The girl's crying has stopped, and I can tell by the rhythm of her breaths that she's asleep. I lie back down on my mat and close my eyes. All I want to do down here is sleep. They must be pumping some kind of gas in here. It makes sense—if you are sleeping all the time, you can't cause any problems. The blackness comes hard.
I wake up, but the silence and the little light make me feel as though I'm still in the grasp of sleep. Propping myself up onto my elbows, I look over to the girl's cell. She's gone. My body betrays my mind, and I don't move as fast as I would like to the front of my cell. When I get there, the sound of the elevator doors opening pulls my attention. Two drones drag the girl by her arms.
“What did you do to her?” I yell in anger. Her body hangs lifeless. Whatever they are doing will kill her, if she's not already dead.
“Answer me!” I scream louder. The drones drop her body off in her cell and walk back to the elevator. My eyes search her body for signs of life.
“Traitor,” one of the drones shouts. When I look over, they are gone. Is that what they think of me now? That I'm a traitor? All because Dr. Anfang spared me. Because I was not allowed to die.
I don't care what they call me. I'm not one of them anymore. I'm not a drone who aimlessly follows orders with no purpose or sense of what life is and can be. Those hours with Atom outside of the compound's walls when we ran to the pyramid, heard the music, and tasted the chicken; they awoke me to what was outside the boundaries of my mind. My brain and thoughts were trapped in a darkened cell. Much as I am right now. In need of the light.
“What's your name?” Her soft voice crackles through the silence, pulling me out of my trance.
I get as close as my cell allows me. The girl's body lies on the ground, more beaten than when I last saw her. The little light that this dungeon has reflects off her eyes, and I can tell she is looking right at me. “80. What's yours?”
“Anna,” she sighs out. Her breathing has grown deep and long. “Do you think we will ever get out of here?”
The despair in her voice forces a pain in my chest. I don't know the answer to her question, so I lie. “Yes, and soon. You'll be able to see your family again. Tell me about them.”
She sniffles and speaks through her tears. “It's me, my sister, my mother, and my grandmother.”
“All women?” I ask.
“My father and brother were killed,” she answers with the pain of their loss still in her heart.
“How? By who?” I'm pretty sure I already know the answer.
“You all.” There is intense hatred in her voice.
My heart begins to share her hatred. It cries out for her. “I'm so sorry.”
“I just want to go home. My mother needs me. I have to help take care of my grandmother.” It amazes me how selfless her thoughts are when she is the one in need of help.
“I promise I will get you out of here.” I try to convince myself that I'm telling the truth.
She doesn't respond. My eyelids are feeling heavy again. I lie down on the ground at the edge of my cell and look at Anna. Her eyes are open, and they meet mine. She smiles, and I smile back. Her expression shows hope of leaving this dungeon, but her eyes know that it might not happen.
Our gazes stay locked on one another's. I fight hard to keep my eyes open, but the darkness of sleep wins again.
A light shines bright at the opposite end of the dungeon. I sit up, and the door to my cell is open. I look for the girl, but she is not there. Before I can look around more, I hear a faint chanting originating from the light. It’s my name: “80. 80.”
I run straight for the light. Faster and faster. I shield my eyes as my body crashes through the threshold of dark and light. When my eyes focus, I see my feet right on top of a ledge. Below me are thousands of drones, all looking up at me, chanting my name. Before I can make sense of the crowd below me, my feet slip, and I fall.
My eyes shoot open, and I flail my arms to stop myself from plummeting. The screams coming from my mouth jar me awake, and as I look around, I see that I am sitting in my cell. Right where I was before. What just happened? Where is the light? Was that real? I check my surroundings once more to confirm that I am still in my cell. Maybe Anna can explain what happened.
I walk to the edge of my cell, but like the last time I fell asleep, she is gone. I sit on the ground and wait. There isn't anything else for me to do, and I'm afraid that I will start to fall again if I close my eyes. The unwavering darkness and my ever-tiring brain make it hard to tell the difference between hours and minutes.
A sharp pain in my stomach makes me realize that I have not eaten since they brought me down here. I grab a couple of protein pouches and return to the same spot to wait for Anna and fight off sleep. The protein pouches cool my
