Chapter 71
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On Sunday August 28th Eve woke up, briefly forgetting what had happenned, then hoping it had been a nightmare. But, much like Febuary 5th, it had been real. Her Ravenwood orientation was tomorrow, Nadia was coming back Thursday, school started up again Septemer 6th. Today however, there was little for Eve to do with her day off. Eve went to her mosque for prayer. Some were collecting for assorted charities. Eve gave a few dollars, but knew it wasn't enough. Then Eve got a magazine. Normally this would be the time where they talked about upcoming television shows. Movies were still being made, but few tv shows. The only returning shows that she watched were her soap opera, which was only coming back for ten episodes this fall, and "the Simpsons", which was an American icon. The few new shows were dark, probably wouldn't have been made before 2/4. One involved the captain of a nuclear submarine threatening to nuke D.C. Another involved a serial killer who was also a devoted family man. And then there was the new show where a terrorist kidnaps a doctor's family to force her to kill the president. Eve couldn't understand how people could root for these "heroes." She also feared how much darker things might get before impact. That evening Eve ate the leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes, alone in her room. After she finished Karen asked if Eve wanted to join her outside for a ciggarette. Eve accepted, quitting would likely be harder with the countdown getting shorter, and she had the break the ice with Karen eventually. The next morning Eve woke up at 8am, orientation was at 11. She and Zack arrived with plenty of time to spare. There were some other people here for orientation, mostly young women. When this began they displayed their typing skills. Eve wasn't the best, but she was good. Then they were taught how to answer the phone, transfer calls. After this their instructor gave them a little tour of this building. They briefly saw mr Dole, the owner and founder of Ravenwood, walk into a meeting. Their guide told them not to speak to him, mr Dole was a busy man. Eve could understand why. Dole had been born with nothing, put himself through college, founded Ravenwood. Almost 70 now he'd been semi-retired before 2/4, now came out of retirement to help build shelters. Eve was grateful for this opportunity, she wasn't offended that Dole wasn't friendly or didn't have time to sit down and chat. By the end of orientation Eve's superiors made her weekly schedule. She would work mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, 4pm to 9pm with a 30 minute break at some point. She would also work saturdays 10am to 6pm, with an hour for lunch/dinner. Eve was suprised to be working on saturdys, but didn't complain. She would officially start on wednesday at which point she would do the best she could, try to prove herself for a Ravenwood spot. She would clearly have some competition, just had to do her best.