Argent Glass

Chapter 29 - Divert - Jordan

Jordan and Jinho climbed the wall above the pool of water. At the top, Jinho grabbed Jordan's arm and made her stop to look at him. "What's your plan, Jordan? We can't just keep Andrew like a wounded puppy and bring them food when they're hungry."

She pulled away and started walking. "We can help him get better, and then show them how to get out of here."

"He's been shot, Jordan. And he could have a broken ankle. He needs to get to a hospital. Sooner, rather than later."

"He said his ankle was sprained and that the bullet went in and out and will heal on its own."

Jinho didn't move. He called to her. "He's not a doctor. What happens when it gets infected?"

She ignored him and kept moving.

"He could die out here, Jordan."

She stopped. Anger made her eyes narrow and her voice gravel. "We can't just take him into the dome, Jinho. They're looking for him. They killed a guy for walking around in the desert."

"He was trespassing."

"And what do you think those two were doing?" She stepped backward. "They shot him!"

"They weren't just walking around the desert. They were going to the dome."

"They were curious! And I would like to point out that you just called it a dome."

"This is not a joke."

"I know it's not a joke," Jordan sneered. "You sound like my mom."

They were silent until they reached the dome and Jordan turned to Jinho. She held a cell phone in her hand. "Can you make this work?"

"Where did you get this?" he asked. He tried to turn it on. "It doesn't work. The battery is dead. Did you take this from Andrew?"

She ignored his questions. "I know the battery is dead. I don't have a charger. Do you remember seeing one anywhere? Can you make it work?"

"I can't exactly go through people's personal items." He frowned, then brightened. "But I remember seeing one in the study center."

"Oh my God! Thank you, Jinho! I'm going to have Internet access!" she squealed, hugging him. He tried to hug her back, but she danced away wagging her finger at him.

"Can't blame me for trying."

She laughed and hooked her arm around his. "I will meet you in the cafeteria in an hour. You're the best!"

The chores board killed Jordan's good mood. She sighed as she headed into the kitchen where she found dishes stacked in the sink waiting for her.

After finishing the dishes, she slipped away to take a break in the underground food cooler. Naturally cooler inside the mountain, vegetables were as well-preserved as if they were kept in a modern refrigerator. Carrots, beans, tomatoes, and corn filled slatted wooden bins. At one side of the room, lids leaned against each bin with "ARGENT" sprayed across the top in bright white letters. At the other side of the room, the letters were sprayed in red paint. Each bin had a stapled tag with a code indicating which field the contents had come from.

Jordan liked the plants with the white letters the best. They included vegetables grown inside the dome. The tomatoes and corn were juicier and sweeter, the carrots and beans more flavorful than their counterparts from the greenhouse, and those outside were even worse. In her opinion, the vegetables with the red letters indicating they came from the fields outside the dome shouldn't even be saved.

She pulled a green bean from a bin and snapped off a bite, enjoying the crunch until she noticed two beady eyes staring at her from the floor. She took a tentative step closer and found a dead turtle leaning against the bin.