Clack. Clash. Clang.
     "Shit, shit, shit, shit." Herc kept whispering under his breath. I don't blame him, yesterday he got really bad blisters on his hands, he swore that they were the size of watermelons. Not that we've seen watermelons, we haven't seen real food in ages. The stale bread they gave out could hardly be classified as food, although at the end of the day, after working in the mines for twelve hours you'd take anything that'd sustain you from death. But, death might be acceptable for the majority here since this feels like it's never. Going. To. End.
     "Has anyone ever found a diamond?" I asked when I first came here, but no one answered. What I've learned is it's best to keep your mouth shut and concentrate on your work. Still, they find ways to condemn people anyways. Last week someone got charged for accidentally bumping into one of the guards. Nobody knew his name which made it more saddening to see his broken body on the ground.
     "Lunch!" called a hoarse voice from across the excavation. I gratefully lifted down by pickaxe and slumped against the wall, panting hard, sweat pouring down my face.
     "C'mon." Laf says tugging on my arm, and I follow him, getting into the line for handing the guard my pickaxe. Out of the thousands that will pile up by the end of the day, I doubt I'll ever see the same pickaxe again. Twenty people crowd onto an elevator at a time, although it's only supposed to fit five. We're all so tired, sweaty, and hungry none of us complain. But I think I'd have a thing or two to say if the elevator suddenly breaks down. Finally, sunlight breaks across my face as we enter the quarry and the huge pit that a million could fit into. They say our ancestors dug the entire pit for us and we're lucky since we don't have to dig as much as they did. But the only lucky one here is the "Captain" whose probably up in his base eating chocolate, looking down at his slaves. Because that's all we really are, slaves. The two of us sit on a smoothed out rock, eating the moldy bread a guard handed us as we passed him. Herc comes and sits next to us five minutes later. He's got worn out bandages around his hands and blood already stained them in several places.
     "Shit. This hurts so much." he winces.
     "Have you gone and seen the nurse?" I ask, wiping bread crumbs from around my mouth.
     "Yeah right," he snorts. "The nurse is a joke. 'Perseverance and loyalty to your masters will heal you right up.'" he mimics in a high squeaking voice.
     "Silencieux." Laf whispers, looking around at the gathering workers. None of which are watching us but he's right. You never know who might be listening.
     "Right right, my bad. My point is going to see the nurse isn't going to help my case." Herc responds.
     "He'll give you the rest of the day off. That's worth it." I say.
     "For something like blisters? They're as common as stone around here. I wouldn't get the day off if I was dying." He contradicts.
     "No, we'd throw a party if you were dead. Free at last!" Laf giggles.
     "Ha ha, very funny." Herc grumbled. If it weren't for Hercules and Lafayette, I'd probably starve myself a long time ago. Talking to them is one of the only things that gets me through the day.
     "Hey John, look up." Laf nudges me, looking somewhere towards the sky. I don't see what he means right away, but then it hits me. The base that the Captain owns is swarming with activity. That can only mean one thing.
     "Poor guy." Laf whispers. Yes, whenever you see activity around the Captain's camp it means there's a new slave coming to work in the mines.

     "Laurens!" a voice shouts at me and I swear I almost drop my pickaxe.
     "Yes sir!" I call back at him.
     "Come here!" he orders. I slump down, dragging my pickaxe against the floor, and as I pass Herc and Laf give me frightened looks. Getting called out during working is never good, never. I'm most definitely in trouble for something I didn't do and my life is going to be taken by the end of the week.
     "Sir." I say gloomily.
    "Chin up Laurens," he commands and I raise my head. He looks out of place here in the mines. His clean crisp uniform next to all of our dirty and tattered clothes. He wordlessly holds out a white gloved hand and I give him my pickaxe. He points towards the elevator and follows me as I step on. As we clatter and clank our way to the top I think of all the possible things I may have done to upset the Captain, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe he heard you talking trash about the nurse. I think. No mistreatment of any of the staff is allowed here, not even low ranking officials like the head nurse. My train of thought stops as we reach the top. I'm about to get off when the guard pulls me back. "No. We're going higher." he says. Higher. I've never been higher then here. Damn, I must be in serious trouble. Once we reach even higher, the guard leads me out of the elevator, and I look down at the pit below, hundreds of feet is the sharp rocky ground which screams death. Here's the thing, even if you manage to reach the elevator, which is the only way of transportation up and down the quarry, you'd have no place to go. Beyond here is a stretch of desert as far as the eye can see. At least here they have decent enough food and water. "This way." The guard says, pulling my shoulder and leading me to the fortress where my  doom awaits.

