Deception (ON HOLD)

Chapter 7

I glance repeatedly at Shay as we walk briskly to the dining hall, cautious to not be late and consequently recieve the crap that's leftover from everyone else. I take in her wry expression, her eyebrows knitted together as she stares blankly infront of her, occupied fully with whatever is on her mind.

Ali continues to chatter in the background about God knows what, I'm only half listening and mutter the occasional "Uh-huh' to make her think I'm actually paying attention. Has she noticed Shay's mood? Probably not, Ali can be lost in her own world at times, paying little attention to changes in other people.

The doors to the dining hall soon come in to sight as we turn the corner to the hallway leading to them. The room is cold and mostly silent, the only sound being the low chant of several whispered conversations and the clattering of forks and knives against the plates. Silence is like a law at Ultimate, you only speak when you are spoken to. Absolute bullshit.

Ali strides towards the serving table where we are presented with a mug of water, mashed potato, chicken and peas. Sounds decent enough, except the potato and peas are always vile, either undercooked,  overcooked or messed up in some other way. As for the chicken, it's not actually chicken, it's a pill. Meat has been rare since the system broke down, animals scurried, wildlife and farm animals alike.

Few remained and those that have are not available as a source of food. The pill is supposed to taste like chicken and provide 'all the essential protiens', that was how the Imperious tried to show it as anyway.

I grab my plate and make my way with Ali and Shay to the table we spot Zander sitting at. He is talking to someone I have never seen before, a boy, around my age, maybe a bit older, with eyes a pure shade of blue and a slight smirk playing on his lips as he nods to whatever Zander is saying.

"Hi," I whisper to Zander.

He looks towards us and smiles, waving and then gesturing for us to sit down.

"This is Hunter" Zander says, granting the new guy a name. Hunter gives us a half smile.

One of the passing trainers glares at us, warning us to shut up.

"We'll talk at the Rec later." I mouth, recieving a nod from Zander.

We finish the meal mostly in silence, whispering only the odd sarcastic remark about the food or the uncomfortable wooden benches. The bell announcing the end of evening meal sounds as I take the last sip of water left in the mug. I place the mug on top of the plate that has been scraped clean, hunger beats taste anyday, food is rationed now in the city. We are getting fed more than most at two meals a day, but we are still hungry.

I take the plate over to the large table where the food was originally taken from and walk out into the hall. I wait at the end of the hall, staying clear of the bustle of agents coming out all at once, for Ali, Shay, Zander and I suppose Hunter aswell if he's with Zander. Everyone is supposed to come out in an 'orderly manner', but there are a lack of trainers on watch today and people are being quite lax, talking and walking at ease, most forgetting we are constantly being watched.

Ali's caramel hued hair begins to emerge through the crowd as people begin to go their seperate ways, their converstaions dying down as they do.

"We'll meet you guys there in a few minuets?" I say to Zander and Hunter. Hunter hasn't said much, nothing actually, to anyone, replying only slightly to Zander when he was talking to him. He stands tall and seems a bit arrogant, fed up of everything, though he's not even been here a day. His eyes glisten under the light and I catch him looking at me a few times, seeming amused for some reason. I choose to ignore it.

"We'll have to go tomorrow, sleep quarter begins in about twenty five minutes," Zander replies.

"Oh, okay, well see you tomorrow,"