Chapter Text
This woman has been trying to make conversation with me for the past 5 weeks I’ve been here. My cellmate, Mary Roslynd. In for killing her daughter's rapist and killer. A respected soldier from The Reestablishment.
“Do you need anything?” Her voice is soft, nice, she even smiles at me. I finally look at her, “No.” I don’t even know why I’m speaking to her, why I’m speaking to anyone for that matter. The cells open, lunch time.
She walks beside me as we go to the cantine. “You know that’s the first thing you said to me in a month-”
That does it.
“Listen, lady. I'm sure you have nice intentions but all I'm looking for is to spend my time here as quietly as possible if that’s alright with you, ma’am.” I sigh, she doesn’t say a thing back and just keeps walking beside me. She should be spitting in my face by now, but she’s actually smiling softly. I grab one of the metal, rusty trays and head to the… place they call a food area. As if that’s food they’re serving.
The smell is horrifying, like a smell not even a life of military training like mine could surpass. I couldn’t resist making a face, it’s just horrible. A guard hits me in the back with his machine gun, I trip, the tray making a clanking sound as it hits the floor. I hear them laugh and snicker. Take a deep breath, I tell myself. So I do, it doesn’t help but it helps to think it does. I get back up on my feet and pick the discarded tray off the floor. I haven’t properly eaten in a month.
I get back in line, the cantine lady drops a portion of the substance on my tray and I grab the tiny bread and cake that I never end up eating. Before I could even sit I started to uncontrollably cough, I can’t pretend like I didn’t know this would happen since they already told me that it would be one of the many side effects. They failed to mention this one to me. Incompetent assholes. I started to lose air, my eyes scan the area, no one is even looking at me as predicted. But Mary comes up to me.
“Oh goodness me, are you alright?” She says full of worry, her eyes wide with concern. I clutch my shirt. “I’m fine.” I say in between gasps of air. “No you’re not.” She looks around for guards or even soldiers but none of them appear in sight.
She goes behind me and hits my back hard with her two fists. I sucked air right into my lungs, I was so ready to die that part of me is annoyed at the fact that I was saved for once in my life. After I gain balance I sit down by a cafeteria table, she sits next to me. “How long has this been happening to you?” Ever since those scientists started using me as a lab rat every night non-stop. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly not nothing, you almost died,..?” She wants my name.
“Angella. My name is Angella."
What a lie.
***
Mary and I walk to our cell for the night, I sit on the top bunk.
“Lights out!” The guard yells from the far end of the hallway of the already dim litted prison. the lights go out in a second. Out of fear or survival? The bed creaks as I lie down. I’m not an idiot, I know I’ll be awake all night. I don’t have a choice and even if I did I don’t think I could do it. Sleep.
For 3 hours, I’ve been lying down staring into the dark ceiling. I turn, The cell is 5 of 3 feet blocks tall and 10 of 2 feet blocks wide. You could say it’s a little claustrophobic.
I hear the footsteps closing in on my cell, I see the flashlight, here we go again. They open my cell door. Mary is sleeping. I squint my eyes when one of the soldiers lights their flashlight in my eyes. My weight supported by my elbow. I see the soldiers with the scientist, “Al Nassr you know the drill.”