Images of the kitten, the cabin/barracks, face claims of squads 167 and 232 and a few images of what I think the interior looks like are on the Pinterest board for this story. It's under the same username if you want to take a look. Enjoy!
Issy shook her head and took off after them, her bike wobbling a bit as her hands trembled slightly. She willed herself not to think off Eric, who stood in the garage staring after her.
The sun had just started to rise but already Issy could tell that the day was going to be hot. She had started to envy those who sat in the cool shade of the trucks she drove behind. Bastards.
The scenery had slowly shifted from the decaying building of the city to uneven grasslands. There were a few clusters of trees here and there. The fence loomed in the distance before them. The reports that Harrison had given them hadn't specified where abouts on the border the barracks was but Squadron 167 had been given a map to follow.
Even though the majority of Amity was situated outside of the fence with all of the farms and livestock, there were still Amity households and buildings that were inside the fence too. At a minimum there had to be at least a couple hundred Amity living inside the fence. Though rather than tending to livestock and caring for the fields, these Amity took care of tinning and preserving the supplies such as meat and fruit and vegetables. Once that was done, it was then stocked in the trucks that were allocated to the remaining factions.
It had taken them nearly two hours to reach the barracks. The Amity inside the fence were miles away, it would be quite a trek if they were to walk it. The barracks itself looked nothing more than a large multi-storey cabin in the middle of a cluster of trees. There were high odds that it was probably built by Amity, but their own houses and buildings were usually of light ash and maple wood. This cabin before them was of dark oak and walnut. Definitely not Amity but Dauntless. Whoever built it knew what its purpose would be and who its inhabitants will be. The makeshift drive was outlined by large stones before widening and curving towards a large shelter, big enough for six Dauntless trucks to park alongside each other. They parked up side by side and Issy drove her bike in deeper before parking up.
Everyone started to get out of their trucks and taken their backs out of the backs. Hector handed Issy hers as she walked towards him.
"You know," Hec started as he gazed at the building before them. "When they said barracks this wasn't what I was expecting…" He spun in a small circle, awe on his face. "It looks more like a getaway then anything." Issy nodded her head as she followed him inside.
Large dark beams ran across the walls and the ceiling. They were greeted by a large room; an open planned living/diner. To one side there was a large coal fire with framed by an oak mantle. Strangely though, there were two small dishes to the side of the fireplace. There was a low coffee table parallel with the fire and a numerous amount of comfy leather sofas and chairs arcing around the table. To the other side of the room was a long island separating the living room from the kitchen. The countertops were all the same dark oak that seemed to run throughout the rest of the cabin. Cupboards and shelves were of the same wood too. Towards the end of the room was an open door the led to a corridor leading to who-knows-where. The captains had momentarily disappeared down there before returning. As to what was down there, that was what would be discovered later.
Now, however, was focused on the stacks of papers that sat neatly on the island. The three captains glanced at each other before gesturing the squaddies to take a seat in front of the fire. They all managed to find a space on the sofas and chairs with space left over. Issy sat in one of the chairs with Hector sitting on the sofa on her right, who was soon joined by Red and Billy, and Uriah took a chair to her left. Twenty-one squaddies sat and looked at the three captains who stood by the fire, a stack of papers in each of there hands. Issy didn't know how she overlooked it before but one of the captains was actually female. Her short-buzzed hair had originally thrown her into thinking she was actually a he. The information packs where actually only a few pages long and stapled together. They were passed out until everyone had one.
"Right." Her captain said, placing the pack behind him. "So I think introductions would be the best place to start before we overlook the pack…" He turned to the other captains. "Yes?" They both nodded in agreement. "I'm Clark," He sent a meaningful look at his squad. Issy subtly nodded, as did the rest of them. Their nicknames were for their squad only, even if the others already knew them by their nicknames anyway. "Squad 226." He gestured to the female captain to go next.
"I'm Kenna, squad 167."
The next captain spoke up. His hair and short beard were flecked with grey hairs but even as he stood taunt like he was ready to strike; his eyes were kind and wise. "Duncan, squad 232."
