“Oh lord, I’ve had enough of these people out here.” Someone yelled out, it bounced off the walls and carried far. Blue coughed, her chest felt heavy. She opened her eyes slowly, blinding light bleeding in. She slowly sat up, hissing at the pain that settled deep within her bones. A gentle mumble of words filled her head as she slowly gained her bearings. She looked around, she seemed to be in some sort of animal paddock, grime and filth stained the walls, dirty hay was scattered everywhere. An empty trough sat snug against the wall, flies buzzed around it busily. The stall was completely empty other than her, but the sounds of people seeped in from all around her.

Blue tried to stand up, her legs wobbled and she struggled to gain balance. Aches and pains creeped across her whole body and her head pounded with a dull headache. She made her way over to the stall door, the hinges looked like they were about to completely rust and stop working, the wood felt damp and rotten. Blue slowly opened the door, peering out looking for any sign of Otto, her caregiver which she had lost in a haze of a bunch of people crowding in an area close to the outside of the desolate.

Outside of her stall of course was a line of other stalls, some doors hung off their hinges and some were just fully open, others were closed tight, light beaming down over them. Everything felt broken down and in need of full repairs. Fear slowly nipped at the back of her mind as she ran through any and all possibilities that could even have brought her here. She closed the door to her stall, sitting down against the back wall. She brought her knees up to her face, wrapping her hands around herself. She mumbled words to herself, songs Otto has taught her to keep her calm during things that were overwhelming.

Thunderous footsteps rang out against the paddock’s dirty floor, someone was speeding Blues way, their footsteps were heavy, deliberate. The door swung open, just hard enough to make Blue jump, she sat up, peaking her eyes just over her knees. The person standing in the doorway looked down at her, their gaze piercing right through her. They stepped in slowly, they seemed mechanical, cold, and intimidating.

“Blue?”

“Nmhm?” blue shivered, this person’s voice was icy and calculated. It freaked her out.

“Come with me” They motioned for blue to exit the stall, “you seem fine, no injuries during the clamoring, you’re free to go.” Blue slowly stood up, dusting off her knees and slowly making her way to the stall door, anxiously looking around. The gate slammed behind her making her flinch.

They led her to a room where candle light flickered against the shadows, it smelt damp and papers were strewn across the floor and over the large desk that sat in the back of the room. “Sit here” they droned, motioning to a small wooden chair positioned tightly against the wall in the corner. Blue nodded and hurried over, sitting down and setting her hands together in her lap. She fidgeted nervously as the person left the room.

Blue waited for a while, unsure of the exact time due to the lack of sound and lack of windows. There was no sound of buzzing electricity, no gentle footsteps outside the door, and no chatter at all. She shifted and stretched her legs, aches creeping up from the bottom of her feet to her hips. After what seemed like forever she stood up, she couldn’t bear to sit another second. She wandered over to the piles of paper on the desk, observing them quickly. Lots of the papers had red ink scribbled harshly on top of big words she couldn’t read, others were notes from what seemed like communications from the outside.

Blue hadn’t thought about the outside for quite a while, she usually only heard about it in stories around the fire. It was said that if you wandered far enough you could reach somewhere so much more different then the place she lived. It would be rich and full of fresh grass, plants and trees flourishing. There wouldnt ever be a struggle for food and necessities like there was here. She always dreamed of finding it and bringing her family there so they’d never lose anyone ever again. But there was no way it was real.

The desolate was an empty wasteland with just enough resources to keep everything going, it was dry and dark all of the time. Rain didn’t happen often and when it did it was harsh and cold. The outside was rumored to be the exact opposite of this, sunshine, frequent rain, warm, green, a heaven compared to the desolate. Connections between the desolate and the outside had been cut off long ago, or at least as the story had been told. She shook her head and thumbed through more pages of frantic writing, scribbles of different places in the desolate and events and… the games that Otto would talk about. There were full drawn plans for each one, all of them having some sort of supply or prize that would tide over the occupants of the desolate before all their resources ran out. Wood, food, water, metals, anything that was needed was there, jotted down, planned and dated. She grabbed one of the pages detailing these events and folded it neatly, stuffing it in her pant pocket.

