Day 28
Every day that passed, Sophie felt that the chances of escape were dropping sharply. In fact, she believed it was already impossible. She was too weak, too injured to do anything.
Over half of the kids were dead. Sasha, Tessa, Rei, Lyra…Most of Carlo’s group too. Sophie, Mia and Jay were all that remained from their original family. Carlo and one other kid remained from his group. There was now enough food for everyone. Yet it didn’t seem to matter. Watching your friends, your family, be paraded past by the scavs, faces eternally twisted into a pained scream. It was heartbreaking.
Jay was nearly dead. His eyes were dull and his body skeletal. He hadn’t moved much for a few days, since he was last taken to be tortured. Sophie and Mia continued to hold each other. Part of it was for comfort. A sense of safety. The other part was survival.
After multiple sessions, all that remained of their clothes were small, bloodied scraps and they found themselves pressed against the walls of the cold cage. Even the industrial furnace didn’t provide enough warmth. Thus, they stuck to each other like glue, for comfort and for warmth.
Sophie watched with detached eyes as corpses were carried past, many of them young adults. Then the burly scav came for Jay. The slight struggle he put up was futile. Nobody tried to help. There was no point. Starved, beaten and exhausted, trying to fight back would simply cause more, unnecessary pain.
The boy was hauled away. Minutes later, the screams started. Sophie covered Mia’s ears. While the two of them had found comfort in each other’s presence, the older girl still cared for her family. Family that was nearly gone. Sophie, on the other hand, hadn’t grown as close with the other kids. They still got along, but the relationships were nowhere near the level that Mia had. Their screams were torture to the older girl.
While she covered the girl’s ears, Sophie mentally looked through the system. It was a habit, a vain attempt to find a way to escape. Yet the situation didn’t provide any chances. She was too weak, too damaged and the 1000 L-Coins simply wasn’t enough to escape the scav den. Not past the dozens of normal scavs or the ‘borg. Her habitual store search was cut short when Jay’s screams stopped. She covered Mia’s eyes. The boy’s body was brought past, the burly scav heading straight to the harvesting room. Another one dead…When will this hell end?
-----------------------
Day 55
It was just Sophie and Mia left. Everyone else was dead. They had been for a week. The reduction in choices had driven the scavs to make a choice. They were focused on breaking the younger girl. Her continual defiance grated on them. Everyday since the last death, she had been taken. It was horrible, yet the reborn girl was happy. It meant Mia didn’t have to suffer at their hands. She would accept the pain if it meant the other girl would survive.
Sophie stared at the scavs as they carried in a pair of teenagers. Her eyes narrowed. The two new victims looked different to the others. Both of them were covered in chrome. Not the normal type that Night City residents would have. It wasn’t built for functionality or to fix a defect. It was cosmetic, utterly useless. The kind of thing people in ‘high society’ would have. Corpos? No, they look too young. Corpo kids then. As she thought of that, a lightbulb went off in her head.
If they’re the kids of a corpo, surely someone will be sent to retrieve them? That might be the only chance Mia and I have of getting out. The racing thoughts were cut off when the same, bastard scav entered the cage. Sophie stood, allowing herself to be taken. Mia tried to hold onto her, to stop her from leaving, but the younger girl gave her a smile. Well, she tried. It was more of a grimace.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“I’ll be back soon, ‘kay? Wait for me.” She whispered. Then she was gone, hauled away to the torture room.
The scavs had new tools this time. Drills, pliers and hammers were amongst the varied implements.
“Heh. Today, we’ll break you missy. I can’t wait to see you beg for mercy.” Malice seemed to drip from the man’s tongue as he spoke. She didn’t reply, choosing to stare into his eyes with unbroken defiance.
They began. Holes were drilled through her limbs, nails were hammered into her and pliers removed her already damaged nails. The regular cruelty occurred too. She was cut and whipped, among an assortment of other methods. The pain stabbed into her brain, every sensation magnified by the blindfold they had on her. She wanted to scream, to cry. But the image of Mia, tortured by the screams of her other friends, stopped her. She would not break. Not just for herself, but for her best friend as well.
