We stay up a little later tonight, hoping with all of our hearts that Hailey will return unharmed. Cameron sits soundlessly beside me as Amber yawns and rubs her eyes to try to keep awake. Eventually, she lays her head on my lap and drifts off to sleep. Carefully, I lay her down on her mat and cover her with her blanket. Cameron slowly lies beside me as Amber snores, ever so slightly and gently.

Quietly, he turns on his side, so that he is facing me, and says, "Good night, Dylan. I hope Hailey's safe."

Sighing, I reply as I roll over on my back and face the metal ceiling above me, "Me too."

It is in the middle of the night - or day, should I say, as we go out in the night and sleep during the day - when I feel something stir quietly to the right of me. As I struggle to sit up, I hear sad and pain-filled whimpering, as soft as a puppy would sound. My eyes slowly open and search the silent darkness around for the owner of the voice. I find it in Amber. Heart-shattering at the sight of her, curled in on herself and grabbing her blanket tightly in closed fists, I wordlessly crawl the short distance between us. Her light whimpering morphs into a slow and agonizing mumble, occasionally interrupted with faint cries everytime she grabs her blanket tighter and pulls it closer. Slowly, her movements become more frantic and urgent as she thrashes and turns and reaches her hand out.
"Please don't leave, Hailey. Don't leave me, please," she whispers through the little teardrops forming in her eyes with ragged breaths.

Reaching out with my left, I lightly grab her shoulder and shake tenderly as I say, "Hey, Amber. Wake up. It's all right. You're safe. Wake up."
"Please, Hailey. Don't leave. You won't make it back. Please, I'm begging you," she continues to beg for Hailey to stay.

Sighing as I realize that I would not be able to wake her up with delicate touches, I grip a little harder and shake a little more forcefully while raising my voice to as loud of a whisper as I dare, "Amber, Please. Wake up. It's all right."

Stirring in her sleep, she barely cracks opens her bleary eyes, visibly confusing her dreams with reality.

Tightly closing her eyes, her face contorting in a mixture of loss and pain, she cries, "Not you too, Dylan. I've already lost mom and dad. I can't lose both of you."

"It's all right, Amber. It's not real. I'm here, and Hailey will be just fine. Wake up, please," I say as I try my best to comfort her and fully wake her from her nightmares.

"Dylan? Dylan!" she cries as she slowly roused herself from the horrors that haunted her and rubs the sleep from her eyes. "You're here! Is Hailey back?"

Shaking my head sadly, I reply, "Not yet. She will be in the morning, though. They always come back before breakfast. Just in what state is what I don't know."

"Dylan?" she says, after a period of silence. I can hear her mind thinking as she sits on the cooling mat with disheveled, crazy hair going frantic directions, presumably from the tossing in her sleep, and tries to dissect her dreams.

"Are you all right, Amber? Do you want to talk about it?"
After a second of hesitation, she replies, "Yes. It was so scary. So scary. It was like the night when we got taken. With the running, and screaming, and the ringing inside our heads. The feeling of disappearing until it was blackness and without memories. That's what it felt like."

"What do you mean, that's what it felt like? It was that bad?"

Nodding, she says, "Definitely. In the dream, it was so real. It was like Hailey was being torn away like mom and dad were."

"You remember?"

Scoffing slightly, she replies, "Barely. It's really all just a blur of pain."

"That's the same with me. When did the nightmares start?"

Sniffling, she answers, "Just today."

"Why don't you go back to sleep? It's only 7 in the morning. You still have a full 5 hours before they feed us breakfast."

"Can I stay awake until Hailey comes back? I'm scared the nightmares will come back."
"They won't, I promise. I'll be here, and you need your rest."

"All right," she says as she lies down on her mat and pulls her blanket on top of her. "Thanks, Dylan. Good night."

"Good night to you too, Amber."

"I love you," she begins and pauses, waiting for me to finish.

"Forever and ever."

The next time I wake up is when I feel another light stir beside me. Eyes snapping opening instantly, I look to my right, ready to wake Amber from her nightmares, when I meet the dark circles around Hailey's emerald eyes. Jolting awake, I wrap my arms tightly around her.

"You're back! Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"

Then, turning to the waking Cameron and Amber, I say, "Hailey's back, you guys! Get up!"

"Please, Hailey, don't do that again. I'm begging you, just don't. Whatever you need, I'll go get. Just please stay. Promise me."

Nodding quickly as tears starts to stream down her face, she hugs me back, "I promise, Dylan. I won't do that again."

By now, I have tears of relief streaming down my face as well.

"Tell me what they did to you."

"I'm so tired. Can I just go to sleep?"

Only then did I notice the hoarseness in her voice. My heartbeat picks up and my vision starts to redden with anger as I think of the things they could have done to her.

Seeing my anger, Hailey smiles sadly as she reaches out to grab my hand.

Wrapping her hands around mine, she says, "Hey. It's all right. I'm fine. Just let me rest for a while."

Reluctantly, I nod, "All right. Go rest. Cam, are you going out with me tonight? I want to show you something."
He nods.

As I look around at the minefield of 1/2s, each waking as we approach the time for breakfast, I see a couple of other kids who look more beaten than Hailey. I sigh when I realize the pain they are in. They are alone, without friends or family. At least our group of four, we have each other.

