Zipped

7: The Interrogation

“Sure. Come with us,” Thomas said from behind me. “Do you know which room Ms. Ellison is in?” he asked.

“Yeah, just follow me,” Ethan said and turned to head the way he had come. “By the way,” he said, before he took a step, “you don’t need to call her Ms. Ellison. She doesn’t really like being called that. Just call her Quinn and you’ll be just fine.” Then, he started walking back down the hall towards where he had come.

I followed close behind, along with my brother, Shailene, Neil, and Mitchell. We walked in silence, the sound of our footsteps the only thing we heard as we walked. I guess at this point, according to the other people down here in the zipper, it was bedtime. I really hoped we weren’t going to wake Ms. Ellison up.

We found ourselves walking back through the landing area, where we had all arrived there when we jumped or fell (unless you were the Greens). As I walked through one of the doorways, I noticed something I hadn’t realized before. “So, how is this place laid out, anyway?” I asked. This hallway looked almost exactly like the one we had come through on the other side.

“It’s kind of like a spider web. The landing is at the center. We’ve got the mess hall, doctor, trading post, and stuff like that in the first ring and part of the second ring. The outer rings are the houses. How haven’t you realized that?” Neil asked from behind me.

“I wasn’t thinking about it until I realized this looks exactly like the other side. Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense how this is all laid out,” I replied and looked around with them.

“Well, what do you think about it down here, out of curiosity?” Shailene asked me. She sped up her walking pace just a bit so she could walk beside me and hear my responses better.

“I actually like it, which is a bit surprising. When I came down here, I was expecting nothing. I was expecting my sister, if she was still alive, to be lying against a wall with dead bodies and starving. But this is a mini city, one that makes do with what it has, and I find that really impressive. Even though I wish that this didn’t have to exist, I’m glad that this does, and that all of you are living so well,” I said as we walked.

“I’m glad you like it down here. We try to make it accommodating,” I heard Neil say from behind me. You know how someone’s voice changes in a way when they smile? Where it gets a bit higher, and you can sense that they’re a bit happier just by that? Neil’s voice had that interesting change, and I didn’t have to turn around to see it.

After a while of walking, we finally reached the place. It looked like all the other rooms in the zipper, with the blanket covering the door. This one was one of those tie blankets where they tie each little piece together to make sure it stays together. I remember making one with my mom when I was little. It was really time consuming, but I was really proud of how it had turned out. I wasn’t able to find it when it got colder a few years ago, which was disappointing. It was really nice, with butterflies on one side and purple fabric on the other…

This one had butterflies and purple fabric on the other side. I could see it where they were tied. “Good to see my hard work paid off somewhere,” I said softly with a frown.