"I know nuting! Por favor! Por favor!"

He was brought into the room screaming; that's how my first shock came. Two Officers held Alfredo firmly by each arm and dragged him towards a bed covered in an assortment of leather binding straps. He struggled relentlessly against their grip as they dragged him across the ground, his heels trying to dig into the concrete. He protested and cried out for help, but all I could do was watch him be tied down to the bed. 

I gulped, looking away. Somehow, this man had been condemned and I gritted my teeth in frustration. I'd been in the bush too long. I'd stupidly forgotten everything I'd been taught. This was a weakened government forced by the pressure of the people into a civil war. I scoffed, my eyebrows furrowing. 

"Rule number one," I recalled my father saying, as he propped me up onto his lap. "Stay hidden."

"But why?"

"Because you can," he had said, smiling down at me with all the kindness I could remember. "These people only know tyranny and war."

I nodded, making a mental note. "What's rule number two?" I asked, glancing up into the endless cloudy blue that never could see me, but loved me, nonetheless. 

"Look after yourself. No one else will do that for you." He nodded sincerely, like he had all the wisdom locked away in that intelligent brain of his. Just because his eyes didn't work, I wasn't the type of daughter to ever dismiss anything that came out of the man's mouth. "And rule number three."

I looked away and out at the window as a plane hummed overhead. Its large wings glided effortless into view as it swerved and dipped, getting lower to the ground. It'd be time to go again soon.

"Always look after those who look out for you."

I smacked my fist lightly against my forehead. "Stupid! Stupid!" I muttered. 

I'd left Alfredo to the wolves. Stupid me had broken the third and most sacred rule of them all! Why couldn't I have been more careful! We had to help him, no matter what! I heaved, fixated on Alfredo's writhing form as each strap was tightened fast around his body. First, they did his arms, then his legs. When they finished with that, they buckled him in tight around his chest and neck. By the time they were done, he could no longer move. 

"We have to get him out of there," I whispered urgently, still watching as he attempted to squirm away from the Officers. "We have to do something!"

"Like what?" Matthew whispered, leaning in. "There's nothing we can do."

"There's always something!" I hissed back. I wanted to jump down there and kick the heck out of those Officers. It was a death wish, but at least I'd know I was trying to reverse Alfredo's fate. His gestures might have been small, but it didn't matter, he had taken care of me in a sense. 

"Well what do you suggest then?"

"I don't know. All I know is that we have to do something!" My mind was spinning. How was this even possible? Would they come after me next? It's not like I had anything to hide. My thoughts were interrupted by Alfredo's voice, bringing my focus back to his dire situation. An Officer stood over him, a taser in his hand. "What do they want with him?"

"I don't know. Something about a girl, I think."

I furrowed my eyebrows. That didn't make any sense. "A girl?"

"He knows something about a girl they're trying to find. He didn't tell me anymore, but right after he said it, he was jumped on by the Officers."

We both became deathly silent as the Officer's voice echoed out across the room. "What is your name?"

"Al-Alfredo!" he said, his voice quivering like an earthquake. "Alfredo Nelson."

"Good. And your number?"

"W14. Plea don't do tis!" he cried out in terror as the Officer's hand drew nearer, the end of the taser ablaze and fizzling. My gut fell to the ground as the Officer put it to his throat and pressed the button. His whole body vibrated, and he screamed against the current surging through him. 

"I can't watch anymore," I whispered, looking away and sniffling a tear that'd sprung to my cheek.

"You have too. We have no choice," Matthew whispered back, his hand gently placing itself on my shoulder. "It's the least we can do."

"No choice? You always have a choice!" I snapped back, pushing his hand away.

"Shhhh! They'll hear us!" he hissed, reaching over and covering my mouth with his hand. 

I tried to speak, but Matthew's hand stopped me from doing so. I screamed internally in anguish, tears now gushing freely from my eyes. I closed them, not wanting to even hear the sound of Alfredo screaming. Why the fuck was I brought here!? What did Matthew want me to do if there was nothing we could do? 

