Warped

Chapter 3: Lukas

Hours, maybe days, go by. It feels weeks to be honest, but now that the sedative has taken affect, it's really hard to tell. Everything one big blur of the same questions looping over and over in my head.

I thought it would be good, to still be able to think rationally without having to deal with emotions, but I was wrong. Well, not entirely wrong, but the parts that are wrong just make the parts that are right painful.

My eyes flicker across my friends, I can just barely make out their dark gray outlines. I still have to strain my eyes to get a good look at them though, since the only light that comes in leaks through the door. Very little light indeed.

However, I don't need light to hear the pained gasps and groans when someone has been overtaken with hunger pangs. Or to hear chains clink and clank for a few minutes as the person gathers enough energy to simply shuffle over to the water jug.

Which is the problem with being able to rationally think. I am so fully aware of how terrible everything is right now. I've had my shares of the sudden waves of hunger that just consume your entire being with the need to eat, but not to their extent. Not to that extent yet.

I can't however, figure out anything new. I can't determine who these people are, or what they want. I still have no clue about why they made it so I'd be stronger than my friends. And even after pouring hours of thought into it, I know nothing more about Jesse.

Which is madding, completely madding to where I just want to punch the wall. Or at least scratch my head in confusion or rub my face in stress. I can't do either of those things though with my hands securely trapped behind my back.

Sighing, I change positions, not that it does much good. I try not to move much though since I've grown to hate the sound of the chains rattling. It's annoying and a constant reminder that I'm completely helpless against everything. I can't run, I can't do anything with my hands, I can't even make gestures!

Besides, it's generally the only thing you can hear. No one really talks anymore, no one knows what to say. Small talk consumes too much energy that is horribly low. It's really hard to say anything hopeful when you groan from hunger halfway through. And no one wants to make the depressed mood worse by actually voicing their thoughts.

It sucks that we can't even reassuringly pat each other's back, just to silently say 'I understand' when someone sighs. Or to hug someone when the cry out from hunger. Or just something, anything really. It just takes that much more hope away.

Although I can't figure out anything new for the life of me, my thoughts always turn back to why I haven't been as weakened as the others. It quite frankly scares me, it should more but the sedative keeps that down.

I've come to believe, without any proof other than my own thoughts, that when they did something to me to keep me stronger, they did something to weaken them even more. Since I was told once that the bigger you are, the longer you can last against starvation. But Axel seems just as weak as Petra.

Olivia definitely has it the worst though, she whimpers constantly in hunger and her stomach pains seem to be much longer and more painful than the others. If something doesn't change soon, it won't be long until she gets sick in her weakened state. I'm surprised she isn't already.

But I haven't gotten that weak yet. I can still move fairly easily, and I don't have it nearly as bad as the others. The lack of movement and food has left me tired, all the time, but I'm the one who talks the most as of now. It just completely baffles me to why.

Rolling my head as if that could help spring new ideas up, the same questions pop back into my head. Were they even aware they kept me stronger? Did they do the same to Jesse? What could the possibly want from us, especially now that we're all so weakened? Do we have any hope at all anymore?