Rats in the Pipes

36: More Revelations

My bladder sending urgent messages to my brain finally dragged me out of a pit of sleep. It took me several moments to realise where I was. Ben was sprawled out face down snoring. I sat up carefully wondering what time it was. I vaguely remembered Ben's grandfather giving us some more of that drink at some point but how long ago that was I had no idea. I swung my legs off the bed and as I did so I noticed the state of my feet. Once we were travelling in Mooke we'd stopped wearing our disintegrating boots and gone barefoot. Between my toes and round my nails was decorated with dirt and as for the soles they were just black all over. I glanced guiltily at the place where my feet had been resting on the bed and was relieved when I didn't see horrible marks on the cover. 

Bending down to retrieve my clothes I got a whiff of my armpits. They smelt awful. A couple of cautious deep breaths convinced me I really needed a scrub but first things first. Da had shown us a bucket we could pee in. I eyed the slops bucket containing our dirty washing water and wondered if we were supposed to use that. I had an idea at the back of my mind that there was a room with another bucket somewhere. There was sunlight coming through the window so I assumed I hadn't slept that long. I slid open the door and was faced with a choice of two directions. I was trying to decide which way to go when Jan appeared yawning hugely. He'd just woken up for the same reason I had.

The first screen we opened led to another bedroom. Jan decided it had to be his dad's since everyone else including the mysterious Arn appeared to live in the same complex and he couldn't imagine his dad not being near his parents. The second screen revealed a space that was obviously the cubby. There were two buckets separated by a ledge on which there was a bowl and a pitcher of water. Above the left hand bucket there was a label that read 'Pee'. The second bucket was labelled 'Poo' beside it there was a box containing chopped up bits of what looked like reeds and a scoop. Jan was in front of me and dashed for the pee bucket but I have long legs. We arrived together.

"I can't wait."

"Neither can I."

"Slots. Family bonding time over a piss it is then. Just be accurate."

When we emerged we found Ben standing in the doorway of Arn's room yawning and scratching. He brightened up when he saw us

"Cubby?" Jan pointed and Ben shot into the space we'd just vacated. We waited until he reappeared. He grinned "That's better. Let's get Mik and find some food. I'm starving."

"I checked Uncle Var's room when I woke up. No-one was there but Sol's still asleep." Sol turned out to be awake when we got back to Da and Heta's and while she was visiting the cubby I dug through our clothes in an attempt to find some slightly less filthy garments for Ben and myself. There weren't any. Jan took off his shorts and pulled on his dress.

"Got to face the public in something that doesn't whiff like a dead pipe rat."

Ben grinned "I think that's you not the clothes Jan."

"Possibly but like you I might also want to make a statement about who I am."

"Slots. Want the pink frilly thing as well?"

"No Sol can wear that if she wants. It's the cleanest thing we've got."

"That's because it's completely impractical." Sol inspected the pile, held up a pair of what had once been Jan's white trousers, made a face and dropped them back on the pile. "Might as well stay in these. Everything's disgusting. Funny how I didn't notice that until now."

"Basic needs satisfied means you move on to the next level. Let's go and find people. Maybe we can get fed and scrounge some clean clothes."

I'd slept a lot longer than I thought. It was probably mid morning judging from the sun. We could see people working in the fields but no-one was very near us. The opening in the rock turned out to be a tunnel. There were some rough cut steps inside the entrance leading upwards. Mooke was parked a few metres further in but there was no-one in sight. The tunnel receded into darkness so we climbed the steps. We came out in a gallery walkway. Light shone through the series of openings in the outside wall. I went over to the nearest one and looked out. Tucked into the shade of the rock face I could see the domes of the houses. There were more than I'd realised when we arrived. A touch on my arm made me glance round. Ben was pointing towards the lagoon. Following the line of his finger I could just make out a boat in the distance. Jan saw it at the same time and gave a delighted exclamation.