Whispers awoke me a few hours later.
I tried to block them out. They must be figments of my imagination. Who in their right mind could possibly be up this late at night after such a grueling day working?
Nonetheless, I pulled the flat pillow over my ears, trying to block out the noise. I needed to get as much rest as possible.
The whispers increased, seeming to gain more participants. The noise level remained at a low one. Just loud enough to keep sleep away.
I coughed loudly, trying to give a subtle hint.
There was a falter in the flow of voices.
It quickly resumed to its original noise level.
Slowly, I pried my eyes open, turning my head to the side. The cabin was dark. No lights were on. A dim light flowed in from the outside through the cracks in the building. It was enough to provide silhouettes. Five or so stood in the center of the room, everyone huddled together. They seemed as if they were getting ready to leave.
My eyes scanned the upper bunks of the room. Two of them were empty. All others were filled with sleepers.
My eyes furrowed together in confusion.
One of the silhouettes moved towards the door, gently pulling it open. The four others scurried over to the side out of the light shining in.
Hesitantly, I slide down the side of the bunk bed, trying to create as little attention as possible. Curiosity nagged at the back of my brain. There had to be a reason as to why five people were awake at this crazy hour.
The first person slipped out of the hut swiftly.
A few seconds later, a second person left the cabin with just as much ease.
Then a third, and fourth.
The last person closed the door behind them quietly. It barely made a noise as it settled back into its original position.
A moment passed before I hurried over to the door, slipping out as well.
Two moons lit up the world. The ground looked as if it had been painted silver in the light. A cool breeze blew by, gently playing with my hair. The silence swarmed around, disturbing only by the sounds of footsteps shuffling off in the distance.
I held my breath, trying to be quiet as I moved in the direction of the footsteps.
A few seconds later, my eyes caught just a glimpse of the silhouette I had followed outside. I picked up my pace, moving into a light jog as I followed my cabin mate into an area I hadn’t been yet. It was opposite the Mess Hall, moving further down the rows of cabins.
In the very distance, I could make out more of the stalks of plants we had been working on chopping down earlier today.
The mystery person zigzagged around the cabins, creating a nearly impossible trail to follow. I found myself increasing my speed as we progressed. My legs ached from running. I hadn’t run in what felt like forever.
But I ignored the pain, pushing myself further. The curiosity had already sunken it. It was important for me to find out where everyone was going.
I soon found myself following only one person. From the back, I could tell it was a male. He ran quickly, heading straight for the stalks. My breathing was panted, and I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding myself.
“ughff!” I grunted when my weight was suddenly through to the ground.
I landed roughly on my side. Something heavy was on top of me. It forced me on my back. It was a person, who was sitting on my stomach, gripping my hands tightly. I struggled against the stranger, panic starting to leak into my voice.
“Get off!” I whispered, struggling furiously.
It was useless. Whoever it was, he was staying on.
“What are you doing out here?” The deep voice asked.
My eyes started to water in fear. I closed them tightly, twisting my hips around. There had to be a way to get out from underneath him.
“What are you doing here?” He repeated angrily.
“I don’t know!” I cried out as quietly as I could manage. Air was coming short and shallow and I was struggling to hold myself together.
He roughly shoved me against the ground more. I could feel rocks tearing into the flesh of my back painfully.
“Answer me, dammit!”
“I followed someone out! I was curious! I swear I don’t know what was going on!” I tried to reason with him.
He held me in place.
Hesitantly, I opened my water filled eyes slightly. I could just barely make out the figure of the man on top of me.
I didn’t recognize him.
“Who are you?” He asked, his voice a quiet whisper now.
“E-Eva.” I stuttered. My fingers were curled into tight fists. I had given up on trying to free myself, preparing for whatever was to come.
A moment of silence passed between the two of us.
Much to my surprise, his weight shifted off of me. I froze hesitantly, opening my eyes to watch as he stood up. His fingers curled around my upper arm, hauling me up. I stumbled upright quickly. He didn’t let go.
With a rough jerk, he began to pull me in the direction of the man I had been following earlier quickly.
“Do not speak at all.” He growled in a voice barely audible.
I nodded, biting my lip just in case.
