The Prisoner
A dark room, nothing but a dim light at the top of the ceiling. A room with no windows, just walls all the way around as if I were in a steel box cage. That is where I woke up and this is where my story begins. I was on the floor when I woke up, bleeding out of my left shoulder. Loosing blood slowly, but still losing lots of blood. I had no memory when I woke up, not even my own name or how I got into this room. Not even how I got shot. “Where am I?” I whispered to myself. I had no memory of anything it was like my whole memory had been wiped clean. I tried to get up but then I felt my feet, they were heavy and I was unable to lift them. I looked down a saw that they were tied down to the floor. I quickly looked around to see if I could grab anything to get the restraints off but all I could see was a bed and that was it. But the bed I could not use the bed because it was bolted down and out of reach. I was scared and as soon as I relaxed curiosity rushed to my head. Where was I? How did I get here? Who did this to me? I tried to take everything off when I heard a door shut. I started yelling “help help … please somebody help me”. When the door opened up, a man with a mask came in. I was terrified, “Please don’t hurt me” I repeated as the man came closer to me. He said nothing as he kneeled down and took off the restraints. I quickly scrambled for the door, which was left wide open. But it was not meant to be. I could not leave. On my ankle there was a bracelet that shocked me when I came within two feet of the door. It shocked me so hard I passed out. However, I did get a quick glimpse outside the door before I was knocked out by the shock. The next day I
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woke up with a light head and my ankle was on fire from the first shock. I sat up and looked around to see if I had missed anything in the room. There was nothing new in the room but me on the bed. I started to think how to escape when a voice came on the speaker in my room. “Welcome prisoner 72. We hope that you last for a long time. As you have already noticed your room, as is the other ones, are inescapable. Here in the prison we like to live by a code that is survival of the fittest, “the voice said. “So if you don’t play along with the games then you won’t live for very long.” I hesitated and started asking “Who are you? Why would you pick me?” But there was no response back. The voice had left. I began pounding on the door “let me out, let me out” I shouted. When two guards came into my room. They held me down as I struggled to get free. But I was still weak from getting knocked out the day before. When another man came in with a syringe. The man came close and stuck it into my neck. I felt weaker and weaker until I passed out from whatever was in the needle. This time I woke up sitting in a chair tied down with other prisoners, also tied down. They all woke up around the same time I did. We all had a rag in our mouths in order to keep us all quiet. Then the voice came back on the loud speaker. “Welcome prisoners to the first game of many.” I looked around at the other prisoners and saw the same look on each other’s faces, the look of fear and desperation. The voice came back. “If you people were wondering how to get out of my prison, you must win three challenges in a row.” That was the way out of here, I thought to myself. That will be easy I thought, but then I thought what were the challenges. “For the first challenge you must fight to the death. We have placed weapons all on the walls around you, and if you refuse to complete the challenge, you are on a time limit of five minutes. If not completed within the time the room is rigged to
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explode,” the voice explained. “Three… two… one… start” there was a buzzer then the metal restraints came off all at the same time. Instantly everybody went to the wall to pick up a weapon. I turned and looked for a weapon and saw throwing knifes. There was six of them and six different prisoners. There was only enough for one each. Before I could even throw one there were already prisoners fighting. Some had swords and others had hammers. “Great, I got the little weapon. I am going to lose for sure” I thought to myself. I started looking around and could only see four of the six people. I could not find one of the prisoners. When I heard a scream of a battle cry as a hammer was swung right at my face, out of nowhere, I dodged it and stabbed him with one of the knifes that I had. I could not believe myself. How did I have those reactions? But it was no time to think. The others looked at me as if I had done something wrong. They looked at me, turned, and started running at me. I took one of the knifes in my hand and threw it at one of the prisoners and hit him right in between the eyes. Then I threw the next two killing the others. As he dropped he threw his sword off the side stabbing one of the other prisoners killing him. One prisoner left and two knifes left, I threw the first one but he deflected it with his sword. One left. If I missed, I die. If I hit, I kill and win. He was nearly on top of me now I had to throw it now or never. I reached back and threw it as hard as I could. It came out of my hand and was heading right for his head, he saw this and tried to deflect it as he did before. He reached out for it and tried to knock it down with his weapon and hit it right into his neck. He fell with the knife in his neck, but was dying slowly and painfully until the end. The buzzer went off. “Congratulations prisoner 72. You have won the first challange, and you will be moving up to the next game”. I was done and did not want to do anything like that ever
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again, but I knew I had to in order to survive and get out. One down two more to go. Two guards escorted me back to my prison room, but they left me awake so I got to see most of the inside of the prison. It was very empty not a lot of guards. A couple days went by and I had to win the next challenge. The day was coming when I had to try and complete the second challenge. I was not sure what they were going to throw at me the next time. Last time was a slaughter that I barely won. I can only imagine this one being harder. I had t focus and start preparing to do anything. It was them or me. Survival of the fittest. The day came, not a lot happened in my cell. Mainly just waiting and going crazy. A siren went off followed by the voice “attention prisoners the next challenge will begin in one hour” I knew that the announcement was not directed to me or he would of said my name. the time came, same routine, knock me out and I wake up in a random place. Except for this time I woke up in a place that was very confusing. I thought I was going to die for sure. I thought the walls would start to collapse in until there would be nothing left. But instead the metal box started to rise up, when I realized that this felt familiar, but could not remember what it was called. A couple minutes went by with constant rise, when the voice over the speaker said “for this next challenge, there is a maze that awaits you and in the middle of the maze are weapons. This game is all about last man standing”. I was confused “A maze? How am I supposed to do a maze” I thought to myself. I heard a ding when the doors opened up right into a maze. Where the walls were fifteen feet tall hedges. My first thought was to just go through the hedges. As I stook my hand through the hedge to test it I was shocked, very minor but if I held it in there any longer I would of lost my feeling in my arm. “Ok I need to win this but completing the maze and getting to those
