"Ally let us out! Tell them to let us out!" Lukkas yelled through the bars.

"Ally! Ally how could you!" I screamed down the dark hall.

"Would you two shut up?" A gruff voice growled.

We both went silent. We had thought we were alone and had been yelling for nearly an hour.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I don't have a name. I don't have anything anymore."

"What do you mean?" Lukkas said, voice resounding off the walls.

"I watch kids like you come here and suffer. All day until they're sent off. I hate myself for doing this for others. Its messed up." Came a sad response.

"What are they going to do?" My voice quivered.

"A lot kid. A lot."

"I'm scared Lukkas." I whispered, my hand reaching through the bars of our cells, intertwining on the damp cement.

"I know."

"What if they kill us? What if they kill our families?" My voice was small and full of worry. "What if they hurt you?"

"It'll be okay. You just have to pretend like you can't feel the pain."

A moment of silence passed. I could hear running water through pipes and boot shuffling and whispering of the few other down here with us.

"Is that what you did Lukkas?" I asked. I waited a beat. "When he hit you?" I clarified.

"Yeah. That's what I did." He leaned his head into my shoulder and I could feel his heart beat fall into rhythm with my own.

"I'm sorry Lukkas." I squeezed his hand.

"Not your fault Rain." He muttered and I could tell he was falling asleep.

I remained silent as I felt his heart rate slow and rested my head on his. "It'll be okay." I whispered to myself.
. . .
I woke up to heavy footsteps thudding on the floor.

"We need Lukkas." A voice ordered.

"No!" I said loudly, startling myself and waking Lukkas up. "I'll go, he stays."

"Be quiet Rain. I'm going." He said, voice hardening as he stood.

"Lukkas please!" I protested.

I heard heavy hands grab his shoulders and through the darkness I saw them yank Lukkas off the ground.

"Stop! Stop, I'll go!" I yelled, running to the front of my bars. I tried to keep my tears hidden but couldn't.

"Shut up would you?" One of the guards shoved me down and away from the metal bars. My elbow scraped the floor, but I didn't care.

"No!" I yelled again, struggling to stand.

"Rain." Lukkas' voice echoed softly and seemed to overpower all other sounds and thoughts in my head. "It'll be okay. I'll be okay."

A door opened at the end of the hall and I squinted from the light. I could see two bulky men carrying Lukkas out, hands wrapped around his forearms. I saw Lukkas' head hanging in defeat, barely moving.

He looked back once more, smiling through his tears. "I'll be okay."

"No you won't kid." Muttered the guard as Lukkas was shoved out of view.
. . .
All I could do to pass the time was train, or at least try to. I quickly lost track of time as my meals were sparse and random.

For hours I would do sit-ups or push-ups or curl-ups on a pipe hanging low on my cell ceiling. I tried to think positivly, but all I could think of was Lukkas.

This was my fault. I should've seen right through Ally. She wasn't like the rest of us. Ally was always the one worried we were going to get caught, worried we would be in trouble one day. To keep herself from punishment all she had to do was trade her friends.

When I got out of here I would kill her myself for what she had done to Lukkas.

"That cell. You're in that one with the other traitor." A voice said, the door opened again.

A girl and boy my age were shoved into the cell with me.

I could hear crying.

"Are you guys okay?" I whispered into the dark, trying to comfort them.

The crying ceased. "Rain?"

"Quinn?" I asked, surprised. I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"I missed you." He started sobbing again. "You've been gone for weeks."

"I've been in here for weeks?" I said, startled.

I felt his head nod on my shoulder before he pulled away.

"Rain, meet Lila, Lila meet Rain."

"Lila? Why are you in here?"

"Gib." She responded bitterly.

"What? There's no way he would do this to you Lila." Quinn was silent as I spoke, trying to figure out how we knew each other.

"Well he did. He heard me saying how I thought the Senator was being harsh on you two." I heard her sniff and felt awkward.

"The last thing he said was: "I pledge loyalty to my community."" She said bitterly, using a mocking tone to respresent his voice.

"I can't believe him." I groaned, frustrated. "How are you in here Quinn?"

"Surprisingly I was trying to sneak outside the Gates." He confided.

"You what?" I asked in an almost yell.

He sensed him shrugging in the empty darkness. "I had to know what was out there."

I quietly nodded, leaning against the cool wall. "Do you guys know about Ally?" I asked.

"Ally our friend?" Quinn asked confused while Lila shook her head.

"Not anymore Quinn. Ally, the girl who turned Lukkas and I over to the Senator. Ally, the girl who used to be our friends."

"Ally, the girl who did the right thing and has heard your whole conversation."

I leap to my feet, arms at the ready, listening to where her voice had come from.

"You can't deny what I did was right Rain. I'm doing my job, listening and following orders. That's why they're making me important."

Her pride confused me almost as much as her last sentence. Why would Ally be important?

"You never knew what it was like Rain - to live in your shadow. Turns out you were nothing but a coward who couldn't obey orders." She taunted, kicking dirt into the cell.

"Rain is more brave than anyone you'll ever meet. And standing up for your belief is braver than anything you could imagine." Lila stood next to me.

"We don't care what you do Ally, you won't ever win. You won't ever change who we are." Quinn did the same.

"Oh really?" I could almost hear the smirk on her voice. I'll punch her one day and then she wouldn't be laughing. "Lets see what Lukkas has to say about that."

The door opened again, and Lukkas calmly walked back in unattended. After my eyes adjusted I could see him clearly.

His face was tinted yellow with old bruises and he looked like he had been having bloody noses. There were several deep hashes that ran across the span of his face, to say blood traced around them. His ear was bent awkwardly out of shape and his eyes were sunken, stricken with fear. I could see his wrists were raw and seemed thin - almost as thin as his torso.

His faded orange shirt was shredded and splattered with blood. He slouched and constantly changed position as if everything he tried was painful. His eyes were twitching back and forth faster than normal.

He stepped forwards cautiously, like any wrong move would send him back to the perils he had emerged from.

"She's right." he croaked in barely a whisper. He paused and coughed. He held up his left hand, curling his mangled fingers into place. "I p-pledge loyalty to the c-community."

I know this chapter is a little shorter than my goal, but I am still suffering from WEBS, otherwise known as Writers Extreme Block Syndrome.

I'm sorry for what I did to Lukkas, but I had to.

Lol not really, no I'm really not sorry. I mean hey, let's give this dude everyone love, let's give him great respect for others and then let's beat the <insert reason for grounding here> and break him. Sounds fun to me.