At noon exactly, the metal doors connecting the sleeping area and the rest of the compound rumble and slides open, revealing a 24.

Looking over at us, she starts to recite the same speech made every day.

"Attention 1/2s! It is noon and therefore, breakfast period. Please follow the instructions exactly. For those of you who wish to attend breakfast, you must enter the main compound in the five following minutes. Those of you who wish not to will be left here, and the door will be closed after five minutes, locking you in. The breakfast group will head to the cafeteria and sit in your assigned spot. You may not be anywhere else. Repeat, you may not be anywhere else. If an Official catches you elsewhere, you will be punished and lose your 30 minute excursion period privileges for a month. The breakfast group will return, supervised, at 1:30 pm exactly, from the cafeteria.

"As a reminder for tonight, you are allowed to exit the compound at midnight exact. You must be in your spot underneath the Counter before 12:30 AM and the Counter will begin counting at 12:30 AM exact. If you miss being counted, you will be searched for and punished. Head over to the wall if you would like breakfast now. Over."

Exchanging glances with each, Cameron goes to grab Amber while I take a final check of Hailey. She seems content, already fast asleep on her mat and covered by her blanket. Turning around, I see Amber waving at me, Cameron by her side, as they wait for me near the metal slide doors. Jogging over, I am surprised by Amber with a hug.

"I'm so glad Hailey's all right," she whispers.

"Me too," I reply.

Along with the crowd, we head into the main room and wait. After the five minute period, the metal doors to the resting area slide shut and the doors to the cafeteria slides open, revealing the same 24 who had given us the instructions earlier.

"Attention 1/2s," she begins. "Please proceed into the cafeteria and sit at your assigned number."

The majority of the group heads in her direction, but I notice a girl with bright blonde hair sneaking toward the exit. Must be new. A glimpse of her back, with a roughly stitched 78 on the back of her shirt confirms my suspicions.

As she nears the exit, a 24 spots her and screams, "78! Get back here!"

At the sound of the commotion, she starts sprinting toward the exit, only to be caught by a stray guard as the rest of us freeze and watch the scene unfold.

"You got yourself into this trouble, 78!" he spits out through his gritted teeth as he roughly and forcefully holds the girl's hands behind her back and retrains them with one hand.

Looking to his left, he gestures for another guard to go to him with his spare hand. After they discuss with each other, the new guard drags the struggling girl away.

"Let go of me!" she screams.

As she gets dragged further away and to the Punisher room, she desperately wails and cries quietly.

Turning to us, the guard who caught her, wanting to make an example, hisses, "This is why you don't run away."

Then, he ushers us into the cafeteria, where we find our numbers on the rough, ragged wood benches and sit down. The metal door slides shut shortly after with a loud rumble.

Soon, he starts to announce, "As always, you will collect the breakfast by your number. I will dismiss by rows. You will line up in numerical order when your row is called and walked through the dispensing window after picking up your bowl and a spoon on the table before. Understood?"
A chorus of low and quiet murmurs fill the room for a few seconds before they dissipate. As if we didn't know already, for those of us who have been here for a long time, though I guess they need to make these speeches every day for the new 1/2s that come in every so often.
"Very well. 1-10."
The 1/2s in the first row, closest to the dispenser, all stand and move to the table of bowls and spoons. Picking up each of their bowls and spoons, they proceed through the window, where a 24 spoons a meek portion of watery rice porridge and the kind 24, further down the window, adds some preserved radishes. This process continues as each 1/2 receives their meal and head back to their benches.

"11-20!" he continues to call as the 1/2s return to their benches.

"21-30!" he calls.

Our row stands and moves to line up in front of the table, with Cameron in front of me and Amber behind. The people ahead of us move fast, and soon I am picking up my bowl and holding it out to the 24 in the dispenser window. She spoons a small portion of gruel into my bowl and I move on to the kind 24 who had helped us through our hardest times in the beginning and helped us adjust. With a tiny shine in his eyes, he spoons some preserved radishes into my bowl, not noticeably extra but enough to make sure the meal tastes better.

Carrying our bowls, Cameron, Amber, and I return to our bench.

After the last row is called, the 24 announces, "You may begin eating." Taking the spoon, I dig into the porridge and shove it into my mouth with enthusiasm. I wasted too much time yesterday hiding and didn't get to smuggle in some food. Cameron and I are done with it within minutes, and Amber finishes shortly after. I sigh. I really need to go get some food today. After everyone's finished, the 24 leads us through the sliding doors and back to the resting area, where he releases us with a disgusted look. He looks like he can't get out of here any faster. As soon as he leaves, I walk over to Hailey's mat and sit down. Her face doesn't look as pale anymore, the sleep clearly doing her good. Looking at her, I make a silent promise that everything will be all right. I'm ready for tonight. 

Hey! I hope you enjoy this part! Please comment any questions or suggestions you have for me and don't forget to give this a vote if you enjoy it! 

I'm trying something new, with multiple chapters under the same character but broken up events. How does that sound?

I'm also trying a Q&A so here...

Questions: What is your favorite color combo?

Answer: Gray and blue or all cool colors together (green, blue, purple, etc.)

Don't forget to leave your answers as well!