Chapter 51
United States Naval Base
Recruit Training Center
On the shores of Lake Michigan
Great Lakes, IL
Building #1105
Day #34
Kira
Kira started to panic. She'd come all this way only to be trapped in another prison. "Hey…" Andrew put his hands on her shoulders. "We're all here together; no one is being separated, at all. We won't allow anyone to be hurt. Just keep breathing, all right?" Kira nodded, pinning her hopes on that for the moment. "Now we left some of the cameras at the front of the room where the tables are uncovered so we can try to communicate with them. Anyone who doesn't mind being watched as they sleep can take a bed up there. I got beds for us down at this end; I thought you'd want the privacy."
"Yes, thank you." She took a deep breath. "I just…I just…"
"It was this or dying, you know that. We're alive and together, it can't be all bad." Andrew pulled her into a quick hug. "Come on, we should go join Mer… Dr. Kaerleikar and Captain Nabyen. Drifa wants to use this end to do a few check-ups."
Drifa, the midwife, "Is everyone all right?"
"So far, but she wants to check while we have time."
They headed back to the front of the room, where Merina, now Dr. Kaerleikar, was attempting to communicate with the people on the other side of the cameras via pantomime. She gestured to the group, made a motion like she was putting food into her mouth, then smiled and licked her lips and rubbed her abdomen. Both brother and sister turned to Reka, who was standing there looking amused with the whole performance. "She's trying to get food out of them." She said.
"Will we even be able to eat what they send us?" Halberd asked.
Andrew shrugged. "Emily didn't have a problem eating our food."
"And Spencer didn't have a problem with the City food." Kira added, "When it was food."
"Just the same," Merina said without looking away from the camera. "We feed the children and pregnant women from the packs for a day, if not more, until we see how the food they bring affects the adults." She repeated the performance.
A few moments later there was a click from the door and then three solid knocks. Two of the Guardians went to look through the window. "They closed the far door." One reported. "They left carts with stuff on them."
"Bring them in." Merina said. They did, revealing pans of piping hot food and everything you would need to eat them. A murmur of pleasure went around the room.
A murmur from everyone except one person. The moment the savory smell hit Kira's nose her stomach cramped with hunger she hadn't felt all day, and then it promptly twisted in a knot as her heart started pounding. It not food the primitive part of her mind screamed, it's not food! It's filth! It's waste! It's bugs and that's all we have!
But then big arms were going around her and holding her tight. "Just hang on." Andrew murmured in her ear. "Might as well get this over with now. This isn't the best way to do it but it will work. Kitta, leave us be for right now, please." The little girl looked at them with big eyes but moved over to Hildi's side. Andrew kept talking. "Just breathe, in and out, and let yourself run out of fear." Run out of fear? Run out of fear? How could you run out of fear? "Breathe." He was right, after a few minutes Kira's body simply could not sustain the fear response any longer and it began to calm down. Even so, her brother didn't let go. "Now, look. See how everyone is eating? They're not getting sick; they're not turning away because it's bad. They're enjoying the meal. Would they if it was foul?" She slowly shook her head. "See, it's not so bad. You haven't eaten all day, you should be starving. Take a deep breath in…and out…now think about it, are you hungry?" Kira breathed in and out and realized that yes, her system was completely empty. She'd spent so much time learning to ignore that feeling because there were no other options that now she had to consciously remind herself to eat. And Andrew knew it. "Want to go give it a try?" He asked.
In reply she crept toward the food carts. Most people had already gone through once but there was still more than enough. There was what smelled like roast pork, which was what set her off, and what might be potatoes with bits of bright vegetables in them and what looked like vegetables in a sauce and fresh bread still steaming warm and a bin of small, flat squares. "Those are for sweet." Halberd pointed out. "The boxes on the bottom shelf have milk in them, although the cream is out. And the butter isn't quite right, I'd avoid that but the rest is good."
As nervous as she was Kira let Andrew fill a plate for her, and then she went and sat with him. It only took a few bites for her hunger to roar forth and then she was eating with gusto. "That really isn't the best way to treat that." Andrew told her. "You might get afraid every time for a while. It's better to do it gradually."
"Not much of a choice." She pointed out. "This is very mild pork; I wonder what they feed their pigs?"
Giles, across the table, laughed at her. "You still sound like a farmer's kid."
She just wrinkled her nose at him. Giles' father owned a tailor shop in a village. "Townie," she teased back.
The only problem with feeding the children out of the packs was that it all smelled so good. Moments later Kitta was up against Kira's arm. "Can I have some?"
"You shouldn't. It might make you sick. There's bread and honey in my pack, have some of that."
"But I don't want bread and honey! I want to try that!"
Kira looked up at Merina, who had been looking over the group. Merina just sighed and shook her head. "I don't think we're going to be able to stop any of them." She said.
"It's your stomach." Andrew pointed out, but he went and fixed Kitta a plate.
Once they ate and everyone who had seconds wanted them, including Kira and Andrew, they packed up the plates and remains and put the carts back out into the hall. Then Merina very deliberately stepped in front of the camera and made the gesture for 'thank you'. "I wonder how we can get them to turn down the lights." She asked.
"Like this." Reka replied. She went to a series of switches on the wall and began turning them off and on to determine what switch went where. They turned out the ones at the back of the hall but left them on at the tables and in the bathrooms, which made it just dark enough to rest. "Guardians," Reka called out. "I want volunteers for guard duty, just in case."
Andrew took Kira's hand and put it down. "Not you." He said. "You've had enough stress today. You need some rest."
Sigh.
Once guards were settled upon there was nothing to do but head to bed. People drifted in and out of the bathing rooms, children were put into shifts, and beds were made up and settled in. Even though the bunks were steel, the one Andrew chose creaked under his weight and was several inches too short. Kira had planned to sleep above him but, "I don't think it will hold both of us."
"You can sleep with me!" Kitta said, grabbing Kira's hand.
"How about if you sleep above me and one of the little boys can sleep above Andrew." A child would be lighter to balance Andrews's greater weight.
"Okay!" Kitta grinned and took her two cuddlers, the one from home and her new one, and clambered up to the top bunk. But then she stuck her head back down, her pigtails swinging. "Are you as excited about tomorrow as I am?"
Tomorrow I get to start exploring Spencer's world, Kira thought. Maybe I can find his family, see where they buried him, say good-bye. "I think I am." She replied. "Now go to bed."
"Good night!" The head disappeared.
"Good night."
