Year 231 - The Box


I wake gasping from a slumber that's hard to describe. I feel like I've been asleep for months, but also as though I hadn't slept in days. There's a cloud over my mind and I turn to my arm to cough into the crease. Blimey, I'm groggy as all hell and utterly confused. My head's pulsating like crazy and it just adds to my disorientation. I open my eyes and I'm surrounded by complete darkness until something flickers above me. There's some flashing lights all around, faint, old, they don't light up much aside from a few towering figures around me. I narrow my eyes at them to try and discern what they actually are. Maybe they're - boxes?

Why am I surrounded by boxes? Where the hell am I?

I try to think how I got here and I - can't remember anything. That seems - that's not possible. I don't know where I am and I don't remember anything apart from opening my eyes seconds ago. I don't remember where I'm from, I don't remember my parents, I don't remember - anything. How can that be? It's just - it's insane. There's something nagging at the back of my mind, someone shouting - a name? Is it - is it my name?

"Jo, what have you done!"

Jo. I guess I'll take it.

Everything's - it's all foggy. My situation is hard to register, let alone comprehend. One thing I can focus on, what I feel. There's something cold beneath me, it's hard and it's making this nasty clanging sound when I try to move. And if that isn't enough, even moving is difficult, my arms and legs feel unnaturally heavy. There's this high pitched ringing in my ear, like someone fired a gun too close to my face. I try to sit up and it just makes my head spin. I try to shake off the feeling, but it just makes it worse. And on top of that I have a roaring headache, feels as if I've been bashed in the skull with something hard and blunt.

Suddenly the ground beneath me moves, an alarm sounds, and then I'm being propelled upward at a breakneck pace.

"Shite!" I blurt out as I'm forced back onto my elbows.

My heart rate rises, sweat's cascading down my brow, and I prepare for the absolute worst. No memory, sensory deprivation and manipulation, nothing about this sits right with me. On top of that, there's a perpetual feeling of someone's eyes on the back of my neck.

God this is aggravating!

I look up to see red lights in the distance, and they're getting closer. There's a metal hatch above me and I'm approaching it much too fast. I brace myself against the chain link walls around me, ready to be turned into minced meat, when my cage starts to slow. Eventually it stops entirely.

What the bloody hell is going on?

I don't know how much time passes, but it feels like forever. The alarm's stopped for the moment; now my panicked breath is all I hear. At some point, a different alarm echoes around me and the metal hatch opens. Glaring light shines right into my eyes and practically blinds me. I - I think people are whispering around me, I just can't hear a damn word they're saying. That last alarm left my ears ringing again. Out of nowhere there's a loud screeching sound, it sounds like old hinges, and the light on my face just gets worse.

"C'mon, someone help the Greenie out before he klunks his pants. I don't want to be the one to clean that muck up."

It's the first thing I can hear clearly, and suddenly the warmth on my face is mostly gone. I crack open my eyes and find several people leering down at me, at least 30, probably more. I have no idea who they are, where I am, or anything of the like. This intense panic takes hold in my chest and I sit up as quickly as I can, backing myself into a corner in some futile attempt to get away from whoever these people are.

Of course, this doesn't stop them. Someone jumps down into this metal contraption I've woken up in. They start inching their way towards me slowly, their hands held out in the hopes to placate me. To no avail. Then, almost immediately, everything starts to slow down around me. My heart keeps racing, but I'm able to calmly look around and I evaluate my surroundings. My eyes take in everything with perfect detail.

Boxes. Supplies?

Looking to my left and then my right, there's a box labelled "Medical" with a faded red cross. I reach inside and I pull out a bottle.

Glass.

Without a second thought I smash it against the metal beneath me and point it at whoever decided to get close, ignoring the shards that pierced my palm.

"You stay the hell away from me." I manage to croak out. "All of you."

Being armed with a makeshift weapon causes the person to back off. They're looking over their shoulder at someone else, older, waiting for instructions. Looking for some sort of guidance to get me under control.

Leader.

"Listen," he states plainly, his voice just as soft as his brown eyes, "I know you're probably well outta your mind, but we're not gonna hurt you. We're all here in the same boat. So don't up and nut me, alright?"

I practically snarl at him. "Don't give me any ideas. You just stay the fuck away from me or we're going to have a problem."

"I understand that you're afraid, let me just -"

"I'm going to say this one more time." I lower him a knowing glance. "I'm going to stay right here, you're all going to fucking sod off until I say so, yeah?"

