Don't Feed Me, I Will Come Back

five

"Shit," the woman hissed, grabbing Zeppelin's arms to steady each other. "You okay?" The stranger was a few years older than her, with golden skin and ebony hair that fell in thick, tight ringlets around her face. The first thing Z noticed was that her eyes were kind.

"Yeah," she huffed, stepping back from the woman. "I'm good, sorry. I was distracted."

The stranger eyed her quickly, then whistled to someone back in the kitchen. "You're the newbie, right? I heard a girl and her brother were coming in."

"Yeah, guess so." Zeppelin shoved her hands in her pockets, suddenly uncomfortable with how regular the conversation was. How did she used to talk to people? She was good at it once.

"Name's Gloria." The other woman seemed content to fill the silence. The person she whistled to appeared, a heavy-set man with scruff covering his thick cheeks and jelly stains on his shirt. He held a piece of toast in one hand, and a banana in the other, and Zeppelin's stomach roared.

Gloria rolled her eyes at the man, snatching the banana out of his hand and nodding him back to the kitchen. He just grinned, happily obliging. "Here, girl." She held the banana out to Zeppelin, who just stared at it.

"It ain't gonna bite you," Gloria chided, shoving the fruit closer. "Here." Z took it slowly, holding it at her side like the dagger she missed so badly.

  "On me," Gloria smiled, crossing her slender arms over her chest as she eyed the growing line behind them. "I know you haven't started building points yet, and the first couple of days here can be tough. Consider it a welcome in present."

  Zeppelin wanted to ask her to clarify; the word tough sent goosebumps over the back of her neck, but an even more nagging part of her just wanted to get out of there already. "Thank you," she said and sincerely meant it.

Gloria waved her off, looping a rubber band around her hair as she pulled it away from her face. "Don't mention it. Oh, and a little tip: the breakfast gets better around eight. All the early risers are the ones doing the grunt jobs; you know, runs that take all day, construction, or sewage duty, so the options aren't that great. Come back later, and I'll have something good for ya." She winked and brushed Z's shoulder as she returned to the kitchen.

Zeppelin wasted no time in hurrying out of the cafeteria, and as the door slammed shut behind her, she realized she hadn't given the woman her name. Was that still considered rude? Did shit like that even matter anymore? She didn't think so, but then again, she always felt as though she saw things through a different lens than others.

She pressed herself further into the shadows as she explored the next corridor. She avoided a puddle of water near her worn-out sneakers and peeled open the banana while she walked. She thought it might be nice to have a friend. A real one, not like the girls at the bar who'd come in and attach themselves to her in the hopes of getting themselves and their sorority sisters free drinks for the night. It usually worked, but it didn't ease the ache of loneliness in her chest when she spent another night in her room alone.

When she passed an open door, she couldn't help herself, and she stole a glance into the room. It seemed to be a regular supply closet, though she couldn't make out its contents in this lighting. She decided to move on, focusing more on her breakfast than she should have since she didn't hear the footsteps down the hall until they were almost rounding the corner ahead of her.