Escape from Metal
Chapter 8: Prisoners

Location: Unknown.

Gwen and Jake had been walking for hours on end. They had to walk through rubble of broken spires. Almost got caught by hunters a few times, it seemed like they were everywhere and were always searching for someone to hunt.

The chains around their ankles and wrists weren’t speeding up the process either. The people “escorting” them to wherever they were going liked to hit them with the butts of the coilguns or give them the occasional light jolt to help them walk faster.

The long trek afforded Gwen the chance to get a good look at her captors. Most of them were wearing scruffy or torn clothes but Gwen occasionally got a glimpse under their jackets and could see that they wore thick armour, not that it would help against hunters.

Except of course for the woman leading them. Her clothes were clean and didn’t have a tear on them. They were almost fashionable if this place had a fashion. She had a commanding presence yet at the same time she seemed not to have a care in the world.

“Alright boys, stop here.” She said.

“Lock our guests to a beam or pole or something, while we wait.” She said as she started walking away.

They had stopped in a semi deteriorating tunnel it was almost completely dark save for distant light coming from the captors’ lantern lights. Most of them were huddle in a circle softly telling jokes and laughing. Except for one sitting few meters away on a makeshift chair, keeping watch over them.

Jake now more aware of his surroundings and feeling a little hyper. Found the whispering and soft laughing a bit strange especially for a group looking as rough as they did. He thought they would be all steely eyed and men of few words. All Jake could make out was the silhouettes of the captors and the slight blue hue of the lanterns.

Stretching across the darkness, cutting through it. Racing through the strange patterns on the walls like water through cracks. To top it all off for the first time since Jake had awoken, he was starting to feel a bit of a chill. He hadn’t thought of it before up until now, but he hadn’t felt any temperature effects.

By the looks of things, him and Gwen were going to be spending the night here, wherever here was. Despite still feeling a bit hyper Ben decided it was time to get some shut eye. He lay down thinking of the day and one sentence that kept replaying in his head.

“You can always fix a bad day with a good night’s rest.” He couldn’t quite place where he heard that or who said it, but it kept replaying in his mind.

As soon as they hyper feeling came it left him again and as he started to drift off into sleep, all he could think is how nice a mellowing fire would be.

As Jake drifted off to sleep Gwen couldn’t, she envied his quick descent into rest. She sat with her back against a wall unable to replace it so quickly still chained to this man she knew nothing about. Nothing to comfort and guide her into sleep. All she had was the cold wall and the colder nights still.

Her mind flashed back to the events of the day. How it started out so normal. She wondered to herself was it worth her only true friend’s life to save this man, she might yet leave him to the hunters if she ever got out of this mess alive.