Chapter 63

WHERE IS THE LIGHT

ELENA

I opened my eyes and saw myself lying face down. Pain was working its way all over me and I felt deader than alive. I should be dead. Why did I wake up again? I put my good hand down and ever so carefully, I raised myself to sit. I looked around, amidst pain, when it began to register to me slowly.

I sniffed. I was at the infirmary again.

"Awake?" A familiar voice reached me. I didn't have to turn to know whom it belonged to and I rolled my eyes in disgust. I stood to my feet, ignoring his gesture, and headed to one of the doors that looked like an exit; at least, that's what it looked like alongside two other doors.

"Hey, hey" he came over to stop me from leaving "where are you going?" He asked but what did he care? A sudden anger exploded within me and I turned to him sharply, staring him in the face with a defiant look.

"Poterico, dockta du killer? You... You, doctor and killer?"

"What makes you think you can talk to me?" He asked with a frown but I didn't care. He'd better end this once and for all.

"Kill me now." I snapped "you bad... All you bad! All you innocenta cava du megapara"

"Lower your voice," He said firmly through clenched teeth but I was mad. Never been upset my whole life but something made me want to strangle him. Take a knife from somewhere and stab him in several places till he fell dead. I hated him and I didn't care if I was breaking the rules at that point in time. I just wanted to make every one of them feel what it was to be a worker.

"Tu so fan? You, you... You killer. Bad killer. Hurt." I touched my chest "I not shut up so, kill if you want!" I turned around and headed for the exit but he grabbed my hand and with one swing, he threw me back into the room. Withdrew a sword from his stack and pointed it at me, almost an inch away from my throat.

"Yes. I should kill you" the cold metal touched my skin but to my surprise, I wasn't scared. "You don't talk to me, I talk to you. You don't defy me!"

"Yes. Kill me. I hate you! All you!" Tears leaked from my eye "all you bad. Kwenta sara du nevaara dasta bikra dasta. I not care! I hate you!" I said even at blade point.

God! What the heck was wrong with me? If this is what confidence was, I sure as hell don't want it. The pain was still thrumming through my system and even then, I still ran my mouth.

He withdrew the blade from me and hung it back on the shelf. "You are not going to last!"

"You too. You not too last. You die too. Clay killi me, you walk away. Me to die. You leave me to die. You bad"

He seized my neck and drew me close to him. "You are weak and stupid. Get out" his breath smacked my face "you start training tomorrow" he released me roughly and I coughed in pain.

He will regret it.

***

I entered the dorm late in the night. Thirty minutes passed sleep time but to my surprise, Ruth and Redhead were still awake. As soon as I entered, they rushed to me.

"Hey" Redhead threw his hands around me and hugged me but I withdrew too quickly. The sores on my back still hurt.

"You got us worried boots. What did you do?" I looked at her and she was really worried for me. I smiled ruefully at their kindness.

"I have six days to die" I responded.

"Oh Twenty-two." Redhead helped me sit on my bed "you defied?"

"What defied?" I asked "punteco defiando? What...what defied?"

"He means... You didn't do what they ask you to do?" Ruth explained

"Oh," I understood that. "No. Me, no killer. They parante mega para innocenta"

"They asked you to kill?" Redhead gasped in horror. "Omigod. That's awful"

"Si. On-full, megapara innocenta"

"No, it's awful, not on-full" he corrected

"Oh... Auful!"

"Forget it. You need to rest dear. They'll be tough with you from now on."

"I say to black soldier. You bad. You know, you doctor, you killer? You know. Make no sense. I hate him black soldier. You bad. Samanto recanso. Puerico innocenta"

"Okay, I'm lost" blinked Ruth then she turned to Redhead. “I don’t understand a word she says. It is really a disease not to speak English”

"Black soldier... Atom. Doctor, killer? Bad beat me sixty"

"Oh, she meant Atom."

"You know him?" I asked

"Everyone knows him. He came from Athena when he was just two. The best fighter you can ever find. People said his ancestors were from Dome too" Ruth settled beside me.

"Better than Disha?" I asked

"He'll kill Disha with a blow" Redhead added.

"Why doctor?"

"Atom started out at the games. The game is like a gladiator's fight. The commanders just do this for fun. They make a lot of money out of it. They'll pitch two creatures against each other. One has to die."

"Like me, like Clay?"

"Yeah..." Redhead croaked. "But we are looking at a much tougher fight. It happens in a stadium, and a lot of people came to watch from the outside world." He paused then began in a whisper "rumor has it that Atom was pitched against his own brother. Atom killed his brother. Instead of being promoted to commander, he remained a soldier and chose to work at the infirmary. To help people" Redhead paused again "do you even understand what I'm saying?"

"Si. Small." I responded "Atom is a good person? Why killer?" I queried

"I don't know." Redhead shrugged "I guess he still loves the taste of blood"

"Don't mind him," Ruth interjected. "I see you haven't learned anything yet"

"What she say about?" I turned to Redhead. I didn't understand a thing Ruth was saying.

"Anyone who is caught speaking about this spends a night out in the cold."

"What slotter-aws do?" I persisted. I need to understand this place before I could adapt

"It's simple! We all have colors. See this one..." He pointed to his red vest. "We are potters. Mold with clay, builders."

"I get it"

"Green like Ruth are farmers" he explained "blue are miners. Looking for gold, diamond... Black like you are guards, security, killers."

"Why security?"

"You ask too many questions!" Snapped Ruth but Redhead stopped her.

"Let her. Sometimes, we have wars. There is a faraway kingdom that wants to overtake this one. Like pirates. They destroy everything and take hostages. We fight wars too"

"Oh." I nodded. Now, I was beginning to understand. I sighed in fatigue "so, black is protectomando?"

"Yeah. Right... Like protectors. They undergo several hard training, tougher than the rest of us. For example, if I wake up late and I don't work, the black workers would kill me... For example, if Ruth gets pregnant, the black guards would kill her... We have rules, you know."

"Baaad" I croaked exhaling deeply.

I was beginning to understand why the blacks were taken to the edge of the cliff but what I didn't understand was why we were doing this at all.

Why do we kill each other? Why do we have to work so hard? Who were the real masters? What kind of life are we living?

Not saying anymore, I lay to sleep on the hard bed, my back facing the ceiling. I had to prove some people wrong. If I was going to last, I would try my best to.