F*** (pt.1)

Haze wondered when they would come. It was not a matter of if they would come, but when. She was sure of it. Everyone else assured her otherwise.

Her chains locked tight against her ankle blistered her skin. She felt like comforting her sister. She felt like doing a lot of things, but the chains didn't. She heaved another bag of rocks into a minecart. It was a careful game of balancing work and health every minute. She could not overwork herself for fear of inhaling too much dust. The Overseers were keeping a watchful eye behind their filter masks. Haze smashed into the boulders with all her might chipping it. One more heavy swing and the rock split open. Then she saw it. Her escape.

Haze quickly reached for the object hidden in the stone and hid it in her mouth. The metallic taste did little to faze her. It was like eating during feeding time. 

"You! 27! Come here. Now!." yelled a guard. Haze's spine tingled intensely. Anything out of line was punishable by death. Even eating out of feeding time. The guard unholstered his Crippler. An unmerciful and brutal two-foot metal club. Electrified for maximum efficiency. Haze dragged her chains slowly through the dirt. Her sister quickly tapped her chin twice, meaning respect and love. She nodded back, accepting it. "Faster 27. Before I change my mind to extend my mercy on you." he said coldly. Haze looked directly into the guard's eyes. "kneel." Haze kneeled. "Be thankful for my kindness." The guard mercifully raised his club and swung it across her face savagly. It send her sprawling into the rough rock floor. Haze never cried out during beatings. Every ferocious thwack! of the club sent her deeper into unconciousness. Dirt was smashed into her mouth. One eye was swollen beyond use. The last bit of artificial purple light she saw in the caves was the lantern from another Overseer, watching with a smile in his eyes. 

Daylight. She creaked an eye open. Her body felt like shit. It was impossible to see from the other eye. A quick scan of the area and it was clear she wasn't in the Cells. She tried getting up but grunted from the pain. Muffled voices came from outside the hut she was in. 

"Fuck." Haze whispered. A beautiful boy with dirt brown hair and golden eyes strolled in warily. Haze shut her eye.  The boy fuddled around with his napsack. She could feel warm hands on her stomach making their way towards her breasts under her shirt. Her face flushed and an icy drop in her stomach followed. She might be hurt but she wasn't defenseless. Haze swung her fist into the boys unsuspecting jaw. A lucky and unexpected shot landed him out cold. Adrenaline gave Haze newfound energy. She lifted her body up tormentingly slow. She couldn't close her mouth right due to her swollen lower lip. "Fink Ammit, Fink." She ended up whispering to herself. The boy groaned and shuffled slightly. "Phuck." She said again. Haze looked in his napsack. It looked like a bag of torture instruments. Needles, tools for bodily mutilation, drugs, the like. The boy was stirring and the best Haze could do was hobble away. And hobble away she did. What she saw beyond the curtain door stopped her dead. 

People. Free people. people walking with other people hand in hand. Little people playing, people smiling, people eating. Haze's face contorted in puzzlement as her brain analyzed the situation. 

"You're awake, excellent, how are you physically? Emotionally?" someone asked. Haze was so damaged the voice didn't even startle her. 

"Crappy." she croaked out. 

"Where's Suun? I thought he was supposed to be helping you recuperate?" The bald man asked. Haze thought about the boy knocked out in the hut. 

"The boy with the golden eyes?" She asked. 

"Yes, did he perform any of the rituals or even try to mend your wounds?" he asked again. "It doesn't appear like it."

"No but-" Haze started before being cut off quickly.

"That little fucker, always fuckin' around with the young ladys of the camp." He said through frustrated eyebrows. "Anyways we need to get you medical attention." The imposing man took out a bulky boxy device."Medical personnal needed in zone B. Now."

Suddenly Haze couldn't hold her head straight, much less hold herself up. Lightheadedness rushed her skull, and she was out again for the day. 

The smell of food woke Haze up with frightening speed. It smelled of sizzling meats, sweet cut fruit, and lemon. Real food, not slop and hard bread. Haze rose from her humble bed and rushed to the smell. Primal desires awakened primal behaviors. She hadn't eaten real food for so long, she almost forgot how it tasted. Haze literally pounced on the table filled with food, and began ravenously shoving food in her mouth. It tasted so delicious she cried. Tears streamed down her cheeks as dribble spilled from her swollen lips. She piled food into her mouth, viciously tearing into meat chunks, crushing fruits between her molars, and drinking the wine until it spilled onto her shirt. She ate and ate until she had her fill. It satisfied her infinitly to know her belly was full. It was only until she sat down to enjoy her fullness that she noticed the other people around the room. Both were watching her with a mixture of interest and pity. Embarrasment started and ended in her ears. She lowered her head to avoid socialization. The people made no effort to talk to her either. 

"How was the food? I'm assuming you liked it, considering it's all gone." The bald man from before said. Haze looked at him with part shame and part regret for not showing any restraint eating the food. "don't be so glum, I was making jest. The food is yours to consume." Haze wondered who this man was. She could barely reply.

"Thank you for the food. It was amazing. Thank you for helping my wounds." Haze squeaked out. For some reason Haze was never a big thank you giver. 

"Your welcome. But now that you're fed and treated I need to talk business. I need you. I know you did two things. Activated the Stone. And ingested it." He said "for that reason, I need you to assist me in locating the rest, and to utilize and train the changes that will be occuring in your body very soon."

She could only stare. 

"I'm sure you know of the stone, I don't think you know what it does to your body. How do you think you're standing after that beating you took? How do you think you survived the harsh cavern air for hours, alone, and dieing? Do you think it was your resilience and toughness? No. It was the stone, it began healing your body the moment you ingested it. It began changing the very makeup of who you are the moment you even touched it." The man explained. "I know it's a little late for introductions but--- I'm Webbz. And this-" he gestured his arms wide"- is my rebellion."

Haze stared on. Webbz looked to the floor in frustration. "Look, I know this is all a huge change and very difficult for everyone, so if you need time to decide your course of action, feel free to relax in the meantime. I can't have you wandering away or getting hurt, so my main man, Rain will watch over you. He'll even provide everything you need." Haze was a prisoner again.

Haze parted her lips slightly. Both men leaned in closer to listen. Her lips quivered.

"What I need--"she coughed" is freedom." she said powerfully. A fierce burning feeling grew in her stomach. her fingertips tingled. Suddenly she felt as if she could lift a boulder.

"I'm afraid then that we need to keep you here by force, you'll realize what's right soon enough." the man said. "Rain grab her and put her in the confinement cells with accomodations."

Haze was having none of it. She pushed Rain with all her might sending him flying into the wooden table. Webbz made a grab for her, Haze dodged the shot and rammed a fist into his stomach with an oof! Haze drew from the heat in her stomach. She ran out as quickly as she could. Once she was outside, freedom called. Haze fell onto her hands and feet. She didn't know why. Instinctiively she started running, all four appendages moving in synch. She ran and ran until she couldn't anymore.

16 years of imprisonment, it was all she knew. She was old enough to remember life beyond slavery; parents, siblings, playmates, fun, and freedom. When she was five The Society sweeped the town and took everyone either prisoner or corpse. Children were spared because they could be converted or worked. Haze was worked. and worked and worked. Now that she had her freedom, nothing could take it away. She wasn't going to risk losing her freedom and newfound power for some stupid cause that's ultimately destined to fail. Even if it could mean saving her sister. She would not. She would not. She would not. She repeated this phrase over and over in her head. Everytime reassuring herself she wouldn't. Or would she? She squeezed a handful of hair in a vicegrip.

"Fuck."