The fluorescent light flickering stirred the prisoner from her slumber. It took a couple of blinks for the woman's eyes to adjust to the stark white walls, she still had to squint even after her vision had cleared. She rolled her head round, trying to ease a knot that had formed in her upper back from sleeping upright for so long. She wasn't exactly certain how long she'd been in the jail cell, it must've been a week. No, maybe longer? Time had no meaning anymore. The girl had had the same meal for the past... however long. Lumpy potato mash and a cup of water, something that barely kept her alive. Perhaps that was why time had distorted so much.<br/><br/>She knew where she was, at least. This was the place they brought prisoners they planned on executing. No doubt hers would be public, if the council had any say in her fate. She wondered why they had waited so long, if they were going to kill her they might as well get it over with.<span style="font-style: italic">The waiting was the real punishment.</span><br/><br/>The hatch that covered the cell doors only window was opened and a woman stood on the other side of the door. One of the council women. If Cora was more awake, she would've been able to put a name to the matured face. Alas, she couldn't even tell if the woman was wearing a look of anger or disappointment. Not that the girl really cared at this stage.<br/><br/>She pulled herself up, slowly and carefully as her limbs began to wake up. She felt sore and stiff, having to use all the energy she had left to even be able to walk to the door.<br/><br/>"Your punishment has been decided." The woman stated, looking at her through the glass.<br/><br/>So, today was the day? That must've been what she meant. Cora didn't seem to feel any emotion to the news. She'd dealt with the fear of dying, it was better than being stuck in this hell hole.<br/><br/>"I die today." She stated, giving the woman an emotionless stare.<br/><br/>"No. But some might say your fate is worse then death." She replied, flicking a stray black hair out of her eyes. Which was a pointless act because it fell right back in it's place afterwards.<br/><br/>The heavy metal door swung open to reveal two soldiers stood either side of her. Now that the doorway was open, Cora could hear the other prisoners. Some shouted, demanding to be let out, begging for mercy. Others simply moaned and wailed as if they'd gone crazy in this place. She wouldn't be surprised. The one soldier grabbed her arm, pushing down on one of her bruises and pulling her out of the room. He began to drag her down the corridor behind the council woman. Her feet scraped across the floor, unable to keep up with the speed of the soldiers that walked alongside her.<br/><br/>"Where am I going?" She asked, but there was no response, just a small sadistic chuckle.<br/><br/>Once they'd left the prison, a man stopped the woman in her tracks. "She has an extra stop first." He began, giving Cora a look of disgust before pulling the woman to one side. She couldn't make out all of the muffled words but she got the gist of the conversation.<br/><br/>"...Producers think she should look more rough..."<br/><br/>"Rough?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, you know. For the entertainment...<br/>...I don't know...<br/>...Couple of cuts? Get it on camera."<br/><br/>In the end, the redhead decided to stop trying to understand their conversation. Camera? Was she going to be put on a poster or something? The girl assumed she probably looked bad enough already, but what did she know? And that's when a black bag went over her head and she was dragged off.<br/><br/>She'd passed out at some point, because when she came back round she was sat down, straps across her chest were holding her in place and the bag was pulled off of her shortly after she lifted her head.<br/><br/>"Okay, okay, here we go." One man called, pulling a camera round so it was in Cora's face. She looked confused, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to work out what was going on. Was she being filmed? There were bright lights behind the man, they were so bright she couldn't make out the room she was sat in or if there was anyone else with her. In her haze of thoughts, she didn't realise straight away that her hair was being grabbed. When she turned to look, she saw a woman with a pair of scissors, chopping at her hair with no real plan of action.<br/><br/>"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to jerk her head away. The woman pulled her head back afterwards, rolling her eyes as she continued working her way through the prisoners mass of red hair. The more she tried to fight the hair dresser off, the more she got angry and the camera man got excited. Apparently she was playing right into his hands. If that was the case, she wouldn't make another sound. She sat still after that, silent.<br/><br/>Once the haircut was finished, the woman handed Cora a mirror. She reluctantly looked at herself, her mouth dropping as she studied the person staring back. The first thing she noticed was her hair. What used to be healthy red hair that sat just below her chest was now a messy bob with random layers that made her hair look flat in some places and matted in others. She moved to look at her eyes, lifeless green eyes that had dark circles around them. She saw the tears streaming before she felt them. The camera man zoomed in on her face at this point, to which she angrily kicked it back at him, screaming at the intrusive man.<br/><br/>After that act of rebellion, a soldier emerged from behind the lights, giving her a hard hit against her head to knock her out.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">---</div><br/><br/>Cora woke up in a metal cage, her head pounding from the punch she'd felt before. She crawled forward, her hands wrapping around the bars as she tried to pull them down.<br/><br/>"Rolling." Someone called, causing the confused woman to look up, noticing her father stood in front of her. He looked uncomfortable, like he'd been forced to be here and it wasn't something he actually wanted to do. Or perhaps that was her imagination telling her that.<br/><br/>"This is for your crimes against the government and the council. For rebelling against the system and planning a mass attack, you have been entered into The Maze. You--"<br/><br/>"Maze? Dad? What's going on?" Cora interrupted, but he didn't even look at her. He took a deep breath and continued.<br/><br/>"You have this bag to keep you alive. Find your way to the center and you get out. Good luck." He muttered, chucking a red bag at her before walking away.<br/><br/>She looked down at the red bag, noticing it was the same colour as her jumpsuit. She pulled it open, looking through the contents. 5 black throwing knives. She run her finger along the blade as it sliced into her flesh. They must've been sharpened before she was given them. She watched the blood trickle down her finger before looking back in the bag, there was some kind of belt with five loops. It must be to put the knives in. The last item in the bag was a small box, inside there was a small tube of anti-septic cream, a bandage and 5 plasters. She decided not to use one on her finger, the cut was too small to cause any serious problems.<br/><br/>When the redhead looked back up, the cage had disappeared, replaced with 3 white marble walls. She stood up, turning around to notice a long corridor. When she looked up she saw the grey sky. This must be the maze. She picked out the belt from the bag, fitting it round her waist before putting the 5 knives in the holes. They fitted well, but were easy to access. She wondered what it was she was supposed to be fighting.<br/><br/>Her thoughts were interrupted when the wall behind her began to move forward, coming towards her with speed.<span style="font-style: italic">They want me to get on with it.</span>She thought, her heart beginning to race as she put the bag over her shoulder and began running. She was surprised with her energy levels, wondering if they'd managed to feed her somehow whilst she'd been asleep. Maybe she wasn't ready to die after all. Once she'd past a little red mark that was etched on the wall, she noticed that the wall stopped moving. Now she was stuck with a choice, left or right?<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">---</div><br/><br/>Days, maybe weeks had passed. No, it couldn't have been weeks could it? Cora wouldn't be alive if it had been. The girl had walked round the marble walled maze for what felt like forever, until the walls slowly transitioned into hedges. She had tried to climb them, but to no avail. There were thorns on the branches that made it impossible. She'd managed to deal with any injuries she'd given herself from trying to escape and not used her first aid kit. The only thing she desperately needed was food. She began to wonder if the weapons were to be used on anyone else. So far she hadn't met any danger. Was she truly alone in this maze?<br/><br/>A call for help answered her question, as if by magic. She perked up from her slow walk, looking around for the source of the noise. Had she imagined it? Possibly. She decided to trust her instincts and follow the noise.<br/><br/>"Hello?!" She shouted, her voice a croaky mess. She began to run in the direction she thought the call had come from. Adrenaline was the only source of energy that was giving her the ability to run. "Hello? Can you hear me? Where are you?" She shouted again after clearing her throat.