-----------------------
Day 56
Sophie found herself cradled in Mia’s arms. The previous day’s torture had been intense, far more than everything the scavs had done previously. Every part of her body felt like it was on fire. Nails had been shoved into different parts of her body, the rusted metal constantly sending out waves of pain. The younger girl could tell that if the brutality continued, she wouldn’t last much longer. Mia could tell as well.
“You’ll be okay,” she whispered. “We’ll…we’ll get out of this. Somehow. Surely someone will come for us.” Her words were a poor attempt at comfort, yet Sophie appreciated it nonetheless. Both of them knew though, that there was no escape. The failed attempt brought consequences and they were fully aware that the promise between them, to go find Mia’s sister, was never going to be fulfilled.
“Y’know, I was so happy when you saved me from those Tygers. I was scared, alone and then you appeared. You were like my knight in shining armour.” The younger girl replied, her words earning an ugly sob from Mia. Then the footsteps came. Sophie started to rise, struggling due to the pain. The burly scav’s hand reached out to grab her.
“Stop! Take…take me instead. Don’t hurt her anymore.” The hand paused and the younger girl’s head whipped around, staring at her friend in horror.
“No…Don’t do this, Mia.”
“Please, Soph. Let me be your knight in shining armour again. I’ll protect you from now on. Promise me, if you get out. Find Maria. Look after her. Please” Sophie looked at her, begging her to reconsider. There was no chance. The choice was made for them.
“Well, I don't care. Least you’re not dead yet.” The hand changed direction, grabbing onto Mia’s body. At that moment, it was like nothing else existed. The two girls stared at each other, even as the elder girl was taken away. Sophie dropped to her knees, uncaring of the pain as she watched her only friend be taken. Even after she was out of sight, the younger girl continued to stare in the direction the scav left.
It was only a few minutes later that the screams started. The begging, the crying. Every sound was like a knife, digging into Sophie's mind. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted. All she could think about were the sounds. About holding her friend close, telling her it would be alright. Eventually, the sounds stopped and the reborn girl breathed a sigh of relief.
The world seemed to fall apart however, when the burly scav entered the room again. Mia was held in his arms, face towards the younger girl. The glassy eyes and blood covering the girl’s body were all Sophie could see. Her face was frozen in a pained rictus. No. No, no, no! This can’t be happening! Mia…Please. You can’t be dead.
Yet no matter how much she begged, nothing changed. Her friend’s corpse was carried past the cage, towards the harvesting room. Everything seemed to shatter around her. The past few months, from when she woke up to that moment played through Sophie’s mind. All of Mia’s kindness, the times when she cared for the younger girl. She saw everything. Then her memories rewound even further, to her time in the military.
The memory of triggering the mine, the pain that accompanied it. Then the gradual sacrifices of her squad. All to keep her alive, to bring her back to base so that she could be saved. Until only she remained. The faces of her squadmates seemed to overlap with Mia’s. Again. It happened again. Why? Why do people keep sacrificing themselves for me?
A gunshot rang out, the noise sounding dull and far away. All of her attention was on the body of her friend. Her knight. The girl that sacrificed herself to save Sophie’s life. Anger burned through her blood when the burly scav dropped her friend, still in the cage room, and began shouting. As though traveling through water, a variety of sounds entered her ears. Gunshots, shouts and screams and the occasional explosion.
The sounds brought with it the realisation that someone was attacking the scav den. Yet there was no happiness to be found. They were late. If they had come hours earlier, Mia would still be alive. Another gunshot, closer this time, rang out. Sophie watched with grim satisfaction as the burly scav, the man that had ferried all of the captives around the base, fell to the ground, his head erupting in a gory mess. Something flickered in the young girl’s heart as she watched the man fall. Then she heard footsteps coming towards the cage room.