She woke up for the third time that day, her head pounding.
I can not make this a habit
She kept her eyes closed, they were too heavy to open right now and she was content to stay that way. The loud voices of the boys were gone, it was quiet and calm. She could hear them, but they were far away. She could hear yelling, and banging; like hammers on nails, maybe some wood being chopped. It sounded like hard physical work.
They must have moved me.
She could feel a pillow under her head and a thin sheet draped over.
I must be in that wood thing they call a building.
Her heavy eyelids slowly opened, and took a look around.
Yep, definitely the wood structure.
The room she was in wasn't large, it had two beds lined up with the headboards against one wall, with a small side table in between them, it was covered with bloody strips of cloth, a bowl of water and a first aid kit. On the far side of the room there was as a cabinet and shelves, full of what looked like medical supplies and bottles, white cloth, a few pillows, some bathroom supplies like toothbrushes and shampoo. Everything was mixed and haphazardly heaped together. On the wall closest to the beds was the door. It looked a bit lopsided, but it was workable. Directly opposite the door, above her head was a lopsided window, the curtain pulled to the side letting in the low afternoon sun. In the middle of the room was a big wooden table piled high with garbage, first aid supplies, clean and dirty bandages, some cups, and bowls.
Do these boys know how to clean? This can't be sanitary?!
As she slowly sat up, she heard feet approaching the door. She wiped her sore head to the door. The feet stopped just outside the door, she could hear the voices now. She could hear Newt's distinctive British accent. She could hear the boy named Alby, he had a deep commanding voice, he sounded annoyed. And there were two, maybe three new voices. She scooted as far back in the bed as she could, her back hitting the wall. The voices spoke again.
"What do you mean a Shanket? A She-Bean? Like...like a girl? The creators sent up an actual shuck girl?" This voice sounded quite sassy, like it was accompanied by a smirk, like he thought the others were joking.
Was this guy not around when I showed up? It was quite the event apparently...where does he spend the days, were all surrounded by walls!
"Yes Minho, the creators in their infinite wisdom decided to send us a girl. How long into this shuck prison sentence...everything was the same, the routines... nothin' is ever changed and now this." He sounded so annoyed.
"No bloody idea why. Nothin' else has changed, onl' other difference was her and a small crate with a label 'for the female'" added Newt.
A different voice; quiet, calm and steady, "Whatever the reason, she's here now. What do we do with her? She came outta the box worse than any of the other shanks so far. Whatever those creators do to us, whatever drug it seemed to have more of an effect on her. Also she had a Panic or anxiety attack. That's what ultimately made her pass out. She has a nasty gash on her head, Clint and I had to stitch it up."
She lifted a hand and gingerly touched her forehead, she winced as a sharp stinging pain shot across it. She let out a loud gasp. The voices stopped. They must have heard her, the door banged opened to relieve five boys all crowded in the door. Her eyes widened, darting around watching the boys. What were they going to do to her? She saw Alby, a permanent annoyed look on his face with his arms crossed. Newt gave her a small reassuring smile, his hands in his pocket. There were two boys who looked a little more clean then the others, one was short with light brown hair, and a smile that made his blue eyes twinkle. Another boy who looked like he had a dark tan, dark hair that was shaved short.
The last boy was standing in front of the others. He was very tall, and very tanned. His arms crossed which were full of muscles, bulging out of a tight blue button up shirt. His spiky black hair was swooped up in the front, he had dark squinty coffee brown coloured eyes. They were full of a twinkling mischief. sharp cheek bones and jaw line. He was quite good looking! With his broad shoulders and toned chest...
Not that I'm looking! Pull it together! But shuck me he's gorgeous! Focus!
She shook her sore head, trying to concentrate on the situation and not his cocky smirk and arms. The second his eyes landed on the girl sitting in the corner, his arms dropped, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open.
"Holly shuck. It IS a girl! An actual She-Bean!"
"Close your mouth Minho, before you catch a Beetle blade" Newt said, pushing his chin closed as he came into the room, towards the bed. He had concern etched in every feature on his face, "How are you feeling?"
"Umm" she stammered quietly.
The shorter boy with the kind smile walked over to the bed and took a seat at the end of it, giving her space. "You wacked your head pretty hard in The Box. Jeff and I had to clean and stitch it. You also passed out...a panic or anxiety attack, based on your symptoms. You weren't the first to do that." He said quietly, then mumbled as he turned his head away, "and probably won't be the last..."