The mystery man pulled me to where the stalks parted just slightly, creating a path in the forest. He shoved his way through with me behind. The path split many times, but he never seemed to be confused on where to go.
My heart thudded in my chest.
Where were we going?
Was he going to kill me?
Would that be such a bad alternative to being enslaved on this foreign world for the rest of my life?
Questions buzzed through my mind, but none of them left my mouth. I knew well enough to obey whatever orders he instructed on me.
After what felt like an hour of walking, I began to hear noises. We were far into the stalk of plants. The noises sounded as if a group of people were chatting away casually. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
One of the rules on the list given to me was that there was to be no socializing after dinner. What was all the commotion about?
A few lights lit up a head, giving us a clearer path to follow.
The man pulled me to a stop next to him, placing a hand on either one of my shoulders tightly. He stared at me as he spoke, his voice at a louder volume now.
“You will not speak to anyone, Eva. Do you understand that?” He talked as if he were speaking to a small child.
I nodded hesitantly.
“Do not leave my side at all. You’re not supposed to be here. If anything happens, it’s entirely on you.”
I licked my dry lips nervously.
“Do not look at anyone in the eyes.” He glanced over his shoulder to where the lights were lighting up through the thick stalks. “Is that clear?”
I nodded.
He returned the nod, grabbing my wrist this time loosely. With his free hand, he pushed away the stalks providing us with an easily opening to maneuver into.
The small clearing in the stalks was fairly well illuminated in the evening. At least seventy people stood about, crammed everywhere, chatting away. I didn’t recognize any of them. All were in the night clothes that looked exactly like my own pair.
An assortment of different races was present. Asian seemed to be the dominant race, but not by much. There were just as many Caucasians and Africans, Latinos, and Indians. I glanced over to the man holding my wrist, noticing how he was African.
My pale skin clashed with his.
The man wove us in and out of groups of people until we stood in what felt like the center of the clearing. He kept a good hold on my wrist the entire time.
No one came up to talk to either of us. It seemed that everyone was already preoccupied with another conversation. I almost wished that someone would talk to the man. Fear battled curiosity as they both coursed through my veins.
Fear was winning.
Someone cleared their throat loudly. The sound echoed all over the clearing. Within seconds, completely silence had swooped over the crowd. I turned my head, glancing around as everyone looked the same way.
“I am not a number.” A voice shouted through the silence.
“I am not a number!” The crowd echoed just as thunderously. I jumped in surprise at the loudness. The man holding my wrist gave me a tight squeeze.
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.
“I am a human being.” The first voice yelled.
“I am not property!” The crowd responded.
I watched as the surrounding people’s faces lit up with a smile at those words. The morale seemed to improve completely as the chanting continued.
“I don’t belong here.”
“This is not our home!”
“We are humans! We don’t tolerate this bullshit.”
I stood on my tiptoes, searching for the owner of the voice. I felt an overpowering feeling of importance at his words.
“We mean something. And these… freaks think they can control us? Hell if I let them. Are you going to let them?”
“No!” The crowd roared together.
“That’s what I thought.” The speaker said, “It seems we’ve grown in numbers a little bit.”
The crowd chuckled gently.
“That’s good. As humanity’s only defender, we need to rise together and stand up against these bastards! I’ve been speaking with others that can help us. It’s dangerous, but we’re brave. We can handle it, right?’
A chorus of ‘Yea’s’ sounded.
“On the twelfth day, we plan to raid the Mess Hall.”
Silence filled the crowd. I frowned slightly in confusion. He couldn’t possibly mean exactly what he did. What kind of gathering was this?
“You heard me correctly.” He continued, embracing the silence. I still hadn’t seen a glimpse of what he looked like. I had given up searching, settling for watching the reactions of those around me instead.
“On the twelfth day from now, we will make our first statement. Gathering here isn’t going to get us home. We need to take action!”
“What will stealing our own food do for us?” Someone asked from the crowd towards my right side.
“Stealing our food? Why would we do that?” There was a cynical tone in the speaker’s voice “That would get us nowhere. Do you know what takes place in the Mess Hall while everyone’s asleep in their cabins?”
No response.
“There is a gathering of our captures each and every night. I’ve watched for quite a few evenings now. They gather. They’re fully protected, but none of them have weapons. We’re going to raid them during one of their precious meetings.”
