One hundred and sixty-eight hours

What would you do if you had seven days to save not only yourself but a room full of people you didn’t even know? Would you fight your hardest for them or yourself? It is rather easy to answer my question because to you they are simply hypothetical. However, to exactly ten people it was our harsh reality. None of us chose to have any part in what occurred during those days. We were forcefully entangled into a mess, with little to no choice on getting out.

I am still uncertain about how it all exactly happened. My mind is blank, like the others, our memories are empty, a void of nothing. The last thing my mind can scrounge up within my mind was running my fingers on the engraved title “One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Hours”, which laid in the middle of the fine black leather cover, just before I could see what lied behind the magnificent cover which shinned a mesmerizing violet whenever the sun rays graced upon it, a shriek had ringed its way into my ears. The sound came from behind me, a few feet at least, the voice I knew all too well, it was Alice.

Alice and I had known each other for nearly six months, ever since her family moved here. In only two weeks, it was to be her Nan’s birthday. We were downtown visiting small shops looking for the perfect gift for the nice old lady, had I known that little visit would have turned into this, I might have suggested we go another day.

The final event that took place when everything was going on was the sound of the black book is dropped. As it hit the ground, I recall turning but it is as soon as I turned, well, that is where everything becomes disoriented. By the time I came too, I was alone. It was cold and pitch black. I could not even see my hands in front of me. I attempted to move around but I was stopped by some wall, and as I tried another way, the same thing occurred. It seemed that I was trapped in some kind of box.

In the beginning, I thought I might have been dreaming but the constant sting in my head soon convinced me otherwise. The worst part of it all was not the fact I had no clue as to where I was, nor, what was going to happen to me, but the silence. It is the silence that led to the countless questions with answers I didn't want to know. The worst question that drove its way into my thoughts was “What’s going to happen to me?” I remember the first time I said that sentence aloud, and when I heard my hoarse, shaken voice, then it had sunk in. I had no idea where I was nor how long I had been in here till I regained consciousness. I feared I would never know when I would see the sun again.

The thoughts continued as the days passed, ever so often a tray of food and water would appear. I was certain I was not alone, it occurred once a day, as the 18th day came, and I awaited the 19th I began to believe I was never going to escape. I was being kept as a pet, a plaything to be disposed of. I had formed countless possible answers as to why I was here, however, little did I know that exact day I was to receive an answer to a question I asked over a million times.

I can remember it like it was yesterday, there was this small light it looked like a tiny dot, but it grew, and it continued to grow, till it filled the entire room. I had to shut my eyes due to how painfully bright it was. I will never forget what I opened my eyes to. There were maybe hundreds if not thousands of these containers, they were small you had about four feet to move around in. They were so high you could not even tell where it ended.

One thing i'll never forget was what lied inside the cages. This entire time I was not alone. I had hundreds of people in the same situation as me in this huge space. After witnessing everything, I wish I has been alone, I wish I was the only one. They were skin and bones. Some still had meat on their bones, others it was so scarce and then you had the ones who had lost so much that they no longer breathed. The worse were the ones who did not even resemble human beings, I still to this day cannot forget the horrors that I saw there. They all carried the same look, they wanted to be saved but had lost all hope. It was at this moment it has truly hit me, I was disposable. I did not have much time to dwell on the new thoughts that barged into my head before I was lifted from the ground, the see-through cage began to rise.

Moments later I found myself in a plain white room, it looked more like a box than a room. The object that once had caged me had simply disappeared. I was not foolish enough to believe I was free. I knew I was never going to be free, not on their terms at least. After what felt like an hour in the room, a door appeared. I am still not certain where it came from. I just know it was not there before, at least I believe it was not. I spent another hour contemplating whether I should go through or not, I had no idea what was waiting for me through those doors, and in all honesty, if I knew I would have asked to go back in that cage.

“So, did you go?” “I did, or else we wouldn’t be sitting here, and you wouldn't have your story.” “ah yes, you're right my apologies shall we continue where you left off then?” as I stepped closer to the door, I could hear people talking, I wasn’t alone. Though, I had no idea who was behind this door, friend or foe. I remember the feeling as I opened the door, believe it or not, I felt relieved, to see people, to hear voices other than mine, it was like magic. As soon as I stepped into the door, I evidently noticed the eyes on me. The room was not as different as the last, instead, it had a sofa where five people sat, a tv hanging on the wall and beside it a speaker, as well as another 4 people standing oddly around. The door behind me vanished, I did not have much time to wonder how it just vanished, as my thoughts were interrupted by a warm embrace and the soft cries of a familiar voice. “I thought I would never see you again.” The croaked voice belonged to Alice. I could not reply to her. I could not speak, only cry.

We did not have long to wallow in our tears before a rugged voice interrupted, “sorry to just cut this short lace, but might ye have any information in that noggin of yer’s?” “I...I” my voice shook and cracked, I hadn't had any water for a while and due to this my throat was all dried-up. The tall man motioned to one of the boys on the couch, he looked around my age he handed me water and smiled. I took a small sip, knowing not to take a lot just enough, it is not mine. I handed back the bottle.

“Um, thank you.” I said examining the new faces I have just me “no worries we all need a little help, hah, or maybe we need a lot in this situation.” he chuckled to himself as he went back to the couch “I'm um, afraid I don't know much, I was trapped in some kind of cage.” “She's the same as us then,” he said with a devastating look. A few minutes passed before anyone could scrounge up the words to speak.

A young boy who looked no more than Thirteen began to introduce himself, as he finished the others followed. We told stories of things we remembered before we found ourselves here. We were even able to slip some jokes into the conversation, leaving us all in a quiet chuckle. “It seems like you all had a little fun, even in that kind of situation, how strange.” “Miss charlotte we were human, laughing is but something you can’t help.” “Why do you say were?” Miss Charlotte spoke tapping her pen. “After what happened I can't consider any of us human anymore, plus the fun didn't last long in fact it was interrupted as soon as it started.”

As we laughed, it felt as if some of the weight was lifted from our shoulders, however, it was not long before it was multiplied by thousands and tossed right back at us, and it all started when it spoke. It's not as if it happened out of the, first the TV blinked on and a static noise filled our ears. Soon we heard a harsh voice over the speaker. “I see you're all having fun, good, I was afraid you might all be dim and boring, it would be a waste of money if we cannot have some kind of emotions.” It was at this point we knew this would be the last time any of us laughed, and for some it was true. “Allow me to explain why you are here. You Ten were bought by my Guest and me, we paid quite a price for this, it is my birthday soon, so you are like entertainment for us to watch till the party. Oh, don't worry we’ll treat you right where not monsters right?” we heard what felt like an entire stadium of people laughing.

“You should thank us really. We handpicked you from thousands, not for us you would have been stuck till you died or worse, sold to some loon. Ah but back to the point. What do we have in store for you? It took a lot of work and preparation to complete this you see, so do enjoy yourselves. You will go through seven stages; they are quite easy you simply have to pass to the next. There is only one rule, make it in seven days. Now to help you out we gave you two items, a card with twenty thousand dollars to help you through and a little black book, one of you should recognize this, it gave me the inspiration for the time limit, it is a diary, we have written some helpful tips inside. Now let us not waste more time than needed open the door to start, and to ensure you don't take too long you have three minutes before the room fills up with water, do be safe, oh one last thing those of you who pass all seven stages will be set free and be compensated for your time, a win-win, see you then.” We had spent two minutes wallowing in our thoughts, but we knew we had only one choice, to go through and make it out. “We are going to die, aren't we?” “I'm still not sure who asked that question, but they weren't wrong we all did die during those seven days in one way or another.”