     After many security checks, which is ridiculous because I have, and anybody else I know, zero contraband. It's strictly forbidden. Anyway, after a lot of unnecessary garbage, I'm sitting in the Captains office. If I thought the guard was misplaced in the mines, I'm even more so here. All the plush pillows and velvety couches in this hot cluttered office makes me feel as though I broke in. There's paper stacked a mile high on the Captains desk and a huge bowl of chocolate. A wardrobe in the far corner contains beautiful uniforms that I would never be allowed to touch, not to mention wearing it. Maybe if I am going to die, I could at least milk it for all it's worth. I rub my gritty fingers across the smooth fabric on the overstuffed chair I'm sitting on and debate weather it's worth taking a piece of chocolate. It's not like he'd notice, not with that gigantic bowl, and he's certainly got enough to go around. I reach over, about to seize one when the door flings open.
     "Laurens!" a voice cries. I jerk my fingers back, my hair standing on end.
     "C-captain!" I stuttered. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-" To do what? Steal a piece of chocolate?
     "No no, my good man, I'm the one who should apologize for giving you such a fright," he says this ending with a breathy laugh. Once he's sitting across from me I get a good look at my captor for the first time. He's got blonde hair and blue eyes, with a kind but insane face at the same time. He folds his hands back and smiles at me good naturally. Is this normal or is he plotting how best to kill me? "Why don't you have a piece of chocolate?" he asks, shoving the bowl towards me.
     "O-oh, no thanks." I say.
     "I insist," He presses. So I take one. It's the first sweet thing I've tasted in a million years. It's so good, I can see why the Captain eats these all the time. "So, how are you doing this fine day?" Is he serious? It might be alright for him to watch us suffer but it's different when you are the one suffering.
     "Uh... fine sir." I lie.
     "Come now, come now. Tell me the truth. Don't worry, I'm strong, I can take it." he smiles. The truth? If I'm not condemned already that will certainly get me killed.
     "Just... just feeling a little bit overworked." I respond which is an understatement.
     "Ah well, on the road to an utopia isn't a few bumps worth it?" he asks, still smiling. Although I did see it falter just a little when I gave my response.
     "I thought we were mining diamonds sir." I say daringly.
     "That you are. However, the diamonds are then used to support my growing empire which when it is finished, I will be crowned king!" he says sighing, almost as though he's daydreaming. "Anyway, Laurens, back to business. I need to ask a favor of you." A favor? More like command me. Like I have a choice what I get to do here.
     "What is it, sir?" I wonder.
     "Well, as you might have seen we have a new recruit today," Yes. I did see him. But I also saw his life ahead of him ending. "His name is Alexander Hamilton, and I need someone, say, to 'show him the ropes.'"
     "Oh I see, I need to show him how to swing a pickaxe and all that jazz?" I say comprehendingly.
     "Precisely!" The Captain claps his hands together excitedly.
     "I don't remember getting that luxury when I came here." I shoot back at him. There's silence for an uncomfortable ten seconds. The Captain than says:
     "We didn't have many workers with us when you came as we have now. I regret that you didn't feel welcome," Bullshit. How am I supposed to feel "welcome" here? "Now, there's something in it for you. If you do this for me, I'll give you whatever you desire here."
     "Seriously?" I gasp. Luxury here? Like chocolate? Although he didn't say anything about setting me free but still! Could make life easier for me and my friends. I think for a moment. "I'll do it."
     "Wonderful!" he cheers.
     "But, I want something now." I cut in.
     "Ah... I see... what is it?" he inquires.
     "My friend, Mulligan, got bad blisters the other day. He can barely swing a pickaxe. He's needs proper care, not someone telling him to tough it out. Can you arrange that?" I request.
     "Of course I can! I'll start that right after you leave," he sounds relieved, as though he expected me to ask for something else. More difficult to provide. "Now you are excused to go back to your sleeping quarters. If there's not anything else you might request?"
     "No sir. But when do I actually get to meet Hamilton?" I question
     "Oh, we can deal with that stuff tomorrow! Ta ta!"

     "It must be a trick. Or a trap." Laf says as soon as I finish telling him what happened. Apparently, after I left the Captain's office, Herc had been swept out of the mines the same way I had. Laf told me he had the worst day of his life thinking his two friends were going to be dead by the end of the week.
     "Is it?" I wonder. I didn't seem like a trap in the moment but now that I think about it...
     "Absolument," Laf nods. "But why don't we milk it for all it's worth now? At least we can live peacefully for the rest of our short lives."
     "Yeah... maybe." I get out. I look around my sleep quarters which aren't much. One small carved out cave fit four people, on stone ledges. With no blankets. Just tiny scraps of fabrics that matched nothing I saw when I was in the Captain's office. The sleeping caves where off to the side of the big quarry. I shared a sleeping cave with Laf, Herc, and some other guy I didn't really converse with.
"So... according to you Herc's going to be fine?" he wonders.
"According the the Captain. God I sure hope he is."
"Moi aussi." We sit in silence with nothing else to say to each other at the moment, until Herc's burly figure stumbles in about five minutes later.
"Okay, what the fuck did you do?" he demands.
"Wha- I- Huh?" I splutter.
"Arrête ça!" Laf shouts, stepping between us. "Herc, what did John do?" Lafayette was always peaceful when it came to fights between his friends. True, he gets as riled up as anyone else in his moment of need but whenever Herc and I fought he'd always stop it the moment he saw a problem.
"He somehow drugged the nurses! They actually cared about me!" Oh good. That's good for many reasons. First of all it means he was actually cared for and secondly he isn't really mad at me.
"There's a perfectly good explanation for that." I say. Well, apparently not. Herc just got more angry after I told him what had happened in the Captain's office.
"Why'd you accept the offer? It's obviously a trap!" he shouts. Great, now they've got me feeling stupid. It was definitely a trick or a trap, and I didn't realize that. I'm such an idiot.
"That's what I said." Laf says.
"Well what would you have done?" I yell at them. "I really didn't have much of a choice y'know!"
"Assui vrai." Laf agrees.
"Well I would have said no!" Herc belted.
"You would have ended up dead by the end of the week! Is that what you want?" I yell and ask him at the same time.
"Assez!" Laf screams over both of us. "To opposite ends of the room! Both of you! Now!" I so go, my arms folded. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Herc is angry at me. It sure does seem that way. So does that mean I just gave up my friendship with Herc for a guy I don't even know?