Nat pulled me behind a building a few blocks down, his hand remaining over my lips. He pressed me against his back to keep me still. Only the sound of our hearts beating filled the air.
I feared that sound would be too loud.
The minutes seemed to last hours as we stood hidden in the shadows of the uniform buildings. The wind blew gently, ruffling small pebbles in its path. Almost teasingly it licked at our exposed skin, sending chills down my spine.
Nat pressed me tighter to him.
At the sound of footsteps, both of us jumped in our spots. Nat’s body stiffened around me as the crunches became louder before steadily droning away. A rush of air tickled my ear as Nat exhaled behind me.
Hesitantly, he released his grip on me.
I turned around slowly, but kept the distance between us minimal.
“What…”
He pressed a finger to my lips, shaking his head no. Nat curled his fingers around mine before leading me quietly out from around the cabin. On tip-toes we hurried back to our home before anyone caught us. Nat kept me at a quick pace, but I was sure to be as soundless as possible.
As we approached our street, Nat came to a stop, peering out from around the corner of one of the cabins to inspect the clearing. He ushered me with him as we sprinted down the road.
I slipped underneath his outstretched arm as he held the door open for me. Nat shut it tightly behind us.
The sleeping figures surrounding me were oblivious to the danger that Nat and I had just faced. It seemed impossible that none of them noticed the intruders in their cabins.
A faint but putrid smell penetrated my nose. The rank stench was subtle enough that I could tolerate, but condensed enough to cause me to cringe. I glanced at Nat, noticing that he wore an expression similar to mine.
Pressing a hand to the small of my back, Nat urged me toward our bunk. I climbed up into my top mattress sloppily, but managed to keep the noise level at a nil.
“Nat?” I asked as loudly as I dared.
He hadn’t yet climbed into his bed. His dark silhouette stood a few inches from my bed. Despite being unable to see, I knew our eyes were locked.
His attention was turned on me, waiting for what I had to say.
“Why were they there?”
Nat moved a hand to rest on the edge of my mattress. I could make out of the shape of his fingers just inches from my own.
His lips were shut tightly as he took in my question.
“I don’t know.”
Nat ducked down into his own bed, leaving me with no more of a response than that. I rolled over in the cot softly, listening to the creeks of the springs.
There had to be a reason for the aliens to have explored our cabin. It couldn’t have been chance that out of the thousands of huts here, ours was the lucky one.
There was a reason.
Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on sleep, but naggings thoughts of tonight’s adventure continued to hound my mind.
~*~
The morning passed suspiciously normal. There was a thick tension in the air as we gathered for breakfast in the surprisingly clean mess hall. The food served consisted of the same as yesterday, and the silverware lacked any damage. Chatter consisted largely of any who hadn’t been in the raids the previous evening.
Those that had sat in silence and fear.
How had they managed to transform the cafeteria from the wreck it had been into the perfectly normal building once more? I hadn’t seen the total damage done to it, but Nat had informed me last night that it had been one of the hardest buildings hit. Many had abandoned their designated location for the mess hall.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.
As I collected my tray of barely edible food, Nat led the way back to the table that we had sat with earlier. Neither of us spoke, the atmosphere enough to convey our emotions.
The table seemed less crowded today. Nat took up his normal seat while I squished in between an unfamiliar man and my roommate. The men around began to eat immediately. As I slowly downed the food, I came to realize how accustomed I had become to the vile leftovers that were fed to us.
A few more people joined the group before anyone made a noise.
“This is just strange.” I recognized the voice to belong to a Hispanic man that spoke often. I felt embarrassed that he was speaking English for my sake.
The surrounding members nodded their head in agreement.
“Have you guys seen any of the other buildings today?” the same man asked.
“We just woke up, José.” Nat snapped, “Do you really think we’ve gotten the chance to see any others?”
He sent Nat a dirty look, “How am I supposed to know unless I ask? Just because your little girlfriend’s here doesn’t mean you get to keep that dick shoved up your ass.”
My face lit up at his comment, but Nat brushed it over completely.
“Don’t waste our time with stupid questions. Think before you speak next time. ¿Comprende?” He hissed.
José slammed his fists on the table, standing up angrily, “Listen, muchacho, I could kick your little culo blanco any day. You mock me with my own language one more time and I’ll rip your puta madre conjones off!”
Despite not understanding a third of his sentence, even I sat back in fear at the angry Hispanic towering over the table.
I glanced worriedly to my side to where Nat sat, impassive to the threat.
