She awoke with a jolt in her room. She immediately sat up, gasping, with her eyes wide and her hands clenching around the sheets. Her dark eyes darted around frantically, trying to soak in her surroundings and figure out what had happened while she was unconscious. Light was streaming through the window, indicating that it was the middle of the day. Why was she still in the dormitory at this hour? Shouldn't she be in class? Finally her eyes fell on her roommate, whose face was a whole canvas of concern and distress.

"Hey, calm down," 101505B said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. You're alright."

She hesitated before speaking, still unsure of what was going on. "We...we're allowed to talk freely?" She lowered her voice. "Are they listening?"

The other girl nodded. "Yes, we can talk. They're still listening, but the biggest restriction right now is just to stay in the room."

"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. She felt a dull pain on her back, but she ignored it. Her bandages on her back from the whipping was still there, but there appeared to be more on her arms. She attempted to remember the previous events, but everything seemed to be locked away from her.

The blond haired girl tilted her head. "Wow, you really don't remember? It has been the most intense days I've ever experienced."

"I don't remember much. Everything is cloudy and blurry. Why do I have bandages all over me?"

"You were injured in the attack. You were in the infirmary for about a day while they patched you up."

"Right...the attack..." she mumbled. "So what exactly happened again?"

Her roommate proceeded to recount the past events to her roommate. 12505A listened intently, absorbing everything little detail. Slowly but surely, her memories began to return. Although hazy, she could vaguely remember the attack and the shooting and—

"Oh my gosh, 81305B!" she unexpectedly said, her voice louder than expected. "Is he...oh gosh, no..."

Her roommate let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. He was one of the people we lost."

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, no. Oh gosh..." She felt tears well up in her eyes, but refused to let them out. Even though her roommate assured her that she wouldn't be punished for crying, the fear from her beating still held. She forced her tears back and instead buried her face in her hands.

She felt the other girl stroke her back gently. "I'm sorry. But there's nothing we can do now."

The girl's words were meant to soothe her, but it only had the opposite effect. After thinking hard, more memories began to return to her. She remembered him saving her from the Insurgent who tried to kill her. She remembered running through the hallways with the Sentinels. She remembered the grenade and the explosion. She remembered seeing him lying there, unconscious but still alive. And she remembered leaving him. Though it wasn't her decision, she couldn't help but feel soul crushing guilt. She couldn't help but feel responsible for his death.

"I left him..." she said softly, her voice barely audible.

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I saw him there. He helped me and he was hurt. And I left him behind..."

"Why? Why did you do it?"

"The Sentinels forced me away. They wouldn't let me help him."

"Then it isn't your fault. Why are you acting like it's your fault?"

"Because it feels like it is. I could've fought harder or protested and maybe I could have changed their mind..."

101505B simply shook her head. "I know they wouldn't have changed their mind. Not to be harsh, but they would have likely beaten you again for resisting their orders. There was really nothing you could have done, so don't blame yourself for it."

She did not reply and instead bit her lip and kept her face buried in her hands. Despite what the other girl said, she knew her roommate was wrong. She could have done something to help. She could have just accepted another beating to save his life. But she didn't. She was so afraid of getting hurt again and that fear was enough to give up on him. She was a coward who only thought about herself. It was really her fault, and now there was really nothing she could do about it. At that moment, more than anything, she just wanted to cry. She ached to release all her pain, but she could not.

"Hey," 101505B spoke, clearly noticing her distress. "Don't think about it too much. It'll only make you hurt more."

"How can I just ignore that my friend just died?" she questioned, her voice coming out shaky and strained. "I can't just move on and forget about it."

"Don't forget about it. Just...don't look back on it with bad feelings."

"Well, it's a little hard to think positive about this."

"You're still blaming yourself. I can tell."

"Of course I'm going to blame myself! I valued myself over him! I left him to save myself!"

"It's called self preservation. You have to do that sometimes if you want to survive, especially in this world."

"So, you'd leave me to die if it ever came to it?"

"Well, I'd obviously try my best to help, but if I didn't have a choice, I'd just have to accept it and move on."

She sighed loudly. "It's not that simple. I can't just do that."

"Then blame the Insurgents. They're the reason we ended up in this mess. They were the one who killed him, and they would have killed you too if they got the chance. So put the blame on them. Be angry at them and not at yourself."

She paused for a moment. "I guess you're right. But if they're to blame, who will make them pay for their actions?"

The blond haired girl could not even reply before the intercom clicked on and the Warden's voice filled the cold air.

"Attention all students. Please make your way down to the main courtyard immediately. Make sure to wear your uniform if you are not in them already. Walk quickly in your pairs and do not stop to dawdle."

The two girls exchanged silent glances. Without another word, they both rose from the bed on which they were sitting. 12505A's legs wobbled slightly, and she had to grab the nearby dresser for support. After a few moments, she got used to the dull ache and forced herself to get dressed. Once they were both in uniform, the two girls proceeded out the door and to the main courtyard. The hallways were lined with Sentinels. The security was stepped up since the attack, but she couldn't help but feel more on edge with more guards. Every one of her movements felt more scrutinized and she could not relax at all.