“Why? We’ll all be killed! Or worse!”
What could be worse than death?
“You think I don’t understand the threat? I do. More than any of you. I’ve been watching them for nearly a full two month now. Earth months. Not these pathetic months the Freaks have created. I know their routine by heart.”
His words were met with silence.
He continued anyway.
“Everything we do is dangerous. Even meeting out here is dangerous. But why do you do it? Because it gives you that sense of rebellion. That feel of humanity again. To be called a person, not a number. We’re a small number in the four billion captured.
“And what about the two billion killed? Don’t you want to avenge your brethren? Think of this raid as the first in many steps towards our freedom!”
There was a load cheer at the last word from everyone. The man next to me let go of my wrist to clap with joy as he shouted along with the rest of them.
I kept myself silent, observing.
“We need to keep this on the down low. Do not mention anything about this to absolutely anyone.”
“What happens if they find out?” A different person called out.
A few murmurs in agreement rose up from the audience.
“They won’t. And you damn well know as much as I do what will happen. But it won’t just be because of the raid. If they find out, we’re all screwing.”
He paused for a moment before speaking in a much softer voice.
“We’ve always been in trouble in case they find us. These meetings alone are enough for a life-sentence in their rule books. I thought there was more faith in you guys.”
There were a few minutes of silence.
I glanced around at the audience, noticing how they all stared earnestly forward. I still had been unable to see who was speaking.
“We’ll meet back again tomorrow night to discuss further plans. Remember, not a word of this slips out.”
The people around me nodded in agreement.
“We are not numbers!” He shouted.
“We are not numbers!”
“We are human beings!”
“We are not property!”
Together, everyone chanted a new line, “And together we shall reclaim our home! Remember the Invasion!”
The crowd broke out into cheers and applause. I frowned slightly, glancing around. Everyone seemed so energetic. The feeling was contagious. After a few seconds of watching everyone, I found myself smiling slightly in agreement.
“Sixty hours.”
Those were the last words spoken by him.
All around me, people began to turn in various directions, all heading out of the small clearing. I turned to my side, my eyes widening when the black man next to me disappeared into the crowd. He had left me on my own.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. There was no need to panic. Surely, I would be able to see someone I recognized from my cabin.
Quickly, I moved through the crowd, my eyes searching every face. A few people met eye contact, but I broke away before they could say anything. I didn’t recognize them. They weren’t who I was looking for.
In reality, I knew I wouldn’t find anyone.
There was no way for me to even know who I was looking for to begin with. I hadn’t seen any faces leaving the cabin. The silhouettes weren’t enough.
I sucked in a shaky breath, stopping in my tracks.
My body turned in a three-sixty degree turn as I frantically searched from anyone familiar.
By now the clearing was beginning to empty out. Most people had left through the thick stalks. Only a few lingered, waiting in line to exit the same way another person was.
I stood in the center of it.
I had no idea what to do.
I licked my dry lips, blinking away the tears that were forming. I didn’t know the way back to my cabin. Even if I found any of the cabins, I hadn’t the slightest clue of how to find my own one. I was out of luck.
I closed my eyes, deciding to just follow someone again.
I couldn’t believe that the mystery man had just abandoned me like that. He knew I hadn’t the slightest idea of what was going on.
“Eva.”
I turned to the sound of my name, my eyes widening with surprise. Nat frowned slightly, walking towards me.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I…” I was at a loss for words. “I don’t know.”
“There’s no way you could’ve found this on your own. Who took you here?” His voice was just as sharp as the first time I had spoken to him.
“I don’t know.” I repeated.
“Lie. Tell me who did it.”
No one seemed to believing me. “He didn’t give me a name. I didn’t see him well enough to give you a description either.”
Nat narrowed his eyes, “Whatever. Just go back to the cabin.”
“I…” I stared at the ground, embarrassment flooding over me, “I don’t know how to get back there…”
Nat cussed, muttering under his breath, “You’ve got to be kidding me…”
I didn’t move my eyes from the ground.
“Come on. Let’s go.” He pushed past me, heading towards the stalks. I followed quickly, grateful that he would guide me back.
He didn’t speak to me at all on the way back.
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