With a groan, I twisted the spanner one final time, tightening the last of the loose bolts into place
"Phew, that was a lot of work. But I'm done now, just in the knick of time." I say to myself, feeling like I've done enough work for one day.
I sigh, and then set down my tools, and leave the room that I was working in." And now for the room that I absolutely hate working in..." I mutter to myself as I approach the room in question.
I sigh and take a few more steps into the room, trying to ignore the horrible heat and the disgusting smell of the place. I work, as usual, but I can tell that I'm working a lot slower than usual today.
I'm working so slowly my supervisor comes over and checks on me.
"You're very slow today. Are you okay, Isabella?" he asks.
I nod, and say "Sure thing, I'm just a little tired today!".
He gives me a strange look, but then goes back to his work. I continue checking the bolts and gauge of the boilers. A sharp ding rings out from the surrounding speakers. A polite female voice rings out.
"Reminder, any suspicious activities or individuals must be reported immediately, remember? Secrecy begets insecurity," the voice finished with another sharp ding. I sign and continue back to my work.
A few more hours pass, and I finish my job in the horrible room. Whipping the sweat off my yellow skin, I get out of there as quickly as humanly possible, and to take my time in the air-conditioned and cooler areas of the factory before my shift ends.
Walk my way to the lunch hall, eating my lunch that I got from the cafeteria. This food is pretty sour, but I love it like this. It always gives me lots of energy. I check my watch and notice I only have a few minutes before my break is over.
I make my way through the crowd and find who I was looking for. I plop my tray down onto the table next to my brother, Wilm.
"Evening," he said, taking a bite out of his food.
I groaned out a response, still tired from all the work I had today. He chuckled and continued chowing down on his lunch.
"Mums have to get a second job," he said, not looking at me.
I groaned and took a big bite out of my food.
"Damn it. I hoped this wouldn't happen." I said sourly.
"What do you expect? With all the rising taxes, how could she not?"
"I know, Wilm. I just thought we'd be over with all this nonsense by now. What happened to the economy?"
"What didn't happen? Our whole government is a mess right now. I wish it were different."
"Me too, John. Me too." I said solemnly.
A lower 'bwaaaa' singled the end of our break time.
"Dam, lunch is over already, and now I have to unplug the bloody plumbing," " he said bitterly.
"you know what they say?," I asked mockingly.
"Hard work is happy work," we both said
"Welk, guess I'll see you later." I said, waving at my brother as I dumped the rest of my cold food into the bin walking away.
A few hours later, I brushed the dirt off my overalls and punched my card into the punch clock. I sighed as the cool outside air hit my face. I gasped as someone shoved sharply into my shoulder. I glared up at the cackling oaf.
"Not funny Wilm." I said, shoving him back harshly, only making him laugh harder.
"It was for me *cough* anyway I'm going out. Tell mum and dad I won't be back till later," he said before skipping off with a wave.
"Arsehole," I muttered fondly under my breath. With a cough, I adjusted my coat and went to continue on my walk. Before even two steps, the sound of loud rustling drew my eyes to a pile of rubbish on the side of the road. The rustling got louder and loud. I twisted my body towards the noise and stepped closer.
"Hello? Is someone there?" I said there were no animals inside the city so it couldn't be some critter. The rustling got louder and I could see something moving around in the pile. I slowly unclipped a spanner from my tool belt. I held the thing tightly in my hands. Something rose out of the rubbish quickly. I didn't take time to look at its face. I simply swung the spanner. The metal tool smashed into the side of something hard. With a thump, what I hit fell to the ground. With a Huff the adrenaline died down, allowing me to look at what I had hit.
"What. the. hell," I said to myself I leaned down and closely inspected the creature. They looked like a crok but without the yellow skin. They had short curly black hair, with a few gray strands running through it. And their skin was a pinkish white. I gave them a prod, and they groaned lightly. I stepped back from the weird creature and turned to leave. I mean, it's not my issue, is it? Another noise made me halt in my walk, my gaze raised to the loud noise above me. The large blimp above me cast a large shadow across the city. The text on the side was most important. "MINISTERS"... I turned back to him slowly. As weird as this guy was, if the minister found him. Who knew what they would do to him.
"Ohh, I'm really going to regret this."
With a groan, I pushed him through the rickety wooden door. How I didn't get spotted dragging this man through three miles of the city. I fell over as I plopped Jim down on the dirty floor. The door behind me opened with a creek and a groan.
"Hello dear, how was-. Good god!" she said started dropping the plate she was cleaning. The plate shattered onto the ground and scattered across the floor. She continued to stare at the fallen man. With a tut, I moved to pick up the pieces of broken plate.
