Chapter 6: Genesis City
Iris met the others downstairs after changing into a simple forest green cotton dress and walking boots. She smiled at Trudy and Amber, who were carrying their children in their arms. "Would you two like strollers?" Iris asked them. "The city is rather large and the kids would probably like it better. You were given diapers and formula, weren't you?" "I would like a stroller, thanks, Queen Iris," Trudy said with relief and gratitude. "And yes, I was given diapers and formula, but Brady doesn't use them anymore." Iris nodded and tickled Brady's stomach. "I forgot you were a big girl!" Iris told the toddler, who laughed.
"It might be good to give her some formula, since she hasn't been eating so well," Iris told Trudy with a smile. "But I'm sure that when we stop at the hospital, the healers would be glad to go over any health and nutrition concerns you might have for Brady. And the same goes for the rest of you," she continued, looking around the group before turning to Amber. "Would you like a stroller, or perhaps a sling?" Amber shook her head. "No thank you." "All right, then I guess we had better go," Iris said finally, looking confused at Amber's ungrateful, sullen attitude. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jay's pained look at Amber. Wondering what could be going on with her guests, but deciding not to comment about it, Iris went to the door.
"I usually travel by horse," she said, "but I think it would be more fun to walk." The others followed her out into the bright sunlight and down the hotel driveway. Malik met them at the gate, followed by four of his men. "Are guards necessary, Malik?" Iris asked with a playful sigh. Malik stood up from his kneeling position and raised an eyebrow. "I will take no chances with your Majesty," he told her. Iris laughed at him, sighed again, and walked out into the city.
The first thing the Mallrats noticed was that the city was very clean. "Where we come from, there is rubbish everywhere," Ebony said, surprising everyone by speaking up. "It was like that here as well," Iris said. "Your name is Ebony, correct?" Ebony nodded in a demure fashion that was not like her at all. "Well, Ebony," Iris continued, "we decided to clean up when the rats and flies and other vermin got too bad. This was when we were just beginning a government. We didn't want to encourage disease." "Where did you put the trash?" Ram asked.
"We cleaned everything that could be cleaned," Iris answered. "Old cars, cans, bottles, and stuff like that. The seats and workable parts were removed from the cars, the metal melted down and used. Cans and bottles and anything that could be used for storage has been cleaned and reused. Furniture that can be repaired has been; the pieces that can't are used for firewood. Anything that can be recycled has been used. Anything that can't be used in any conceivable way has been buried." As they were walking, busy people sent their greetings to Iris, who acknowledged each one with a wave. They rounded a corner into a large market that was empty.
"Market days are twice a week," Iris said. "It took too many of Malik's guards to keep it running throughout the week." "What do you mean?" Salene asked. "Well, I'm sure you know what goes on with trading," Iris answered. "Lots of arguing that ends up in fights. We have fifty guards patrol the area on market days, to break up fights, make sure the vendor's are charging fair prices, and to prevent someone stealing someone's hard earned purchases." "It's like living under martial law," Amber said under her breath, but loud enough for Jay and Iris to hear. Iris chose not to answer. "We have set the market up into sections," she said. "One section is for live food, one for other food, one for household goods, one for clothing, and another for other items."
"We found that keeping live animals around the other food somehow spread food poisoning," Malik broke in. "Really!" Slade said, whistling. "How did you find that out?" "It took a while to figure out why people were getting sick from eating the produce and fruit," Malik told him. "In the end, one of our healers read that the bacteria from feces could spread to other food items quickly. We tried moving the live food to the furthest area away from the other market items, and that fixed the problem." "That's gross, but interesting," May said. "That's just disgusting!" Gel cried, making a face. Iris laughed at her. "It is, but the problem's fixed so no one has to worry."
She led them down a street of houses that looked exactly the same, all white and two storied, with green doors and tiny little front yards. All were clean and in good repair. "These are just some of the houses where our people live," Iris said proudly. "Do the people own the homes?" Jay asked. "They cannot have their homes taken away from them," Iris replied, "but they didn't pay for them, they were fixed up and given to them." "How many people live in one house?" Trudy asked. "It depends. We don't allow one or two people to live exclusively in a house that's big like this one," Iris said, "that would just be a waste. Most people live with family or tribe members. We don't allow more than two people to a bedroom though, for fire and health reasons."
"This," Iris said, turning a corner, "is our work district. This building here is our electricity plant, it is run in four different shifts. That warehouse is where the Wolves make all the stuff I told you about, the warehouse next to it is where they store the finished product. We won't go down there because the Wolves and the Crazed Angels don't like being interrupted." She led them away from the work district into another small community of houses and then down another street into an area where there were four large brick buildings next to each other in a row.
"What's this place?" Trudy asked. "This building here is the nursery," Iris said. "Come on and I'll show you." They all went into a large hallway where the sounds of children laughing and crying could be heard all around. A young woman with a clipboard came up and knelt to Iris. "This is Janet, she's the second in command of the Enlightened," Iris told the others when the petite Asian woman rose. "How's everything today?" Janet smiled and brushed a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "Two kids were sent home with colds, but other than that, fine, Highness." "Can we take a peek?" Iris asked. "Of course!" Janet replied. "Follow me."
They looked into a large window to see around six men and women tending to infants. Some babies were sleeping in cribs, others were being rocked, one was getting a diaper change, and the others were playing on blankets laid out on the carpet. "This is our infants to six months room," Janet explained before showing them the room opposite the first. "And this is our six months to a year room." Trudy smiled at the babies playing in Exersaucers, walkers, and bouncy seats. "They're so cute in there!" she said. Janet smiled and led them upstairs.
"We keep the one year olds here," Janet said, pointing to a room where several of the kids were holding gingerly onto the attendants fingers as they took practice steps, and the others were napping or playing. "And the two year olds are here." The two year old room was full of activity. Toddlers were playing with books, plastic cars, dress-up toys, dolls, and blocks while the harried attendants rushed from toddler to toddler, keeping the peace. Janet led them all up to the final floor where she showed them the three and four year old rooms before taking them back downstairs. "We also have a playground out back for the older kids and a play area on the left side of the building for the younger ones," Janet told the group.
"Thanks for the tour, Janet," Iris said with a smile. "We'll let you get back to your job." "Anytime," Janet smiled back. "And if any of you need us to watch your kids, we're here." Trudy smiled and thanked her. Amber merely nodded. Iris led them outside and stood out in front of the next building. "This is the school for the five to eight year olds," Iris said, and the next building is the school for the nine to twelve year olds. We won't go in and interrupt their classes. I just thought you'd like to know we have schools." "What do you teach them?" Slade asked curiously.
"To read and write," Iris answered. "We have two girls who teach piano and another who teaches violin. There were a lot of art books in the hotel, so they learn about art, as well as create their own out of the clay and paint we've figured out how to make. We teach them what we can remember about science, history, and math. There are a lot of novels in Genesis City, so the older ones all read them; they're a bit too adult for the younger ones. Ethan even teaches a bit about religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. His father was a religions expert, so he's pretty knowledgeable."
"Do you have churches here?" Jay asked, surprised. "Not really, but there are several home groups that practice some Christianity and Buddhism. These are led by the kids whose parents were extremely religious," Iris answered. "This building I think you'll be particularly interested in," she said, pointing out the last building on the street. "This is our hospital." "Will we be able to see Ruby?" Lottie asked. Iris smiled sadly. "If the healers allow it," she said quietly.