"Hey, Frank! I didn't see you for a very long time. I thought that you are already at the bottom of a hole!"
Every time I see Frank I can be relieved a little bit. In this place, you always need to keep your eyes open and watch your own back. Many people want you dead and even more, people want everything that you are left with. In this place, it is hard to find someone who you can trust.
When we first met I was the one down and he was a man who saved me out of trouble even if he didn't have to. Without any second thoughts, he came to me and saved me from certain death. Back then there was a group of dangerous people who robbed every new slave that was put inside. Those guys had one rule if you wanted to join them, you had to kill someone. Unfortunately back then I was the one who was selected as a victim of recruitment to their group.
Man, that looked much younger than me, he had long, brown and dirty hair covered in his blood that was probably from a beating he received himself. He was very aggressive and I was no opponent for someone like him. I tried my best to keep up and try to fight him but he threw me to the ground. He kept getting closer and my only thought was to cover my head. He used it to get on me and sit on my chest. Not long after he started to beat me without any hesitation. So many punches landed in my face, I don't even remember them correctly. My eyes started to blur... I saw blood in my eyes and the lighting from the ceiling made it look like this is my last moment. It truly looked like that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The only thing that I had in my mind was that I will be finally free and meet with those who I have already lost a long time ago.
Suddenly out of nowhere, someone grabbed the young man and threw him away. I couldn't see properly but he was a giant. Not sure how he kept his body in such a massive build in a place like this but he was like an aggressive dog. Fighting a group of 4 people by himself and made them run away from me. He took a look at me and came closer. After that, he stretched his hand in my direction and grabbed me. He pulled me up and took me to the safer place where he treated my wounds and cleaned my eyes. After that, I could finally see the face of the man who just saved me from death itself.
"Frank... And you?" He asked with a calm voice that I didn't expect from him. His voice was deep and strong, but so peaceful that it helped me to calm down a bit more.
"Michael" was All I was able to get out of myself. After that, he showed me more stuff that I didn't know before. He showed me the secrets of this place and I learned that he is here from the beginning when they started to bring the first labourers here. He was the only one from the first batch who survived until now. And now he took me under his wings.
Many years have passed from there, it was back when I was new in this mine. -So I have known Frank almost for 3 years right now- is the only thought that went through my head at that moment. We are divided into groups that are working at different places of the mine but today I and Frank are both appointed to the same place. What a great day it is. Day went by slowly as the guards were watching us over from the walls and towers.
"Do you think that the war will ever end?" Said Frank.
"Not so sure anymore, only if one of them will finally fall" All of the 3 powers are too strong at this exact moment and none of them will fall back from the war. Battles are inevitable and they will probably continue until one of them will disappear forever and the two that will stay will have to split or fight once again. I have heard that Europe and Asia are currently working together in a temporary alliance trying to take down America. I wonder if it is true but if it truly is, then maybe I will get out of this place somehow. But that day is uncertain and I cannot rely on it. Because of that, I will never stop trying to survive.
"Hey! Hey you!". I can hear one of the guards shouting in the back. I look there and I see a common thing, someone is trying to run once again. What a poor attempt to try to run in the middle of the day with every eye of the guards on you. They don't need to keep those many of us anyway. If you try to run you are just giving them more reasons to kill you.
"What a fool" Frank said silently. Fool indeed, but I am always curious to see their attempt to run. He tried to grapple the guard and take his weapon. He managed to do it but he is probably from some small village or somewhere where technology is not that known. Modern military weapons are useless in the hand of anyone who is not assigned as an owner. Every soldier has a small transmitter somewhere on his body, usually in the bag. This transmitter keeps a connection with the weapon they are using. It needs to be at most 50 cm away from the weapon for it to work. If you take the weapon further away than 50 cm, the weapon will lock itself and any attempt to fire this weapon will fail. He tried it, he took the guard down, he took his weapon, stood up, and raised that weapon at the guards. But as he tried to fire, the weapon locked the trigger. He didn't know what is going on but it was already too late, to begin with. He already dropped to the ground, filled with guard's bullets. These things happen so fast. Reality is not an action movie.
Now when I remember correctly it was that man who vomited at the gate. He must have been someone new who thought that being outside is his way out of here. It is not that easy, if it was, I would have done it a long time ago. I watched for a while as the guards started to pack his body to send him to the pit or the furnace. It probably doesn't matter where your body ends anyway, at least your mind and soul are finally free.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Back to work!" I was hit with a baton on my back. One of the guards finally noticed me and reminded me that I have to work and continue to blend in. This took a while before I started to feel something wrong. I have always felt that something is going to happen. The thing that people call the sixth sense and what animals use to sense that disasters are coming. I am not sure if it is the same thing, but I have heard that there are people who can sense these things but don't realize it. I may be one of them. Something is in the air and...
"Hey, man did you see it?" Someone screamed next to me and I started to look in his direction to see nothing. I have asked him. "What? What did you see?"
