Broken

Chapter 29

We were walking down a dark hallway, lit by a few dim overhead lights. The soldier said,

"We keep the power low in places that aren't dependent on it. It is also past curfew, so we dim the lights to preserve energy. Ah, here we are."

He opened a door and we peeked in. There were rows and rows of makeshift bunk beds. Teens crowded the room, talking and walking around. Everyone went silent and looked at us. The soldier said,

"New arrivals! Make sure they have somewhere to sleep."

The soldier pushed us in and shut the door behind us. I edged closer to Seth, who was mentally checking out everyone. All the teens went back to what they were doing, ignoring us. We picked our way through the mass of teens to an empty bunk. It was the last available one, so we would have to sleep together. Yay.

We sat there for a while, listening to the chatter around us. I glanced over at Seth.

"I guess this is going to be our new life."

Seth sighed. "I miss my weapons."

I snorted and then frowned. "I do too."

Seth looked around at the teenagers. "These kids look okay. None of them look too emotionally scarred."

"But we are."

"Yeah."

The door opened again and I heard laughter break out. I heard a soldier bark,

"Make sure this kid has somewhere to sleep."

I stood and Seth grabbed my arm. "Bring them here."

I nodded and made my way to the front. I stifled a gasp and saw a boy not much older than me lying on the ground. His hand was missing and he had cuts all over him. Half of his face was covered by his dark, shaggy hair. He seemed almost unconscious. No one made a move to help him.

I went over to him and knelt down. A girl said,

"Be careful! He's been out there too long."

I turned and gave her a hateful look. She gasped.

"Oh! You're... new. Never mind."

A couple of people snickered at me. I ignored them and grabbed the handless guy's arm. I managed to sling it over my shoulder and wrap my arm around his abdomen. I got off the floor and began dragging him along, ignoring my stomach's protests. The guy sort of shuffled along with me, but I could tell he was exhausted and possibly more injured than he looks. When Seth saw me he jumped up and helped me get the guy onto our bed. He passed out as soon as he hit the bed.

"How did you sleep?" Seth asked the next morning.

"Just great. I love being squished between two guys," I replied as I popped my neck.

Seth smirked and looked at our new friend, still asleep. "I wonder what happened to him."

I nodded. A large horn started to blare, waking the rest of the people up. Our friend startled awake, and blindly punched in our direction. I dodged it and he sat up, hitting his head on the bunk above us.

"Ack!" He cringed, rubbing his head.

Seth and I looked at him intently. He squinted.

"Where am I?"

"The CDC."

"Crap!" He said.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with the CDC?"