I awoke to a loud banging, the bright light being turned on, and even louder voices. It was about six AM and the men that had kidnapped me were banging on our door telling us to awake from our slumber. I was so overly exhausted. Although I was planning to go to sleep after reading the second page of Violet's diary, I found it hard to do so, so I read more. I mean, reading is fundamental, right? I was now on page twenty three. However, that was the least of my worries right now.
"Get up, get showered, get a fresh pair of clothes, come to the cafeteria. Simple." one of the men said while exiting.
Simple, huh? Not quite. There were thirty two of us and only two showers. There was always so much chaos when it came to showering, especially at the same time like this. It was simply impossible.
The light seemed extremely bright this morning. My eyes just couldn't adjust right away. It took me about ten minutes to get used to it's bright glow. I climbed down from my bed and followed my roommates down to the showers. There were sixteen people of each gender. More specifically, if I must,- sixteen female sixteen male.
We each split up into those categories and went to a shower. The boys always finished quicker because the girls would always be fighting and arguing about who gets to go first and stuff like that. When this happened, me, Violet, Akira, and Cuba all snuck away and waited for the boys to finish and took turns. They called me a genius, which I know, but I stay humble- just kidding.
We always go in order, Cuba, Akira, Violet, me. They always insist I go first, or any place but last since I came up with it, but I find no reason for it.
When it's finally my turn, I step in. I feel like I haven't taken one in ages. They give us certain times. Once a week. On Sundays, of course. Plus, the water is always below freezing.
When the water hits me it's like a watery icey touch, as if a glacier was embracing me or a large snowball was being thrown. It was like the wind that night, except imagine it on your bare skin.. Yes, that cold. I didn't mind it however, it was still refreshing.
I picked up the little piece of soap that was left and used the rest of it that was remaining. I began spreading as much of it all over my body as much as plausible and rinsed.
I got out and put on my towel. I passed the girls who were already dressed and ready to go get my clothes. After I put in on my clothes, we walked down to the cafeteria, a slippery trail behind us as our hair was still dripping wet.
When we reached the cafeteria, there were only boys, as expected. They didn't want to start the discussion yet until everyone arrived so we went to sit at our tables. Cuba was the only one not in our division however.. She was in the Insurgent division. Now that I think about it… Which division is the strongest? Or did they just split up the strongest amongst everybody.? They most likely won't tell us though, I mean, why would they?
After what felt like an hour, everyone was finally in the cafeteria.
"Finally, you people take forever. This is an important day. I know you guys may be nervous. Which is reasonable. As you have probably noticed, they're some bags up here. These are your resources and or resource packs. Some things need to be rationed, some can be reused, and others are long-term as long as you take care of them. We won't tell you what's inside, but each division will be given two bags. They are clearly bigger than an average size bag, so you guys will be clear in resources. They're very few weapons in the bag so make sure you also use your outside resources if you want to survive and make it back home or just to simply see another day."
First of all, I didn't even see those bags when I came in. Second, I can't believe this is all happening. Is this real?
"Yes, this is real and you guys only have a (couple) month(s). It isn't clear yet, but you have a limited amount of time to get out of there, do what you need to do and don't play around. This isn't a joke, your life is now on the line. Now, everyone follow me."
I forgot he could read minds. This is so unfortunate. I mean, we got through all of this trouble just for some of us to not be able to make it back home? Yeah, our situations were hell, but I don't want to die… It was hard for me, I don't want to put all this pressure on my siblings. The pressure of making sure they take care of each other and that they make sure nothing happens to one another. Finding some way to make sure they eat and etc… It's too much!... I will survive. I have to survive. I must survive.
We arrived at another unknown area, even farther from where we were. We walked for maybe two hours to get to this abandoned run down place. No signs of people, nearby buildings, or any civilization at all.
"Ah, yes. This is where you guys will set up and battle to the death, literally, no pun intended. Anyways, any questions?"
I saw someone from another division about to raise their hand, and a couple people already were.
"No? Really? Okay. Carry on then." He as he walked away, a car pulling up for him to get in and not have to walk back.
"Assholes" I whispered while looking down watching my step and not wanting the sunrays to shine brightly down into my eyes.
"Come on." Akira says walking up to me, motioning for me to get over in the shade where the rest of our division has gathered as a settling spot.
They began to open the bags and pulled out a tent from each bag. The girls gathered in one and the boys in the other. It was even. Four girls, four boys. There were small bags and or portions of dried fruits, nuts, etc… There were water vials that didn't have water so it didn't spill in the bag and ruin everything else.
Night eventually fell and everyone one was so thirsty and famished. We took out one of our bags of food and everyone got some for that day, there was enough to last us a week with that one bag if we kept eating portions as such. Then all the girls, Rose, Me, Akira, and Violet, all went to get some water from the nearby river. Everyone was so spreaded out. From us, the river was a five minute walk, maybe a three minute run and two if you ran quick enough. We saw someone from another division- and they weren't alone.
"Cuba?" Akira shouted out. I elbowed her hard.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"We don't want them to see us! Although she was our friend, she was the most gullible. You don't know what their intentions are. Everyone wants that money and wants to go home. Bad." I shout in a whisper then bringing it down to an actual whisper.
"Understand?"
"Yeah, sorry."
It's a little too late for that, I think to myself. They were looking over at us whispering and then they split up. Cuba was walking over to us.
"Oh hey, It's a shame we're not part of the same division, but you need to stay true to your division. Especially since you can't trust anybody but them. You only trust family, right? Well they are my family. And you? Fake. Fake friends, fake everything. Well, I have something for you, and you won't see it coming… Sleep with one eye open. I would if I were you." She cheerfully scoffed and walked off.
"What was all that about?" Said Rose.
"I told you. She was the most vulnerable. Let's just get our water and go." I said, annoyed and hurriedly.
We let the viles fill up and took them back to our setup. I found a rag in our bag and used it to filter the water. I used our empty food pouch to catch the clean water. I put the rag in the pouch and then the water on top of the rag and put some rocks and grass in there that I tried to clean as much as I could. Then, I closed the pouch as much as physically possible.
I went in the tent with Violet and had a conversation. I then took out her journal and we read a couple more pages together. We then fell asleep. My back against the walls of the tent and her head on my lap.
This is going to be a stressful couple of months.