New Elysium: Breakout (Book 1)

Untitled Part 8

Ember sat alone at a long table in the dining hall. There were a few friendly faces after the incident with Karik. She couldn't tell if it was because they saw her as some kind of savior or just that she was mostly unharmed. She ignored them. She wasn't going to be here for long no matter what she did. She could feel it in her body, the drain on her organics where they were connected to her augments.

The food in front of her amounted to little more than gruel. It had everything the human body needed but it was odorless, tasteless, and completely unappetizing.

Ember shoveled it in as fast as she could go preparing to take her usual spot outside on the bleachers. She could escape there, no one bothered her anymore. With luck, she could continue that trend... However long she lasted.

After all, the sunsets were still pretty and she didn't want to miss the one beautiful thing she had left.

She'd just popped the last bite into her mouth when two more trays dropped in front of her with a loud clatter. Inwardly she groaned as she glanced up, recognizing the man who'd spoken to her yesterday.

Red plopped down in front of her with a nod and a wry grin, followed by a tall man with dark skin, a silver arm, and a ready smile.

His glance was warm welcoming, while Red's was...probing. His eyes narrowed at her as he dissected her. She shuddered as she met his gaze with her own vapid stare.

"What?" She snapped feeling more threatened than she should have.

"Nothing," he looked down at his bowl as if it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen in his life, his face flushing.

"This is Dag..."

"OK," Ember replied in low voice. She was, his stare was intense as if he could see right through her. She doubted that was the case but it didn't make it any easier to look him in the face. He didn't like her, she got that.

His glances made her skin crawl.

She didn't want or need another show of emotion like yesterday. She was about to get up when a little strawberry blonde boy suddenly popped up at the table next to Red. Whatever show Red had intended for Ember was completely ruined by the appearance of the little boy. He enthusiastically wrapped his little arms around Red's neck. "Red!"

It was Red's turn to be startled. "T-man! What's going on?" He gave Ember an embarrassed glance and shrugged his shoulders before turning to the younger boy and giving him his full attention.

T stayed attached to him grinning from ear to ear. He'd lost a few teeth recently and had the adorable smile of a young boy who had so much life left to live.

Except he was here, which meant he was going to die in this prison alone.

Ember studied the boy Red was roughhousing for a minute. In seconds he took Red's walls down and Red genuinely smiled at him, ruffling his hair.

It was such a startling transformation to see him smile that caught herself staring, mouth hanging open.

The little boy smiled bursting with energy. He had managed to hold onto a little bit of innocence here. Red and Dag had kept an eye on him to make sure. "Hal tried to start a fight with me."

"Did you cream him?" Red asked focused entirely on the kid for a moment. Ember watched the interaction with interest. Red wasn't entirely an ass apparently. There was some humanity left in him when he wasn't plotting his escape.

"Of course!" The boy flashed a grin around the table, noticed Ember for the first time and flushed crimson.

"Get outta here, rug rat." Dag reached around Red and affectionately tweaked the boy's nose. T shot off like a bullet towards the doorway with a few backward glances at them.