987 (Complex Series, #3)

Chapter Twenty-Six

The buildings are arranged in two orderly rows, five buildings per row.

James motions to the row on our right, “This side of these buildin’s be a-for sleepin’. Families a-share buildings together.”

I don’t recognize the word ‘families’, but it must be just part of their dialect. James leads us down the path until we reach the third building on the right side, “This be the sleepin’ house that me and Rose a-live in.”

Rose hurriedly nods, “Arrie and her family a-lives with us too. Arrie takes a-care of me while Daddy’s away.”

There’s another word I don’t recognize. ‘Daddy’. They must all be part of life out here, I’m sure I’ll learn them soon enough.

James punches another code into the lock on the door. It glides open, revealing a small room, only six or seven paces wide and long. Beds line the walls.

I ask, “Are all the sleeping rooms, buildings, whatever you call them, are they all like this?”

James nods, “Yeah, they all be exactly the same.”

My heart sinks. Any hope I had of this being the village we were supposed to be going to disappears. It’s too small. Five, small sleeping rooms wouldn’t be even close to the amount of space we would need for everyone in the Complex. There were one hundred fifty girls in my year alone. With sixteen years worth of children, boys and girls, plus Officials, and everyone in the Unknown, the number quickly grows. Besides, what about the people in the other Complexes?

This isn’t the right village. I want to laugh at my earlier naïve hope.

James, unaware of my crushed optimism, continues the tour by leading us back out of the room and into a different building, this time in the left column, “This be where we’s have our food.”

He punches the same code into the door and it slides open, revealing shelf after shelf stocked with different objects.

Brightly colored plastic packages advertising this and that catch my attention. This can’t all be food. In the Complex, we had the same three meals a day. Once I got to the Unknown, I worked in the Kitchens, slaving away and preparing Ellen’s meal. But, those foods came fresh from the Fields. Never have I seen food in such strange packaging.

How old is this food?

James says, “There was a lot of food ta eat when we first a-came. But, there be also things we could a-read explainin’ how ta grow yer own food or a-hunt and a-prepare it.”

My eyes widen slightly, but I quickly hide my surprise. By the way they were talking, I didn’t expect them to be able to read.

James still catches our surprise, “Our parents a-think it be important for us to a-know how to a-read. They’s always made a-sure we’s know how and we’s make sure our young-uns know. It be a tradition.”

We follow James out of the food storage area and into the next building.

 “We’s a-have two storage areas. They’s be a-like this when we a-came, so we’s just a-left them how they be. This be the first one, where we’s have our knives, flashlights, fire-starters, all them types of things we a-need when we’s a-go outside the village.”

This room is once again filled with shelves, but on the shelves are bins and containers. I can’t make out the objects through the opaque plastic, but there seems to be an endless amount of supplies.

James leads us out of that room and into the next. The inside is nearly identical, except with different objects inside the bins. James explains, “This room be for things a-like blankets, pillows, clothes, shoes, that thing. We’s don’t a-know who was a-supposed to be a-comin’, but they’s haven’t a-turned up yet. They’s sure were a-prepared though.”