"Oh. Okay. I think I had one in the box after I first woke up. I passed out then too. How long was I out, this time?" she said quietly, she looked down at her lap.
"3 hours roughly. Enough time to carry you here, clean up that cut and let you sleep a bit" the boy named Jeff said from the doorway.
"Wait, you had more than one? Did you have them before? Do you remember having them before the box? Do you remember something? Anything?" demanded Alby.
"No.. I don't remember anything!" She stammered.
Might as well tell them what happened.
These boys didn't seem like they wanted to hurt her, they helped her, stitched her up.
"I woke up in the box, soaking wet, freezing cold, in absolute darkness, feeling like I was drowning. I threw up a few times, had the first panic attack then, I did this" - pointing to her forehead -"trying to stand up in that awful metal cage. I did this" - showing them her now bruised and scraped up forearm and elbow - "while trying to open one of those wood boxes in the cage trying to find something helpful to get out, or a weapon, or something but - what did you guys call it? The Box?- The Box started moving. I waited for it to stop or for something to happened...then you guys opened the top, and you know the rest."
She thought about telling the blond boy his eyes felt familiar, but that was kind of weird to say to someone she just met. She also decided to keep the voice of a boy in her head to herself. She didn't know anything, but hearing voices that weren't your own wasn't normal.
"Whoa, whoa...hold up." said the handsome Asian boy, named Minho holding his hands up in a stop motion, "the box wasn't already moving when you woke up? That's different. We all woke up while it was already shuckin' moving.. AND instead of crying like a shuck baby in the corner, like the rest of us, except me of course, you tried to find a weapon?! What were you going to do, stab all of us when you got here?"
"umm, Maybe? Yes? I don't know...I was scared and alone" the girl shrugged, looking at the stunned boys around her. She clenched her jaw, narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I had no idea where I was, where I was going, who I was, or what was happening! Also I'm the only shucken bloody girl here, look what you guys- well the other guys, not you guys- did to me when they were in arms reach! Pretty sure a weapon would have come in handy!" She said in self defense, her voice getting louder with each sentence.
The very attractive boy with perfect hair let out a low whistle, he put his hands on his hips, a smirk slipped back onto his face.
"I like this one." he winked, the girl had an urge to smack the smirk right off his perfect face but she also blushed a little.
"Shanket is feisty. I wouldn't mess with She-Bean!"
With that he spun around on his heel "Imma take a shower, see ya slint heads later!" he left, banging the door closed.
She could feel the pink blush rising up higher on her face, no one seemed to notice. Alby rolled his eyes, Newt chuckled to himself and the other two boys, Clint and Jeff just shook their heads. The tanned boy sighed and looked at the girl again
"My name is Jeff," -he pointed at the shorter boy sitting on the bed "This here is Clint. Were the Glade MedJacks. Are ya feeling alright now? Ya got a bit more colour in your face, not so pale. I can get you something for that headache. Hold on..." he walked over to the unorganized shelf, "Drink lots of water, get some food from Frypan, and stay away from Gally's concoction for this evening. You don't remember anything? Your name?" Jeff was talking over his shoulder as he tried to locate the bottle of pain meds.
"No. Nothing!" she answered. The panic started to bubble up again all these weird words and terms.
What's a Med Jack? Who's Gally? And he makes what? Where ARE we? What's with the walls? How come its all guys? And why all teenage guys?
"Why can't I remember anything? Where are we? Why are we here? Why am I here? Am I the only girl? What did I do? I'm not a bad person, I think..is this a prison?" She blurted.
Newt chuckled a little, as he opened his mouth to answer Alby cut in, and he didn't sound happy.
Does he ever sound happy?
"It's a long story, shank! Piece by piece, you'll learn- I'll be taking you on the tour tomorrow. Till then...don't...break anything. And no more questions! Oh, my name is Alby. This here is Newt, he's in charge when I'm not around"
"Then it's a good thing you're always around then, hey Alby?" Newt replied with a smile.
Alby rolled his eyes and continued, "These guys" pointing at the other two boys "They are the Glade Med Jacks. ...they uh, take care of the sick and injured" he added seeing the look of confusion on the girls face.
