A/N: Here's the third chapter. A lot of the descriptions are from the book, whereas the people descriptions are from the movie. It's gonna be intermingled like that throughout the story. So, yeah. Here goes.
Chapter Three: Dirt Covered Glasses
Charlie followed Pendanski out into the sun, feeling the heat ten times more in her jump suit. Pendanski rambled on about mess halls, rec rooms, and other such sights at the camp, before finally stopping in front of a large, grey tent. There was a black 'D' hanging over the entrance, and aside from the letter, it looked exactly the same as tents A through C.
Ah, blissful monotony, she thought. She found it refreshing, in an ironic sort of way, that everything here was the same.
"Now you will be staying in D-tent. D stands for diligence!" Mr. Pendanski said. Charlie shuddered at the perkiness in his voice. Pendanski motioned for her to follow him inside.
Charlie entered the tent and took in her surroundings. There were eight beds lined up against the walls, four on each side, and had about two feet in between each of them. There was one bed, though, that was a bit further away from them all, but only a couple more feet. It was also the only one that had a crate by the foot of the bed. The rest of the crates were lined up on the back wall. Pendanski marched over to the 'special' bed and stood beside it, hands on his hips and ever-present smile plastered on his face.
"This will be your bed. We took the liberty of separating you from the boys as much as we could. Also, we're putting your crate here, by the bed, just in case you need any…'womanly things'," Pendanski said, shifting awkwardly with the last part. Charlie smirked at that.
"You'll find your belongings in the crate already. The Warden, herself, asked to looked through them. Just to make sure you're not sneaking in anything," he said cheerily. Charlie wondered exactly what she'd be trying to smuggle in exactly. Her past few homes have been even more locked down and strict than this one seemed to be. The second place she stayed, they only allowed a tooth brush.
Honestly, she really didn't care what they took, as long as she had some thin clothes left. It was hot.
Just then another person entered the tent. He was small, about five-feet, with a small afro. His eyes widened when he noticed Charlie, and his movement halted. They stood for a moment, the boy shocked, and Charlie amused. He continued on his way, still looking at her, but no longer confused. He seemed more curious, now. Pendanski moved over to the small boy and placed his hands on the boys shoulders.
"This here is Zero," he said. "Don't pay too much mind to him, now. He ain't got nothing really going on up here," he finished, slightly knocking on the kid's head. 'Zero' pulled away from him, sending him a glare. Pendanski failed to notice this, but Charlie felt relieved to know that she wasn't the only one who seemed to dislike this man.
"The other boys should be finishing their holes soon, and I shall let them do the introducing. Farwell, Miss Charlene," Pendanski said, waving grandly as he exited the tent.
She stood stiff for a bit, waiting for Zero to say something. After a moment of thick silence, she decided she would try.
"So, Zero is it?" she asked. His face stayed blank and the silence grew louder. She cleared her throat uncomfortably and continued. "I don't think your real name is Zero. I think it's something cooler, like Bolton, or something. So, unless you really like the name Zero, you should tell me what you prefer." She was met with an even heavier silence and she felt her self grow agitated.
"Fine," she huffed. "Zero it is. My name is Charlene, but I prefer Charlie," she rambled. She saw a ghost of a smile fall across his lips. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
"So, it's hot here," she continued. He nodded to that.
"Anything else, besides hot?" He shook his head.
"Didn't think so," she said. She didn't know why she was talking so much. It just seemed natural, talking to this 'Zero.' And he was a wonderful listener. She was about to say something else when two boys, both cloaked heavily in dirt, came stomping in. They were arguing about dirt. Go figure.
One was tall, with crazy hair jutting out of his head. His eyes were wide and his hands gesticulated with every word that fell from his tongue. He seemed to be angrily worried. The second boy, a tad shorter, wore a du-rag and had a toothpick hanging from his lips. His demeanor was much calmer, but a bit meaner. He reminded her of someone, and she felt her skin crawl.
He stood with his arms crossed, waiting for the first boy to finish. His face read that he clearly did not care about the first boy's case. Which the first boy failed to notice, because he was still arguing with the quiet boy.
"Shut up, Zig," boy number two finally said. "It ain't like I meant to do it. 'Sides, X'll be here any minute, and he's probably gonna rip both of us a new one."
"But I was almost done with my hole when you went and knocked all of your dirt into mine! That ain't right!" the newly appointed Zig rambled on.
"Like I said: Not. My. Fault. You shouldn't have dug your hole so close to mine." number two said, the beginnings of a glare etching into his features.
"Mr. Sir told me to dig there!" Zig yelled, throwing his hands up. Boy number two merely shrugged.
"What if Mr. Sir had wanted this to happen?" Number two asked, a smirk on his face. "I mean, what if he's trying to keep you out in the sun longer? So your brain'll fry?" Zig's eyes widened even more and his face paled.