"I don't know it was big and falling from the clouds like a giant shadow! What was that?!" I started to yell more and more and guards started to notice and walk toward me. If they get here they might take me as well. I can't let this happen. Guards are approaching from all sides, yelling at him and me as well to lay down. I wanted to listen to the command and lay down immediately but...
*BOOM!* Huge explosion was heard from somewhere. I fell to the ground from the force probably made by the shockwave. The dust began to swirl around everywhere and people went down. It was quiet for a second, but after that, the alarms went off from the fortress. It was an alarm sound for an enemy attack. As soon as everybody started to think again we stood up. Frank went to me and I asked him if he saw something. He pointed at the south guard tower and all I could have seen is the fire and a missing tower with a huge hole in the wall. My first idea was that it may be the way to get out from here and Frank thought the same thing. We wanted to get closer to there, but not too fast because if it was an enemy, then all the attention and firepower would point at that hole in the wall.
Out of nowhere, other explosions were heard behind the wall. Still, no one knew what is happening but all the robots and guards rushed to the hole. Fortress's automatic turrets aimed somewhere next to the hole, probably at the enemy and a massive barrage of bullets started to rain out of 24 visible turrets. The sound came to us in a moment and the sound of all those weapons. Those turrets were something similar to those USA turrets they always used in their Navy. I think it was called Phalanx CIWS. But this was an even stronger, bigger version with bigger bullets that were even scarier looking than those that I have seen many years ago in some movies from the USA. What can they fire at with such power? Everything should be already dead after such a barrage but it continued for longer and longer. More explosions and more weapons were heard as the guards started to fill the hole. After that, I saw more and more shadows falling from the sky and hitting the ground. There was smoke in that direction, explosions and finally, after some time the bullet barrage stopped for a while. They probably have to reload...
After a little while, I can hear a weird roar, something I have never heard. It must be some explosion making those sounds. There is nothing that makes sounds like this.
We are moving closer to the walls and in the proximity of the hole. Many don't know what to do. Some joined us on our way, some started running in all directions in search of the cover. Huge noise is coming from the fortress as they started to fire from the rocket launchers and missile silos as well.
"It must be some huge army! Maybe Americans started an invasion?". I asked Frank, all he could do is say something to calm everyone down. "We don't know yet, whoever it is, it is not our enemy but we need to cover!" Frank is ex-military from the current war that is still going on. He served as a soldier in the Czech Republic protecting his country when it was invaded. Many countries were taken by force if they disagreed, Czechia was one of those. They said no, but they had no chance to defend against hundreds of thousands of soldiers invading their land with much more modern technology in their hands. One European robot was able to take hundreds of soldier who didn't know how to fight against it. Many, so many died. Frank was one of those soldiers, but he was a bit different, smarter, and more clever. He led a small group of soldiers in the first line and had to fight a much-advanced enemy. However, something like that couldn't stop him. He fought with all his power and he even took down one of the European robots with good tactics and a great squad. His squad was the only one who forced enemy forces to retreat.
Even though it was an effort that fell in vain because it didn't matter. He may have won a battle, but the enemy won a war, they destroyed their capital in 2 days and the nation surrendered. Since then he is in this hole as a slave and now we have a good chance to use his cleverness to get out of here. I knew that he is the only one who can lead me out of here.
"Follow me!" Frank said loudly and we began to follow in his steps. After a short while another huge explosion. We fell to the ground and in shock looked at the fortress. The fortress bridge that was about 100 meters in the air exploded. Commanders of this base just died, more reasons to move out. As the bridge disappeared so did slowly all the turret fire of the base. Some of those turrets started to malfunction and shoot in all directions even into the mine. Bullets landed everywhere, people started to die, everybody went into a panic and they didn't know what to do. I don't know what to do. -Keep running- is still the only thing in my head. My legs move by themselves as I follow Frank to the hole. It is close, only about 50 meters. We can do it, we must do it.
We reached the hole, it is about 5 more meters, but... Out of nowhere guard flew through the hole from the outside to the inside. His body hit the ground and blood spilt everywhere. His body was deformed, with broken limbs and open wounds. A pond of blood starts to form under his body when another roar sounded! Did the explosion throw him like that? Does an explosion roar like that? Frank didn't hesitate and went straight for the body, he searched his bag for a transmitter and took his rifle and ammunition. Out of nowhere, dozen of guards started to run inside of the mine through the hole. I grappled one of them and took him to the ground to take his weapon. However, I hesitated and he took an upper hand and tried to shoot me back with his pistol. Suddenly his arm is shot and the next moment his head as well. He died. I look to the left and see Frank, he saved me from death once again.
"Take his weapon and transmitter! Quickly!" And so I did. Roars became louder and louder and it was getting closer.
"What in the wo-" One of the slaves that followed us tried to say something but he died while he tried. His head is gone!
"What was that!" Many people started to scream in fear. Something killed him and no one knows what. Another slave looks outside and he comes back in a shock, he is in shock and shaking. All he can say is:
"There are m-monsters outside!"