Page 65 of Caged

“Same.”

We sat in dark silence, for who knows how long, as time lost all meaning. I’d just dozed off when the strobe lights came back on.

“What the fuck?” Jaden yelled, jumping to his feet and looking around like he’d forgotten where we were.He must have fallen asleep, too.

“You don’t happen to know how long we’ve been here, do you?” I asked, hoping he could judge time better than I could.

“No.” I was afraid he’d say that. “Fucking strobe and alarm. Audio and visual torture is designed to distort our perception of time and reality.” I didn’t call him out for telling me what I already knew, knowing it’d start another fight.

I doubted we’d been here more than a few hours, but it already felt like the longest day of my life.

My bladder complained so I asked Jaden to look away while I used the pail. It was humiliating having to empty my bladder with him nearby, but I didn’t have a choice.Thank God he can’t see me. The strobe fucked with my balance as I hovered.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I walked back to the wall. The snap shots of his head nodding would have been comical under different circumstances.

Luckily, it was easier blocking the light than the alarm, so I relaxed for a few minutes.

But it was too quiet, and I didn’t like being left alone with my fear-driven, morbid thoughts.

Will I ever see my father again? Will I see Charlie say I do in the fall?

Then my brain remembered all those romance books I’d read where two people think they’re going to die and decideto have sex before they do. Only to survive and regret it.At least at first, they almost always fall in love…

I looked at Jaden, his arms resting on his legs, his head resting on his ink-covered, corded forearms.

Not happening.

“Jaden?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a question?” I wanted to know what he’d experienced.

“You just did.” His forced laugh echoed in the space. “Go for it.”

“Have you ever gone through something like this before?” I asked, intentionally keeping the question broad.

Silence filled the space as the light flashed off and on.

He lifted his head and answered, “Yes.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Just one word, but it spoke volumes. As a Marine Raider it was safe to assume he’d seen a lot of shit, and even suffered through some shit.

“How long?”

Another long pause.

“Five days,” he said. “But it felt like a hell of a lot longer.” He rested his head against the back wall and hung an arm over his eyes to block out the light.

“Were you alone?” I should have let it go, but something in me needed to know.

If he survived it once, maybe he can do it again.

The pause was long enough that I didn’t think he’d answer. Figuring it was bringing up memories he didn’t want to revisit, I apologized.

“It’s okay.” He turned towards me in what I assume was an attempt to make eye contact. “To answer your question, no, I wasn’t alone. I was with my team buddy. It took the rest of our team five days to find us.”

I was still debating whether it’d be rude to ask what happened when he said, “I can practically hear you wondering if it’s okay to ask.” His laugh sounded hollow and sad. “It’s fine. They chained us to a wall in an unfinished basement that felt more like a fucking cave.” His voice was thick with emotion, “They released us for random beatings, but otherwise we shared five square feet of space to eat, shit, and sleep.”

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