I felt a pressure on my chest. My eyes remained closed but all my other senses were on full alert.
I heard a few little sniffles along with some movements. The stench of wet cement hit my nose and that made me open my eyes immediately.
The heavy pressure on my chest was someone's arm. The place was dimly lit by one light bulb in the room.
I shifted to sit up and the person's arm fell to my lap. I rubbed my eyes, gaining most of my vision.
I looked around and what I saw put fear in my soul. The room was filled with girls, young adults and teenage girls.
Most of them had their eyes on me, the others either were asleep or doing their own thing–praying or crying.
I stared at them, my focus mainly on their physical appearance.
The clothes they wore looked days old, some had stains on them others were filled with sand. Their eyes had dark circles under them like they hardly slept.
Some had dry, white lips. Either from dehydration or hunger, or both.
All the girls in the room looked weak, like they were fighting to be alive and I'm sure I looked exactly the same. I felt weak, mostly from dehydration.
I swallowed my saliva and it flowed down my dry throat. I flinched at the painful sensation.
I was seated at the end of the room in a corner. Far away from a steel door that stood across the room from me.
I started mentally counting how many girls were actually in this room. 1...2...3...4...5...6.....12.
There were twelve of us in this tiny room. I looked up and saw a small ventilation system on the opposite side of the wall. That meant that there was a high possibility that we were breathing each other's carbon dioxide.
I leaned against the wall with my knees up to my chest. I wrapped my arms around them, just thinking about my family.
I missed them so much. I never thought I'd say this but their absence was greatly felt.
I felt my eyes start to burn from the tears that threatened to fall.
"It's going to be okay." I heard. I looked to the girl that sat opposite me.
Her voice came out shaky. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than me.
"The best way is to not think about it." She continued.
I remained silent because there's no way any of us in here is able to do that. She was advising the impossible.
"Ashen." She said, with her hand out.
I looked at her hand that was stretched out in front of her. Her hand looked dry, I noticed that her skin was beginning to crack.
"Delilah." I simply said, not shaking her hand. She retreated her hand awkwardly.
The girl next to her cleared her throat. I looked to her, she was darker than the girl that sat next to her. Almost caramel. She had her hair tied back but I could see the natural curls in her hair. She looked to be my age which made me feel a little better. Just a tad bit better.
"Peyton." She softly said.
I nodded and she smiled small. I returned the smile, happy to receive something so warming in this dark, cold place.