Page 61 of Caged

Metal scraped against the concrete floor; the sound worse than nails on a chalkboard. I gritted my teeth, rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck to the right and left. But I didn’t turn around.

This time, I flinched when I heard the click of the lock sliding into place; the sound was far worse the second time around.

I didn’t turn around.

I listened carefully as footsteps sounded, counting at least five people walking away. The sound of boots on the wood stairs echoed through the cold room.

Still, I didn’t turn around.

The door opened, the light lessening the effects of the strobe. Eerie shadows danced across the wall as those exiting blocked the ray of light.

“You can move now,” someone said two seconds before the door slammed shut. I waited for the telltale sign of a door locking and wasn’t disappointed.

I turned to Maxwell, asking, “You hurt?”

“No,” she said, using one hand to shield her eyes. “You?”

“Just my ego.” My laugh felt out of place as it echoed back at me. “And I’m not loving the mood lighting here.”

“Ha! Be sure to mention it in your review.”

I didn’t like the fear in her voice so I egged her on. “Did you just crack a joke?”

The subtle shake of her head in the strobe looked weird.

“We should check out the accommodations,” I said.

Neither of us had turned yet, but I’d used my peripheral vision to notice the blackedout windows.

No doubt, Maxwell had too.

I walked to the bars first and tested their strength.

I crouched. Every bar of the cage was anchored in the cement.

Imagines of old time prison breaks filled my mind.We won’t be using a spoon to dig our way out.

I walked to the window. It was painted black. The only reason I knew it was a window was because of the bars covering it. I tested the them; just as solid as the others.

“They’ve been doing this for a while,” Maxwell said.

“You think?” I hadn’t intended on sounding snarky but that’s how it came out. When I turned, I noticed the second cage.

Thankfully, it was empty.

The fucking strobe was making it hard to gauge anything with our eyes.

Walking from the wall to the dividing bars, I estimated our cell to be ten feet. The depth was about the same. “Ten by ten. And look, a piss pot.”

“Yeah, I saw that.” She sounded as thrilled about it as I felt.

I leaned against the back wall, with my eyes closed to shut out the strobe while Maxwell paced in the cell.

Her mumbling doing nothing for my already foul mood.

Tired of the bullshit she was spewing, I opened my eyes so I could watch her reaction when I asked, “What the fuck, Maxwell? How is this my fault?”

She lost her balance when she turned to face me.

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