Autumn showed me around the small infirmary. She was extremely talkative and as much as I wanted to hear everything she wanted to say, I was exhausted and extremely sore.
She could tell too, because she told me I should sleep so I could help with her later tonight after another dog fight.
The guards led me through the tiny halls and up a few stairs. They were a challenge with just one good foot and sore arms. I could tell they were getting annoyed and I just hoped they didn't try to hit me. I wouldn't be able to hold off either of them.
I noticed that everyone, including those back at Dream's city, all had short hair. Even the women had their hair cut short and tied back. Techno and I were the only ones with long hair. Well, now only Techno.
I reached up to feel my short hair. It made my heart sink.
I was led to a long, low ceiling room. There were two guards stationed both inside and outside the door. I had also noticed there were a lot of people roaming the halls. Were they patrols? They had guns over their shoulders which seemed to be the trademark of a guard.
The room was a cabin of sorts. There were hammocks all along the walls and in the center. There was only enough room for one hammock on top of another.
They were all men.
I was pushed forward a little before the guards left the room. I watched them leave then turned back to the room, finding a couple pairs of eyes on me. I had never wanted to disappear more than at that moment.
I looked around for the spot with less men and found Dream. He was in perfect sight of the door where the inside guards could watch him closely. His eyes were closed and his arms crossed over his stomach.
I limped over to where he was laying. A few steps away he opened his eyes. He quietly groaned, stood up, and hopped up on the top hammock. He didn't bother to look at me, sparing himself another one of my glares.
Careful with my hurt foot, I laid down on the dirty cloth. I itched behind my head and felt my short hair, swallowing the urge to cry at the loss. Fortunately, I was tired enough that I fell asleep within seconds.
****
My life had reverted back to the way it was when I arrived at Dream's city. I had two guards following me everywhere I went and I always stayed with the healer, Autumn.
Not speaking was incredibly challenging. It was even more frustrating when I couldn't motion what it was I wanted to say.
While I absolutely loved Autumn, it bothered me that she was so passive. I noticed some of the guards feeling her when she needed them to get something for her and one of her patients. She never said or did anything.
She was also jumpy, like even the slightest movement could kill her. Whether that was just who she was or for other personal, darker reasons I didn't know. I tried to smile at her a lot which was something I never did very often. She just seemed kinda sad all the time.
One night, while asleep in the hammock beneath Dream, I heard screaming. I bolted up and hit my head on his back. He leaned over and clubbed my ear with a curse. When he heard the second scream he froze.
He then let out a heavy sigh and disappeared back over the edge of the hammock. I curled up in my own hammock, staring widely at the dark wall. I wanted to throw up and my body itched to do something, anything to help.
I felt useless and horribly guilty that I didn't get up to help the screaming woman. There wasn't anything I could do, though. Not with four guards at every door and a few patrolling the hallways.
It was after that night that I finally understood why Dream had did what he did to me. I understood why he cut my hair, said I was a mute, and told people I was a boy. He was protecting me.
It made me angry but if it hadn't been for him then who knows what would've happened to me? I promised myself that I wouldn't let him help me again. I could do this on my own.
Working in the infirmary was similar to my time with Phil. I had only recently been given part of my freedom back when it was rudely taken from me a second time. Still, working with Autumn helped.
She was a great storyteller. She told me all kinds of stories her family had passed down for generations. These stories, which she had in a journal her great great great grandmother had written in, were all about the world before the war.
She explained about future technology like underground trains and speed trains. She talked about how there were people all over the planet and in most places people biked or walked to places. What astounded me most was that some people were given licenses to drive a large vehicle at sixteen years old.
I swallowed the stories with great interest while she and I helped and watched over the injured patients. She seemed to be on the same page as me when I tried to ask her a question. Half the time she guessed what I was saying and was ninety percent right most of the time.
Most of the patients, which were primarily fighters from the dog fights, had bruises, loose teeth, bleeding lips and cheeks, and a few had broken limbs.
Dream had yet to be brought into the infirmary.
I had yet to see one of the dog fights. I was always with Autumn watching over the patients from the night before. I could imagine the howling laughter and yelling from the men and women above the ring. I could imagine the two fighters not wanting anything to do with each other but being forced to hurt or kill the other.
I knew Dream was a decent fighter without his magic. The memory made my blood boil and fingers curl. Even so, it meant I didn't have to worry. I was obligated to take him back to his city since going back without him might make the people think I killed or ditched him.
They wouldn't be wrong.
"So," Autumn started. She and I were sitting in the infirmary watching over the sleeping patients. "How did you and your friend meet?"
I made a motion with my fingers from small to big.
"Uh..."
I tried again with my hand showing different heights.
"Grew up?"
I nodded.
"Oh! Okay. So you guys grew up together. Are you friends or siblings? Or more?"
I held up one finger for her first option. I tried not to shiver at the horrid thought of me and Dream being together romantically.
"Are you guys like best friends?"
I shrugged.
"Did you live in a place like this or kinda on your own?"
I held up one finger. She was silent for a long while.
"Were you always...did...have you always been unable to talk?"
I nodded.
"Does it bother you at all?"
I nodded but shrugged at the same time.
"Does it make you...like...not liked by a lot of people?"
I shrugged again.