"Oh you mean like a doctor or nurse." she replied
"Uh, ya sure. Whatever. Listen, I got some stuff to take care of before the bonfire tonight, so I gotta go. Don't touch nothin' , don't leave the Glade. This is the glade, where we are right now" gesturing around, "this building, and everything inside the walls is called the Glade." he added again as her face twisted in confusion, so many questions, nothing made sense.
"Alby" Newt said resting a hand on his shoulder, "Go. I'll take her around, get her some food. Your hurtin' more than helpin'."
Alby signed, nodded and walked out of the room without another word. Clint got up and started cleaning up the table beside the bed. Jeff grabbed some water and finally located the medicine bottle. Newt waited until she finished the cup of water, and slowly pushed herself to the edge of the bed. She leaned over to put her boots back on, her long hair fell into her face, this was the first time she even noticed her hair. It was long and red. She didn't even know what she looked like!
She stood up and followed Newt out the door and down the creaking hallway, the boards were very uneven, if you didn't watch where you're going you would face planted. There were a few doors on both sides of the hall, all shut, except one right at the end by the rickety stairs. It was open and she couldn't help it, her curiosity got the better of her. She peeked inside. Inside was a double bed, it was unmade
Of course, messy boys..
The bed was pushed against the wall in the far corner. There was a window above it, with the curtain open, the view wasn't much, part of the forest, and the walls, and the big black opening, leading who knows where. It reminded her of a huge hungry angry monster with its mouth wide open, waiting to swallow you. She shuddered at the thought and looked away. There was a small night stand beside the bed, with a lamp and a notebook and pencil and a water bottle. A wooden dresser against another wall. Hanging on hooks was a backpack, a belt with a few knives in the loops, and a white towel hanging up. Running shoes sat beside the bed.
"Hey uh..Newt?" the girl asked, turning.
"Ya She-Bean, what's up?" He was watching her with amusement.
"What is this place? Like this building? Is that a bedroom...obviously it's a bedroom...but you guys have rooms? I figured you guys all...I don't know roughed it more and slept outside or something.. All of those boys couldn't fit in this building, it would fall over!"
Newt chuckled again, his thumb rubbing his lower lip as he thought for a minute before answering.
"This here is called The Homestead. Keepers- the Leaders, sleep here. Only them, the rest of the shanks sleep outside in hammocks or in sleeping bags on the ground. It's usually warm, so no one freezes, and it never rains. Down the hall at the end, where we came from is the Med Jacks room, a few bedrooms up here. Downstairs has a few more, and the gathering room. Outside Homestead is Fry's kitchen and picnic area. Which we'll be heading to now, if you're done starin' into Minho's room."
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, feeling her face heat up again.
"Oh, uh ya, ya kitchen sounds good." Her tummy gave a loud grumble. They both smiled a little.
"Follow me Shanket. Watch your step, the stairs aren't the most even."
She was too busy trying to see everything, she didn't pay attention to what Newt said. Her foot caught on a loose floorboard and was about to hit the ground. Two strong arms wrapped around her and put her gently back on her feet. Looking up, she saw it was Minho who had saved her from an epic face plant. She was still holding onto his biceps, as his dark eyes squinting into half moons, dimples in his cheeks and a lopsided smirk on his face. His hair was wet, but still sticking up in a perfect swoop and he had a towel around his neck.
"Careful there She-Bean. You falling for me already, are ya?" He said, his voice sounded husky, sending shivers down her spine.
She opened her mouth again to say something, but nothing came out. He winked and sauntered away, up the stairs she just about fell down. Newt stood beside the front door laughing at the look on the girl's face. It was even more red than before.
"Don't worry about that shank, he's got a sassy streak to him, don't take anything he says seriously. Come on, we're almost at Fry's Kitchen" his long legs carrying him out the door.
"Who or what is Fry?" She called loudly, hurrying after the blond British boy.
"I am the infamous Fry and THIS here is MY kitchen, Lil Lady-Bean!" called a boy from behind a long steel counter. It was an outdoor kitchen, the state of the art kitchen was covered by a roof, and had three walls, the front was open to the outside. In between the kitchen and the homestead were picnic benches and tables scattered around. There were a bunch of boys sitting at the tables talking.
