I jerked awake, feeling the dirty jumpsuit sticking to my body. Through bleary eyes, I tried to peek through the thick wall of darkness. The lights that lined the corridors opposite the cells were off, the black blanket in full concentration. The pungent smell of urine and poop took my nose once again. A dim thrumming took my ears by surprise. I came down the bed, following the sound. I felt around my surroundings blindly, before settling onto the floor.

  The thrumming increased, my eyebrows furrowed, suddenly feeling a slight vibration overtake the place. From all I had read I knew for sure that when Nigeria was still standing, it had experienced only a handful of earthquakes and even after the effects of the global warming, it had almost none, the only aftermath was the flooding and constant rainfall. The thrumming grew louder as I noticed through the peeks in the reinforced steel, a blue surge of light.

  Soon the floorboards began to tip up, my eyes widened slightly. The faint whir of a machine threaded into my ears as a drill glowing light blue cut through the platinum boards, heavily announcing its presence. Heart in my throat, I moved back, the blue glow threw shadows against the walls. I squinted against the sudden glare as the whirring and vibrating stopped. The drill was pulled back, darkness enveloping the cell again.

   What in the-

A hand gripped my leg harshly. Before I could process it, my back was scraping against the dark floors. I racked in the hold, grabbing wildly at the smooth floor. Bile crept down my throat as I fell through the hole. My gut churned with queasiness, gravity pulling me down to an abyss of black. Soon I hit against the ground, my back arched forward with the pain ricocheting through my downside.

I moaned, my head throbbing loudly. Voices rose around me as I fought against the onslaught of pain that alighted my senses. Light filtered into my vision, revealing three other masked figures.

"I thought you said she was here." The one in the middle yelled to the tallest one, her feminine voice loud in the silence. In the tallest's hand, the drill that had been used earlier hung loosely from a black carrier across his chest.

"I did and she's supposed to." The hole that I had fallen from was high up, almost amassed in the clouds of black. The platinum floors formed a sort of ceiling, sealing off from the upside save from where they had drilled into. The smell of coal and soil filled my nostrils.

"Who are you?" The tallest said, grabbing the scruff of my jumpsuit. Fear drilled into me, unable to take in his eyes against the dim lighting.

"Let's calm down." I tried to shake out of his hold, his grip tightened to disallow the chance.

"Where's Dana? And who in the world are you?" The abrasive note of his voice made me shiver, reminding me of the times my uncle would fight. Before I could answer alarms flared up, catching on the event that was taking place. Underneath their masks, their eyes widened, exchanging glances before the man let go.

  I landed on the ground, feeling my bones shift ever so slightly. Red lights seeped through the...