Liza was right. Convincing the others wasn’t just hard; it was like trying to light a fire in a rainstorm as their hope had been totally broken over the weeks.
I turned to Sasha, a girl with siren shaped eyes who always sat closest to the door. “Sasha,” I whispered. “We kinda have a plan. A way out.”
Her eyes widened with fear. “No. No, no, no. Don’t. Don’t even say that. Take me out of whatever you’re planning.”
“But if we all work together-”
“The last girls who tried that are gone Avery,” she hissed, cutting me off. “Gone. And we were punished. Do you know what it’s like to be so hungry I almost started thinking about eating the plaster off the walls? I won’t go through that pain again. Just be quiet. Please.” She turned her back to me, shutting me out completely.
“Told you” Liza shrugged.
Anabel let out a chuckle when we told her too. “You’re both insane. You think a group of starved girls can take down that ugly ox? He’ll break you in half for even looking at him wrongly.”
“But don’t you want to get back to your family?” I pressed desperately.
“My family is why I’m still fighting to stay alive in here. They have money. They’ll find me. I just have to wait. I’m not risking my neck on your suicide mission.”
My heart sank. This was impossible.
“Well, there’s still a little hope,” Liza said and pulled me over to Jasmine, the girl who had lost her sister. She explained the plan slowly to her but Jasmine didn’t look up, just kept tracing patterns in the dust on the floor.
When Liza finished, there was a long silence. She slowly looked up and nodded. “I’m in.” She looked directly at me. “For my sister.”
It was the most communication she had offered in weeks.
Convincing the others after Jasmine agreed was surprisingly easy. Anabel was also surprisingly the first to speak. “Fine, I’m in. I don’t want to die in this filth, anyway” she muttered.
“We all need to know that they might kill us if we do nothing or something,” Liza reasoned, “At least this way, we’re fighting back.”
A quiet pair named Chloe and Maya exchanged a look, then nodded almost immediately. “We can’t stay here,” Maya murmured. “We’re in.”
Some others were too terrified to join but they promised not to give us away.
18:57 Thu, Jan 1
Chapter 46
A
32
At noon, the next day. I started with a cough and refused my portion of beans, pushing the bowl away with a trembling hand.
“My head,” I moaned, pressing the heels of my hands against my temples. “It’s pounding.”
Liza hovered over me, looking worried. “She’s burning up! Someone, get some water!” She screamed loudly to attract the guards attention.
“Shut up” one of the guards backed from outside.
But since they weren’t our target, I reduced my coughing.
Finally, we heard the familiar, heavy stride. It was him. Alone.
I doubled over, letting out a series of wet, wrenching coughs that hurt my throat for real. “I can’t… I can’t breathe,” I gasped, clutching my stomach.
Liza sprang into action. She rushed to the bars, her voice shrill with panic.
“Hey! Guard! We need help! Someone is really sick here!”
For a long time, there was nothing. Then, we heard his heavy footsteps. Rusty appeared outside the cage, looking annoyed.
“What’s all the racket?” he grumbled.
“Rusty! Hey!” Liza trembled. “We need help! It’s Avery, she’s really sick!”
“Rusty?” He furrowed his brows. “Are you calling me rusty? And you expect me to believe your stupid acts?”
“It’s not an act!” Jasmine muttered calmly. “She’s been like this all day. She’s not eating. I think it’s her appendix! It could burst! If she dies in here, what will you tell your boss? You think they want a corpse?”
Rusty peered in, his small eyes squinting at me. I convulsed in a fake fit of coughing, clutching my abdomen and letting a drop of tear slide down my cheek.
“Probably just a stomach bug, She’ll be fine,” he grumbled, turning to leave.
“I would not do that if I were you” Lily murmured.
“Freaks“He cursed. “Fine. Shut up, all of you. Let me have a look.”
Liza quickly launched herself at his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Anabel reached for his legs, sinking her teeth into his calf. Sasha and two other girls grabbed his arms, pulling with all their might, their thin muscles straining.
“NOW, AVERY!” Liza yelled, her voice strained as Rusty thrashed, trying to throw her off.
I scrambled from the mattress, trying to reach the keys he had dropped on the floor near the door.
العلم
18:57 Thu, Jan 1
Chapter 47
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
