No Escape

Chapter 9

Ellie Maisie was sound asleep when she heard this loud banging noise against the bars. She rose from her uncomfortable, slate of wood pillow to find Dominic banging a stick against the bars and urging everyone to wake up.
"Do you have to do that?" she yelled.
"I kind of have to," he yelled.
"Shut up!" Mo groaned.
"That's not very nice of you Miss Cristofaro," said the condescending voice of Keres.
They all stood up straight and observed as the man walked past the cages and leaned in to look at the sad, depressed women.

"I want you all to stand up, get yourselves ready, and you shall be sent to the main hall. I expect you to be proper. Dominic, your shift is over, go to sleep."
"Right, goodbye," Dominic said quietly.
"Adrian come here," Keres commanded.
Ariana, who had been ignoring all the commands to get up, rose in her seat nervously and stared at Keres with burning rage. From the steel doors emerged Adrian Weeks. He was a young, 20 something-year-old boy, dressed in all black with Ariana's hair and eyes. He seemed to frown all the time and lowered his head whenever he looked at his mother.
"You called," Adrian said.

"Yes, my friend, please lead these girls-"
"We're not girls, we're women. Girls are children!" Nanette said sternly.
Keres looked at Nanette as though he wanted to bash her head against the wall, but remained calm.
"Women," he scoffed, "As I was saying, my dear Adrian, please lead these women to the main hall."
Adrian nodded and threw two sets of handcuffs at each cell.
"Put them on, and don't even think about escaping," he said angrily.
As he saw that all of them reluctantly put on their handcuffs, he opened the doors and ordered that they all walk in single file. The boy took pride in rounding up

dignified human beings like cattle. When he opened Ariana and Ellie Maisie's door though, his head lowered in embarrassment. Ellie Maisie walked out the door, staring at young Adrian awkwardly approaching his immobile mother, who remained silent in bed. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence and every woman in the line staring at Ariana and Adrian, he lost his patience.
"Get in line!" he ordered.
Ariana stood up, tall and with dignity, and walked past her son without sparing him a glance. Ariana stood at the front of the line and waited for her son to come to the front of the line and guide them. He nervously stood next to his mother.

"Follow me!" he yelled to the long line of handcuffed women, "I'm taking you to the main hall! You have to follow me at every turn and don't even think of trying to escape. It's practically impossible. You'd need to know the area incredibly well and... you have no idea where we are. Come on!"
He began walking and they all followed like a depressed human chain.
"I would've told you I was doing this instead of college but I didn't think you'd approve," Adrian joked quietly.
Ariana remained silent.
"Come on, it was a little funny," he chuckled.

"Do you expect me to hug you and laugh with you? After what you've put me through? You're insane, like that man!" Ariana snapped.
"He isn't insane, he enlightened me"
"This isn't how I raised you! I taught you to be kind and respectful"
"But you never were"
"What?"
"You were always independent, you never listened to anyone, you had no filter. We're gonna fix that," Adrian explained.
"You're psychotic!" Ariana scoffed, "I can't even look at you. Who are you, Adrian? If we continue like this, humanity as we know it will cease to exist. Are you kidding me?"

"I support Keres, he is going to save us"
"You aren't my son. You may look like him and talk like him, but you lack his empathy!"
Ariana silenced and continued walking, avoiding eye contact with her son. They reached another steel door. Adrian grabbed a key from his pocket and opened the door. As they all stepped in, Ellie Maisie was able to take in all that was before her. In front of her was a giant, victorian-style hall with hundreds of long, shiny wooden tables that extended from one side of the room to the other. Around them were, what might have been thousands of, thin, uncomfortable wooden chairs. Hundreds of other women gathered around, entering from four different