“Sit down, José.” Nat said, sounding irritated but otherwise unaffected by his words, “You’re making a scene.”
The Hispanic glowered for a moment longer before collapsing into his seat. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Nat.
An uncomfortable silence fell across the table. I shifted in my seat nervously, suddenly having lost my appetite for food. The sound of silverware scraping against the plastic trays filled the void as the others continued to eat.
The rest of the meal continued in silence.
I waited until Nat was done to leave.
He glanced at my tray.
“Aren’t you going to finish that?” He asked, nodding toward my tray. A majority of the food remained on it, but I couldn’t force myself to finish.
I shook my head softly, watching as he grabbed his own tray, standing up. I followed Nat away from the table as we disposed of our breakfasts. He led the way out to the shed to pick up the cutters. We were one of the first few done in the mess hall. One or two lingered around as they waited for more to leave for work.
Nat hurried at a quick pace.
I fell into step with him easily. “What did he say back there?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Nat!”
“José was just talking crap again.” Nat rolled his eyes, “He’s incredibly short tempered and anytime you set him off, he thinks he sounds more intimidating if he mixes languages. He does that all the time. He won’t do anything.”
“Why’d you provoke him?”
Nat stopped, turning to face me, “You think I provoked him?”
“You told him he asked a stupid question! That’s provoking him!”
He thought for a moment, before brushing it off, “Whatever. He’s a grown man. He doesn’t need to act like a five year old.”
“You weren’t acting much better in there.” I crossed my arms, cocking my hip. “Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re encouraging him to lose control, and then you scold him for acting immaturely when you did the same thing! How can you expect to lead all of these people when this is how you act?”
Nat’s eyes widened angrily. He took a sharp step toward me, threateningly, “Are you calling me childish?”
I stuck my chin up boldly, “Yes.”
“Watch it, girl.” He took another step, forcing me to retreat one as well, “You’re gaining a lot of boldness for a girl who has nearly been killed seven times. I know this place better than you. I could easily leave you to die.”
“You’re proving my point exactly.”
“Really?”
Another step backwards as he stepped forward. My back hit the cold, uncomfortable wall of the cutter shed. Nat towered over me, but I kept my chin up, not backing down.
“You’re threatening me because you know that I’m right.”
“You are not right.” He laughed sarcastically once.
I narrowed my eyes, “You’re so sure of yourself, huh? No one will say no to the mean boy. You’re nothing but a bully, Nat. You think you’re helping humanity, but all you do at those stupid meetings is chant and give encouraging statements.”
“What about last night?”
“Look at the results.” I nodded toward the mess hall, “All evidence of last night is gone. It’s as if it never happened.”
Nat slammed his hands against the wall on either side of my face forcefully. I jumped slightly, but regained my composure.
A smug smirk crossed his lips at my reaction.
“Do you really think you could do any better than I have?” He asked, “I know this place like the back of my hand. You’re nothing but a newbie.”
“I might not know this place like you do, but I could do a much better job at these raids.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Is that a bet?”
The situation hit me like a wave. Nat towered over me threateningly, his hands on either side of my head pressed flat against the wall. His face hovered a mere few inches away from mine. He could take me in seconds, and I would be unable to stop him. His strength was much superior then mine.
But here I was running my mouth like the fool I was. José wasn’t the only one who held a short temper.
I swallowed nervously, keeping my cool on the outside, “It’s a promise.”
“You’re a cute one, aren’t you?” He teased. “You couldn’t handle the responsibility.”
“Why do you doubt me?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Because I could get us out of here!”
He laughed, pulling back. Without responding to my comment, Nat walked around to where the cutters were stacked inside the shed. He grabbed two, roughly handing me one before making his way into the fields.
The conversation stopped there.
I continued to hold my annoyance toward him.
~*~
Nat and I didn’t communicate the rest of the work day. At lunch, I returned to my original spot in the abandoned corner where I had previously occupied. It was nice to sit alone and not worry about the others around me.
I closed my eyes while I ate, taking in the simplicity of eating alone.
All too soon our lunch break was over. I begrudgingly returned to the fields, meeting Nat at the sheds. He held two cutters, once again handing me mine without a word. I scowled as he walked a head of me.
Why couldn’t I have met someone nicer?
But I had.
And I had abandoned her for Nat.
The image of Cassandra lingered in the back of my mind the rest of the work day. Working in silence gave my mind time to think. As I thought, I realized that I had neglected my first friend because of the judgments made by my current ones.