"Okay. New topic," she pulled her legs up and wrapped an arm around them. I was leaning against the wall with my legs stretched in front of me. "Did you choose to be a healer?"
I shook my head.
"So you were forced?"
I made another shrug.
"Do you like it now or no not really?"
A shrug and a nod. I was getting really tired of answering the same way each time.
"What about your parents?"
My shoulders stilled.
"Did you...do you like them?"
I looked over at her and realized instantly what it was about her that had caught my attention. The way her face was staring sadly at the gray, rusted floor spoke so many words.
I tapped her shoulder. I made a neck cutting motion and pointed to her to ask if her parents had died.
"I dunno," she looked back at the floor. "They had me learn healing stuff from a friend and then gave me to another man who brought me here. I was nine years old."
My heart pinched. I didn't know how to ask her how old she was but I guessed she was maybe twenty something. She couldn't be much younger than me, could she?
"What about yours?" she asked.
I spelled out father and made an unsure motion. Then I motioned that my mother had died.
"Did you like her?"
I shrugged. I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell her that things were rocky between me and my mother but that she had been the sole reason I was alive and knew how to keep myself alive.
Autumn and I had survived in two different worlds but they were equally just as hard. It didn't matter what society or what world we lived in. One thing remained: we did what we had to in order to survive the world we were born into.
She and I were quiet for most of the night. She drifted off a few times and we only had a few people wake up in pain. Most of the time I was able to get them to lay back down and calm them enough to fall back asleep.
Eventually the other healer, who was an older, more unfriendly woman, came in for the morning and afternoon 'shift'. Autumn and I left to sleep.
When I walked in, Dream was awake and staring at the ceiling. I could just make out a bruise on his forehead and he had his hood pulled all the way up. I watched him rubbing one of his wrists with clenched teeth. Had he hurt it? I didn't think he had to fight last night since he went the night before last. Usually the fighters traded off and on.
I stopped by the hammock and looked at him. His eyes flickered to me, staring at me over his black mask.
"What?" It was short and coarse. I gestured to his wrist and he crossed his arms. "A sore wrist. Don't worry about it."
I furrowed my eyebrows at him and let out a huff. So much for trying to be kind. I laid down in my hammock and stared at the wall, falling asleep within seconds.
****
One week. One week Dream and I had been in the ship. I think.
Even in all that time, I never once watched him fight. I was consistently in the infirmary helping people with broken limbs, horribly bruised faces, or getting sick. A common trait among the fighters were dehydration. They were consistently vomiting and simply sipping on water cured them almost all the time.
Dream and I were sitting at a table together. The fighters and other prisoners were herded into a large room for meals. There was very little conversation so the room stayed as silent as the sleeping quarters. There were guards every six feet around the entire room. Two extra guards were standing against the wall closest to me and Dream.
I was watching Dream closely. He picked at whatever gross food they gave us and didn't even touch the apple. He was leaning awkwardly to one side and his arm that was holding him up on the table shook a little. His skin, too, was weirdly pale.
He looked sick.
For one week, we hadn't come up with a way to escape. Well...Dream hadn't come up with a way to escape. I had no way of talking to him without giving away my big secret. Explaining would be a challenge but he might be able to figure out what I would say.
He yawned and leaned his head on his hand. His eyes looked heavy and his fingers failed to grab the fork properly. I tapped the table lightly in front of us so he would look up at me. Only his eyes moved.
I pointed at him and made an 'OK' with my fingers to ask if he was alright. He looked insulted and mumbled, "I'm fine." I put my apple down and crossed my arms. That seemed to upset him more. "What the hell do you care?"
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my apple again. I hated him but I still had to bring him back to the city with me. That meant he needed to be alive. Not to mention I couldn't imagine having a tight collar around my neck like the one he had. Every now and then I would see him trying to itch his neck under it.
Once we were herded back to the sleeping quarters, I tried to sleep until the next dog fight. I met Autumn in the infirmary again. She looked like she had a limp of some kind but when I asked her she awkwardly changed subjects.
I swallowed the bile in my throat and made sure all the patients had water. Tonight was a night that they didn't have a dog fight, meaning we didn't have many new patients. It gave us time to sit against the wall again and talk. She was quiet when she spoke, though. She kept her legs crossed and her hands in her lap.
"What was this from?" she asked, lightly tapping my wrist. Both my wrists were still bandaged but the white had turned brown. She was pointing to the wrist that Dream hadn't broken - the one that was hurt from the zip ties.
I made a breaking motion and she nodded. I was not about to explain what had actually happened to that wrist. My answer was simple enough.
I noticed the guards talking to each other and gently nudged Autumn's arm with my elbow. She looked at me and I made a quiet motion. Then I walked two fingers on my other palm and pointed to her.
"I could never," she said. "There's no way and I don't know where to go."
I gestured to myself.
"No," she shook her head. "None of the prisoners have ever escaped. I've never been anywhere else but here."
I gestured to myself again.
"How would you do it?" She looked nervously at the guards at the door.
I pointed my head to say we were still thinking.
"Then my answer is no."
I knew that by adding a third person would make an escape all the more harder but I couldn't leave her. Even if I only saved one person from this horrible place, that meant I did my job. That meant I helped someone. This girl had a lot taken from her and I wanted to give it back.