Fred walked over to the book which he had thrown and took it from the ground. He held the book and stared intently at it. ~I should read through it. If I can find any English cognates then I could use the assumption that smaller words are used for grammatical linkage and context to decipher the meaning of a sentence. It might take some time but I can learn the laguage.~

…

Fred sat and flipped through the book for the next hour. He mindlessly scanned the pointless scribbles but no matter how long he stared at it he did not find any cognates.

“Yup. I’m done.” Fred slammed the book closed and once again threw it behind his back. ~What else is there to do?~ Fred clenched his fist. ~Even if I’m filled with lactic acids. I can still train.~

So he did push ups, burpees, bear crawls and any other physical activity he could think of until he collapsed from exhaustion. ~I guess I’ll go to sleep now.~

He dreamed of death by a shadow clad figure.

……

“WAKE UP YOU BAG OF BONES!” Screamed an overly exuberant voice. Fred rolled out of his bed, his face slamming into the ground. He looked up from his prone position. Standing there with the same stupid grin on her face was the woman Fred had seen before.

“I WANT YOU TO TELL BE ABOUT THE PLACE YOU’RE FROM!” She yelled. Although Fred tried to resist his mouth opened with on it’s own.

“What do you want to know?” Asked Fred.

“What are the clothes like there!?!?!” She squealed.

“Umm.” Fred looked down at her skirt. “Everyone wore pants. Even the women.”

“Really!” Fred moved into a sitting position as the girl sat down in front of him.

“Yeah.” Fred’s eyes grew unfocused for a moment. ~She’s that man’s daughter. It might be helpful to curry favour for her.~ “Girls would also wear pretty rocks on their ears as well.”

“Really. We do that here too.” Said the girl. Her voice calmed somewhat. “Oh. Sorry I forgot to ask. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Fred. Yours?”

“Amanda.”

“Nice to meet you amanda.”

……

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

They talked for the next few hours. Their topics ranging from metal birds to evolution.

….

Fred collapsed into his cot. “She’s finally gone. Damm. That girl is chatty.” Fred’s stomach grumbled. He brought his hand down to his stomach, a scowl on his face. ~I haven’t gotten fed today.~ Fred slumped further into his cot. “Haaaaaaaa.” ~I am always hungry whenever my muscles improve. What could happen to me if I don’t have the necessary nutrients. Would My body might eat itself only for me to heal again the next day. Which might just further deprive my body. I could starve to death. Or at least something close to it.~

“Maybe they’ll feed me tomorrow.” Fred fell asleep with the knowledge that he was at their mercy deep in his mind.

….

“RATSSSSSS! THE RATSSSS ARIVE!” Fred groggily opened his eyes, adjusting slightly in his cot. “RATSSSSSSSSS!” He shut his eyes even tighter. ~Shut up I want to go to sleep.~

“Squeak squeak!” A cacophony of squeaks emanated from around Fred. A light pressure appeared on his chest. Fred opened his eyes. On his chest was a furry black rat. It was sniffing his nose.

“AHHH!” Fred slapped it off his chest and scrambled off his bed. Even with his muscles weakened by the lactic acids he was still strong enough to slap his rat.

Instead of falling onto hard ground as he expected Fred fell on top of a floor of black rats. ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ There was not a logical thought in Fred’s head. He scrambled away from the rats. To top of his cot.

~Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!~ He looked down at the rats as they squirmed in a pile on top of each other. Then he looked out at the hallway and saw that it was equally as filled. ~Where did all these rats come from!~ Fred narrowed his eyes. The way they were squirming. Fred covered his mouth, his eyes growing wide. ~I fell on top of a pile of Fucking Rats. The rats are fucking!~

That’s right. It was a breeding frenzy. The rats piled on top of each other all lasciviously squirming. There had to be hundreds. NO thousands of Rats in Fred’s field of view alone.

“THANKS FOR THE MEAL!” Yelled a voice from the cell adjacent to Fred. Fred pressed his back farther against the wall next to his cot. ~Now I know why they haven’t fed me. They expect me to eat the rats.~

….

Needless to say. Fred did not sleep at all. He was entirely focused on pressing his back against the wall and guarding against the many rats.

Eventually after hours of waiting The rats left. Scurrying back where they came.

After an hour of insistently sitting on the cot and refusing to touch the floor Fred finally worked up the courage to commit to some physical activity. He did push ups. Sit ups. Squats and any other exercise he could think of. Until his body was so tired that he could move no longer.

….

“Memory. I heard scream previously. Cell near me have new person?” Said a voice from the cell adjacent to Fred. Fred was laying on his cot staring senselessly at an indecipherable book.

“Yes I am the new possessor of this cell.” Said Fred ~Why does this man talk like he’s discount yoda or something?~

“Do you starve cause no like rat, like last person.” Said the voice from the adjacent cell.

“I don’t know.” ~We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.~

“So you starve. Sad then. I speak few.” Said the voice from the adjacent cell. Fred scowled ~I can tell.~

There was silence. As the voice spoke no further and Fred was not willing to continue the conversation. He looked up at the ceiling, his belly rumbling. ~I’m really going to starve. Aren’t I?~