The Pit

Chapter 5 - Jump

Anne Hathaway is who I think would be great as Ms. Crimson.
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The door opens to a ledge that is approximately ten feel long and five feet wide. At the end of that five feet is a cliff. All of us are ushered out of the building. The six of us plus Ms. Evergreen and four guards. We outnumber them just fine and I am pretty sure that knocking down Ms. Evergreen with those stilettos on would be no problem. If it were for the fact that each guard has one hand on the hilt of their gun at all times. Ready and waiting.

I walk over to the end of the cliff and look out. The Pit is all trees and bush. Just slightly from the center of the hole is a clearing, where if you look really hard are a few wooden buildings. A creek runs through the Pit. If anything it looks like a summer camp, but more could be lurking through the shadows of the trees that can't be seen from up above. All the way across the Pit, is a dark area covered in shadows. A place that screams do not enter and I don't think any sane person would go near it anyways.

I tilt my head down looking straight down the side of the cliff. Jagged rock lines the wall, all the way down to the bottom when brown meets green and a small path disappears into the unknown depths of hell.

"Listen up!"

A shout wakes me from my daze and I turn my head in the direction of the director.

"I will tell you this once. To your left is a small elevator that will take all of us down, if you try anything I will have the wires cut and you will fall to your death. Am I understood?"

We respond with varying yeses and shakes of our head. I look toward the elevator that Ms. Evergreen pointed out, but that "elevator" in no more than a floor and four, four foot high walls drenched in red. The paint has chipped over the years, most likely from hitting the jagged cliff edge and plummeting through the trees. The wires that supposedly bring it down look old and thin. They look like they will snap on their own.

"Line up."

Each of us form a line facing Ms. Evergreen and what's behind her, the death box. Behind the director a guard brings a black box. Inside it are thin silver wrist bands.

"What are those?" I ask.

The director looks at me and says, "These are your new wrist bands. They keep track of you and monitor all your movements within the Pit. They also serve as crowd control. If there is a riot or fight that breaks out, all we have to do is hit a button and everyone in that area will be stunned with a little electricity. It won't kill you and will only slightly hurt."

Messy laughs and mumbles something smart underneath his breath.

Mik is in front and steps up to the director, who unlocks the handcuffs and attaches the bracelet to her wrist. Mik steps into the box. Ms. Evergreen then repeats the process for each of us until we are all crammed into the tiny box. Then, she locks the door into place behind us.

With a nod, she turns on her heel and moves toward a box with levers and buttons, the control box. Her long, boney fingers shift toward a lever, hits a button and the box squeaks and shudders in protest as it begins the decent to the Pit.

Thoughts run through my head; we will die in here, the wires will break, the box with tip, some idiot with push someone over the edge, someone will jump. In this death trap, I feel as if I will die at any time. The box sways back and forth violently as it surrenders itself to the wind. Inside the box, we are cramped, no real moveable room, no space to more or defend oneself.

We are now almost halfway down and everyone seems to be holding their breath, not moving, afraid the box with go tumbling down with us in it. Well, almost everyone.