I held Emily in my arms as she softly cried into my shirt. Glancing around me, Javier and Amina could see what was happening but neither said anything. Under normal circumstances, I was sure anyone would try to ask what was wrong. Everyone here had enough common sense to know why she was crying. I was grateful that nobody was stupid enough to call her out.

"I-I'm sorry Eli," Emily stuttered between sobs as she tried to pull away. "I shouldn't be crying right now. I'm making a fool out of myself."

"No, you're not," I reassured. Emily's eyes were damp with tears as she looked at me. I carefully brought her back into my shirt and let her continue crying. "Don't focus on anything else but this."

Amina and I made eye contact as Emily buried her head into my shoulder, and she gave me a subtle nod before nibbling at her sandwich. It looked like she had to force herself to do so, even though she was the one who suggested that we get food. Javier's plate remained untouched, similar to those with the same mindsets. It wasn't that we weren't hungry, it was that we had no energy or desire to eat.

I made a mental note to find an opportunity to talk to Emily about what happened during power training. There was no telling what General Murray made them do. I couldn't recall who else was in her group, either.

If I had to guess, they probably divided the groups based on the type of power we had. My group consisted of Taryn's pyrokinesis, Natalie's cryoprotection, Emiko's hydrokinesis, Daiki's aerogenises, Chandler's barrier, and my earth manipulation. All of us except for Chandler had core elemental abilities, but they might have placed him in our group for his powerful defensive abilities. With that idea in mind, who must have been in Emily's group?

Javier took another sip of his water. It would make sense if he were in her group, considering his paralysis ability. The two powers could potentially pair well together. I looked around, and a familiar face caught my attention. It was Anthony, the person I worked out with during strength training. Thinking back to the list, his ability was...shockwaves, correct? That may work out with that group.

I shook my head. There was no point in guessing right now. I needed to talk to Emily whenever we had a good opportunity.

She looked at me with curious and wet eyes, snapping me out of my train of thought. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," I answered. "I was just thinking back to earlier today. It's nothing important."

I could tell she had difficulty believing that, but she planted her forehead back into my chest and didn't say another word. My hands found their way to her back and started slowly rubbing circles. I could feel her exhaustion radiating from her mind and body, and I wanted nothing more than to take it away from her. It pained me that I couldn't do anything more than this, but I wasn't stopping unless she told me to.

After a couple more minutes, Emily lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before looking up at me. "Thank you."

"There's no need for thanks," I reassured with a soft smile. "I know that this is an unbelievably difficult time for everyone. We need to be there for each other."

"He's right," Amina said with crossed arms and a similar smile. "The best course of action right now is to stick together and support each other the best we can."

Javier's expression told me that statement made him uneasy. His lip twitched as if he hesitated before speaking. "I agree with you, but how are we supposed to do that with Hayward and Murray breathing down our necks?"

"One thing they can't take away from us is friendship," Amina confidently said. "Hayward may be able to take away our freedom, separate and divide us, but he can't take away our friendship and liberty. I just wish that everyone else had the same thought process."

Her statement made me look at the dejected faces of the people around me. Most of them were eating in silence or not eating at all. I could see bruises and gashes everywhere on their skin, from their face to their legs. It was a miracle that we could walk, but I'm sure Hayward knew not to cripple us too much. It had to be his plan to push us as close as possible to our breaking point.

The thought made me flashback to the brutal altercation between Taryn and the doctor. The way he grabbed her hair, ruthlessly kicked her, and shattered her ribs. I couldn't imagine how much pain the doctor inflicted and how Taryn was feeling. Where was she? Is she awake?

"You have a point," Javier mumbled after some thoughtful silence. "I want to believe you, but..."

Amina nodded. "I understand. It's a lot easier said than done. We have to have a little bit of optimism at least, don't we?"

After looking down in thought, I knew she was right. The only issue was that something told me Amina was wrong, and I couldn't figure out why. How could she be so optimistic at a time like this? Has she failed to see the situation we were in? As much as I racked my brain, I couldn't understand. Was it a bad thing? No. I knew that.

