Trying and falling

                                    

                                          
'Adam!' A voice whispered. Adam groaned and continued sleeping.
'Adam!' The voice hissed. Adam turned around, away from the sound.
'ADAM!' The voice hissed and only now did Adam recognize it as James's voice. He opened his eyes only to be met by darkness.
'ADAM!' James hissed again.
'James, it's still dark. If Wolfkins didn't wake us up yet, there's no reason to be awake.' He muttered.
'Adam! You have to wake up!' James hissed.
'No, I don't.' Adam mumbled before pulling his blanket over his head. James sighed before grabbing the blanket and pulling it away from the other boy.
'Adam, you have to wake up! Chris is gone!' He hissed. It took a couple seconds for the words to reach Adam's brain, but suddenly he was wide awake.
'What do you mean, gone?' He hissed before looking over at Chris's bed, only to find it empty.
'He's gone! He's not here anymore. I searched the sleeping hall, but he's nowhere to be found.' James whispered.
'Impossible! We searched every crack and corner of this room! The only exit is the door!'
'I don't know what exit he used, Adam, all I know is that he's not here.'
'He couldn't have used the door, James! Wolfkins locks it and even if Chris managed to break the lock, there's a guard outside!'
'What's with all that whispering? People are trying to sleep here!' Jaiden hissed from the darkness.
'Jaiden, Chris is gone!' James whispered.
Jaiden immediately jumped out of bed.
'Chris? Where is he?'
'I don't know but he's not in this room anymore!' James replied.
'Impossible! Rush! Wake up! Chris is gone!' Jaiden said as she pushed Rush awake.
'Huh? What's going on?' Rush asked sleepily.
'Chris is gone!' Adam replied.
'You sure he isn't here anymore?' Jaiden asked.
'Yeah, I searched the whole place!' James replied.
Suddenly the door burst open and the lights turned on as Officer Wolfkins walked in.
'GET UP, YOU MORONS! THERE'S AN ACTIVITY BEFORE BREAKFAST! I WANT EVERYONE BY THE MAIN STAGE IN 5 MINUTES!' He screamed before he left again.
'An activity?' Rush asked confused.
'Do you think it has something to do with Christian?' Adam asked.
'I don't know... and I'm not sure I wanna know.' James muttered.
'Come on, we better get going. Wolfkins won't be happy if we're late.' Jaiden said.
                          