And so they went down the line, introducing themselves. Those of squad 226 used their real names when it came to them. Mr Heterochromia Iridium's name, she found out, is Asher and in the same squad as Uri. Afterwards, when the twenty-four of them were no aware of each other's names, they all glanced around the room, as if to practice putting names to faces. At least that's what Issy guessed, as that's what she was doing.
Belonging to Kenna's squad was Eva, who had light tanned skin, brown eyes, frizzy brown hair which was currently pulled up into space buns and two nose piercings. Freyah, a pale slim woman with long white hair and whiteish-blue eyes. Ana, who seemed to be the smallest amongst them with a round Asian face, grey eyes and black hair. Levi, who was Ana's younger brother yet strikingly like her twin. Calvin, tanned muscular skin with light brown hair and stubble dusted across his cheeks. Dorian, who looked rather similar to Calvin except he had darker hair. And finally there was Zak, who had darker skin than Uriah and buzzed black hair.
Belonging to Duncan's squad was Tate, Finely and Jordan; brothers, not triplets. All of them had dirty blonde hair and light-coloured eyes. Mark, who was relatively dark skinned, dark haired and freckles all over his face. Cole, skinny with white blond hair that only made his skin look paler. And obviously there were Uriah and Asher.
"Great!" Duncan brought the pack closer to his face. "Now that that's sorted, let's see what this involves."
Issy looked down to her lap where the stapled pack was laid. It was all typed up, listed in bullet points but still rather formal. She flipped it to the first page and the sound of paper turning was echoed throughout the room. Silence covered them all then as they concentrated on the papers in front of them.
~ All Captains are equal during the stay here. Each opinion is important and decisions will be decided by vote.
No phone signal – radios are stored in the cupboard in the hallway out of the kitchen (first door on right; marked on map).
~ There is limited electric. There aren't any TVs on the property.
~ Food and supplies will be delivered every Sunday at 12:30, provided by the Amity nearby. Upon arrival, a list can be given if there are any preferences to food/supplies or if there are any allergies. Clothes that need washing will be taken at this time also and returned at the same time on Monday. Make sure that all washing is in a bag with the person's name on it so confusion is avoided.
Following that, there were several pictures with names of the Amity volunteers that would be delivering each Sunday. Issy skipped over those.
~ It is forbidden to interfere with the Amity nearby. Let them do their jobs and leave them be. If there is any knowledge of anyone treating the Amity unfairly or disrespecting them, it needs to be immediately reported to a captain, who will then report it to a Leader through the radios in the trucks. Failure to do so will lead to consequences for those who disrespect the Amity and those who keep it quiet.
The consequences were briefly listed below that by the scale of acts that someone may or may not do to one of the Amities. Issy hissed quietly as her eyes travelled to the bottom of the list. She skim-read the rest of the points on that page. They were mostly about how the oven and such worked, and what to do if anything breaks down. Issy flipped the page again and was greeted with a rota.
23:40 – 03:40
03:40 – 07:40
07:40 – 11:40
11:40 – 15:40
15:40 – 19:40
19:40 – 23:40
Issy grimaced as she looked it over. Shift after shift after shift. The next group to take it over will have to be very prompt to keep up with this timetable. Below it there were more points about the patrols.
~ There will be at least two patrols going on at the same time. There is the route plan down below and cut into sections. You can decide which squad patrols where. To keep the Factionless from anticipating the route and times, keep mixing the sections up.
~ Each patrol is four hours long and will be carried out on foot.
~ A patrol will consist of three members. One of those members will temporarily be placed as Captain on that Patrol to keep order and to lead the shift.
~ For at least two hours a day, there must be two trucks driving the perimeter line or in the remaining sections to make sure nothing is happening.
~ There must be at least one Captain and two members remaining at the Barracks at all times.
On the last page was several small paragraphs. It was handwritten and Issy leaned over to Uriah and slightly lifted the page up. It was on the back page of his too. From just looking at it, the paragraphs seemed the same. The handwriting was neat and precise as it went along the page. She wondered why someone would just add it without formatting it like the rest of the pack. When Issy read it, she understood why.
