Shades of Purple

Chapter 11

'"Where am I," Marina asks cautiously? She knows that in Village A, talking to strangers has always been frowned upon- so was asking questions. She isn't in Village A anymore though.

"You're in a cabin- my cabin to be exact," the woman tells her with a small smile. Marina can tell that the woman is trying to make her feel welcome. Maybe it is the strained expression on her face or the uncomfortable tapping of her foot, but Marina can also tell that this woman has not smiled in a while.

"And who might you be?"

"You can call me Roz."

"Am I dead?"

"I would hope not."

Marina smiles and lets out a small laugh that could be deemed as inappropriate when paired with what she has to say: "I am not dead."'

* * *

When Marina's head is completely cleared up, she realizes that Roz is not as old as she had originally thought, instead looking to be about eighteen; she is beautiful, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Long bangs cover her forehead, and her face is narrow in comparison to Marina's more round facial structure.

"My name is Marina," she tells Roz politely, remembering that she has not yet mentioned her name to the girl.

"I know," Roz replies with unintentional rudeness.

Marina frowns at Roz's short response, "You are not much of a conversationalist, are you?"

Roz shrugs, "Believe it or not, I don't have visitors very often." Marina looks down and notices a large, white bandage wrapped around her wrist.

"What is this," Marina asks?

"A bandage," Roz replies slowly, looking at Marina with an odd expression. 'Has the Village education system really changed that much,' Roz wonders?

"No, I meant why is it on my wrist?"

"Oh, I had to cut the tracker out of your wrist. I can help you rewrap it if you would like," she explains with a shrug

"Tracker?"

"Yeah, the government puts a tracker in everyone's wrist. That's what they use to project your death day through your skin. Don't worry though, they think you're dead."

Marina wonders why Roz doesn't ask her anything about the word "ERROR" being on her wrist but eases her mind by deciding that Roz probably just does not want to pry.

"They think I am dead?"

"Isn't it great? The trackers automatically stop when your body reaches super low temperatures. It assumes that the extreme drop in body temperature is you dying. I wouldn't have cut it out if I had known beforehand, but I didn't want them to be able to locate the cabin. I like to stay under the radar," Roz explains.

"How is that a good thing? My family and friends think that I am dead!"

"Better than you actually being dead," Roz points out bluntly.

"I do not want them to worry. The death of someone close to you is not something you can just get over so easily!"

"I did," the girl shrugs, pretending to not be fazed by what she just said. Roz looks off away from Marina's eyes, her absent expression making Marina think that she is recalling a memory.

"Why am I here? What happened to me," Marina inquires, changing the topic of the conversation?

"You had hypothermia when I found you- well, when your dog led me to you. You've been out for a week."