Two-Thirds Blue

Chapter Thirteen: Something to Lose

"Are they brown?" Cress asked.

"Sometimes," Rhan answered.

"Can they be gray?"

"Yes."

"Black?"

"I don't think so. No."

"Okay, so usually lighter colors?"

"Yes."

Cress gnawed thoughtfully on the end of the broken bone. The tip was getting narrow. "Are they predators?"

"No."

"Do we eat them?"

"I hope not." Rhan paused. "But I wouldn't be surprised if we ate them here sometimes."

"Are they small?"

"Uh... define small."

"Are they under two feet tall?"

"Yes."

"Do they hop around?"

"No. Well, you could call it hopping."

"Yes or no only, remember?"

"Right, sorry. No, they do not hop around."

"Okay, do they burrow?"

"No."

"Do they climb trees?"

"Yes."

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere. Do they have big ears?"

"Yes."

"Long tails?"

"That's right."

"Long creepy fingers?"

"Yup."

"I'm gonna make my guess. You're thinking of an abinx."

"Correct. You've won."

"Hooray." Cress rested her head against the wall. "I know it's my turn, but I think I'm done playing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Fair enough. How's your progress on that bone?"

Cress took it out of her mouth and looked at the tip. "It's getting kinda sharp. I don't think I could stab anything with it yet."

"Getting lots of protein and nutrients from it?"

"It's just a bone, Rhan."

"I like to make the most of the situation."

"Wait. Quiet. I hear something." Cress leaned forward and listened. Footsteps. They were coming from the far right end of the hallway outside the door. She wondered if the rozkod had come to take one of them. But that barely seemed real anymore, just a distant possibility. This was her life now.

It sounded like three or four of them. They were discussing something, but they spoke too quickly for her to make out any sentences. They stopped somewhere to the left of her cell and apparently came to a decision. Cress heard the solid clunk of a door unlocking, and had a brief moment of panic– were they taking Rhan? But no, they sounded farther away. A cell or two past Rhan, most likely.

A male voice began to scream. She knew she should feel bad for whomever they'd chosen, but all she felt was relief that it wasn't her or Rhan.

She didn't need to listen anymore. She knew how it went. The victim would howl in protest, and the rozkod would taunt him. They'd drag him down to the left side of the hallway, and eventually the sounds would fade away. A few minutes later, the rozkod would pass through the hall again, laughing about the fate of the unfortunate prisoner. She was about to pull her ear away from the door when she heard something unusual.