"Oh, don't dear," she said, pulling herself from her shock. She batted my hands away and picked up the shards.
"You'll cut yourself," she said lovingly. I followed her gaze to the man on the floor.
"I'm, I'm sorry. I found him in the rubbish and I thought if the minister's found him the-" I said quickly.
"It's okay dear. I didn't expect you to do anything else. I'm just a little shocked at his. Appearance." She said. I signed and stood up, stretching, aching
Back.
"Take him upstairs, dear. I'll talk to your father." She said. I followed her orders and once again hefted him up as much as I could. I laid him on the bed in my room upstairs. His dirty, burnt clothes ruining my sheets. The floor outside my room creaked as my father stepped inside the room.
"Where's your brother?" He said.
"He went out. He'll be back later," I said. He looked at me a moment longer and turned to the man in the bed.
"He has a large bruise on the side of his head. I guess that was your doing.," He said, inspecting the bruise. I chuckled awkwardly.
"He should be alright, just get me a wet towel and some bandages," he said, motioning me out the door with a wave of his hand. With a skip, I journeyed downstairs. My mother was cooking dinner.
"Just need this and this," I said, putting the bandages from the cupboard under my arm, and running a tea towel under the tap.
"The neighbors are gone again. That's the third one this week." She said,
"People are leaving this town non stop lately. It's gonna just be us eventually," I responded.
"All Because of those 'redistribution centers' they keep setting up. Getting people to uproot their lives for a free trip to the city and a job."
"Not everyone can afford to walk three miles for minimum pay. And it's easier to just move there than get a travel permit." I rebutted. She sighed and stopped, looking for a moment.
"It wasn't always like this. Your generation is just too young to remember," she said sadly.
"I know, mum. It's alright" I said, patting her shoulder. I suddenly remembered why I was here and rushed back upstairs with the stuff. I laid the cool towel on the man's head once my father had wrapped the bandages around his head. My father stood up, dusting off his hands.
"Now's the matter of what to do with him,"
"I'm sorry! I didn't know what to do with him, I don't even know what he is," is said desperately.
"It's alright, I wouldn't expect anything else. But we still don't know who or what he is. He could be dangerous for all we know. For now, I suggest we keep him locked in this room. And we'll have a chat with him when he wakes up." He said. Before I could respond, a loud bang alerted us of the door downstairs being smashed down. The two of us rushed downstairs to see what all the commotion was. One wills friend's hand barged through the door. He paused and put his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths.
"Son, what in blazes are you doing?," my father demanded
"it's Wilm, huff, the minister's got him," he said through pants. My blood went cold, and by the pale complication of my parents, it was the same for them.
"He-he was arrested," my mother said, going into shock.
"Did they give a reason?" My father asked.
"Huff, he started getting rowdy. And they took off on 'public disruption', they said." He said, still panting from his run over. My father ripped his coat off the stand.
"I'm going down to the station to have a word with these 'safety officers' of ours." He said angrily. Storming out.
"Wait!" My mother tried to call out to him, but he was already in his car.
"I'll get him," I reassured my mother. I jogged up to my dad's car and sat myself inside.
"No, no, no, you are not coming along. I've got one child to deal with."
"Doesn't matter. I'm still coming along."
My father stared at me for a moment before scowling and starting the car. In ten minutes we were in the city, another five we were at the station. Me and my father pushed the doors open and entered. Once we squeezed through the crowded station, the two of us tapped on the receptionist desk. The scrawny woman at the desk looked at us over her thin glasses.
"I need to see my son," my father yelled over all the talking.
"Name?" she yelled back.
"Hart" I said. She began looking through a filing cabinet beside her. After a few seconds, she pulled out a file and flicked through it for a few seconds. She flicked it closed and put it back in the cabinet.
"Well?" I asked.
"No"
"No, what?"
"No, you cannot see him," she said.
"What!? Why!?" my father demanded.
"It's too busy for any visitation right now." She said. My father huffed, getting red in the face.
"This is an Outrage. First, you wrongfully detain my son. And now you don't let me see him!" My father screamed angrily.
"If you have any complaints, you can file them over there." She said, motioning to the very long line. My father huffed and looked as if he was going to say something before turning and storming off. My mind, however, was occupied. The station must have contained a lot of cells. And a lot of those cells must have had toilets, meaning the whole place must have been linked up to the sewers. I just got a fantastic idea.
"Dad, go home. I have a Great idea." I said, running off.
"Wha-wait! Isabella! Isabellaaa!"
end chapter.