90 Degrees

2. New Faces

Chapter 2: New Faces

Well, here's another chapter of 90 Degrees. Enjoy!

The house was drastically different from what an ordinary house would look like. There were fans everywhere, with people laying under them, looking desperate to cool down.

The living room didn't have a TV or furniture. Instead, there were sleeping bags scattered across the ground. There were a lot of pots with plants growing in them.

"I'll give you the tour," said Rex. "Follow me."

He lead me to the kitchen, which was pretty much the same as you would expect it to be.

Next, he took me down a long hallway. There were doors to the left and the right of me. They were all open. There was the bathroom and the master bedroom to the left, and two more bedrooms to the right. There were a few more sleeping bags in the bedrooms; the beds were still there. The bathroom also looked the same.

"Those are the bedrooms. Hope you don't mind sharing, we're a bit short on space."

But the truth was, I did mind. I hated sleeping with other people in the same room, especially if they snored. I wasn't about to complain to him, especially when the world had fallen apart.

"Question. How do you guys take showers?" I asked.

"Oh, Distiller Drew distills pond water and we use the distilled water to clean ourselves. We basically have sponge baths."

"What the heck is distilled water?"

Rex started to describe what distilled water was and how to make it. It sounded a little bit complicated. Apparently you take dirty water and you heat it up. You then capture the steam and cool it so it condenses into a liquid. The gross stuff is left behind and you are left with pure water. He also said that Distiller Drew has a water distiller which he built himself at school when he was a kid.

"Whoa, that's some cool stuff," I replied.

"You need to see the basement," he said. "That's where our main base is. You know, in case a tornado touches down or something." He said that casually, without a tinge of fear in his voice.

And he was right. There weren't really any sleeping bags but there was a backup of everything. There was another bedroom as well. There was a desk with a radio on it.

"That's where Mature Mable spends a lot of her time," Rex explained. "She co-ordinates everyone. She has a long attention span."

There was also a hot plate connected to an outlet. Apparently it was used to cook food most of the time if the oven didn't work. He also explained that the windmill nearby was used to power the home. I'm glad he mentioned that, because it saved a lot of confusion.

"Guys!" a voice called from upstairs.

Rex got an annoyed look on his face. "I forgot to mention we have an activity planned for today."

When I came upstairs, the survivors were seated in a circle with annoyed looks on their faces. The fans were pointed toward the people. Which was good; it was very hot in here.

"Immature Ian, we have a new recruit!" Rex called out.

"Hello, I'm Bryce," I said, introducing myself.

"Hi Bryce," Ian said. He had blonde hair and was wearing a shirt that read "Are you talking to me?".

"We're going to play a game!" Ian announced. "It's called 'Getting to Know Each Other!'".

Everyone groaned.

"Are you going to do something about this?" I hissed to Rex.

"Erm, sorry," he replied. "I'm not the leader."

I sat down in the circle to join the game.

"I'll start first, then we'll go clockwise, okay?" said Ian.

He explained the rules were that you had to say your name (including the stupid nickname you had), then something you like to do. Then he went.

"I am Immature Ian, and I like to play Tag and Hide and Seek!"

"I am Mature Mable; I like to do crossword puzzles." She had long, blonde hair.

"I am Dumber Don, and I like to hang out with Ian!"

This continued until all of the 11 other survivors went. There was Excitable Edward, Curious Caroline, Mechanic Mary, Distiller Drew, Chef Clyde, Recruiter Rex, Leader Liam, and Cold-hater Chloe. I wasn't even paying attention to the whole game.

"Bryce," Ian said, throwing me back into reality. "What do you like to do?"

I had to think about that for a minute. Finally I replied, "I like to look at the night sky through my telescope."

"Interesting!" Ian said. "Game over."

Trying to sleep that night was brutal. I slept on the main floor in the master bedroom, but I had to sleep with Dumber Don. He wasn't too annoying, but like I said, I hate sleeping with other people. At least I got a bed.

Another weird thing; the sun never set. I was struggling to figure out what could have happened to the planet. Normally the midnight sun only happens in the polar regions, but here it was, happening here. The sun got low in the sky, but it never set. So it was too bright in the room.

I finally managed to fall asleep around 2:00 that night. I had a pretty strong feeling that sleeping was going to become a major chore for me.

Well, the second chapter of 90 Degrees is done! Don't you love the idea that I gave all of the survivors nicknames?

Whatever. Stay tuned for more chapters.