"I knew it! I knew he was trying to kill me!"
Zig continued to ramble, but Charlie stopped listening. Instead she was focused on boy number two, who had finally noticed her. His eyes were large and his mouth hung open. She regarded him with a slight nausea.
His eyes, she thought. His eyes. James…
Her stomach churned at the thought of James as every memory of him came rushing back to her. Every memory she had tried so hard to suppress. She suddenly felt heavy and she broke the eye contact between them. Staring, instead, at the floor beside his feet.
"Who the hell are you?" number two asked, finally finding his voice. His eyes slanted into a glare. Charlie raised her eyes again, but kept them on his chin, avoiding his eyes entirely.
"Who the hell are you?" She questioned back. She brought out her poker face, pushing down all uneasiness and pain she had felt earlier. She rose her chin as she spoke. Finding her back bone once again.
"Squid," he said simply. "This is my tent. You lost or something, girl?"
"First of all, my name is not 'girl,' it's Charlie. Second of all, I only wish I was lost. Cause then maybe I could leave. Actually, I am your new tent-mate," she said. Annoyance was starting to creep up her spine. She felt her angry demeanor rise back up and started to feel better.
"But you're a girl," Zig said from the other side of Squid. Her eyebrows shot up. She'd completely forgotten that this kid was in the room with them.
"Yes, I am."
"And-and we're boys!" he said, gesturing wildly at him and Squid.
"Yes, you are," she said. "I'm glad we can distinguish our sexes."
"But then--then, why are you here?" Zig asked.
Before Charlie could answer, three other boys entered. One was black with thick glasses so dirty she wondered how in the world he walked without bumping into things. Charlie could tell he was pissed about something and made a mental note to stay out of his way for the time being. No use getting into something that had nothing to do with her.
The next one was a larger black boy who's stench reached her nose. She cringed inwardly, but showed no sign of acknowledging it. He could probably sit on her, suffocating and crushing her at the same time.
The third one was a small Mexican boy who's smile seemed a bit too excited. He seemed as though he might be a bit of an annoyance problem.
"Goddamit, Squid. Why'd you go and do that?" The boy with the glasses asked. Squid didn't answer him. He was still watching Charlie curiously. She switched her gaze from him to the new boy who's back was to her. She wondered acutely what it was exactly that Squid had done.
The other boy waved his hand in front of Squid's face before grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Squid, answer the fucking question!" the boy yelled.
"Girl," he said, nodding slightly at Charlie.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Squid? You pushed ZigZag into his hole because of a girl? There are no girls here, dumbass," the boy continued.
"There is now," the large black boy said. Both he and the small Mexican boy rubbed their eyes disbelievingly, as though they'd been out in the heat too long. The boy with the glasses turned around and finally noticed Charlie. He stumbled backwards a few step. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could imagine that they were a smidgen bigger than normal.
"G-girl," the boy said, fumbling on his words. "What?"
"I think we've already established that I'm a girl," she said, feeling the urge to roll her eyes. She refrained, though, unsure of their temperaments. She wanted to stay away from bodily harm for as long as she could. She wasn't stupid, though. She knew her mouth would get her in trouble eventually. It always did. But she'd try to prolong it as much as she could.
The boy finally regained his stance of importance and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. She noted to herself that he must think himself the leader, just by the air around him. He'd be much fun fucking with once she knew how to approach it.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Same reason as y'all, I'm guessing," Charlie answered. "Did some bad things while doing some bad people." Squid laughed at that but tried to cover it with a cough when the boy with glasses turned and glared at him.
"You're a funny one, huh," he continued. She just shrugged. She could tell she was pissing him off.
Wow, she thought. He's too easy.
"Well, fine. I'm X-Ray," he said. Finally, she could put a name to this thing of ultimate power. "That's Armpit and Magnet," he said pointing to the large black boy and the Mexican boy. They still look on incredulously. She just raised her eyebrows at the names, obviously nicknames.
"I'm guessing you already met Squid and ZigZag." She nodded stoically, accompanying it with an look of apathy. She was getting bored with this interrogation. She saw Zero stand and quietly exit the tent. With out any words, she stood up, looked at X-Ray disinterestedly, and followed Zero. She could hear X-Ray yell at her to come back.
Ignoring him, she caught up with Zero and walked beside him silently. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and smirked.
"They always that inarticulate?" she asked. His shoulders raised in a shrug and his eyes were full with confusion. The smirk had vanished from his lips. She mentally kicked herself.
"They always have that much trouble with their words?" she reworded, understanding that he had no idea what 'inarticulate' meant. His smirk returned full force and she heard him laugh. He nodded his head and they continued on in silence.
