Pure - The Broken Society

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Everyone else in the kitchen didn't seem to mind, and I always wondered if it was because they had no family or no group here, if they were alone or introverted. They all were okay with the idea of missing those precious meal times, and I never quite got why, honestly peculiar.

I never got an answer until I asked, to which they replied simply, "'cause we get first dibs on food, everyone else out there gets what's left."

No matter what, the cooks always had full stomachs, even if that meant sacrificing food for children, an utterly distasteful action to me.

I round a bend, Becca still in stride beside me as we continue our walk, the time just slowly ticking through the afternoon breeze. Saturdays - as Rebecca had described to me earlier - were to be our days together, she had no school and I had the day off. She described to me the wild adventures she'd wish to partake in, but the first thing she really wanted to do, was to know her way around her new home.

She always thought out loud with things, a very audible thinker. Every time we passed a tree she would point and say, "That's so pretty!" or we would pass a heavily pierced face to which she would look at me confused and exclaim, "That's scary." I only giggled at her comments.

Life here felt calm, and for once I felt relaxed and free. But that was all until the alarm sounded.

"What's that?" Becca shouts with terrifyingly dilated retinas.

"Becca, look at me okay," I say panicked to the sudden urgency, kneeling down with both hands on her shoulders. I knew what that alarm meant, but there's absolutely no time to explain, "We need to run!"

I take hold of her hand again, pulling her along as I run down the length of the chasm. With no sense of direction, lost to the placement of where we are, I scoop Becca in my arms, my pace quickening. Few people run the opposite way from us, confused as to where I am going, but they don't stop me, and the feeling screaming at me in my gut tells me to keep straight.

My eyes are wide with terror, scanning each side of the chasm walls for any sort of door or opening, reciting the instructions that were given in the safety briefing on Thursday.

"Though unlikely, attacks may happen, it's best to know what to do in case of one...One: find a door, Two: go inside and lock it behind you, Three: do not make a sound."

I whisper continually under my breath, "Where's a door, find a door, find a door."

I keep running, the paces between each jaunt long enough to where both feet are off the ground at once, the sensation of flight taking hold of my stomach.

I turn another corner, one out of thousands in this never ending maze of pathways. Just as I turn, I clash face first into a hard chest, stumbling and recoiling in sudden pain.

"What the hell are you doing?!" His voice booms, frantic and angry. "You're going the wrong way," Tate stares down at me in confusion, his eyes momentarily connecting with Becca.

"I'm trying to find a door!" I shout back.

"Well you ain't gonna find one that way!" As the last word slips from his lips, he takes Becca from my arms, slinging her over his back and takes hold of my hand. He begins running briskly back the way I just came, backtracking.

"What are you doing?!" I ask, bewildered and terrified.

"Finding a damn door!" He shouts back over the wailing alarm that grows louder and louder. The sound echoes off each wall, overlapping sound waves clashing and sounding even more horrific.