"Just let him spend the night in the box." Someone says bluntly to the leader. "Keep a guard or two here to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, and leave him be."

"I say we just haul 'im out." Another adds.

"Too bad no one gives a klunk what you think." Someone else states.

"Alright." The leader finally concedes. "We'll do it your way, Alby."

Alby? Why does that name sound so familiar? It's not a common name, I think - do I - do I know him?

He snorts. "C'mon, Nick. What else is new."

Again, I think I know a Nick. Maybe there's hope for me afer all

Nick thumps his friend's ears and addresses the others. "Now, listen up you dumb shanks, the Greenie stays put for the night, and since I don't trust any of you to not poke the rabid dog with a stick, Newt'll be charged with watching over him." He looks down to the bloke standing in front of me. "Just be careful, alright? We've already got Alex in to see the Med-Jacks, we don't need his second-in-command to be in the same boat as him."

"Like I'd ever get stung, or beaten up by some Greenie." Newt smirks.

What the hell? Is all of this that normal to them? Do people just get shipped to these wankers like a goddamn care package? What the hell is this place? Why do I feel like - I've been here before? Like I've met these kids before?

Nick shakes his head and shoves the blonde beside him. "Don't get cocky, Runner. Now, the lot of you can get back to work."

Some people make some sort of protest, but eventually everyone nods in compliance and they all leave me to my own devices. Even the lanky one, Newt, gives me my space for the time being and I'm bloody glad for it. As they all disperse, I finally feel my heart rate start to level out. Once they're all gone, I place the bottle on the floor beside me and I clutch my knees to my chest. Nothing here makes a lick of sense and I feel it taking a toll on me. I didn't realise it, but I'm shaking uncontrollably. I'm completely drained emotionally, so I start crying. They're body wracking sobs and I can hear them bouncing off the walls around me. I'm finally alone but somehow - I don't feel as though I am. I don't think anyone here can ever truly be alone.


Year 225 - WICKED Base


"Jo, someone made a mess, can you come clean it up?"

I look up from the game I'm playing to see uncle Janson in the doorway. Without really thinking, I nod, stand, and follow him through the base. It's not odd for me to blindly follow, I simply do as I'm asked because that's how my parents raised me. Be kind, help others, be smart, don't show your cards, be brave, protect those who can't protect themselves, be vigilant, don't get backed into a corner. They're lessons I've learned well.

"It's just through here." Uncle Janson says.

He's taken me to the hanger where several WICKED security officers are standing guard in two rows, looking at each other, and there's a woman standing between them with a tablet in her hand. Her name's Chancellor Ava.

"Ah, Jo." She smiles as she looks up. "I'm glad Janson found you."

I nod and she diverts my attention to the dark liquid staining the floor not two feet in front of her.

"I'm sorry for always calling you to do such grizzly things, but we're a bit short staffed at the moment." She explains.

"Can I get a bucket, ma'am?"

Her eyes wrinkle as her smile widens. "Of course."

As if on cue, one of the guards kicks a tub full of cleaning supplies at me. I quickly get to my knees and I start soaking up the sticky liquid. While I do this, Janson talks with Ms Ava. Of course I don't really understand what they're saying, I'm just a kid. But, in time, I will.

"Was it really Yves and Mills?" Uncle Janson whispers just loud enough for me to hear.

Ava nods then sighs. "It's a shame, they had such promise."

"Yeah. I actually liked them. But what about Group A and B's training? Are we going to forgo the physical and tactical lessons because we don't have time to screen and train anyone else for the position." He states.

"No." Ava says, confident. "Give it a couple of years and Jo will be perfectly capable of taking over for Yves and Mills. They were good teachers, Jo will be more than ready."

Janson snickers quietly. "Isn't that a bit gruesome, Ms Page? Even by our standards."

"Weren't they the ones who always preached to never let a perfectly good tool go unused?" She asks rhetorically. "Jo is just another resource. We can't afford to think of these children as anything less."

"Is that how you get yourself to sleep at night?"

"Yes." Ava admits. "If I even sleep at all."

Of course, I don't fully register what's happened. I don't register that Janson and Ava have just filled Yves and Mill's position. That I will be the one training the boys and girls I see in the labs. I also do not realise that Yves and Mill's, also known to me as mum and dad, have been executed. I don't realise that their bodies are covered by white tarps on the other side of the room, and that I'm on my knees cleaning up their blood.


Author's Note: Woohoo! Gonna be a slow burn, so get ready for it because I hope it'll be worth it! Pleeeease drop a review if you can, they make me so happy!