Chapter 54 "Repetition"
Day 267
Selenis walked into the kitchen, ready to start the day with some of Lyrik and Tavia's homemade pancakes. It was going to be a long day, and she wanted to start it off well with her favorite breakfast.
She walked into the room, disregarding those sitting at the tables as she made a beeline for the cafeteria counter where Lyrik and Jessica stood ready to help make plates.
"Thank you girls," Selenis grinned with joy as Lyrik handed her a plate she had made just for the admirable older woman.
"Of course," Lyrik and Jessica said in unison.
The Latina turned, feeling better already, and spotted a familiar face eating at a table. She grabbed a seat right next to Gabriel and gave him a heartfelt grin.
Things had changed between the two of them since Gabriel had returned, but it was understandable. Nothing lasts forever, and bonds are not always strengthened by distance. Often, they fade away if it lasts for too long. Thankfully, Selenis and Gabriel still shared a bond, and still cared immensely for one another; they just simply are not as close and do not get along as well as they once had.
"How are you doing today?" Gabriel asked kindly, wiping syrup off of his mouth.
"I'm good," the woman sighed and smiled to the others at their table, giving a nod to Axel, Merle, and Sutan. Merle glared at Sutan when he smiled back, but Sutan mostly brushed it off. "I have a feeling it won't last long, though."
"Why not?" Gabriel asked, and Selenis was met with caring eyes across the table.
"Firstly, Runae wants me to help take care of the kids, because her spine's been killing her for the last few days. When the parents decide to show up, I have to go help Kevin with some things. On top of it all, I have wall duty today."
"Damn," Gabriel said, slightly shocked. "Are you always this busy?"
"Not really, but it happens."
"You're kidding," Axel responded, awkwardly inserting himself into the conversation.
"Uh," Selenis laughed at him, "I'm not."
"They must really trust you," Gabriel stated before swallowing a mouthful of pancake.
"I suppose so," Selenis shrugged. "I think they trust me just as much as anyone else."
The Mexican man nodded and held his tongue, opting not to voice his idea that his new group was being treated differently. Though certain members like Sierra, Kelly, and Xavier were held in high regard, others like himself, Merle, Axel, Sutan, and Soren were overlooked and disregarded, or treated as if they were much less important or trustable.
"You all feeling good today?" the Latina asked, trying to be considerate.
Sutan and Merle nodded nonchalantly, almost as if they hadn't heard her. Axel let out a loud yell of joy, followed by a gleeful "Yes ma'am!" Soren, Gabriel, Dillon, and Amanda B. all laughed at the man and gave Selenis acknowledging gestures that they were on the same page as him, even if it was a bit of a lie.
Bella walked down the sidewalk, pushing her young son in a stroller in front of her. She walked joyfully, enjoying the world around her and the beautiful day, the sun finally coming back out again after two long weeks of clouds.
She made it to the Governor's Estates and pushed the gate open, continuing on through the neighborhood. The houses there were beautiful and large. They were clearly well-groomed by the rich people that once inhabited the area. There were about twenty-five total houses within the estates, and nearly ten of them were empty, remaining as such since the members of the group who once lived in them had died.
At the end of the block, Bella had made it to her destination. It was one of the smaller houses in the neighborhood, but it was still a gorgeous home that was beautifully designed, painted, and decorated.
The door opened wide when she approached, held open by a bald black woman with a large smile on her face.
"What took you so long?" she asked, a smile on her face, but her voice clearly impatient.
"I'm sorry, Auntie," Bella brushed it off. "I got tied up with Angel here."
Auntie bent over and pinched the toddler's cheek, but he swatted it away and cried, "Owwwwwww!"
"He's so precious," the elder woman said. "Come on in, y'all. You're family now."
Bella pushed the stroller inside and turned it to the side before grabbing her young son out of it and carrying him into the kitchen, where Tavis stood cooking over the stove.
"Hey, baby," Tavis kissed her as she approached. "We just got all of your stuff unpacked. And dinner should be ready in just a few minutes."
"You're too good to me," the teen grinned as she put Angel in a highchair to eat his dinner.
"Yes, we are," Auntie joked as she opened up the baby food and handed it to Bella.
Olga sat at her kitchen table, stroking her small baby bump. It was quiet, silent. The room was empty, and she was alone. She sighed, keeping her head down as she stared at her belly. Blackness clouded the edges of her mind, doubt and fear and depression. A loud, unpleasant male scream could be heard in the distance.
Afraid, she pulled her head up and snapped back into reality. She met her eyes with Greyson and Robert, who were looking at her with concern.
"Are you okay?" Greyson asked, placing his fork on his plate and beginning to stand.
"You just kinda...left us," Robert stated, putting his silverware down, as well.
Olga jumped with slight fear as she felt a hand grab her shoulder tenderly, and she turned to see her housemate Britney looking at her inquisitively.
"I'm fine," the pregnant woman laughed, brushing them all off. "Really guys, I'm fine, I just got lost in thought for a second."
"You sure?" Greyson asked, half-standing from his seat. Robert and Britney's eyes shot confidence into Olga, and she nodded.
"Yeah," she grinned and picked her silverware back up, "we're good. What were we talking about?"
Kelly walked quietly alone into the administration building to see Tracey, Jim's secretary, who had asked to see her.
"Hello," Tracey called joyfully to the barely-purple-haired girl as she walked in, filling the mostly empty room with her voice.
Slightly taken aback by her jubilance, Kelly stuttered a "Good evening," to her.
"Kelly, I wanted to talk to you about your job."
