Chapter 9: The Correctional Facility

"That's terrible!" Shion cried, his emotions having gotten to him. "How could they possibly do something so horrendous! It wasn't your fault… How were you to know that they would do something so heinous!?" Shion stood up quickly, pushing the table he and Nezumi were sitting at, causing it to move about a foot. "And to think that at that moment I was one of them!" He seemed so overrun with many different emotions: anger, sadness, rage, confusion…

Nezumi was not too surprised at Shion's reaction, he had seen him like this before. He was used to his strange outbursts. He had acted like this many times and he knew the only way to handle him when he was like this was to just let him have his moment… Just ride it out.

Shion was shaking now, shaking with his fury. Nezumi remained calm, watching and waiting until he would come back to reality. Shion's fists were turning white, his face was red, his eyes were closed, teeth clenched. All Nezumi could do was wait…

Finally, after about ten minutes' time, Shion slowly started to loosen up. Color was returning to his hands, his jaw was relaxing. He opened his eyes, which were now welling up with tears, and stared blankly into Nezumi's silver-grey ones. "I'm sorry…" He stammered.

"Why should you be sorry?" Nezumi asked, "It's not as if you are to blame. You have nothing to do with any of this." He was trying to remain as calm and collected as possible. He walked over to Shion and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I think that maybe I have told you enough about myself for one sitting… I never meant to make you so upset. Maybe we could save this for another day… It is your birthday today… I feel like I'm ruining it…"

Shion stared on into Nezumi's eyes, his own vision was blurred from his tears. "No, please don't stop…" He said with a sniffle, "I want to know… I'm sorry for my actions… Please continue…" Nezumi smiled as he took his other hand and began to wipe his lover's cheek with his thumb. Both stood in silence, gazing into each other's eyes. After a long pause, Nezumi took Shion's hand and brought him back to the table to sit. Once they were situated, he released Shion's hand and cleared his throat...

"Now then, as they say in my line of work, curtain call… The show must go on…"

Tired, injured, afraid, shaken, grief-stricken… I didn't know what to do. I was all alone. The forest was silent… No sound, not even the wind. My back was raw and bloody, I could still feel the heat of the fire upon it. My shoulder had been grazed and was also bleeding. I felt weak. My first thought was to go back into the forest to try and see if anyone else had survived, but deep down I knew that that was a pipe dream.

I had been lucky in finding my hiding spot… I had never ventured outside of the forest, so I didn't know anything of the expansive farmlands. It was all new to me. I looked ahead and saw only fields of corn and wheat. There was no sign of humanity for miles, except a large stone wall way off in the distance. I pondered for a moment just what a barricade such as that was necessary to guard. There certainly wasn't anything around that would pose as a threat…

At that point, I had to make a decision… To remain where I was to die alone or to walk towards that giant wall. Neither option held much hope, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that going back into the forest would only cause me more pain.

I tore off a piece of my sleeve and wrapped my shoulder to stop the bleeding. My back still ached, the blood had seeped through my shirt and I could tell that pieces of my flesh had started to peel off. Every step I took was agonizing, but I was determined to move forward. In the end, I chose life and made my way slowly towards that wall.

Onward I walked for what seemed like hours, making very little progress. Maybe I was hallucinating from my pain or maybe I had just underestimated the distance, but the more I walked towards it, the further away it seemed. I was growing weaker and more tired the more I tried to push on. My legs were shaking, my feet were cut up and bloody. I felt faint… Like I would collapse at any moment.

Finally, my body gave out. I fell face forward on the ground and lost consciousness. I have no real memory of anything that happened from then on. When I finally woke up, I was sitting in a steel cage, sitting on a cold iron chair, chained to a table by my wrists. The lights were blindingly bright, making it hard to focus. There was no sound besides the faint echo of my own shallow breathing as it resonated off the walls. I was terrified.

Suddenly, a robotic voice rang in my ears, "VC 103221, you are now under the control of No. 6's Correctional Facility. From now and henceforth, you are considered a highly unstable subject, so we have implanted a 'violence chip' under your skin."

As the robot finished, my eyes had fully adjusted to the light, revealing a large mirror on the wall in front of me. This was the first time in many years that I had seen my own reflection,but I still didn't recognize the person I saw. I was pale, thin and frail with a look of defeat; pitiful and pathetic, almost inhuman, like a dying animal.

Large iron doors swing open and two large men entered. They looked similar to the three strangers we had welcomed into the forest. I shifted in my seat, becoming very uneasy. My heart was racing as flashbacks of memories tormented my mind. I tried to resist them, but I couldn't move. They had most likely drugged me to prevent me from doing so. All I could do was allow them to drag me away.

They threw me like a corpse into a small cell with no windows or doors. It seemed they had treated my wounds and changed my clothes because i could feel bandages on my shoulder and back and the shirt I was wearing had no blood on it. A tray covered in grey mush was pushed through a small slot in the door, which I figured was food. With no utensils, I scooped it with my hand and forced the foul pudding down.

After I finished eating, I crawled into the corner of the cell and hugged my knees. My mind rushed with many thoughts and emotions. I should have just gone back to the forest to die like the rest of my people… At least then I would feel some sort of honor… But I guess this is my punishment for not heeding Her warnings and causing all that I love to be destroyed.