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weapons as fast as I could” I thought to myself. I heard a scream from the other side of the wall as I heard spikes fly out of the wall hitting him. He fell to the floor dead that when I knew that there were traps in the maze. I was very carful from there on out. I was walking through, but was being very careful. About ten minutes into the maze, people started mixing paths with others. I could hear the other prisoners fighting hand to hand. I turned the corner and ran straight into one of the other prisoners. Immediately it was on , me or him, we both got fast. He was about the same height but way more built. I started to run at him when I noticed a dent in the ground. So I ran knocked him down. He got up quick and pick me up and threw me down away form the dent. I knew I could not beat this guy head on and running away was not an option. So I started to run at him, I tried to jump and kick him in the face, when I grabbed my foot and slammed me on the ground. Only a couple more feet until I was at the dent. I started to crawl when he grabbed my foot. I turned on my back and kicked him in the face knocking him back. I quickly turned around and hit the dent in the ground as hard as I could and I was right, it was a trap. I started to feel heat when flames flew out of the walls over me and all over him. Burning him, when it was over he fell to the ground dead. I did not know how many others there were left in the challenge I started to sprint when I found the center where all of the weapons were but one was already off of its rack. So somebody already beat to it and he could be anywhere. I slowly started for a bow and arrows since there were the only weapons in the challenge and was ready. I did not know where he was, he had the surprise advantage on me. I had the arrow ready to fire when another prisoner came into the middle for his weapon when an arrow hit him in the back. That is what gave away his hiding spot. I fired an arrow in his
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general area, though a hedge when it went clean through. I missed but I heard a gasp, as he was surprised I knew where he was. I quickly dove behind a rock as he went to peak around to see where I was, but could not find me. I had five arrows left, when I took aim and fired when I skimmed his face. He was bleeding from his cheek as it only was a scratch that was a little deep. Because I missed he knew where I was. It was on it was just him and me. I did not know how many he had when he shot two at me when I looked to see if he was there waiting for me or not. He was just sitting there. At this point I knew he only had one left and I had three so I turned and shot one not looking he went behind cover, as he did I started to charge him with one ready to fire. He saw that I was out of cover and took his last shot coming right for my chest. I reacted by hitting the moving arrow with mine, knocking it out of my way when I reached back and shot my last arrow hitting him right in between the eyes. A bell rang, that’s when I knew the challenge was over and that I had won. I was one step closer to my freedom. I was on the third and final challenge. The third challenge was supposed to be the hardest challenge of all. Again two guards come in and held me down as I get injected in the neck and knock me out. I wake up on the floor tied down just like the first night I was there. With three other prisoners, we all woke up around the same time then the speaker with voice started talking. “As some of you know this is prisoner 72s last challenge until he is free and just a reminder that once a prisoner is released no more may be released. This is an one time offer”. Once he said that all of the others looked at me with rage and death in their eyes. The challenge was for all of us to run down a dirt patch with explosive mines on the ground that was useable. One at a time, we went. The first guy started running and did not get very far
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when he stepped on the very first mine. Next was the second guy, he went very slow and was very careful when he accidentally tripped over a rock and landed on a mine which set off many others around them. Then I realized if I throw something on one then the other will explode around it. I was hoping the guy before me did not figure it out. He went very slowly and he did figure it out he was clearing a path. When he threw a big rock and exploded into pieces and a piece hit him in the face knocking him back on a mine. Now it was my turn. With all of the others before me already gone they had already set a path for me that had already been cleared by them. Only about 30 yards to go until I was free and out of the prison. I tried to find as many rocks I could so I could throw them to set off other mines in my path. As I worked my way to the end I started to feel more and more free. I kept throwing the rocks and hitting mine after mine. Till the end, I had done it I had made it to the end for freedom. “Congratulations prisoner 72, you are a free man”. I was happy until a thought came into my head. What if they decide to kill me, thinking that I will go to the cops and get this whole place shut down and everybody arrested. Two guards started walking towards me when he took out his gun and shot me with a tranquilizer. Taking me out instantly. The next thing I remember I woke up on the side of the road in a poor town with no phones. I asked around what county was this but none of them spoke English. I eventually started stealing food and water in order to survive and I found out that I was in a little town in Africa, a third world country, where there is a very little chance of ever finding out who I am or seeing my home. The only place I remember as a home is the prison and that will be the only memory of a home or who I am for the rest of my life. My name is prisoner 72.