Everything went silent. All heads turned towards Newt and the girl, she suddenly felt very uncomfortable with all the attention. She was very aware of her body and what it was doing. She felt all her muscles tensing up, her fists clenching and unclenching, and her jaw tightening. She could feel her heart thumping against her chest. The blush from Minho saving her got darker, she looked away with a small growl in her throat, feeling annoyed with all the boys.
The boy behind the counter cleared his throat loudly, "What's the matter with ya slint heads? Act like gentlemen-shanks and not a bunch of shuck face slintheads! Come on now. We have a Lady-Bean present."
Newt added, "Don't ya' have jobs to bloody finish before tonight? Breaks over, go!" The boys got up grumbling and left, a few heads turning back, trying to get a last view of the girl before going back to work. "Thanx" she mumbled. "I guess I gotta get used to that...all the staring..."
"Ah, it's just a bloody shock. We don't remember ever seeing a girl before, creators took care of that, it'll wear off in a bit, once they get used to a Shanket, She-Bean. You're the first, but probably not the last...who knows. Come meet Frypan." The boy behind the counter was tall, looked older than most of the boys, he had on a white apron covered in stains, over his jeans and black t shirt, he had a big beard, and it looked like it was starting to turn gray. His eyes were kind and his smile made you feel welcome.
"Why hello Lil Lady-Bean! Welcome to my kitchen." He boomed, sweeping his arms wide, he was still holding a whisk. "A few rules." He pointed his whisk at her, "Don't touch nothin' unless I say. NO stealing food- water is over there- feel free to take anytime, just wash the cup- or if you're a lucky son-of-a-gun and get a water bottle, then don't worry about washin' cups. Now I expect Jeff or Clint sent ya' down for some water and food?"
She nodded, a small smile on her nervous face.
"Excellent! Newt, show her where the cups are, I have some leftovers I'll heat up. It'll hold ya' until the bonfire- don't want to spoil your appetite! I got my famous bacon tonight!" He waved his whisk and spatula around while he talked, he made you feel like an instant friend. She liked Frypan. Newt showed the girl the cups and led her to a table and sat down opposite. Frypan came over a few min later with some soup. She was so hungry, the bowl was empty too fast.
"HA! FRY! You got a fan of your cooking! She-Bean here didn't even bloody chew!" Yelled Newt, laughing.
"What? I was hungry! I don't remember the last thing I ate!" She said it as a joke, but the smile slipped off her face. She literally couldn't remember when she last ate, or what she ate...or where she was this morning. And she still didn't remember a name!
"Darn tooten'!" laughed Frypan, "I'm the best cook in the glade!"
"I'm pretty sure you're the only cook in the glade." she said as she brought the bowl and spoon to the sink. Frypan looked at her with a hand clutching his heart in mock pain.
"OUCH! Lil lady, after I fed you this is how you talk to your personal chef an' his gourmet cooking?"
"I thought you said this was left overs? You and I have very different ideas of the definition of Gourmet." she shot back, with a hand on her hip, an eyebrow raised.
Frypan gasped dramatically, Newt was trying to hide his laughter. There was a loud snort followed by a loud deep belly laugh, that echoed through the picnic area. Minho was strutting towards them. Fry held his whisk, pointing it at Minho.
"Stay away from her, she's a sassy little shanket already. Quiet, but the sass is there. I don't need you rubbing off on her! You're bad enough already!"
Minho glanced at her, smirking, "Hmmm, no promises." he winked again with that sly cocky smirk and sauntered away.
Newt, still laughing to himself, got up and put an arm around her small shoulders and steered them towards the forest, waving at boys, greeting each by name. It didn't feel weird being so close to Newt. There was no awkward tension, he didn't do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. In fact she felt quite the opposite. She felt very safe, for the first time, since coming up from that stupid shuck box. Walking with Newt, she finally relaxed her tense muscles. There was an ease about him, a gentle familiarity... his face wasn't familiar, but there was something. Something at the back of her brain was trying to break through the mental stone walls that surrounded her memories.
Did I used to know this tall British blond boy? Maybe that's just him; he seems to be friendly with everyone, he has the respect of the boys around him, he is kind, trustworthy, he puts everyone around him at ease.
"Newt" the nameless girl stopped suddenly, "What do I look like? How old do you think I am?"
He took a step back, scrutinizing her. "Hmm, well, you're a girl."