She had never shown me rudeness or disrespect like Nat had. She had taken me in under her wing and tried to help me.
Guilt stabbed in my heart at how I had treated her.
By the end of the day, I had come to promise myself that I would focus on becoming better friends with the girl who had first tried to befriend me.
I walked from dinner back to the cabin alone. Today was my day for showers, and it was a quick trip back to the cabin to gather up my belongings. My body yearned for the cleansing water to pour down and wash away all the dirt that had gathered up over the past few days.
It would be a relief to be clean once more, even if it meant suffering through the embarrassing conditions.
As I entered the cabin, I realized that I was one of the earliest back. I kept my eyes low, heading toward my bunk to grab the soaps and a change of clothes.
“93-11!”
I turned automatically in response to my number.
My eyes landed on the familiar redhead my three friends had warned me about. Red sat on her bunk, smiling gently at me.
“Hey,” I smiled, coming over to her. “Shower day?”
She nodded, holding up her own bar of soap, “I haven’t talked to you since the last one!”
I laughed, “What’s up with that?”
She stood up, leading the way out of the cabin, “Let’s get going before the stalls fill up like they did last time.”
I nodded in agreement as we headed out.
“So…” She started as we fell into step with each other. “I’ve noticed how you’re spending more of your time with 94-2.”
It took me a moment to remember Nat’s number.
“Yeah, I guess.”
She pursed her lips, “I don’t like him.”
“I’ve noticed.” I teased. “Can I ask why?”
“He’s got an attitude that just screams trouble. In this new environment, that’s just not a good attitude to have.” She shook her head, “You know, he’s been in Isolation more times than anyone else here?”
I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, “He’s been in Isolation?”
She nodded, “For a multitude of reasons. Every few weeks it seems they lock him away for something. We never know why. He never tells us.”
“Wow.”
“I wouldn’t hang out with him, if I were you.” She advised, “Isolation’s not a pretty thing. I was in it once.” Red shuddered dramatically.
“What’s it like?”
“Hell.”
I could tell I wasn’t going to get a better answer. I dropped the subject, choosing to find something else to talk about.
“Have you always been in cabin 1666?”
She nodded. “We don’t switch cabins. You leave when you’re dead.”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Red and I entered the showers, luckily missing any line. I hurried through mine just as quickly as I had the first time, once again finishing before Red. Despite yearning for the feeling of cleanliness, I still was uncomfortable showering with other women.
My companion met me at the exits, and together we returned to the cabin. Cassandra sat on her bed nearly asleep. Red led us over to where our mutual friend laid. She nudged Cassandra awake, giving her a gentle smile.
I glanced up, noticing Jacob on the bunk across the room sitting with Nat and Eddie. He gave me a confused look.
I averted my eyes.
“How was your shower?” Cassandra asked, sitting up groggily.
Red shrugged, “Same old. Cold water, too little space. No different from any other time that we’ve gone.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I was having the strangest dream…” Cassandra shook her head as if assuring herself it wasn’t real.
Red gave her a curious look.
“I dreamt that we were flying over the fields watching everyone complete their jobs. We couldn’t figure out how to fly down and commence our jobs.” Cassandra explained, “I was scared that they would find us.”
“That’s a strange dream,” I laughed softly.
She nodded in agreement. “I hope that never happens. I don’t want to find out what they would do to me if I missed a day of work.”
“Would they know?”
Nat snorted from across the room.
I turned over my shoulder to give him a dirty look. Thankfully, Red saved me from any confrontations with him.
She rested a hand on my shoulder to regain my attention, “They have a good monitoring system for when we work. I believe your friend over there has been in Isolation a few times for bailing on his job.” She nodded toward Nat.
“You wouldn’t know.” He snapped.
Red turned her head so the boys couldn’t see, giving me a sly smile, “Like I said, he’s a trouble maker.”
“I definitely see that.”
She giggled, “I like you, 93-11.”
“Thanks, Red.” I smiled, “I like you too.”
I glance over my shoulder spitefully to see Nat making a disgusted face at me. A smug smirk crossed my lips as I knew I was aggravating him. My eyes shifted over to Jacob. The younger boy seemed confused and hurt by my friendship with the women.
While I felt bad at hurting him, I felt no feelings toward Nat’s thoughts aside from an undeserved smugness.
I was mad at him, and doing my best to irritate him.
*****
Good news! I'll probably be updating quicker now (: