my body, searing and hot, building and building until I was unable to handle it anymore, and I was gone.

*********************

I was snapped awake by the all too familiar feeling of being restrained. I opened my eyes to see a group of 3 PSF's surrounding me.

The smallest of the three- not that that meant much when compared to someone of my size- was the first to notice that I was awake.

"Dammit Kessler, it's awake!"

I was greeted with the butt of a gun to my face, and a subsequent broken or at least bloody nose.

"There. Bitch won't be a problem if she can't think straight."

By now, I had let my eyes flutter closed, deciding that it was better to just accept whatever came to me.

"Don't do too much damage Jones. We don't get our bonus if she's brain-dead."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," this came from the man whose name must have been Jones.

With my arms and legs fully restrained, two of the guards grabbed my arms and dragged my limp body along with them, chattering as they went.

"We could also just dump her somewhere and collect. It's not like they're keeping track of the numbers,"

"Again, they are keeping track, just not on record. If we show up at the new location without the one kid we were tasked with transporting, you can bet your ass we're not getting that bonus." this came from the first one who had spoken- the smallest.

"And if we don't show up at the new location?"

"Why would we do that?"

"Think about it, right? We don't take her in, and we don't go in. We can turn her in for the reward money."

"It's not a bad idea Matheson. I heard that the going rate for one kid is ten thousand dollars."

"Just shut up and get her to the van will you? I'm not going to live of the run for the rest of my life because you two idiots think that half-assed plan could work."

Honestly, I was amazed at their ability to ignore the fact that I was definitely not unconscious, a fact made obvious by the small whimpers I let out involuntarily. They spoke freely about what I had to assume to be classified information.

I was both surprised and scared by that fact, because if they were that careless, I obviously wasn't coming back from wherever they were taking me.

That, or they were all just incredibly stupid.

Unfortunately, that thought did nothing to reassure me.

I continued to the sounds around me, trying to conjure a mental map of where they were taking me, and doing my best to keep from making any more noise then I already had.

I was fairly certain that we were passing the mess hall, so I began to picture it in my head, filling in the details of the pavement and the gardens off to the side.

Then other details began to fill in, almost without me thinking about it. And as things I knew I had never seen before began to appear in my mind, I realized they were filling in without me. If I had been standing on my own, I would have fallen over.

What the hell was happening to me?

Now that I could "see" my surroundings, I was able to see that I was being led away from where I worked, slept, and ate, and towards the restricted areas only the PSF's could go into.

A man leaning up against a wall nodded towards the men who were still dragging me along. I could see them nodding back, which would have made sense given my newfound ability, except they shouldn't have been within my line of sight even if my eyes were open. It was like I could turn to look to the side and behind me, except I wasn't really moving at all.

I had so many questions- most of them directed at myself- and no time to answer them, because I was being taken somewhere I had never been before for reasons I did not know.

I was in what appeared to be a loading dock. This was the first thing in a good amount of time that made any sense at all. All of the clothes we wore and all of the food we ate- however disgusting it was- had to come from somewhere, and this was probably it.

In front of me was a black van, the back doors wide open. I was thrown in roughly, my head hitting the floor with an audible thunk. My eyes flew open from the pain, and the image in my head dissipated, leaving me scared and disoriented as I struggled in the dark.

The van shook when at least one of the men jumped into the back with me and pulled me up before attaching the chains around my wrists to more chains on the wall. my feet were dragged to the wall, forcing me to support my own weight as I was strapped to the wall by my ankles as well, by what seemed to be a seat belt. when I shifted my legs even a little, the material rubbed against me and began to leave burns on my legs. The man in front of me chuckled when I squirmed in pain at the feeling.

"If you think that's bad, just wait until we get you to your new home," at this, he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up to the right side of my face. "You're going to wish I killed you," he whispered, dragging the object down from my temple towards my jaw.

He gave another low chuckle before jumping down from the vehicle and slamming the doors shut, plunging me into darkness.

It was only when I felt my own blood drip onto me neck that I realized he had been holding a knife to my face.

Word Count: 1191

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