They were moving closer. She was breathing faster.
She tried to open her mouth; say anything; do anything; but she was paralysed.
She couldn’t do anything as they slowly advanced on her. She was watching her nightmare repeat.
No, no, no!
She couldn’t even scream.
She opened her eyes.
She was in a white room; so white it hurt.
There were people in the room. They were speaking. She didn’t understand.
One of them approached her; and she flinched.
The woman only looked mildly surprised at her reaction.
She turned back to the other people and spoke in a hushed voice. They all left the room.
Then someone else came in.
He wasn’t dressed in white.
He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She stared back. He spoke. She understood.
“What’s your name?”
“......”
“Do you not have one?”
“......”
“Do you know where you are?”
“......”
“Do you know how you got here?”
“......”
“Why won’t you say something?”
“......”
He sounded frustrated, but kind.
“We found you....in a desert. You were dying of heatstroke and dehydration. Why were you
there....alone?”
Silence.
“We found the wreckage of a burned vehicle...and several dead bodies. It was not far away
from where you were. Do you know what happened?”
Silence.
“We can’t help you if you don’t help us. Don’t you want to find your parents? Where are they?
What are their names?”
Silence.
He sighed. He spoke more softly.
“We know who those people are. We know what they do.”
“We think we know what happened; but we can’t do anything unless you tell us everything.
We’re the good guys; we can help you.”
She looked at the sincere face of the man before her.
She looked at the cuts, bruises and burns on her arms.
She looked at the bleached walls of this room.
* * *
