A/N: Finally, the second chapter is up! I know this one is a lot shorter than the previous one, but there will be more soon.
Again, thanks for the reviews so far! And for those lurkers out there, don't be shy!
I look down at my plate of food and hold my breath in. That's it, I conclude, they're trying to kill us.
The lunch room is especially full today; there are people moving about on all sides of my vision. Every conversation in the domed room is meshed into one loud scream booming into my ears. Not that it is anything out of the ordinary. I've grown used to the noise and the commotion over the years of being here enrolled in this hellhole, but never has this many children been seen by my eyes roaming about like lost cattle abandoned by their farmers. Well, that's exactly what we are here.
Abandoned.
But unlike all the other girls, who spend their free time wallowing on dead mothers or fathers who never gave a damn about his family, I got over the whole thing pretty quickly. I knew my mother was never coming back, and obviously my father could never rescue me, so why bother with the crying and the tears? No, my priorities were now focused primarily on not my past, but survival. Yes, I am going to live, while they don't have a chance.
I was going to live.
All the other girls that came here after me have made quick friendships, alliances with each other if you must. But these girls are all white, not leathered skin like mine. I was one of the only Egyptian sixteen year old in my dorm room; sharing it with one African- American and four white girls. I knew instantly when I saw them that I would despise them. That they would never become any friends of mine. There are more Egyptian girls in this place, but they are all younger than me. But honestly, I don't need a friend here. The only one I ever had slipped between my fingers and left me alone to fend for myself. But if there's one thing my father had taught me, it's that the only person that should matter to you is you. And I sure as hell don't need anyone else to come into my life just to desert me and leave me alone. That's something that will never happen again, I promise myself every day. Never.
I sit in my usual spot at the end of the long table allotted to us, trying to avoid the staring eyes and pointed fingers of the other girls. It's not that the pointing bothers me, but every time I hear a nasty joke, or a see the sneer on their faces, the anger finds a spark within me and my hatred towards them grows. The older I get, the more uncontrollable my patience becomes. Father called it a bad habit, yet Mother referred to my thin ice as a curse from Anubis himself. Not that I bothered to care all that much.
I begin picking at my food, though none of it really satisfies the hunger clawing inside of me. Before I even realize it, all my food is gone. Taking in a deep sigh, I rise up slowly out of my seat to obtain another plate of the tasteless food they serve us here. But when I get up to the row of lunch ladies that are scooping food from ladles out of the huge soup pans, holding my empty plate forward like a scrawny puppy, the lady just shook her head. "Sorry dear, Miss Davidson cut the rations back again for this here week. Ain't nobody gettinseconds today."
Taken back by this remark, I lower my plate reluctantly, the realization that I wouldn't be getting any more food for at least another twelve hours striking through me. But this time, hunger decided to play a nasty trick on my brain, taking control of my skinny little body. "But why?" I say loudly, the lady looking back at me with a fair amount of surprise.
"Missy, you know there's a full blown war out there? Men dying just bout every minute, and you complainin? What kinda Christian are ya?"
"I don't give a shit about any soldiers! I'm hungry!" I hear myself scream out. People are beginning to stop and stare, but the animal inside of me isn't about to die out any time soon.
The lady looked like she was searching for something to say, yet she averts her eyes saying nothing. But I'm not about to finish this quickly. I wheel around, surprised to see the face of one of the girls that lived in my dorm standing an inch from my nose. "Why so hungry? A sudden growth spurt? Sure took you long enough," she smirked, snatching the empty plate from my hands. My mind knows that I should just sit down and say nothing.
But hunger won't listen.
"Didn't you hear me Meela? Nobody's getting any food here! And besides, who'd listen to a scrawny, pathetic girl like you?"
I heard nothing. I felt nothing. All I knew was this girl had something hunger wanted. Revenge.
My hand clench into a fist, and my jaw tightens so much it hurts. The girl takes one last smile before my hand spins forward, hitting her jaw so hard she almost topples backward. She is in too much of a surprise to fight back, more less move.
I feel like a puppet on strings, unsure of who's controlling me and what I'll do next. Something inside of me is doing this, and I don't know what.
Hitting her again, she falls onto her back on the table, blood spewing down the side of her neck.
I look down at my victim, weak and defeated, and I feel something tingling inside of me. Something I've never felt.
But before I could enter the final blow, I feel strong hands around my arms, dragging me away from the girl. I thrash wildly, escape torturing my mind. But the arms just constrict me even more, and I feel helpless. They pick up my twisting body, almost throwing me into a windowless room, shutting the door before I could even look up though the mangled hair that covered my eyes. My breathing continues to race as I lie there, feeling more than light headed. The power that I had felt just moments before was now seeping slowly out of my body, replacing it with darkness. But I remember distinctly what I had felt. Power. Ability to conquer.
And I wanted more.
A/N: Like I said before, more to come in the next few weeks! Stay tuned!