My gaze returned to Amina, and I almost gasped. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she kept her eyes on her sandwich as if she were a poor child who had been given a luxury meal. Realization hit me like a freight train. She wasn't only being optimistic for us. It was a desperate attempt to bring normalcy to reality. Amina tried so hard to have a simple dinner but with the crushing pressure of everything happening around us, that was impossible.

Was it?

I gently moved Emily away from me before sitting upright in my seat, much to her displeasure. Clapping my hands together, I grabbed the attention of not just the people at our table but practically the entire cafeteria.

"Thank you for this meal!"

This better work, or else I was about to make a complete fool out of myself in front of everyone. Doing something like this wasn't exactly one of my strengths.

I picked up my bleak ham and cheese sandwich and fought the urge to throw up in my mouth. Amina's crying stopped, but the sadness transformed into confusion. If anything, her despair has temporarily vanished. Turning back to my meal, I was convinced that the meat was at least a few days past the expiration date, but I already committed to the act. There was no shying away from this.

Come on, Elijah. You're not doing this for you. You're doing this for everyone, even the Sorenson twins. Just commit to it.

To which I did. I gripped the sandwich and devoured it in four to five giant bites. Forcefully swallowing the nasty food, I snatched Javier's water bottle and chugged until the horrible aftertaste was bearable. I expected him to say something about stealing his water, but he was too shocked to react.

For what felt like forever, the looks on everyone's faces were a mix of questioning expressions until somebody suddenly broke out into laughter. I turned to the source and sure enough...

"There's no way you just did that!" Amina exclaimed in a fit of laughter. "I don't know what I was supposed to expect, but it wasn't anything like that!"

The attitude of the people around me seemed to liven just a bit. They were talking amongst themselves about something other than the current situation. As I started reacting to Amina's statement, I felt a firm hand grasp my shoulder. I saw a face I met not too long ago.

"That was mighty brave, Eli. There's no telling what was in that ham and cheese," Jett joked with a smirk. He was with who I assumed to be his younger brother, Rider. It was easy to assume that the two had similar hairstyles and face shapes. The only notable difference was that Rider was skinnier and less defined than Jett, however, he was a couple of inches taller. "Mind if we join you?"

Emily's mood seemed to have lifted as well. She shot me a questioning gaze, but the spark in her eyes returned to their normal appearance. I returned Jett's smirk. "Sure, go right ahead."

We discussed among ourselves for a while following the Seely's appearances. Whatever I did seemed to lighten the mood around us, even if it was only a small amount. Who would've thought that devouring a disgusting sandwich was the trick?

Despite the situation, people around me were beginning to smile and laugh. It wasn't anything near where it'd normally be outside these confined walls, but a considerable change could be seen in the faces of those seated near me. I couldn't help but want to join in on the positive mood shift, however, it felt like something was holding me back. I did my best to blend in with the crowd, which came naturally to me. My eyes drifted to Emily, who was sitting in an uncomfortable position. I looked at her face to see how she was reacting, and it was transparent that she was in a high degree of pain.

The rest of our dinner was spent with our small group getting to know each other. Although, one obvious thing was that we tended to avoid any subjects that might cause any form of despair. I thought it was necessary to discuss the other things we were put through during power training, but I understood that there was a well-needed break that was deserved.

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Thirty minutes passed before free time began. I parted ways with the group and returned to my room to recuperate before venturing out. As much as I wanted to be with Emily, I realized that it was necessary to have some time to gather my thoughts and catch my breath. Growing up, I was a big advocate of "me" time. I never needed company to feel relaxed and at ease.

As I lay flat on my bed, I looked at the dull ceiling and noticed the intercom Hayward used to talk to me when I initially arrived here. It made me wonder if there was truly any chance of us escaping from this place and returning to our former lives. The only thing I knew to do was to trust that the authorities were still looking for us.

They were looking for us, right?

I sat up and clasped my palms over my cheeks. Stop thinking like that, Eli. If I knew my parents, especially my mother, they definitely noticed we were missing by now. If the police weren't looking, my mom would raise hell until they started. That was just how she was.

The last time I saw her was when Emily and I left for Fera that fateful morning before meeting with Xavian at the school parking lot. That day already felt so long ago that it only brought despair the more I thought about it. Not only that, but I forgot to hug her before leaving. Calling it a tradition wasn't quite right; it was more of an unspoken rule to always at least say "goodbye" and "I love you" before going anywhere, even if it was to the local grocery store.

