The Confined

20. Violet

2302. 04. 21. (Min said that it was past midnight.)

In the desert, many shallow ponds will quickly dry up, leaving you with nothing. Find a big oasis. It will give you life until the end.

Her name was Min. I'd never seen a girl as strong as her. It made her seem so special and beautiful. Every girl I'd met in the RL was thin and never exercised because we all had diet pills. Every girl I'd met in the Confined was thin because they never ate much. As a result, every girl I'd ever met was thin. Min was different from every girl. Her body was tightly built with strong muscles and her skin wasn't the kind of color that ordinary Asians had. Her skin looked like it had been scorched under the sunlight and tanned into a healthy color. In other words, she looked beautiful to me. And I'm a girl.

The moment I saw her, I was so surprised. She was fast and clever, leading us past traps and hidden cameras without being harmed. Her guidance showed us that she knew this place very well and had been here numerous times. I wondered how. Larry and Tasha's home was one of the heaviest guarded houses in the world. This girl acted like the whole place was a game that she had played so much that she knew it like the back of her hand. We crawled into several vents, leaped over some walls, and soon we were at her secret hiding place.

The place was crammed with food supplies stacked in wooden crates. All of the food were long-lasting, such as raisins and dried raspberries. Those kinds of food weren't very common in the RL, and I hadn't been able to see them in the Confined yet. Ego told me that they were sold secretly among the Confined.

My armored clothes weren't as pretty as Min's. Black leggings, a black tight t-shirt, and a black jacket was what Polly had given me. I looked like a secret agent spy from old movies. I changed into my armored clothes and equipped my belt with a handgun and dagger. It made my pants feel heavy, but they weren't very uncomfortable. I came out of the tent when all the others were sitting around the lantern. The light made Min's skin look bright orange. She reminded me of the ancient princess character that I saw on TV. I think her name was Mulan or something. The princess with long black hair, who fought using ancient martial arts. I sat next to Ego. He looked like he was going to pass out any second. His eyes were part closed.

Finn had put bandages on the gash on his eye. We didn't have a chance to ask him what had happened to him. Actually, we weren't in shape to listen to such a long story, and Finn also looked like he didn't have the strength to tell one.

As I sat, Finn started questioning Min. "You have a lot to explain to us. First, who are you? And why do you live here?" Finn asked.

Min rolled her eyes. She certainly didn't like to be treated this way. "Well, I'm Min, and I already told you that. Why do I live here? I don't live here," she replied simply. "Was that a satisfying reply?" she shrugged.

Ego smiled. "Then how do you know this place so well?"

"I know this place because I've been here before. I sometimes bust people out of the prisons," she said casually as if it wasn't much of a big deal. She was so cool. She had been living her life for something meaningful. Min made me feel like someone who hadn't done anything for seventeen years of life.

"Why are you helping us?" I asked. She smiled slightly.

"They sent me here. They want to help you," she said softly.

I suddenly remembered the screen we saw before we entered the hallway of the prison. The people who were trying to help us had hacked into the security system and had sent us the message. The words were advice to help us go through the prison. We probably would have broken down watching the people their dying out because of the strange gas.