Once they arrived, her heart stopped at what she saw. Dozens of chairs were set up in the middle of the courtyard all facing an execution device whose name was unknown to her. It was a rather simple looking contraption, comprised of a platform and an empty metal frame with wires attached to it. From what she'd learned in class, it used electricity to slowly and painfully kill the victim. It was similar to the electric chair of the old days, but this was rumored to be much worse. She immediately felt sick to her stomach and she nearly stopped walking out of fear.

She hardly noticed when she walked over to the chairs and sat down. 101505A tried to sneak her a sideways glance, but was immediately reprimanded by a nearby Sentinel. They all sat still, with their eyes glued to the contraption in front of them, and just waiting for something to happen. She subconsciously felt herself digging her nails into the skin of her legs out of anxiety.

And then they brought the Insurgent prisoners out. There were five of them, all of varying heights and ages and genders. The oldest was a man around middle age and the youngest was a girl who looked slightly younger than herself. All five of them were covered in a multitude of injuries ranging from cuts to bruises to burns. And that was only the parts they could see. One was even missing an eye. Only God knew what other torture scars were hidden under their clothing. Upon further examination, she noticed that the teenage girl was discreetly holding onto the hand of a boy slightly older than her. The boy often gave the girl concerned glances whenever the Sentinels didn't seemed to be looking.

The Warden stepped to the front and turned to address the students. He wore his typical dark suit and a sly smirk on his face.

"Greetings, students and staff. Before you are five Insurgents, dissidents and offenders our society. They have not only disobeyed countless regulations, but they also dared to launch an attack on this facility, taking the lives of countless of units. And now," he said, his voice rising with each word. "They will pay for their actions with their life."

He turned sharply to look at the Sentinels. "Bring the first one forward."

The Sentinel complied, pushing the first victim forward. It was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties. The Sentinels grabbed him roughly, but surprisingly, he did not even resist. The man was dragged over to device. While the man stood on the platform, the Sentinels drove needles connected to wires into his skin. He hardly even flinched when the needles were inserted into him, likely due to his prolonged torture. However, as soon as the electricity started flowing, his body began convulsing rapidly. A strained cry of anguish escaped his mouth, and he slowly sank to his knees out of pain. The expressions of other Insurgents watching were a combination of terror, disgust, and sadness. The young girl tried to cover her face but was immediately hit by one of the Sentinels.

Witnessing that was nearly enough to make her retch. Her nails were digging into her legs, but she barely felt the pain. She shut her eyes and covered her ears, trying to block out the pained screams. 101505A immediately noticed her reaction and nudged her lightly.

"Sit up," she hissed between her teeth. She threw a cautionary glance out of the corner of her eye to where the nearest Sentinel was. Their eyes seemed to locked on the man ahead of them, but they could look at them at any second. She nudged the girl next to her again. "Sit up now if you don't want to get in trouble."

Breathing hard, she forced herself to sit up straight and face the man again. He had now completely collapsed onto the platform, his body still convulsing violently. When would it be over? Biting her lip, she diverted her eyes to the space behind the execution to ease the all the negative feelings building up in her. After what felt like forever, everything stopped. The man's body was prodded to check for life. One he was proclaimed dead, they moved onto the next one. And then the next one. A couple of students couldn't help but look away and were immediately reprimanded by the Sentinels or the Pedagogues present. She continued to stare into the space behind, doing her best to ignore the pained screams.

Finally, only the young girl and the boy she was holding onto were left. The Sentinels grabbed onto the girl, who at this point was shaking and sobbing out of fear. The boy immediately reacted, throwing the Sentinels off of him and running over to the girl.

"Get your hands off of her!" he screamed, fury consuming every fiber in his being. "Don't hurt her. Take me! Hurt me! Let her go!"

The Sentinels immediately grabbed him roughly and beat him to the ground. However, he did not let them hinder him and continued to struggle. He managed to grab ahold of one of the Sentinel's pistols and a shot went off, the bullet hitting one of the soldiers in the leg. The other Sentinels quickly overpowered the boy and forced him to the ground and shot him in the hip. The girl screamed, struggling against her captors but unable to get free. The boy was dragged on the ground in front of the mechanism while the girl was placed in it.

The Warden approached the boy and grabbed him by the neck, forcing the boy to look him in the eyes. "And for that act of defiance, you get to watch you sister die while you slowly and painfully bleed out."

The following events were the embodiment of horrendous and gut wrenching. The boy's leg was slit open with a knife while his sister was hooked onto the machine. As soon as the Insurgents' screams started, something snapped in her. She immediately stood up and began to walk away. Various Sentinels rushed stop her, trying to stop her.

"Get back to your seat, 12505A!"

"Do it now unless you want to be punished again."

She ignored all of them and just kept walking away from the scene. She just wanted everything to stop and everything to be over. She didn't want to live in this world. She didn't want to have to experience another second of it. As soon as she felt the first hand on her, she causally shrugged it off, not caring about the consequences. The hands on her grew more numerous and tighter and before she knew it, she was stopped in her tracks.

"You're going to regret that," one of the Sentinels hissed.