~ There is a black, white and ginger kitten that wanders around the cabin. You'll agree that it looks more like a mini wildcat that was shown in biology class at school. We don't know where she came from but one of the idiots on my squad fed her and so she kept on coming back until she practically lived here.
You'll find two small dishes by the fireplace. One is for water and one is for her dinner (she gets fed everyday around five at night). She prefers chunks of tender chicken (in the juices its cooked in if possible).
Be careful though. She likes to steal socks. And attack bare feet. And she will try to climb your leg if you tease her by lifting something out of her reach. (I suggest wearing thick trousers if you attempt to test this out…) She also likes to pounce on people from high places, especially if they're asleep, so keep your guard up.
At first she may seem wary of you all but she'll get used to you quickly. Even quicker if you offer her chicken.
We named her Artemis. Please look after her.
Her heart almost stopped as she saw the signature with a name and title printed underneath.
Eric Coulter
Dauntless Leader and Captain of Squadron 001
She had forgotten about seeing Eric in the garage as she left the compound. She had almost forgot that Eric and his squad was living here for months on end. Trying not to think of anymore of it, Issy folded the papers and slipped it into her bag.
Uriah's head snapped up and he looked around. "Awesome! There's a kitten somewhere!" Issy laughed at his childish tone. She could always count on him to make her feel better.
"A kitten?" Kenna echoed.
"Yeah! Its on the back page!"
Asher frowned. "Artemis? What kinda name is that?"
"Greek." Issy answered. Her golden-blue eyes meeting his blue and green ones. "Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals."
"Fitting." Someone murmured and others nodded their heads in agreement as chatter slowly started amongst them.
xXx
The captains had sent them away shortly after they had all read the information packs. Probably to sort out who was on what patrol. The rest of them weren't that bothered. It gave them time to look around the rest of the cabin and choose their rooms.
As one large group, they went wandering around. Down the corridor at the end of the kitchen, they had found the radios and dumped them on the island for later. They had also found another sitting room that had another large fireplace with a large floor to ceiling window that showed a spacious garden. Honestly, the garden was more of a workout zone with wooden climbing frames and obstacles and a running track outlining all of it. Built for Dauntless indeed. One office, three rooms which already had duffel bags in, two sets of stairs – one near to the kitchen and the other on the end of the sitting room – leading up and another door was found on the ground floor. The door that they found was locked, which was kind of upsetting. Although, they had yet to find the kitten.
The stairs in the sitting room led to a walkway that overlooked the sitting room. The walkway then lead off to a long narrow corridor with a lot of doors. There were nine doors on this corridor and each of them had numbers. When Ana opened one of them to find a bedroom, which she immediately dibbed as hers. Then several of them chose the remaining rooms until Ana, Billy, Dorian, Zak, Cole, Hector, Bulldozer, Calvin and Red had moved into their new rooms for however long. Those that now had rooms left the group to settle into their rooms and those of them that were left, carried on the tour.
The corridor opened up to a wide area with a chair next to a window and it met the stairs near the kitchen. Those stairs however carried on up to the next floor. On the next floor up, it was very similar to the first floor. It had a narrow corridor with eight doors with numbers on them. These doors led to bedrooms which were quickly taken by Levi, Geek, Tate, Finely, Asher, Cole, Mark, Freyah and Rainbow.
All that was left of their group now was Eva, Jordan, Uriah and Issy. Eva looked to Uriah, wo shrugged and led the way down the corridor to another open area with a pair of chairs and another staircase leading up one again.
On the third and what looked like final floor, were six more rooms with numbers on them. They each claimed the nearest room. Issy stared at the number of her new bedroom for a few minutes. 23. The numbers were worn brass and slightly scratched. It took her a moment before she pushed the door open.
She was greeted with a narrow room. The double bed seemed to only just slot in and there was a window behind it, gracing her with the view of trees. There was a metal chest at the end of the bed and shelves with metal boxes on them along the longest walls. Although there didn't seem to be any storage units other than the chest and the boxes.
Issy sighed, her energy racing out of her as she dropped her bag to the floor. She looked around while she took her jacket off and decided she might as well get settled in too.