"And the boy? Who is the boy you so dearly seem to care about?" the Officer questioned, Alfredo's chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon. 

"I don't kno-!" he whimpered. 

"Not good enough, old man. Who is the boy?" 

"I. Don't. Know," his words were clear as day. No accent hid them this time. My heart fell to the floor. How could they do this to him? I listened as he screamed again to the electric current coursing through him. 

"Let's try that again, shall we?" the Officer tormented, his voice laced with a teasing smile. "If you won't tell me about the boy, tell me about the girl instead. Who is she?"

I quickly opened my eyes. Girl?

"I will neve' tell you ting!" he said. 

The Officer leaned in over him. "When I'm through with you, I will know everything."

"No! Plea nooooo!" he screamed out. I shut my eyes and waited for the screaming to start again, but all that could be heard was Alfredo's pleas. My heart grew heavy, the organ growing solid as I tried to keep composed for Alfredo's sake. 

"I wanted your help," Matthew said quietly into my ear, making me jump at the sound of his voice. "You're smart."

He removed his hand from my lips, and I turned awkwardly to face him. 

"I can't help you." I began to crawl towards him, aiming on getting past him but he obstructed the path. "Move," I ordered.

"I need your help. He," he gestured towards Alfredo. "Needs your help."

"Don't you dare play the guilt card on me! Now move," I snapped hurriedly at him. 

"Please," he said again, barely audible.

"No. Do it yourself. You like getting yourself into trouble."

"But I need your help to break into the lab." 

This time I could barely hear him and if I wasn't angry at him, perhaps I would have said yes. But my mind was elsewhere; lost in a daydream I couldn't escape from. "What am I going to do? I can't break into anything!"

He started nodding. "Yes, yes you can."

"No. No, I can't."

"Yeah, you can," he insisted, the cowlick in his hair flopping into his eyes with his every move. "You're Ellie Young. You have clearance for everything."

I laughed. "Me!? Clearance!? Pfft! You're the biggest idiot I've ever met! I'm a nobody! I can't do anything!"

"No, you don't understand, the person that runs this clean-up scheme..." he tried to say.

"What you broke into their office through the ceiling too?" I retorted angrily.

His eyes screwed up, and I could see his chest heave in frustration. "No. Can you stop being so ignorant? Just for one minute!"

"Can you?" I was tired and certainly not in the mood for his games right now.

He sighed again. "They're looking for you, Ellie. He wants you, you heard him."

"Who...?" I was confused now. I don't remember hearing my name come from anyone.

"I don't know. A man, maybe your father. I don't know but he keeps torturing people about this girl. And it hasn't clicked until now."

"Impossible," I whispered. "He's dead. I saw him die in the bombings. Besides, he would never torture people for information on me! You're delusional Matthew, no one ever mentioned anything about me."

"As I already said, if we give him you, he might give you clearance and then we can save Alfredo."

"You've got to be joking? I. Am. Not. Going. To be. Your. Bait!" I wasn't in the mood for being civil anymore, he'd crossed a line with that request. He was asking me to give up my life, and I wasn't prepared to do that. "Let's just go," I said.

He nodded and turned, surprising me at how well he obeyed my request. I followed him in silence through the ceiling back to the loose panel. He carefully removed it. Jumping down, he signalled for me to do the same. I lowered myself down through the hole and landed lightly on my feet.

He replaced the tile back in the ceiling, and I waited for him to finish so we could both just leave and pretend that nothing ever happened. If only life had given me a better lemon to deal with. 

"Hey! You two! Stop right there!" a voice shouted at us. 

It was the most dreaded sound one could hear on a failed rescue mission, and it made my hairs stand up like frightened soldiers. We both froze in place, still facing away from the voice.

Slowly I began to turn. A pair of Officers stood at the other end of the hallway, their faces obscured by their helmets and their guns pointed at us. If we ran, we would surely be shot. I glanced around the room; this was a deadly, hopeless situation. Panic creased the edges of my heart, until I found myself saying the only thing that might save us both from death. 

"I'm Ellie. Ellie Young," I said.