Locked In

October 19, 3030 10:17 P.M.         Another week of constant training. There’s only one left before everyone below the rake is executed like animals. Innocent, human beings killed without a second thought, because they weren’t strong enough. Through my hard work and determination, I’ve managed to make it into thirty-second place.  Scarlett is doing much better than I am. In only a week, she’s jumped twenty-eight places. It’s impressive, especially with everything she’s gone through. Scarlett is strong and will never give up. Every night, the two of us sneak out of our cells to an isolated place to work on our fighting techniques. We work together to become stronger and faster so that neither of us falls behind.         "If you can jump twenty places in a week, you can jump another ten in a week," she had said.         On the other hand, Chloe is struggling. She’s somewhere in the forties and I’m afraid she’s not going to make it. Both Scarlett and I offer to help, but Chloe refuses. Ever since she found out we knew Ryker was dead, she lost all trust in us. She’s still so full of anger.          I break myself out of thought as I round a corner, heading toward the specific hallway Scarlett and I meet in. It’s quiet, isolated, and empty, making it perfect for extra practice. We also just sit and talk, trying to think about pleasant memories to help us dissociate from the present.          I find Scarlett on the floor, curled up and her knees to her chest. Her head is down, causing her hair to fall across her face. Scarlett hardly ever wears her hair down, always dressed in color. This place has changed her, forcing her to change into a person she isn’t.                  Scarlett looks up when she hears me, standing and brushing herself off. "This place is compromised. I found another spot no one goes to."         "You're always so good at that," I remark.         Scarlett bites her lip and looks down, obviously forcing down a smile. My heart flutters as I see I have this effect on her. She takes my hand in hers and leads me down the corridor.         I follow as Scarlett climbs a ladder toward a catwalk. Across the way, I can see a small door, small enough to crawl through. As we near closer, I hear a loud noise. It almost sounds like water crashing into something. We continue on, coming to an opening. Crawling through the small door, we find that the catwalk stopped next to an artificial waterfall, pouring from a pipe from above. I feel the mist of the water crashing at the bottom of the room as I breathe in the scent of the water. It may not have been an actual waterfall, but it still somehow seemed to calm my nerves a bit.         "How did you find this place?" I ask.         "My leader brought me here," Scarlett explains. "She told me this was a place she came to think. She said she brought me here because she saw my potential and knew I needed a place to get away and think. Even if it’s temporary." She shrugs. "I wanted to show you so that this can be our spot, our little happy thinking place."         I nod my head, a smile forming on my lips.         "Does that sound stupid?" Scarlett covers her face with her hand. "Oh, God, that sounds stupid."         I immediately shake my head and pull her hands away, causing her to look at me. "It's not stupid. I love our thinking spot."         Scarlett softly smiles, then turns toward the waterfall. "It's almost relaxing, almost makes you forget what kind of world we live in now."         I lean forward on the railing, mesmerized by the waterfall. "I agree."         Scarlett glances over to me, then rests her head on my shoulder. We stand in comfortable silence, watching the waterfall. ****** October 20, 3030 2:34 P.M.         Cross-cross-hook-uppercut-jab-slip. I repeat the same steps over and over with my instructor. In one minute is my match with another prisoner here, Liam Becerra. He’s one of the biggest, muscular people here and I’m twice his size smaller. Nerves wrack through my body.         "Time’s up," my instructor, Leah Sun, says. She pulls her short blond hair into a low pony as she walks closer to me. Leah is older than us, probably in her early thirties. "It's time for you to go on the mat."         "Any tips?" I ask.         "Yeah, one: Keep your guard up." Leah shoves me over to the mats where I face Liam. I spot Chloe standing off to the side, waiting for her turn. She gets to battle the winner of the match.         "Scared, Hall?" Liam taunts.         "You wish," I say, getting in a fighting stance. The truth is, I'm terrified. Liam could probably take me down in two seconds without a blink of an eye.         "Ready!" Leah says. "Set! Fight!"         As I expected, Liam takes the first swing, a straight punch. I use the slip, rotating from my waist to the left, dropping my left shoulder, and crunch, avoiding Liam’s line of shot. The move threw him off balance, so I took the opportunity to hit his gut with a right hook. I move behind him, ready to strike again but he whirls around and swings, his fist colliding with my temple so hard, I stumble. I'm quick to catch my footing, shaking my head to get rid of the fuzziness in my vision.         "Keep your guard up!" Leah calls out.         I blink several times, not seeing the next swing Liam makes. He hits me square in the jaw, and I fly off my feet landing hard on the mat. Before I can get back up, Liam climbs on top of me and punches me in the face repeatedly. I can feel blood gushing out of my nose, my eyes starting to swell, my vision becoming a blur, my head pounding.         "Enough!" Leah jumps in with other trainers and pulls Liam off me. I roll over on the floor, spitting out blood.         "Bennett?" Chloe hurries to my side and lightly places her hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"         My subconscious tells me to nod my head, but I find myself shaking it out of anger. I lost the fight, which means I got down in the ranks.          Chloe sighs and helps me up to my feet, guiding me out of the room. “We’re going to the infirmary.” ****** 4:46 P.M.         "I told Scarlett what happened," Chloe informs as she walks back into the infirmary where the doctor is cleaning the blood off my face. "She said she'll be here as soon as she can. She'd be here sooner but she’s held up with some training."         "It's fine," I say, wincing when the doctor touches my nose. Judging my the pulsing pain, it’s probably broken.          Without warning, the doctor grabs a hold of my nose and snaps it back in place. I grunt, biting my tongue to hold in a scream. He tosses me an ice pack, tells me to rest, then leaves. I roll my eyes, gently placing the ice pack on my swollen left eye.         "I would listen to him," Chloe says. "You look like shit."         "Yeah? So do you," I shoot back.         Chloe rolls her eyes, then chuckles softly. "I'll see you later, all right? Get some rest." She turns to leave.         "Hold on!" Chloe turns back to face me. "Are we… good now?"         "You’re still on thin ice, but yeah, we’re good."         "I know that we lied, especially Scarlett, but you need to understand why she did."         Chloe sighs. "I understand. It's just..." She presses her lips together. "I loved him, and now I'll never get a chance to tell him that."         I frown. "I'm sorry, Chlo."         She brushes me off. "Just get better, all right?"         After Chloe leaves, I lay back and stare up at the ceiling. My mind swirls with so many thoughts, so many to keep track of what they're saying. My eyes start to droop, not realizing I fall asleep.         I dream of Scarlett. I see her long brown hair fluttering with the wind, her beautiful smile, her green eyes. She bursts out in tinkling laughter that echoes in my dream. She's standing in the middle of a field, spinning around with her arms out. She looks so happy and...free.         I feel a hand squeeze mine, and I groan as I wake up.          "Hey," a soft voice whispers.         I turn my head and smile as I see Scarlett through my one good eye. "Hey."         "Chloe told me what happened. I'm so sorry."         I shake my head. "It’s not your fault. I knew I wasn't going to beat him anyway."         Scarlett swallows hard, not answering me. She looks around the room, avoiding eye contact with me. Something’s up.         "What is it?" I ask.         "What?" Scarlett looks at me, playing dumb and obviously hiding something.          "I'm not an idiot, Scarlett. What is it?"         Scarlett opens her mouth but then closes it, hesitating.         "Scarlett."         Scarlett looks at me with sad eyes. "Since you lost your fight, you went down in rank. Bennett…"         My heart stops as she speaks her next words.         “You’re now in forty-fourth place.”