Imperfect Freedom

Eleven

"What are we doing here?" I whisper to Elle. She just grins and shakes her head.

We are in a larger room than the last, that has hooks lining the walls. On each hook is a set of instruments, one including a heavy-looking pick axe, another being a black jacket that differs in sizes. The people in the room are the same as the people in the previous room, and they all talk excitedly. There is a few people still at the desk at the door to the room, being quizzed by the lady. Then they are accepted and enter, and the door is closed, holding us in.

The small but bright lightbulb that illuminates the room dims, so gradually, we are left in darkness. The chatter quietens and I see the wall opposite the door sliding.... Down?

Yes, I am right. The wall is sliding down into the ground, disappearing into the floor.

When I look closely I see that it was just a panel, covering a white screen. In the darkness, the white clearly stands out among the figures of the many people around me.

Then it lights up, to show an image. Strangely, unlike the pictures we see at school, the pictures that come off the screen aren't 3D, only 2D. They show a man, with a square chin an dark skin, wearing a weird military cap and with harsh eyes that scream authority. He has a scar across his lip, making his frown slightly crooked. When he speaks, the sound echoes around the small room.

"Welcome to your Experiment, K." His voice is rough and sounds like sandpaper. "You will notice you have been closed into a dark room. Get used to it. You will be in it for another four hours. Welcome to the first test." I am confused. What was experiment K? What were we doing here? Peter mentioned an escape at one point in our conversation. What was that about? It wasn't possible to escape the complex. Why would you anyway? All that was on the other side of the dome was harsh jungle and dangerous creatures-animals, as we had learn in History. I frown, but none the less listen to the man as the video keeps playing.

"In the experiment, you will have to sustain long periods of time in dark cramped spaces, with nothing but torches to give you light. To prepare you for this, your first test is simply to make sure you can sustain through the darkness. To certify you aren't claustrophobic. Your time in the room begins now. Good luck."

The screen fades away and the panel rises from the ground and back into its original position, concealing the wall. I feel Elle drop to the floor beside me as the chatter rises again. I sit next to her, although there is not all that much room to sit in the sea of people.

"What is going on?" I ask, wanting answers. I hear her sigh.

"Oh, don't sound so angry at me, I was about to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

She is silent for a moment. "It's a long story."

"Well, we have four hours in the dark apparently, so tell me why."

"Okay." Her voice is filled with boredom. "May as well. So you know how the bombs were sent out and probably killed everyone in the world?" She asks.

I nod, then realise she can't see me so I say, "yes."

"Well, the one place that didn't get bombed was the Complex and the surrounding forest. The problem in the plan for the dome being the 'safe place' was the fact that not everyone could be inside, yet they had heaps of refugees from the cities that had been bombed that needed a place to go and the complex was open, so a lot of people scrabbled outside the gates, wanting to get in."

The gates. I had seen them once, when we went on an excursion to the security department that is near the gates. Around the entire complex is a concrete wall that rises 10 or so meters into the air, then the thick, hexed glass rises into the air and caves over into a fish bowl shape. The blacks patrolled the wall, perimeter duty, it was called.