"I don't have one," Kelly confounded.
"I know," the secretary nodded as she found a paper and handed it to her. "One of the new recruits from last week gave us the idea of having a crafting group. Mostly, it's knitting and sewing, but it sounds like something you might enjoy."
Kelly nodded perplexedly, taking slight offense to the woman's words. "I'm...I can handle being a scavenger or wall duty."
"Oh," Tracey said, her eyes growing wide, "no, no, I didn't mean anything like that. I'm sure you can handle yourself perfectly fine, I just thought you might like something that allows for more creativity. You don't have to take the job, it was just a suggestion."
"Ah," the young woman laughed under her breath. "So, what, they just sit around and play arts and crafts? Knit like old women?"
"Of course not," Tracey smiled, sensing frustration. "Joshua, who runs it, is super fun. He just set everything up the other day, and he asked for things like an MP3 player, and speakers, and he decorated it all beautifully. And it's not just knitting, but it's mostly creating stuff for the community to use. They're making clothes, jewelry, and even handy things like pencil holders and backpacks."
"Pencil holders?"
"Oh, come on," Tracey laughed. "The room's the fifth door on the right down that hall there. Just go in, take a look. Wait for Joshua if you're not sure. He should be here in about ten minutes."
Kelly bit her lips and shifted on her feet.
"Please?" Tracey asked in one last desperate attempt.
"Fine," Kelly shrugged. "But no promises. If it looks dumb, I'm gonna work on a more productive job."
"This job's pretty product-"
"Pencil holders," the younger woman interrupted.
Tracey held back a giggle and conceded. "Okay, whatever."
Kelly smiled slightly and went down the hall, counting the doors until she found the fifth one. She turned the knob and entered to see Terrance at a sewing machine, making a simple pink top. His head shot up to her, his face turning red in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Kelly quickly said before noticing the man was in a wheelchair. "I didn't know anyone was in here." She closed the door and looked back down the hallway, hoping to shoot Tracey an angry glare. To her disappointment, the secretary was not visible from where she stood.
"It's okay," the man shouted from inside the room. "You can come in, I'm sorry."
Kelly opened the door back up and let out a sigh as she realized how awkward the situation had just become. She reentered wordlessly.
"I didn't mean to make you feel like you did something wrong. I just wasn't expecting anyone to come in."
"I'm sorry," Kelly said, giving the man a kind smile and trying to avoid looking at the wheelchair. She instead focused on the room, getting a good look at the projects others were working on and the overall feel of the room. She hadn't noticed that "Love Is Like A Butterfly" by Dolly Parton was playing lightly in the background. She also didn't notice that in the farthest corner from her was a thin, young man with a mohawk and dark, tired eyes was working silently on what appeared to be a pair of pants. She made awkward eye contact, and he instantly looked away from her. Trying to turn her focus away from him, her eyes locked on a beautiful silk purple dress lying on a table in front of her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Terrance chuckled. "That's Joshua's. He's a really talented kid."
"How did you guys get silk on such short notice?"
"Well, they've had the fabric lying around in a storeroom for a long time now. Tracey's roommate Belinda made them keep the stuff because she likes to make quilts and things. So, we just brought out everything when this was all set up."
"Did you guys raid a fabric store for these?"
"Actually, yes," Terrance laughed. "A lot of the older people insisted that they were vital for our survival. Can't say I disagree."
Just as Kelly picked up the purple dress, the door opened and a tall black man entered the room. He had dreads and a red hat with studs on it, and looked like a gangster.
"Kelly?" he asked, revealing a very deep voice and terrible teeth.
"Yeah," she replied hesitantly. Instinctively, she wanted to grab for a gun, but resisted it like Xavier had begged her to. Giving the community a shot was very big for him. "Joshua?"
"Yes, ma'am," he smiled at her. "Sorry it took me so long," he said to Terrance and the man in the back, "You all good back there, Kevin-O," he asked the mohawked stranger, saying the word as if it was all his first name. The strange kid gave a kurt nod. "Good. I was with Alice and Adrian, so...you know," he laughed and Terrance gave him a suggestive wink and big grin. "So you decided you want in?" he asked the brunette-rooted girl.
"Not yet," she said, putting the dress back down. "Sorry for messing with your dress."
"That's fine," he said and stood next to her to pick the garment back up. He held it to his body as his eyes lit up at the potential he saw in it. "How does it look?"
"On you?" Kelly asked, confused in the man's actions.
"Well, I mean, I guess. In general."
"It looks beautiful. I used to own something kinda like that, but I only wore it once. It was too precious to me to risk ruining it."
"Sounds like you love clothes," Joshua grinned. "Why haven't you decided if you want to do this or not?"
"Well," she shrugged, "is making pretty dresses really helping the community?"
"It's making sure they're not naked," the creative man chuckled.
"But is it helping them stay alive? Protecting them and their kids? Or even testing their skills, teaching them how to survive in case this place goes down?"
"No," Joshua shrugged. "But it is helping them stay sane. Giving them things to do and to occupy their minds, like Belinda and Runae. It gives them an escape. And to everyone not involved here, they get new things. Terrance here is making a gift for his wife, Tina. He's spreading happiness, and helping to keep morale high. It helps them feel like everything's fine and normal again, and that they're getting treats. Really, don't they deserve a treat?"
"I suppose so," Kelly said, a smile forming weakly on her face at the idea of making others happy, and ideas were popping into her head of things to make for her friends.
"So are you in?"
Kelly looked to Terrance, who gave her an inviting smile.
"Yeah, of course."