They all gathered nervously by the main stage. They hadn't been here since the first day. Their team also wasn't the only one there. All the kids that were still alive from all the teams were there. But still no sign of Chris. Then officer Wolfkins walked onto the stage. Immediately all nervous whispering died as he stared at the kids.
'We are all here to speak about a very important issue!' Wilfkins began.
'There are, as you know, things we do not tolerate. Some things will give you a warning, some things will give you a punishment and other things will give you something worse than that...'
Loud gasps came from the crowd when a door behind Wolfkins opened and two other officers came out, dragging a child with them.
'CHRISTIAN!' Adam screamed as he tried to run up to the stage, but Rush and James grabbed his arms to hold him back.
Chris was dragged onto the stage, clearly terrified. He wasn't screaming or crying, but he was yelling curses and insults at the officers, trying to look braver than he felt. The officers used some chains to tie his hands to a pole and left again, leaving Chris for everyone to see.
James started feeling nauseous. What were they gonna do to him? As he looked at his other friends, he could see the fear and worry on their faces as well.
'Communication is key, they say.' Wolfkins continued, ignoring Chris's curses.
'That's something this one here clearly understands. Trying to sneak around our control and attempting to communicate the situation to none other than our enemies!'
'He did what?' James whispered.
'Why didn't he tell us what he was doing?' Rush asked.
'What are they gonna do to him?' Adam asked.
James could hear the fear and worry in Adam's voice.
'Well I agree!' Wolfkins went on. 'I agree that communication is key and therefore let me communicate this very, VERY clearly to you all. This kind of behavior is not tolerated. And to make sure the message sticks, let me show you what will happen if you dare to try anything.'
The silence that followed was only interrupted by Chris's curses and insults. The air was tense, filled with fear and dread.
Officer Wolfkins took a out a whip and before anybody really registered it, he whipped Christian on his back, getting a loud scream from the boy. Chris was crying now. Officer Wolfkins pulled the whip back before slamming it hard against Christian's back again. The loud scream echoed through the room.
'STOP IT!' Adam screamed, breaking the silence that came from the crowd. Wolfkins looked up.
'What did you just say?' He asked threatening.
Chris looked up too, quietly whimpering in pain.
'I SAID STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!' Adam screamed.
'Or else, what?' Wolfkins laughed.
'Or else... or else you'll have one less person on the frontline! If Chris goes to the hospital...'
Wolfkins laughed and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Chris.
'Who says he'll have to go to the hospital?' He laughed. Adam turned pale.
'PLEASE, YOU CAN'T JUST KILL HIM!' Adam screamed, tears threatening to escape his eyes.
'We lose people every day... we can lose one more!' Wolfkins shrugged.
'THAN TAKE ME INSTEAD!' Adam yelled.
James's heart skipped a beat. Not his Adam.
'GO ON! KILL ME! SHOOT ME! BUT LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!' Adam yelled.
'ADAM! NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP, DUDE!' Chris yelled from on the stage.
'How noble. Both of you... but unfortunately, I can not just let him go... what lesson will all of you learn if I let him live? What lesson will he learn if he gets away with it?' Wolfkins laughed.
'NO! PLEASE!' Adam screamed.
'Say goodbye.' Wolkins smiled sickly as he raised his gun.
'NO!' Adam turned around, not being able to bear watch it. He buried his face into the chest of whoever was closest to him, which happened to be James. James absently wrapped his arms around Adam to comfort him, but his eyes were glued to the stage. He could only watch.
A gunshot echoed through the room... then there was silence... then there was sobbing. It was done.
Everyone who had known Chris was crying, some loud, others quietly. The shock of what had just happened lay on everyone, even those that had never met Chris.
'Now, get to your respective cafeterias. Breakfast will be served soon.' Wolfkins said, before walking away.
It took a couple minutes before the first kids started moving, but slowly the crowd started walking towards the stairs.
Adam let go of James and was about to turn around to the stage when James grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.
'You don't wanna see it...' James whispered with a hoarse voice.
Adam said nothing and just nodded before following the others upstairs, his mind never leaving his friend on stage.
                          
Adam was standing in the hallway, looking over the edge of the balcony that gave him a view of the main stage. Chris's body had been removed, but there was still a blood stain.
'Do you wanna talk, buddy?' James asked as he stood next to Adam.
'First Zalinki... now Chris... it hurts you know.' Adam said, sounding as if he could start sobbing again any second.
'I know.' James whispered back, searching his mind for a way to cheer Adam up, but he couldn't think of anything.
'You were wrong.' Adam muttered.
'What?' James asked.
'You were wrong. You where wrong when you said we should keep hope and keep looking for a chance.'
'Adam, why do you say that?'
'BECAUSE YOU WERE WRONG, JAMES! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IN HERE! Chris looked for a chance and look where it got him!'
For a moment James didn't know what to say.
'I know things look bad right now, but we gotta keep hoping and we'll help each other through this.' He said eventually.
'We can't help each other through this, James! We can't depend on each other! Don't you see it? We're all dying! One by one! First Zalinki, now Chris! Who's next?' Adam called.
'I know that it hurts, Adam, but we gotta stay positive or we're gonna lose our minds in here.'
'I know you're the positive guy, but this situation just doesn't fit with the "after the rain comes sunshine" attitude! I don't need your "life is fun"s and your "there's always light at the end of the tunnel"s! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!' 
'We can't give up, Adam! Otherwise those psycho's will win!' 
'Don't you see, James! THEY ALREADY WON!' 
'CHRIS DIED TRYING TO GET US OUT! DO YOU THINK GIVING UP AND LOSING HOPE IS A PROPER WAY TO REPAY HIM?!' James screamed.
Adam looked as if he just got hit in the face. For a couple seconds he just stared at James. Then he slowly slid down to the floor and started crying. His cries and screams of pain echoing through the hallway and the empty stage room. James sat down next to Adam, who immediately buried his face in the blonde's chest.
'It hurts, James!' Adam cried. 'It hurts so much!'
'I know, Adam.' James whispered, tears starting to escape his eyes too. ' I know...'