A soft crack escapes into the silence, feeling the stiff pull of my muscles as I lean forward, sliding a boot over, pulling them on one by one. Ignoring the pain in my back, instead, taking a deep breath to relieve the tension. The air is so thick and stuffy that it cuts like a knife. With every fiery inhale I take, the vile taste of blood and radiation burns at the back of my throat, and yet, with every exhale, I feel the pressure subside with sweet relief. The entire process is like a toothache. I can only dream of how fresh the air must taste outside; I can’t wait for it.

Standing up and putting aside the useless thoughts in my head, I call over to Sam.

“Is it time to go?” she did not answer. Surprised to think she’d still be asleep, I gauge the time on our makeshift candle clock, thinking I had perhaps woken too early. But it was burnt down to almost an inch.

I turn to face her, realising she is not visible in the dark. I try squinting, but it became clear she wasn’t there at all. Sam was gone.

Everything starts spinning, the thoughts racing around my mind. My foot stumbles as my nerves fire off. Reaching out, I grasp the chain supporting the bed, tightly gripping it to steady myself. The link then rips from the wall and crashes to the floor, taking me with it. Through gritted teeth, inhaling every last ounce of air in this dank hole, I sit back up, cupping my knees before exhaling and stretching my legs across the floor, relieving the tension.

“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Halfway up the far wall, I see Ruben’s head peering through the small grate between our adjoining wall, with fresh muck on his face. But the only thing I can hear is the chaotic beats ripping out of my chest.

“Hey, talk to me.” He calls out again.

“I... I can’t.” My breaths come out short.

“Slow down, you’re breathing too fast... Take slow, deep breaths like Sam does.” I do as he instructs, allowing the toxic air to fill my lungs and letting it out ever so slowly. I feel my ears strain like they want to pop, and the flush on my cheeks retreats, being replaced with a sickly white. The thumping subsides as my heart returns to a normal pace and the fog that surrounds my mind clears, allowing me to see again.

“What happened?” Ruben asks.

“Sam’s gone. They’ve taken her.” I croak out. “She’s too weak, she can’t do another round- it’s too soon! It’s not even supposed to be till next week... why have they taken her?”

I rush to her bed, feeling for any warmth left. Maybe she wasn’t taken that long ago? The sheets cold beneath my hands sent my brain into mass panic. How can we escape now? I can’t just leave without her!

My eyes land on the small piece of ripped paper that sits neatly on her pillow, snatching it up. The handwriting soothes me, if only for a moment.

“Go now, Don’t wait!” Pain surges through me at the thought. I slump against the bed frame and listen to the sound of water dripping onto the paper. My eyes sting with every droplet that falls from my face. I look at Ruben as if he held all the answers, unable to feel anything.

“Why would she say this?” I whimper out.

Ruben met my gaze with his doe eyes before turning away, remaining silent for a brief moment before changing the topic.

“I stole the new guard’s fluffy ball today,” he says. I pause, confusion washes over me as any negative emotion I was feeling before suddenly disappears, trying to decipher what he was on about.

“You what?”

Ruben’s smile stretches across his face, and his eyes regain light once more recalling the memory, before quickly deflating as he stares at me, “Ah, sorry Alex, I ate it all. I wanted to know what it was. It had dusty stuff on it, and that chocolate stuff spilled out all runny when I bit it. It was amazing, like a flat football it was.” He presses his face closer to the vent between us, practically salivating.

My expression contorts as it finally clicks in my mind. This ungrateful bastard. The number of times I’ve read this kid a bedtime story, and this is how he repays me?

“Alex? I can get another if he has it again and save it for you.”

I couldn’t help but let a small smile escape. My deflated laugh fills the room. Ruben’s pitiful attempts to dodge the feelings have changed my mood. “I think that’s a doughnut, Ruben,” I say. “I can’t blame you for eating it all. I probably would’ve done the same.”

“Right!” I can hear the relief in his voice, having told the truth.

No time to wallow now, I have to do something. With newfound strength, pushing all negative thoughts aside, I shoot up from the floor. My legs seem to take charge, moving of their own accord. “Looks like we’re scrapping the escape plan, Ruben.”

“Wait, what?” Ruben cocks his head to one side, and the light shines brighter from behind him. “But you said we were all-”

“I know. We’re not giving up.” I say, my mind going over maps and routes of the basement. “We are still getting out together, Ruben. Just falling on plan C.”

“When did we get a Plan C?”

“Now. Just made it up.” I say, pacing on the spot. “Just you and me. Mostly me. Using the power of ‘Winging It.’ It’s what all the greats do.”

“Isn’t that what Sam says not to do?”

A smirk forms on my face. “Sam’s not here right now. Which means I’m in charge.” I say, wiggling my brows.

Ruben sighs, “Last time you were in charge, you got beat by a guard. You’re not the best at sneaking, and even worse at smoothe talk, you know.”

“How was I supposed to know that the guard didn’t have a funny bone… or a collarbone either?” I shrug my shoulders before tightening up the laces of my shoes, because this is serious business. 

I rub my hands together. “Alright, here’s what I’m thinking. My four-step program: get out of here, get Sam, pick you up along the way and finally leave this place. Sound good?”

Ruben laughs. “It’s a plan. But what do I do?”

I think for a second. Rushing over to Sophie’s bed, I rip off the dirty sheet, only to find nothing there. I blink multiple times, hoping my vision was just playing a trick on me. “Uh, be my memory. And remind me where that key thing is.”

“What key?” Ruben says as I flip the mattress onto the floor, checking around the frame.

“The one Sophie hid somewhere,” I say, frantically scavenging around the floor.

“Sophie didn’t hide anything. She gave it to Sam.”

“Oh, yeah.” I groan, jumping to my feet, rushing back to Sam’s bed, and proceeding to rip off the tattered old sheet, exposing the hole in the mattress’s side that Sam had made when a spring had protruded out. Stuffing my hand through the tear, ripping it further as I reach in, my fingers just barely brush against the cool chunk of metal as it shifts. Clanging as it slips down through the springs, just barely out of reach.

Damn it.

My eyes dart around the room before finally settling on the candle. “That’ll do.”

I quickly grab the candle from the table and lit the mattress slightly, weakening the small fibres of the material, which didn’t take long given its condition, before patting it down and ripping a new hole, big enough for my hand to reach in and grab the two small pieces of metal that had gathered at the edge.

Racing towards the door, slipping the two pieces of metal into the lock without hesitation. They fit with ease; the pieces jiggle together as I twist and turn. After a moment, I hear a click and, to both my surprise and Ruben’s amazement, the door glides open.

“Well, that would never work on TV,” I say.

The light seeps through the gap like a beacon. My hope is slowly restoring as I look into the corridor with my own eyes; I mean, the corridor is as crap and as disgusting as ever, but nonetheless, I relish the unrestricted view. I get up from my crouched position, looking back at my cell, my heart racing a little at the sight of the mouldy walls that I’ve become accustomed to. Well, no point in reminiscing, like I would miss this place.

Oh right, Ruben.

“I’ll come back for you. I just need to get Sam first.”

“Alex! Wait, what should I do?” Ruben’s voice was no more than a distant echo, falling on deaf ears, as I stood there in the hallway exposed to the chill air.