The Institution
By Jade Wright
Day One:
I wake in a strange cell. There's another girl in here with me. She looks scared. I don't know what's going on or how I got here, only that I'm scared and hungry.
"Are you awake yet?" she asks me in a hushed tone. She seems jumpy, so I speak quietly, too.
"Yeah. Where am I? I just woke up and I have no idea where I am." I say.
"You're in the Institution. We shouldn't be talking. They don't like it. Dr. Fitzgerald will be coming in shortly to assess you. I'm Meghan, by the way. Everybody just calls me Number Five, though." She holds out her hand for me to shake. I grip it firmly and shake it once.
Day Two:
I keep running, knowing from yesterday that if I slow down or stop, they either burn me or electrocute me. If I take a wrong turn, they send in a dog man to make me go faster. The dogmen are vicious predators. If they catch you, you end up with a bunch of scratches, if you're lucky. If you're not lucky, well, let's just say you won't be running for a while.
Today, after we're done in the maze, they're testing out something new on us. They're going to see how much electrocution someone can take before they pass out or die. Meghan told me that Dr. Suttles and Dr. Frigaard want to incorporate that into the maze. Dr. Symmens doesn't want any more electricity in our bodies.
They assigned me as Number Twelve. Now there's only numbers 5,6,7,9, and 12. The rest of them died off. Either from starvation or from the dogmen. Nobody wants to tell me how, and I don't push it.
When everybody else is on a lunch break, us five get to talk. At least they give us that freedom. I find out that Number Six is named Tarius, Number Seven is named Maiya, and Number Nine is named Demeco. I told them that I was named LaMerria. They're all really nice, and they revere Meghan as some kind of leader, since she's been here the longest and she's the oldest. She's known all of the past experiments except for number one and she told me that she stopped getting close to people after number four died. After that, she kind of shut down. She doesn't really open up to anybody.
Day Three:
I can't believe I'm getting out this soon after I've come here. Meghan has been waiting three whole years to get out, and for me, it's come in just three days. Dr. Symmens just pulled us all out and Dr. Fitzgerald is going nuts. Right now, we're in the woods behind the institution. Dr. Fitzgerald sent the dogmen after us.
We all run through the woods, feet bare, clothes flapping in the wind. To anyone else, these woods would be so beautiful. Now I just see it a possible demise. We could get stuck or trip over a tree root snaking through the ground, and if any of those happen, we're done for.
"Meghan! Hurry up!" shouts Demeco. I look over my shoulder at Meghan, whose foot is stuck in a hole.
"Just go on without me! Do whatever you can to stay alive! DOn't let them get you!" she shouts back. I can see a dogman about 100 yards away from her. Maiya runs back to her. I swear under my breath.
"Maiya! Get out of there! She told us to keep going!" I yell after her. I shake my head but keep running.
Day Four:
"I can't believe you got out of there alive. That was dumb. I know you saw the dogman coming," reprimands Dr. Symmens.
"I couldn't just leave her there; I had to do something," replies Maiya.
"Well, you ended up hurt and she ended up dead. You're lucky you didn't end up dead, too."
"I know, but what would you do in my situation?" says Maiya. That made Dr. Symmens pause.
We're sitting in Dr. Symmens' kitchen in her too big mansion. Demeco is going through the fridge and Maiya is getting her bandage changed. Tarius is sleeping and Meghan died fighting the dogmen. There was practically nothing left to bury. While all this is going on, I'm leaning against the wall, tears pouring down my face. Meghan was a hero to me, a leader. She told me the rules that no one told her, that she had to figure out for herself. She was like a mentor to me. Now she's gone. I'll never get to see her again.