6:12 am
I couldn’t stay any longer. I had to get out before they
came back, whoever they were. I couldn’t
do the things that they want me to do or tell them the things they want to know,
and when I remained silent they hurt me trying to get an answer. I didn’t know
anything, not even who he was. My first memory is of me getting thrown into
this cell wearing a tattered grey shirt and grey shorts. I was locked up in an
old, square cell made out of cement just below the ground. The only source of
light in the room was an old light bulb hanging from the roof that was blinking
out every few seconds. The wall to the left of the door had a bed, if it could
be called that. The bed was a solid concrete slab rising up out of the ground
and it stopped at knee height and had a paper thin mattress on top. I hadn’t
been able to sleep the first few nights that I was here. There was a constant
dripping sound from behind the wall near my bed. The air tasted foul and I
often vomited. The smell was putrid and when I first came in I thought that I
might pass out. The smell didn’t bother me now, though. I was tall for my age
and my feet hung right off the edge. I had been starved almost to death, eating
less than a dog would, and my once muscular body had started to wear away to
skin stretched tight over my bones. I had no idea how long I had been here but
I would imagine it would have been at least 2 months. But I had a plan. I was
ready. I could hear the guard snoring. The guard was a short man; he was bald
with a wrinkled face and was in his late forties. I had often heard the other
guards that walk past call him Michael but the name didn’t suit the man so I
decided to call him Barry. He didn’t seem to like that but I called him it
anyway. He had often come close to punching me but he stopped as just before he
swung. That was when I realised that they needed me alive and unharmed. I walked
up to the old, sturdy iron door and looked through the keyhole. In the little light
on the other side I could make out the guard. He was sitting on a chair with
his head leaning against the wall and his gun was on his lap. I had to be
careful; I would only get one chance. ‘Hey’ I said in a quiet voice. Was I
really ready to do this? ‘Hey’. The guard snapped out of his sleep and was on
his feet in seconds, until he realised it was me talking.
‘You’ he said in a gruff voice
‘I need to go to the bathroom’
‘Fine’ he said.
I could sense the annoyance in his voice. I
had to be careful of the words I used. If I tipped him over the edge he might
decide to lock me in my cell, and that would be the end of my plan. As he led
me to the bathroom I surveyed my surroundings, the whole complex was a maze of
cells and it would be hard to navigate through hem even with a map. The rest of
the cells looked a lot like mine but were unused. I was the only prisoner. It was a quick walk to the bathroom. The
bathroom was a sterile white and looked like it was cleaned every morning. I
walked into the small cubicle and the door was locked behind me. I could see
the guard’s feet under the door. He was standing in front of the cubicle facing
it to make sure that I didn’t escape.
Perfect, that was just how I had planned. I turned towards the toilet bowl and lifted
the lid. I was nervous now so I actually needed to pee. This was good in a way
because the guard would hear and believe there was nothing wrong, and then came
the disgusting part. I dipped my hand into the bowl and scooped the yellowed
water up. I stood there building up courage but by the time I was ready the
water had slipped through my hands. I scooped up the water again and shoved it
straight into my mouth without a thought. The taste was vile and every cell in
my brain kept telling me to spit it out but I couldn’t. I put my hand back into
the bowl and scooped up more water and shoved that into my mouth to. I repeated
this until my mouth was full, flushed the toilet and turned towards the door. I
heard a grunt from the guard that sounded like “finally”. The guard opened the
door and made me walk out. He walked
around me and turned to face me, getting ready to do a search to see if I was
holding anything I shouldn’t be. He bent over and patted me down. When he stood
up he stared at my face. I realised that this was the moment. I spat the yellow
water into his face. He doubled over and I sprinted past. I came out and ran
left, away from my cell. I had only made it a couple of steps before red lights
started flashing and a siren was being played over the loudspeakers. The guard
must have recovered and triggered and emergency alarm. I didn’t have much
time. I ran forwards and came to a
crossroad hat was on a 45 degree angle.
There was a path leading to the right went back the way I had come and
the path to the left continued forward. Without thinking I turned right. I ran
a few hundred metres and came to a stop at a dead end. I was about to turn back
when I head guards talking back at the crossroad. I jumped into a cell and ran
to the back. I ran to the back of the cell and started pounding at the bars.
These bars were more rusted than the ones in the cell I had been staying in. It
was no use. I turned towards the door
and walked out of the cell. The guards ran up and tackled me to the ground.
When the guards got off me I stood up and put my hands into the air. I fell
down and my head hit the ground hard. I seemed to be floating in nothing. No,
not floating but falling. I looked to where a thought down was and saw a vast
blue rushing towards me. The ocean, but how did I get here? I had nothing to
break the surface tension and falling from here would be like falling on a slab
of cement. I tried to scream but I couldn’t make a sound. I smashed into the
water. I know that most, if not all, of my bones should be broken but I can’t
feel any pain. I thrashed about trying to surface, but I only succeeded in
making a lot of noise. I was going to drown in the middle of the ocean. I
blinked and suddenly I was back into the prison building, right in front of a
flight of stairs. I did not question how I got back but bolted up the stairs
hoping that it would lead to an exit. I ran up one level and peeked through the
door. It was a lobby. The marble desks and gold plating made it obvious that
his captors were rich, and they liked showing off. There was a door, only 10
metres from where I stood but it was guarded. I started to think about what I
would do if I got out. I had no money, no food, no water and nowhere to stay. I
had to stay here. I had to find the stuff that I came here with because it
might jog my memory or there may be clues as to where to go next. The stairs continued up so I stated going up.
I peeked into the next room. There was
no-one in this room. I decided there was no harm in looking in here. The room
was an office. There were little cubicles with barely enough desk space to
work. Most of the cubicles were filled with photos of family and friends and as
I walked pass I stepped into a cubicle. There was an expensive computer sitting
on the desk. The screen was off but the light on the tower was flashing. I hit
the power button for the screen. It slowly came to life and displayed a Word
document. I scanned through it quickly, looking for clues on what this place
was. I finished the document with no more idea as when I started. I turned the
screen off and left the cubicle. I doubted anyone here would know that I was
even in the building, let alone why I was here. I left that floor and headed
up. The second floor was the same layout as the first and held more empty
cubicles. This continued up until the ninth floor. This seemed to be the top
level. There was a small area before a big wall cut through the room. There
were chairs at either side of the room and the same marble and gold was
present. There was also some wood incorporated into the room. There was a door
made out of wood and frosted glass with a gold-plated doorhandle. I reached out
and grabbed the handle. I pushed down and found, to my surprise, that the door
opened. I pushed inwards slowly, trying not to make a sound. I peeked in and
saw that the room was empty. I stepped in and noticed the silence. There were
no alarms going up here and it felt strange. There was an elaborate marble desk
with a high end touch-screen computer on top. I hit the power button and the
screen sprung to life. Someone had been
using this computer and logged off, but I only needed the password to get back
in. I tried “Password” and the computer unlocked. I opened up” My Computer” and
went straight to the personal files. These were the files that could only be
accessed by this computer, so I believe that this is where secrets would be
kept. I was searching through the files when I heard people running up the
stairs. I still hadn’t found anything and I was about to get caught and thrown
back into the cell. I had to leave now. I was about to run, but then I
remembered about after I got out and pulled the hard drive out. It would be a
start to finding out who I was. I run out of the room and into the stairwell.
The noises were closer now and I could hear voices. I turned and sprinted up
the stairs. I was going the wrong way! I went up and found the end of the
stairs. I burst through the door and looked around. I was standing on the roof
of a building in the middle of the desert. I was trapped.