The boy opened his mouth to let out a blood curdling scream, but before he could let out a squeak, a hand was clasped over his mouth as if the person was reading his mind, his instinct urged him to fight back but somehow he did not, the hand was too small to be that of an adult, so he figured it was one of the lads.
‘ who was out of his bed by this time of the night?’
“Shush..” someone whispered fiercely into his ears, ” what on earth are you doing out here?”
“I should be asking you that” the boy muttered, ” Iam trying to get to the washroom, who is this anyway?”
“It’s Zell, who is this?”
“I didn’t tell you my name earlier, Iam Martins” he replied, he already knew zell and his deaf brother Philip and he had been totally fascinated by the fact that Philip could read lips from across a room and understand what was being said without hearing a word.
“Where are you off to?” Zell asked again.
“I just told you I need to use the restroom, I drank too much water during supper”
“Sure, come back here when you are done, I have a secret to tell you”
Many seconds later he was by zell’s side, having almost tripped over him a second time.
“Did I hear you say something about a secret?” Martins asked eagerly.
Zell said nothing as if considering wether to trust Martins or not, ” I need your word that you are not going to mention what Iam about to tell you to any of the other lads or employee, no matter their level wether manager or even driver”.
“Sure, you can count on me not to breathe a word to anyone, frankly I don’t like this place and I don’t intend to stay here that long” Martins replied.
“Do not let anyone hear you say that, ever. Not even your dorm mates, that kind of talk could earn you three days in the ‘ hole’, besides, trying to break out of this facility is easier said than done”
“Really? Have you tired breaking out yourself?” Martins probed.
“No I haven’t? Zell replied weakly.
“By the way, what is the hole?”
“It is an underground chamber that the owner of the facility built to punish stubborn guys, those who continously make mistakes, or try to escape”
“Did I hear you say an underground chamber?” Martins asked.
“Actually I should have said Chambers, I think there are three or four of them” Zell responded, ” each one of them is a tiny space with a hat h ontop of it”.
“How on Earth do you breathe in such a space” Martin’s exclaimed.
“There is a hose that brings in air and a small vent to let the stake air out, no windows, nothing. It’s blacker in that hole than it is in here now” Zell continued, ” the floor is a dirt floor and you only get one meal a day, only in the afternoon”
“Oh wow!” Martins gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“You know the worst thing? You have to fight off rats when your lunch is brought in”
“Rats?” Martins inquired.
“Yes, huge ones, trust me, you don’t want to spend even half a minute In that place” Zell emphasized, ” and to cap it off, they give you a small aluminum pan that is supposed to serve as your bathroom”
“You speak like you have experienced this chamber before” Martins said.
“Actually I have, I was put in there for half a day a couple of years ago”.
“Seriously? Tell me about it” martins inquired, giving his full attention to martins.
“That is a story for another day, you have to earn some trust in this place before you can be told certain bits of information”
“Well, If you say so” martins sighed, ” you mentioned something about a secret earlier, is that what you just told me?”
“No, the secret had to do with why you tripped over me in the dark” Zell replied, ” as you may have realized, this warehouse turned dormitory has no windows of any sort”.