Page 12 of Us Dark Few

He lowered his head. “The prisoners like to pick on the fresh meat, especially the first day. You don’t want to eat alone.”

She met his earnest gaze and eventually nodded, not wanting to invite any more trouble into her life.

The broad cave had no tables. All the prisoners sat on the dirty floor.

She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the ache shooting through her spine from the taser and the taxing shift.They maneuvered around people, and he led her to the far corner of the room, stomping on a giant cockroach lingering in the area.

Why did the ugliest creatures have to be the hardest ones to extinguish?

Not even the nuclear apocalypse did the trick.

“Lunch today is better than most days.” He sat down with a greedy gaze.

Khalani gave him an incredulous look and stared at the questionable meat. She quickly became cross-eyed, fantasizing over the food turning into something,anythingelse.

“If you stare at the meat long enough, you can actually see it move,” a girl said over Khalani’s shoulder. She turned to see the blue-haired girl from the neighboring cell.

“Serene, don’t scare her. She’s never gonna eat now.”

Serene shrugged as she sat down. “That’s fine. More for me,” she said, picking up a mouthful of the vile food.

Serene had even paler skin than the average person in Apollo. She had a tiny frame and a beautiful face, but her skin was marred with a deep scar running from the top of her nose down to her left jawline.

Serene glanced up in annoyance. “What?”

“Thanks for helping me earlier today. Not knowing where to go,” Khalani quickly explained.

Serene waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. The first day is the toughest. I’m Serene, by the way. You’ve met the know-it-all bastard, Derek.”

Serene gestured to Prisoner 189, who gave her a one-finger wave before returning to his meal. She nodded in greeting, her gaze reluctantly shifting to the grotesque food on her plate. Her mouth twisted, and tentatively, she grabbed the slimy food with her bare hands, since utensils weren’t provided.

Khalani tried not to breathe as she bit down, but the bitter flavor washed through her mouth, and goosebumps prickled her arms. She coughed, holding a hand to her lips, forcefully swallowing the food that tasted like vomit.

The dead cockroach might’ve been a better option.

Serene chuckled. “You’ll get used to the taste.”

She didn’t know if that was possible. Khalani was still coughing and sputtering over her food. She sounded like a dying old woman.

Derek slapped her back to stop her from hurling. “I know it sucks, but there’s actually a decent amount of protein in this. Some days they don’t give food, so you eat when you can.”

Another inmate sat down with them, placing his tray on the ground in a quick movement. He was older, in his late twenties, maybe, and his lips pinched together as he ran a frustrated hand through his ashy brown hair. He had a broader build than most prisoners, and the corded veins in his arms became more defined as he balled his fists, staring down at the plate of food like it was his worst enemy.

“What happened this time?” Serene griped.

A foreboding haze flashed over the newcomer’s eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of broken glasses, placing the mangled pieces on the ground with a hostile glare.

“Damn, Adan. Again?” Serene picked up the fractured material. The frame was crushed, and the wires were twisted like a convoluted pretzel.

“It was Guard Harken. Second time this month. He said I was working too slow in my shift today when he knows full well that I’m the fastest one there,” Adan growled.

“Can you fix it?” Derek mumbled, eating his food like it was his last meal.

“Of course, I can. But it’s a wasted effort. Gonna keep happening. Give stupid people power, and they’ll abuse it as they see fit.” Adan’s expression was seething as he snatched the broken glasses from Serene’s hand and shoved them back into his pocket.

They all sat in silence, the harsh truth filling the space between them. Khalani put another rancid bite of food in her mouth to distract herself from the awkwardness. This time she didn’t nearly choke to death.

Progress.

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