I failed to do that at the worst possible time. Sure, I didn't know what was going to happen, but that was no excuse. If I ever saw her again, I was going to make right what I did wrong. No, when I see her again. I wasn't sure how, but I was determined to find a way out of here no matter how difficult it would be.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I stood out of my bed. "That's enough of that for the moment. I should take advantage of this free time while I have the chance."

Besides, I'm sure Emily's wondering what I'm doing. I should see her.

I psyched myself to slip on my shoes and exited my room. I was worried for a brief moment that the doorknob was going to shock me again, but it seemed like it was only activated at specific times throughout the day, maybe overnight so we couldn't leave our rooms for whatever reason.

The doors had nameplates on them, so finding Emily's room took a little searching. Hers, along with the rest of the girls in our group, was located in the back of a separate wing. After approaching her door, I hesitated before knocking.

A moment passed with no answer. Was she not in her room? Maybe she was still with Amina and-

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal a slim girl with long brown hair and deep brown eyes. They were beautiful enough to capture the attention of anyone who could see her. Once her eyes locked onto me, the uncertain look in them vanished.

"Eli," she spoke in a pleased tone. "Would you like to come in?"

Normally, that question would've made my introverted and socially awkward personality shake in their boots. Even the thought of being asked to hang out with a girl in their room by ourselves would've caused my anxiety to spike. But now?

"If that's okay with you, sure."

She opened her door and stepped aside to let me in. My eyes quickly scanned her room, and it looked no different than mine. The only distinction was that her bed was neatly made while mine wasn't.

Emily sat on her bed and motioned me to do the same. "Come."

I did as instructed and sat a couple of feet beside her. A few seconds passed before she looked at me with tired eyes. "How have you been holding up?"

My lip twitched. "I mean, truthfully, I'm doing my best to make it through the day. After seeing what happened to Taryn, my mind is scrambling to catch up."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," she said, her expression darkening. "What happened?"

"Taryn was only doing what she felt was right," I started. "The doctor disagreed with how she countered Chandler's barrier attack, and the result is why she's in the hospital. I haven't spoken to anyone about how she's doing, so there's no telling if she's awake or not."

Emily shook her head and looked as if she was holding back tears. "That's ridiculous. I-I don't even know anymore. I've never felt so helpless."

"Neither have I," I mumbled.

She put her face into her palms and started crying. I could see multiple bruises littering Emily's beautiful body, so I wasn't sure if I could get closer and console her. There was no telling what General Murray put her and the group through. I needed to find out, but talking about it while she was in this condition wasn't the best idea. What mattered was that she was okay.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hold me."

Emily spoke so fast that her statement caught me off-guard. "W-What?"

She raised her head to reveal soaked eyes and a desperate expression. "Please, Eli. I don't know if we'll ever get this chance again. What if something happens to you like what happened with Taryn? I can't lose you. I can't lose you..."

I was shocked. This was something my mind wasn't trained to handle. I've never had a girlfriend or even a girl who was a close friend before. It was quite embarrassing to admit, but the only woman who came close to a friend was my mother. Now, here was a beautiful girl practically begging for my affection. I did what I thought was the right thing to do.

Extending my arms, I invited her with an embrace. "You don't ever have to ask."

She hastily crawled closer to me and didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around my body. I quickly returned the embrace and let her sob into my chest. I rubbed circles around her back and spoke words of reassurance in her ear.

"Everything's okay. I'm right here."

"You're all I have. I can't lose you," Emily pleaded.

I shushed her negative thoughts. "As long as we keep fighting, you're not going to. I'm here to fight with you, protect you, and help us find a way out of here."

Despite my doubts when I woke up here, it was like the hope I had lost was restored. There was still a long way to go, but I couldn't let Emily lose the one thing that was keeping her hopeful. I had to survive, no matter the cost, no matter who stood in our way, and no matter how difficult the road was going to be. Protecting Emily gave me hope, and I was going to cling to that hope until we find a way out of here.

It was a battle between hope and despair.

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