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“You’re going to stay in one of these crates.” He watched my response carefully.
“For how long?”
“Twenty-four hours. Maybe thirty. It depends on how efficient the crew is at the barracks dock.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. “Barracks? Where are you taking me? Where are we going? How can I survive a day in this thing?”
As I began to panic, Ohara held my hands and gently ran his fingers through my hair. “I realize this is a big ask but I need you to do this. It’s the only way out without raising an army. And I don’t know about you but I don’t have many armies in my back pocket.”
He might have tried to smile but the visor made seeing it impossible. I was still panicking and his words didn’t soothe me.
“Hey, hey,” Ohara said, lowering his visor so I could see his eyes. “You can do this. I know you can.”
I wrapped my arms around him and lost myself in those gorgeous golden eyes of his. “I don’t want to be away from you. Not again. We’ve been apart too long already.”
He kissed my fingers. “In five years of searching, this is the only way I found to escape. If we don’t take this chance now, we might as well turn around and head straight back to the Prize Pool.” He leaned into me closer. “But I know that’s not a place you want to be.”
Neither was a claustrophobic box — one among millions that was too easy to get lost, I wanted to tell him, but the words didn’t come out. Instead, I found hidden reserves of strength and pulled myself together. I looked over at the black box that would be my home for the next day or so.
“Are you ready?” he said.
I nodded. “I am.”
“Good.” He nodded from under his visor. “Then follow me.”
He led me deeper into the giant cargo hold and toward the source of the deep voices I heard earlier. Shouts echoed up but the background noise was so loud I couldn’t understand them. Heavy machinery groaned and thick metal chains clanked against the container boxes as they were shifted from one position to another.
Ohara turned down a narrow alleyway between a stack of container boxes. When he turned sideways, he could barely squeeze through.
I hesitated before entering the narrow space. I had more room but I just didn’t like such cramped conditions. I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, and, using my hands to guide me, inched down the slim corridor.
The darkness behind my eyes was a whole lot more comforting than the true darkness before me. Behind my eyes there was nothing but me, and I knew I would never intentionally hurt myself. Unlike what might be in this darkness.
I bumped into something and stopped. I opened my eyes and peered up at Ohara, who motioned toward one of the crates. He held a small door open with his other hand.
“In here, quick,” he said. “They’ll be loading it soon.”
I entered the box. It was pitch black, darker even than the pitch black behind my eyelids. My feet caught on something at my feet and I reached the far end before I’d taken more than four staggered steps.
Ohara reached an arm inside the doorway I’d squeezed through. There was no way he could fit through it. A light blared on his gauntlet and illuminated the container’s space.
The thing I’d tripped on was a long cushion similar to what the Japanese back home used to sleep on the floor. Beside it was a series of small boxes. There was also a bucket. No prizes for what its purpose was (especially since I couldn’t make out any toilet).
“I brought the cushion for you to sleep on and there are snacks in the boxes,” Ohara said. “There’s enough water to last for a week, although you won’t be in here anywhere near that long. After you use the bucket, press the button on the side and it will break down the food waste into small packets and recycled water. You don’t need to drink it. There are also some English-language magazines and books I managed to find and under the pillow, you will find a small torch. Use it sparingly as we don’t want to attract anyone’s attention. I know it’s not much but it’s the best I could do under the circumstances.”
It wasn’t how I was expected to live that bothered me. It was the horrific cube location. I might have been touched by his thoughtfulness if twenty-four hours wasn’t such a long time. But now that I thought about it, sitting in the tin can of an airplane to fly halfway around the world could take just as long, if not longer. So really, what was the difference?
The difference is, I knew I would be getting off at the other end. I was a paying customer and had rights.
Ohara squeezed my shoulder and I gathered a large dose of confidence from it.
“Trust me, everything will work out,” he said.
I smiled up at him, and for the first time since we began our little escape, I really felt it would work out for the best. I couldn’t imagine all the hours and difficulty he must have gone through to make this happen.
I smiled up at him and kissed his gloves. “I would do anything so long as we could finally be together.”
He cupped my face in his hand and gently stroked my cheek. “As would I.”
