Jamie pushed away a lock of brown hair behind her ear. She yawned and drifted to sleep only to be awakened by some one shaking her shoulder. She looked up into the blurry image of a boy with black hair.

Some one is shaking me. I open my eyes.

"You!"

Pair of familiar grey eyes stare down into mine.

"I told you they would come they took longer than usual"

He was ranting to himself

"That's because they couldn't find me I ran away"

He spun around and his eyes were huge. He came at me like a madman.

"Good you can think for yourself." He turns away and talks to his self again. "This moves my plan forward." He spins around and grabs my shoulders.
"You're lucky I kissed you or you'd be all alone. How long were you missing"

I push his hands off my shoulders. He's hurting them and looking at me like he's insane.

"About two years…. Yeah, a year because Lanis' birthday is in…… Hey what's the date?"

He laughs "there are no dates here. Do your parents know you're here?"

"I don't know" I explode moving across the small room. "I was tracked down and tranquilized like a wild animal and woke up here." I turn around just as his arms wrap around me.

"Sorry……….This place can make you crazy."

He pulls back. "So where am I" I say looking around the empty grey room save for two grey cots. He gives me a look makes believe he is insane and laughs and I believe he has gone mad.

You" he chuckles "are in a rat cage"

"Excuse me, excuse me, ESCUSE ME!"

My eyes focus and I can see the boy clearly.

"Can you hand me my ball."

I look in the direction that he is pointing at. On the floor standing out on the green and orange carpet is a light baby blue ball.

"Sure"

As I hand the kid the ball I see something I didn't see before about the ball. Instantly I retract into myself and stare at my hand, feeling the burn. Grey.

I knew the government would catch me one day. But I never knew the extent to their evil. They color of the room the color of everything in this, place, and became the color of my life. I woke up everyday to same bleakness, the same sorrowful color. They same grey food fed me almost daily. The same grey clothes were worn everyday. The same grey floors, the blankets, the pillows. My only escape was my dreams but soon the grey began to take over them as well. The days were irregular. Mostly of the time was spent locked in our grey room. I was lucky. I had a companion to keep me sane. To imagine myself locked in this grey world all by alone, worth nothing more than a lab rat to the people who ran you life was impossible.

I gave the boy a name since he didn't have one. I could tell he was happy. He wanted a simple name. One that was common and had no special meaning or history. So Josh became his name. I had met this josh while living on the streets. He was really shy and the boy reminded me off him.

Mostly we talked. I told him how it was to live on the outside. He liked the most, my stories of when I lived on the street.

I think I sat in that room almost a month. Every now and again the monotony would be broken by a drawer with two bowls sliding out the wall. You had a minute to get your food then the drawers would close. Sometimes people would come in and take Josh away. Then I would practically go mad with boredom alone in the room. There were actually two rooms. There was a one person bathroom with a shower. Josh and I took turns. The showers were timed and luke warm. You put your cloths on a counter and it turns into the wall and comes out with a fresh set.

One time josh came back and said. "you've been here for a month and a half."

I was lying on my cot starring at the grey ceiling. I jumped up and rushed to him.

"What! How did you find out? Who told you! How…."

He just brushed right passed me and collapsed on his cot. I fumed while he slept. I was so angry and impatient I almost cried. Finally he woke up and I rushed to him again. He yawned.

"I learned it from the outside. It was some study, a lot of math. One of the guys left their planner open. I not sure because I don't know when you came.

I knew she wanted to get out of the room. She sat down at my feet with a defeated look. I lived to see her smile. I liked not always being alone.

Hey guess what I got."

I pulled out a leaf. Her eyes lit up and she gave me a smile. I watch her obsess over the leaf for a long time. Then she rolled it up and slid it into the space left from the cloth of the cot wrapping around its frame. I rubbed my hand through my hair. I was happy when she was happy.

"Oof"

I looked down at her arms wrapped around my waist. I love it when she hugs me. No one else has ever treated me the way she does. I slide off my cot and return the hug and we hold each other. I never wanted to see someone like I did her. I like when she tells stories. She's so animated and gives vivid descriptions. Suddenly an official and two transporters walk on us. I push her away roughly and we stare at the floor in front of us. I see the official raise an eyebrow out the corner of my eye. No one moves for a while. then the two transporters grab me by my arms. Jamie shoots me a sad Goodbye look. Then unexpectedly two pair of hands grab her as well. He give look at each other reading each others thoughts as blind folds are being yanked over our eyes.

I was uncoordinated. I couldn't tell which way I was going. The next thing I knew the blindfold was talked off and I was in a large room with about fifty other kids of all ages standing in columns and rows. Someone grabbed me and ushered me into a row. I started to look around when I heard Joshes' voice say.

Stand up straight and keep your head down."

"QUIET!" a woman in a red jumpsuit barked at Josh. I immediately obeyed josh. A voice coming from my right yelled fifty jumping jacks. It was the beginning of the most strenuous work outs I ever went through.