The door swung open behind her, A tall man stepped through the door, his face obstructed. Blue yelped as she turned around to face him. “Blue? Are you alright?” Otto’s voice whispered into the darkness. He removed a tattered scarf from his face, worry written across his face. Her eyes widened as she ran over to him, barreling into him wrapping her arms around him in a big hug. Otto chuckled and patted her on the back, holding her close.

“Goodness Blue I was worried…” Otto hummed, “I didn’t want you to get hurt.” She shook her head, and hugged him tighter.

“I thought you were gone,” she replied, voice shaking “I thought you I thought-”

“It’s alright it’s alright im here now.” Otto reassured, “Just a little shaken and beaten up, nothin’ ol’ Otto can’t handle, those people were fierce!” Blue pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.

“Where even are we?” she mumbled, turning her face to look through the doorway behind Otto. He shrugged, gazing around the room she had been in.

“I don’t know, I just saw them bring you in here and had to come and see what was going on.”

“Where were you? Were you also in a stall?” Blue questioned, not remembering seeing anyone crouched in any of the stalls around the entrance of this room. Otto faltered for a second.

“I was uh.. Right behind you guys, I had been stalking that guy who brought you in here to see what was going on. I just woke up here, it looks like some sort of place where they take the injured, I guess that kind of stuff happens often enough for them to need these places.” He nodded, reminding her of the chaos of the gathering they had been at before ending up here, “Lets get out of here ‘kay?”

Blue and Otto stepped out into the hallway again, looking for any sign of anyone else. The coast appeared to be clear with not a sign of movement. They bolted down the hall, barreling towards where they assumed the exit would be.

They quickly reached a door at the end of the hallway, looking around one final time and giving each other nervous glances. Otto slowly grabbed the doorknob and turned, the door creaked open, Blue observed what could be on the other side. It was quite dark out and It took a second for her eyes to adjust, She blinked rapidly and swiveled her head. It seemed to be the outside. She stepped through the door, feeling a light breeze brush across her face.

The door closed behind her, Otto nowhere to be seen. Blues eyes widened in horror as she ran back to bang on the door. “OTTO, OTTO WHAT’S HAPPENING?” She cried out. There was no response, just the whistling of the wind. She let her arms go lax, she turned around to gaze at her surroundings again, her breathing quickening. Blue’s eyes dotted from side to side, she brought her hands to her arms, holding herself.

Blue slowly blacked up against the door behind her, panicking. She didn’t know where she was, where Otto was, and what was happening. Just earlier she had been at camp, with her family singing songs of joy and wonder, now she was in the middle of nowhere with no helpful hand. Her eyes watered, her vision began to rapidly blur as she blinked and blinked the tears away.

A click sounded above her. A symphony of white noise began, Blue looked up, startled. She stood up quickly, stumbling.

Otto’s voice blared over the speakers “I’m sorry Blue, you’re going to have to make it home alone. I really didn’t want to have to do this but you had access to the documents about the outside. I can’t have that information spread. You’ll have to make it home yourself. If word gets out that I, the organizer of the games, spread this information? I’m done for.”

“What are you even talking about!” Blue yelled, “The games were just for fun right? That’s what camp always said, that’s what you always said!”

Otto chuckled over the intercom “I’m sorry sweet blue, I’m sorry I had to get involved with all this and to put you in danger, but I had to protect and supply the camp. How do you think we’ve been doing so good lately but everyone else has been struggling?”

Blue stepped backwards, dismay pumping through her blood, “you would rather put me in more danger then get me home safely? I won’t tell a soul I swear!”

“I’m sorry Blue I can’t.” Otto’s voice became monotone.

“And if I make it back? And tell everyone about your stuff? And expose everything and tell them there is an outside waiting for us?”

“Well then blue I guess I’d have to shut down all supplies to the camp.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.” Otto said, fiercely. The Intercom clicked off. Blue stared off into the distance, fear and horror building inside of her. She didn’t know what to do, surely she could make it home, right?