She huffed and rolled her eyes, "Ya, no shuck Sherlock! You a bloody nailed it!" Throwing her arms into the air.
"Okay okay, just a sec' ...HEY CHUCK! Come 'er a second!" He hollered over this shoulder.
A short chubby boy, no older than 12 came jogging over, "Ya, what's up Newt? Wow, holy shuck, it's THE Girl! What's your name? Do you remember your name yet? Probably not. Took me two days to remember mine. I saw ya pass out! MAN! If I was the only girl and those guys kept touching me, I'd probably pass out too. So no worries. Though I did klunk my pants a few times! Haven't done that yet, have you?" He said all in one breath, his big brown innocent eyes wide and wondering, his tight corkscrew curls bouncing as he talked.
"Uh, no..no I don't remember yet. But you guys keep calling me weird words... I don't know.." she trailed off, unsure what to say. The little boy was cute, and seemed so innocent, he was also the youngest boy she had seen.
They are sending up children...this boy is barely out of babyhood! That is so sick!
Newt spoke snapping her out of her thoughts. "Chuck. I called you over to help me out. How tall do ya think she is? I'm about 6 feet, she comes up to about my armpit" He took his hand to the top of her head and moved it closer to his body, trying to measure her height.
"Eww dude, you smell! Don't shove my face into your armpit! Do you guys even shower here? GROSS!" She groaned trying to push his arm away, but he had his arm now wrapped around her head squishing it into his chest and armpit.
"NEWT! Eww gross! Staaawp!" She whined loudly trying to wiggle free from Newt's headlock. Chuck doubled over, hands on his knees, howling with laughter.
"OWWWW!" she shrieked.
Newt let go instantly, the girl's hand grabbed her forehead, where the fresh stitches were.
"Oh shuck, I'm Sorry Grennie! Shuck! I didn't mean to bloody hurt ya'! I'm sorry. You okay?" Newt ask a little panicked.
"No, it's fine. Nothing ripped, just pulled, stings like a mother shucker though. It's fine Newt, really. Now, as we were TRYING to figure out; boys, what do I look like?"
Both boys took a step back, Newt had his hands on his hips, Chuck had a hand holding his chin, both looked like they were thinking way too hard at this question, was it really that hard? It made her giggle. Then a voice sneered from behind her.
"You're short, and small. Make a good slopper, seeing as you're a girl. Clean up after us, work with that fat little shank right there" The girl whipped round to face the voice, furry exploding inside of her.
"Gally, be nice" warned Newt.
"Ya ya whatever Newton. Don't go treating her different. No special treatment because she's weak and useless. You don't need to defend her."
"Good. No special treatment then. Don't treat me differently just because I'm a girl. I'm sure you are just as pleasant to everyone new in this god awful place, just as welcoming and full of compliments and helpful advice." Her anger showing in sarcasm.
"Are you this rude to the other guys, or just to me?! Because I'm a girl? Dose it threaten you!? Me being a girl in your world of shucked macho masculinity?" she replied calmly, meeting his angry eyes, shoulders square and back straight.
Just because I'm a girl didn't mean anything...right? Why am I the only girl? Maybe I DO threaten them?!
Gally just rolled his eyes, "whatever shank" he pushed passed her and walked away.
Turning back around to the guys. She noticed right away that Minho had joined them, she blushed a little, and looked away. Newt and Chuck were looking at the new girl with mild surprise. Minho was smirking, his eyebrow cocked in amusement.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"No one ever has the guts to say anything to that slint head, especially a Greenie on their Day One. Nice job She-bean!" Minho replied, putting a fist in his hip and reaching the other out for a high five.
"Oh." I shrugged looking down, then realized he was still waiting for a high five, and slapped his hand. She didn't like a bully, and that's what Gally seemed like. A big bully, with weird eyebrows.
"Okay, back to your problem" said Chuck
"What problem?" Minho asked, looking between Chuck, Newt and the girl.
Newt gestured to her, "Shanket here doesn't know what she looks like. Wanna help?"
Minho's eye brow shot up, and that smirk appeared again on his face, he turned to look at her, his eyes trailed over her body and face, taking in every detail. She stood a little awkward this time, shifting from one foot to the other, the three guys looking her up and down. She couldn't help but wonder specifically what Minho thought of her, she scolded herself, she had just met him!
