UNDER THE SUN

"Hey wake up, stop playing dead."

Hearing the unmistakable voice of Forty-Four, Five immediately opened his eyes and indeed the iconic dreadlocks of Forty-Four were the first thing he saw.

He used his hand to clean his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the image of Forty-Four was still there with a smirk on his face.

"Where are we?" Five asked looking around but it seemed they were in a very big room with well-arranged beds that could accommodate only one person, each bed was occupied by all the kids, both the ones that were declared Neos and taken earlier and the ones that were just brought in.

"I'm not exactly sure, but we are not allowed to leave, except to the bathroom and shower which is that way he pointed to one side of the room with two doors with a sign of a man on one and a sign of a woman at the other. Food and clothes are always brought to us". Forty-Four answered.

Five spotted One thirty with his usual henchmen around him, his eyes continued roaming around until they landed on little Eighty who was getting her hair rubbed by a beautiful older girl, this made Five wonder where Forty-one her sister was. The older girl soon raised her head as if sensing that someone was looking at her.

She locked her's with Five and said something to Eighty who immediately turned around to look in Five's direction. They both started walking towards Five and Forty-Four's location. The closer they got the more Five thinks that the beautiful older girl looks familiar.

"Hi". The girl said immediately she got to where Five was.

"Hello." Five answered, with a confused expression why she came to greet him.

Sensing his confusion "I just want to thank you, for standing up for me back then, against One Thirty."

With that it became clear to Five, that the girl was Forty-One, no wonder she looked familiar. Without the gruesome disfiguring scar she was a beautiful girl and also her confidence seems to have risen with the way she now carried herself.

"Nah, I didn't do anything, it was he who did something." Five modestly pointed at Forty Four.

"Just accept it, man, is not every day you see a beautiful girl showing gratitude," Forty-Four said with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Not to sound nosey,... but how ?" Five asked while pointing at his cheek to indicate he was talking about the faded scar.

"I got a healing ability and what better way to use it than on myself."

"Oh that's great, it seems your sister also has an ability ." Five stated

"Yes, I'm super strong." Eighty said in a cute voice.

"You should have seen it, one day One thirty was acting out she completely held back his punches, the sight was simply incredible," Forty-Four said with a marvelous look on his face.

"So what about you, what ability did you get?" Forty-one curiously asked.

"None" Five sighed and said with his head down, which threw the Atmosphere around into awkward silence.

Noticing what he unknowingly did he quickly made to savage the situation. "Having no power is still better than dying right."

"You are....."

Forty-four was interrupted by the door of the large room opening, which drastically stopped the chatter in the room. A tall man wearing the normal green camouflage of soldiers came in.

He announced in a not-so-loud but audible voice.

"Follow Me."

After saying that he walked out briskly, his movements depicted the mannerisms of a well-disciplined soldier.

Everyone quickly followed slowly but soon picked up the pace as the man seemed not to care they were lagging.

This little exercise allowed Five to observe where he was. The place they were passing seemed to be a tunnel and it was almost the polar opposite of the room of beds they just left.

The air in the tunnel was cold but not unbearable. The walls were made of rough, gray concrete and the ceiling was arched and very high. The lighting in the tunnel was dim and the only source of light comes from small bulbs that are spaced out along the walls.

The floor of the tunnel was uneven with cracks and bumps that made it difficult to walk smoothly, but to the soldier, it was as if he was walking on smooth and solid ground.

The sound of their footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

Finally, they seemed to reach the end of the tunnel, as Five noticed a bright light ahead, the light couldn't be mistaken as it was the unmistakable light that comes from the center of the solar system 'Sunlight'.

Seeing this all the kids started walking faster, being cooped under a building for almost two months and seeing the rays of sunlight, they finally realized how much they missed it. As is common with humans, we can never appreciate the little things we have until it is taken away from us.

*Thud* *Thud*

The unmistakable sound of people falling soon added to the sound of footsteps in the tunnel. Due to their ecstasy, some of the children forgot to take precautions against the uneven cracked floor which led to them missing their footings and ultimately falling. Those who were not fast enough to react to what happened tripped on them and also fell.

But as if high on steroids those who fell didn't waste any time in getting back up and walked on, not even minding the bruises they may have sustained. They marched on behind the soldier, who not even once turned back to check on them.

Soon enough they were nearing the end of the tunnel and some fresh air coming from outside hit their faces, the air almost acted as a stimulant to their already high adrenaline as they quickened their steps. Some of them almost overtook the military man, but feeling the man's tall presence and demeanor was enough to caution them into reducing their walking motion.

Finally, they exited the tunnel and once the heat of the sun hit Five's face, he stopped and slowly raised his head to look at it. He gradually closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let the warmth of the sun embrace him.

He remembered the last time, he stood like this and appreciated the beauty and warmth of the sun, the day he ran away from the orphanage. The day he felt what it means to be free.