They fell asleep around the trough, Scott and Jim and a few others slept with their arms in the trough in case it started to fill up again; but it never did. They begin to wake up to what they think is morning, its impossible to ever tell what time it is but somehow they all do tend to rise at the same time.
The shuffle over to the center of the room, Erika Nowca is number 18 and she is ready to leave. She feels sick to her stomach not because of nerves of excitement, no, yesterday she tried to drink as much water as she could since she knew today was the day she was leaving. She holds hands with two of the other women, they are both smiling and have tears in their eyes, they are happy that their friend is leaving and it gives them hope that they'll get to go home soon as well. But Erika cries with them because she wants so badly to get out and go see her husband, the thought of leaving behind her friends in this place is tearing her apart.
The monitor comes on and Cipher appears, he calls her name and she is shown which door to leave through, the crying in the room escalates and a lot of hugging is going on, she's the first one to slowly leave. She turns and looks back out the door watching her friends as they cry and she waves good bye as the door closes. The women hold each other sobbing happy for their friend and hoping to God that she gets home to her husband.
"Awww it touches my heart to see that reaction in this group, such caring for one another after only 18 days. So so nice. Which brings us to day 19 and your task at hand, lets see how much you care for your fellow sisters and brothers. You will see down on the far end of the room there are eight tables, four across from one another. I need four women and four men to volunteer." he pauses and waits, after a moment he begins to tap his fingers on the console. "No one? Fine, the following numbers please step forward..." he reads out eight numbers and four men and four women step up from the crowd. He instructs them to go and lay on the eight platforms that have risen up from the floor. Like large brick single beds the eight people lay down the four women on one side of the room and the four men on the other. The rest of the women are instructed to stand around the women lying down and the men do the same for their four men. The eight are then shackled down to the beds and locked into place. The mood has grown very grim in the room. "Now here's what we're doing for Day 19." Cipher speaks. "A chain or rope will be lowered from the ceiling momentarily, you will have one end to hold on to, the other end will be holding a large object or blade of sorts that will be dangling above your brothers and sisters that are lying down on the beds. All you have to do is hold the items up without having them drop down on to those on the bed, I suggest you figure out which is the heaviest very quickly and group accordingly, keep everyone alive for the day and no problems, lose your grip...well you lose a friend." he turns and pushes another button and the ropes and chains begin to lower. "Men hold for the men, women hold for the women, no switching sides, that is pretty much the only rule, anyone breaks the rule the P90s will shoot and i guarantee that you'll drop what you're holding."
The groups pair up trying to be as even as they can in numbers and size, gripping their respective ropes or chains and holding on but they feel no tension. Those lying on the bed are covered in sweat, their nerves on high watching those who hold their life in their hands to encourage them to hold on. They stand and wait, but nothing is happening.
"Oh, my bad, here we go. Ready...set... " he pushes a button on the console and there is a humming noise but nothing happens. Then suddenly, after a short pause, large weights drop from the ceiling, a massive box like item hurtles down and the groups all grip their ropes and chains firmly slowing down their descent, all but one group. The group of women on the far left scream as the chain rips through their hands, the box falls and slams into the hard bed below flattening the woman on it like a squirrel on the highway. The group of women who failed to hold their weight fall to the floor like a tug of war team thats lost. Several jump up right away and grab hold of one of the other ropes to assure it doesn't happen twice but two of the woman sit their mouths agape and their faces painted red with the results of not being able to hold on to that chain. They wipe their faces clean removing the chunks and bits of their fallen sister, their tears giving them the water to do so, they stagger to their feet and make their way over to join in with the other women.
"I said Ready... Set... what happened?! You ladies are butter fingers. Follow the rules, don't slip up and don't help each other, I mean it, I'm not going to tolerate breaking of the rules any longer. Have a good day." Cipher signs out.
Day 19 begins
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