"Well, like Gally said, you're kinda short." Minho squinted an eye and tilted his head. He continued, "You have long hair, kind of like Newtie over here. But yours is more red gold, and then the sun catches when you turn, it's firey red. Like Sunshine. It looks like sunshine at sunset.. It's shinny and silky-" he stopped suddenly and cleared his throat and looked away rubbing the back of his neck. Was that a blush on his cheeks? Newt and Chuck glanced at him snickering a little.
A light blush rose on her cheeks, and a small smile graced her mouth.
"You have brown eyes like Newt...they have green and some gold in them, if you get up close, though!" jumped in Chuck, he took a few steps forward and looked into her eyes, "Ya, brown eyes, but with green and gold flecks in them!"
Newt added "You have a dimple on the one side when you smile, and some freckles across your cheeks and nose. And now that I think of it, you have an accent. Like mine! That's pretty cool. Just the two of us!" He held his hand out for a high five. She obliged. Minho looked between the two of them.
"Huh, you two do have a lot of similarities. The same colour hair, eyes and accent- except she's prettier Newt." Minho messed up Newt's hair when he said it.
"Oh shuck off Min!" Newt whined, pushing his arm away.
"OIH! NEWT! MINHO! I NEED YOU HERE" Alby roared from beside a giant pile of wood. Newt and Minho walked over to their waiting leader. On the way Minho kept glancing over his shoulder until his foot caught on a rock and he stumbled. Newt looked at him and then behind him to see what he was looking at. Newt then started laughing and wacked Minho on the back of the head. He was saying something to Minho, she couldn't hear, they were too far away at this point. Both boys were arguing with wild hand gestures. But it looked like an old married couple arguing. She laughed to herself.
"Come on She-Bean, let's go. Fire will be starting soon." Looked over at Chuck who was heading over to Alby too.
The sun was starting to set. Today was going fast. She had already spent a whole afternoon here? As the setting sun hit the top of the giant stone walls, there was a horrible loud grinding noise, making the ground shake. The noise was so loud she slapped her hands over her ears and wiped her head around trying to find where the noise was coming from. Her eyes landed on the big black openings in the middle of each stone wall. But the openings were getting smaller. The walls were moving together. One side of each wall had spikes reaching out for the other side that had big holes waiting for the spikes. The walls were trapping everyone inside.
"Oh no, not trapped, please not trapped!" She whimpered as her legs started to shake, she could feel her chest rising and falling faster, she was wiping her head back and forth between the four doors. She could feel the panic bubbling up inside.
"I hate small spaces!"
With hands over her ears she crouched down, before her legs gave out, pressing her head against her knees. She heard yelling from beside her, possibly Chuck trying to say something over the loud grinding but she ignored it. Trying to take a normal breath, trying to ignore the ear splitting sound of stone on stone and rusty metal gears. She felt arms wrap around her, holding her close. She could feel the steady thump of a heart beat. She didn't look up until the grinding noise was gone and it was quiet. She stayed there, wrapped in the arms that made her feel safe, listening to the comforting sound of the heartbeat for an extra minute getting herself under control. The quivering girl felt an arm move to rub her back and another one stroking her hair and a third hand squeezing her shoulder softly. She took one last deep breath and raised her head to see whose arms she was wrapped up in. She looked up to see warm chocolate brown eyes, and a curtain of shaggy blond hair.
"You ok Shanket?" Minho asked gently, from beside her, he had his hand on her shoulder and concern in his dark coffee coloured eyes.
"Y-Ya.. I think I am now. Wh-what the shuck was that?" she asked, still shaking a little.
"That. Would be the bloody walls. The doors close every night at sundown and open every morning at sunrise." Newt said.
"You catch on to Glader slang pretty fast, seems natural for you." Minho chuckled, then added seriously "You're claustrophobic, aren't you?" She just nodded her head.
"The box was awful" She whispered with a shutter. Minho's hand tightened on her shoulder. The boys looked at each other and then back at her, with concern and sympathy. She took a deep breath and let it out, her heart going back to normal.
"Guys" she said looking at both of them, "I'm okay now. Just next time give a warning to the new kids. Just so we know, k? Giant moving stone walls aren't normal. I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure about that. Please? I'll be okay. Still brand new, no idea what the bloody shuck is going on. A little warning would go a long way."
They both nod.