Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
The woman I’d shared a room with, Zarah, had taken care of me in those days, although I don’t see where she found the strength to do so, either, when she was usually receiving the same abuse, or worse. But she would just tell me that she’d been there longer, had gotten used to what they did to her … mostly. But even in pain, I was determined that I would not be there long enough to get used to anything.
Then, suddenly and in the middle of the night, soldiers burst into our room and grabbed us both. With bags over our heads and our hands bound, we were shoved into a car and driven here. We haven’t left since. All I know is we’re deep underground, but somewhere near the train tracks, I think. I can feel something that rumbles above the bunker every few hours. As far as what’s down here, I only know the cold bedroom Zarah and I share and are kept in almost all day, with its single blaring light that’s always left on. I think to disorient us and make the days seem endless. Which it does. Under that light is a bed on either side of the room, a toilet and sink near the door, and a now useless desk. In our first few days here, it had pieces of paper and a single pen on it, there for when either Zarah or I decided to finally write down any details that could help The New Order, but neither has been there after I used the pen to stab a soldier in his eye.
I hadn’t been able to escape, but hey, there was one less soldier here after that. The beating I’d gotten for that, though, left me on the very brink of death. They couldn’t kill me as much as I could tell they wanted to. They need me too much. I felt bad that it was Zarah who was once again left to care for me after, when she had much less to care for me with this time. But she had, just as she had in the sanitorium, restored me. I stopped limping last week, the bruises faded days before that, even if my ribs still ache a bit.
There’s the room we’re both taken to regularly now, but every day when we first arrived, where they interrogate us. A long steel table that we’re cuffed to for their hours of questioning. That table has had so much of my blood spilled upon it from hits and cuts. They never bother to wipe it, maybe so it will be a reminder for the next time they bring me in. No amount of blood could even tempt me to betray my father and all he stands for. All he hopes to do.
The showers here are as cold as our bedroom. Every single time I stand under the freezing spray of water, I’m sure I’ll catch pneumonia. Then, after a walk down a long hallway where I see many other rooms, most of which I assume are occupied by the many soldiers down here with us, there’s the main one we’re in now, where Zarah and I eat at one end, and the soldiers stand at another, keeping a close eye on us. Not close enough, though.
“I see those wheels turning, Luna.”
I look to my side and see Zarah giving me a small smile.
“I’ve noticed it, too,” she continues.
I nod. “They’re distracted. Something must be happening above.”
She sighs. “With any luck, those aliens are about to bring this whole planet down on The New Order’s heads.”
“I just don’t need them bringing this bunker down on ours.”
She lightly chuckles. “I don’t think they’re here to hurt anyone other than these things that have the nerve to call themselves men. The one my daughter spoke to me of didn’t seem like some ruthless conqueror. He cared about her.”
Her daughter, Selina. At least, I’d been able to be the one giving Zarah some type of healing for her once when I was able to tell her that I’d heard her daughter had boarded the alien ship and left this dreadful planet. I’d never seen her smile beam so brightly before or since.
“I don’t know if this brother who stayed behind quite shares those ideas,” I say. “He’s killing humans left and right from what I heard before I was taken.”
“Yes, but what humans? That makes all the difference. And you told me one of his demands had been for women to be treated equally.”
“I guess, but his words don’t seem to match his brutality.”
“Can he, in any way, be worse than The New Order?”
“Yes, because these aliens seem unbeatable. Whereas, although it’s never happened, another human can be beaten. I hear bullets bounce right off the aliens. Someone tried to stab one of them, only to find his knife broken instead. And then, they cut his head off. If you can’t kill someone, and they decide to start treating you even worse than The New Order, then what could you do to stop them?”