"Are we there yet?" Jen wines.
"Almost," I say tiredly.
"Are we there now?" Jen asks again.
"No," I say.
"Now?" She asks.
"No."
"Now?"
"No, now be quiet or else we won't get there," I say sternly looking back at her. She raises her hands in serenader. Finally, in peace, I look back at the road.
Quickly checking the time on the dashboard I exhale a breath. "Getting close?" Liam asks, turning to look at me.
"Ya, about ten minutes," I say quietly.
"Don't let Jen heat that or she will freak" he jokes.
"It's okay she has been asleep for a few hours now. Well, wake them up when we get there" I say.
He nods turning back to look at the road. "Sure is nice this time of day," he says.
I nod in agreement "ya, the sunrise is always one of my favourites" I say, relaxing a little more.
"What is your favourite?" He asks.
"That would have to be night, it's the calmest," I say smiling.
"Why?" He asks.
"I feel the most at peace, most attached to the earth and what is happening. It makes me calm, especially when there is a full moon with a clear sky. I can just stair up there all night sitting in a tree, feeling the wind on my face in my hair, running freely" I say closing my eyes as I picture it in my mind.
"That sounds wonderful," he says.
"What about you?" I ask looking at him.
"I love morning," he says.
"Why?" I ask smiling.
"Well, definitely not as deep of a reason but I like the idea of the world waking up to light from a dark hour. It's great and relaxing" He says.
I nod "that's nice, and no it does have a deep meaning to it even if you don't know," I say. We relax into a comfortable silence. After some time lights can be seen in the distance. "I think we should wake them up," I say, he nods turning around to wake them up.
"We're here?" Jen asks excitedly, I laugh nodding. "Yay, finally a comfortable place to sleep," she says sighing.
"Ya if it's safe," I say, she groans.
"Party pooper," she says, I chuckle at her look at the gates.
"Lucky for you I think it is safe," I say. She cheers fist-pumping the air.
Getting to the gates I slow down to a stop. "How many?" A man comes up to the car.
"Four," I say, he nods talking into his radio as he looks into the car. Jen waves to him from the back. Motioning us through he says "find a parking spot then go to the closest doors a person will be there to guide you."
"Thank you," I say, he nods. Driving through the gate I quickly spot an open area. "Okay, guys grab your stuff and let's head out," I say.
"Sleep calls to us people let's hurry up" Jen exhales excitedly. Laughing we all hop out of the car, bags in hand we begin to walk to the doors.
"May you please follow me?" a man asks as we reach the doors. Nodding he turns around and begins to walk. "I will take you to temporary rooms for tonight. Tomorrow you will get a check-up with nurses and time to shower, in official rooms. You will also get your schedule and name tags" he says.
Too tired to ask anything we just follow him through the halls. Once in front of some doors, he stops. "This is We're you will sleep tonight. Three beds in each room, someone will come and get you tomorrow to lead you around. Goodnight" he says.
We say our goodnights and head into the rooms. "Small, but a bed to sleep on," I say once we enter.
"Hey, stop talking and let's sleep," Jen says giving us a death glare. Smiling we all climb into our beds and turn out the lights.
A deafening alarm wakes us up. "Who turns on their alarm?" Jen screeches.
"For once I agree with you," Kaitlyn says.
"I think it is the wake-up call to the base to start the day," I say groaning as I lean up. "Let's get ready so we can unpack in our rooms," I say getting out of bed. A few minutes later we are out in the hall bags and all. Liam comes out a few minutes after us and we wait for our guide.
"Are you the people who came in last night?" A woman asks as she walks up to us.
"Yes we are, are you our guide?" I ask.
She nods "please follow me," She says turning and walking down the hall. Following her, we begin to walk behind her.
"So can you tell us about the base?" I ask moving beside her.
"Yes, well this base was originally a flight base but we cleared those out for more space. We cleared lots of rooms for housing and weapons storage. Since guns don't work we keep them out of people's hands since we don't need them. We added some fencing around for more space. Looks like the zombies aren't going anywhere so we prepared once we got wind of the outbreak" she says.
"How did you find out, sounds like you had time to prepare. What about food?" I ask.
"Well, we heard the virus went out in Southern Europe and travelled through birds and coughs on plains. Quickly travelled through the world, hitting the biggest cities first with lots of people catching it. As for food we stocked up once we heard. We have raiders and hunters going out and getting food from the land and abandoned buildings" she says.
"We're here" she stops and motions to a big open room with doors and curtains.
"I will wait here as you guys get checked on them we go and shower," she says.
"What is your name?" Kaitlyn asks.
"Janet," She says taking a seat on one of the chairs.
Some nurses and doctors come and lead us into a room. The one doctor goes with Liam well the nurses go with Jen, Kaitlyn, and me.
"Hello my name is Nichole and I will be checking on you today," Nichole says.
"May you please strip to your undergarments?" she says.
"Why?" I ask.
"I need to check for any bites or open wounds that possibly got blood in them," she says. I nod and take off my clothes leaving on my underwear. Nichole instructs me to stand in the middle of the room. She pokes and prods at different parts of my skin, doing a normal examination and then moving on to look for bites or cuts. Once satisfied she tells me to put on my clothes.
"Please take a seat," she says. Sitting down she grabs a clipboard. "Since you came in late last night I must put you in the system. Full name and age please" she says.
"Kaindra Caslato fifteen years old," I say.
"Any skills that might help us in the future to keep the base running," she asks.
"Fine understanding of edible and medical plants around here. Can shot a bow a little at a target, and use a knife here and there" I say partly lying.
"Any medical conditions we need to know, big or small," she asks.
"I need lots of exercises so I can sleep and not have discomfort," I say scratching my head in embarrassment.
"Can you go into more detail please?" She asks.
"Well if I sit for too long as most of the day I won't be able to sleep easily, also I will start to scratch at my skin and have spasms," I say.
She nods "is there a name for what you have?" She asks. I shake my head. "Well then that is all, Janet will lead you to get your schedule," Nichole says.
"Thank you," I say, she smiles leading me out the door. Everyone is out and ready, colour catches my eye. Looking to the left specialized personnel-only door is at the far side of the room.
"I hope to not have to see you anytime soon," Nichole says, laughing I nod walking to my friends.
"Can we take a shower now?" Kaitlyn asks pulling at her hair.
"That is our next stop," Janet says walking away. Following we eventually get to the showers. "Girls on the left guys on the right, and dirty clothes go into the hampers at the door when you leave," Janet says walking into the girl's shower room.
Going in after Janet we enter the shower room. Concrete columns line the center of the room. The ones at the back have curtains well the ones at the front have a slab carved into them to block any open eyes. "No boys are allowed in here unless they are with a parent or guardian, but they have to be under ten," Janet says moving to an open space. "Pumps are inside with soup, shampoo, and conditioner you can leave your bags outside for easy access if needed," she says.
Each moving to an open shower we quickly clean off and dress. Sinks or every few feet at the walls so we each brush our teeth and hair. Putting my hair up in a ponytail I look at the ends. "I should get my hair cut," I say to myself checking the length.
"Come on we have to hurry if we want to get breakfast" Janet yells. Hurrying out of the room we spot Liam. Not carrying we follow Janet down the hall. Keeping an eye out I focus on memorizing the path to and from the nursing area shower and mess hall.
Entering a big open space the smell of eggs, bacon and other breakfast food waft over to us as we rush into the room. Not caring for Janet as she stops to explain to us, we rush over to the practically empty line and grab food. Once our plates or heaping with the food we find an open table and sit. Quickly our once full plates are empty with crumbs.
"Well since you guys don't look like you are going to be moving for a little, I have time to tell you more about the rules," Janet says sitting across from me at the table.