The day dawned, and they left us there in that prison in our prison clothes. A girl in charge of medical care came to take a look at Blaine at our request. She gave him an anti-inflammatory and put some ointment on his leg wound. At least that, right? I confess I was impatient and anxious. I was no longer convinced that this had been the best decision we had made as a family. The impression I had was that we were just waiting for the time to come to be sent to some kind of slave camp. We were even wearing clothes for the occasion!
I can't pinpoint the time, but I believe it was late in the morning when Major Thomas came to visit us with some papers in hand.
"As you all presented yourselves as a family by choice, then I will make a collective statement." Major Thomas said in front of the cell where we were. "Mike Chang, Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray are the only ones we're interested in that could be part of the Edward-Brunswick community. Tina Chang can join based on her marital status and pregnancy status. The rest of you are free to leave. You will get your stuff and we will give you a weapon to defend yourselves."
"Please say there is a solution, so we can all stay!" I leaned against the cell and knelt in front of the major.
"The Changs, Lopez and Fabray, if you agree to stay, you will receive a copy of our provisional constitution and will sign a commitment document, which will act as a kind of naturalization application. Then they will receive a letter with directions for each one." Major Thomas said ignoring me and my gesture of humiliation.
"Sir, is there not an alternative?" Mike was also begging. "Please, I beg you. Do not dismiss them. They are far more valuable than you might think. I will do anything if you let they stay. Please, sir! I beg you!"
"Like I said, you introduced yourself as a family, so we can make some adjustments. But know that our terms are non-negotiable. Rachel Berry, Samuel Evans and Blaine Anderson can stay, but they will be sent to the farms, where they will work on the plantations and treat the animals. Miss Berry, because she had some skills as a sniper, she can be sent to our army, where she will be trained and serve our country."
"Are we going to work like farm hands?" Sam was clearly uncomfortable.
"Precisely. Or cleaning streets… whatever they need you."
"I can do this." Blaine was willing. "Working as farm hand on the island means we have the chance to see you all again." And he looked to Major Thomas for confirmation. "Right?"
"Yes, you will know where your friends will be. But you will hardly be allowed into the city That's why I warn you. If you want to be together, you'll have to look for another chance off the island. But if you want to be part of the community, you will be sent where you are needed, and you will certainly be separated."
"We'll all be separated?" I asked with tears in my eyes.
"As I said, Tina and Mike Chang will stay together. You and Quinn Fabray will have the chance to be close. I can't guarantee the fate of the others."
I glared at Rachel. She was serious and worried. I was pretty sure Rachel would have no problem picking up a gun and shooting, because frankly she was way better than me at those things. I was sure she could handle the pressure of training and discipline, but I don't know if she would be happy away from a life without connection to the arts. I also didn't know if she and the others were ready to split up.
"What if I officially marry one of them? Will they be able to accompany me wherever I'm posted?"
"Have you forgotten that I conducted the triage, Lopez? Even more so in our community that takes family issues very seriously? I won't deal with you in that way. Either you accept what we are offering or you all are free to leave."
"Santana…it's okay. I'll be fine." Rachel said with tears in her eyes. "I can do it. I can train into the military stuff as long as I know you and the others will be safe."
"I can do it too." Sam said. "I know someday we will be together again. We just need to do this job, right?"
It wasn't ideal, but it was the best we got. We really wouldn't be able to go to the other island on foot, without resources, without almost anything. We no longer had that option. Everything ended there. They were offering us future citizenship for expatriates, as long as it was on their terms. We knew we needed to play their game, for now, because it was a matter of survival. If, afterwards, it was necessary to devise an escape, I'm sure we could find a way. They opened the cell and it was a strange feeling of freedom and imprisonment at the same time.
We were all given a copy of the Edward-Brunswick provisional constitution, which broadly began by saying it was a constitutionalist, parliamentary country and a lot of blah, blah, blah. Then it continued with the rights and duties in a more philosophical way, there was an article saying that every citizen had the obligation to do military service for five years from the age of 18. There was also a lengthy penal code, with the death sentence for some crimes. Immigrants could face expulsion if they commit too many offenses. It also had a sanitary item, which a citizen with a positive contagion result could request 24-hour incarceration and a second test before being shot in the face. An immigrant didn't have the same right. Immigrants need to comply with a two-year moratorium before they enjoy full rights as citizens and etc, etc, etc. I went through that 30-page copy, signed the immigrant registration and gave the secretary the documents.
Santana Maria Lopez, born in august 27th, 20 years old, from United States of America (extinct country), and my marital status was widow of Brittany S. Pierce, as a tribute Thomas allowed me to do for my girl.
It was very sad to think that Brittany was so close to safety.
I received the forwarding envelope, which was sealed. I had no idea what Thomas had assigned me, but whatever it was, if he told me to break rocks in the mines, it would be done. They said they wouldn't let us know anything else to avoid unnecessary attempts at negotiations. And if we broke the envelopes, they would throw us out. The administrative assistants returned our backpacks and our stinking clothes. It was just a matter of throwing it in a soapy bucket. I didn't get my revolver back, but my most prized possession was in my hands: Brittany's notebook.
We changed our clothes from the prison uniform to some clean civil ones, donated in some way, as it was evident that they were second hand clothes. I chose a blouse, a jacket and jeans that were a little baggy. So I put on my comfortable old boot. I wanted to laugh at Quinn's choice: she chose a spandex short to serve as panties and a floral dress and a coat. I don't even remember the last time I saw her in a dress! Perhaps it was the civilizing air, who knows. I think Quinn wanted to go back to feeling like the old Quinn Fabray from Lima, Ohio.
After getting dressed, we waited for the minibus. It was the transport that crossed the bridge once a day, which took and brought back employees from the forward base to the island. I confess that when I got on that bus, I felt that thing in my stomach, when you go on a roller coaster. I had no idea how stressed and anxious I was at that point, but my body was telling me that, yes, I was at my limit. Rachel sat next to me. She was even more apprehensive than I was because even though I didn't know what my destination was, Rachel was fearful of being forced to serve in the military in order to remain in seemingly safe territory, when she herself had not been safe. I held her hand and squeezed it. I wanted to give her some strength, and at the same time, I also wanted some comfort from her. Anyway, I had never traveled on such a long bridge over the sea, and luckily it was a beautiful day.
The second triage point was at Borden-Carleton, exactly the first community on the island after crossing the bridge. They said that was the only way to get to the island by land transport, because all port activity was closed and prohibited. All private boats were taken over by the navy. The coast guard and navy were the only militarized groups allowed to sail around the island. There were houses in Borden-Carleton which were mainly occupied by active servicemen and their families. Major Thomas, who was with us on the bus, also lived in Borden-Carleton.
"That is one of the four power stations on our island." Thomas said talking more with Mike. "Three are functional, and the guys are working to reactivate the fourth. It's just that our population has decreased by half of what it was originally, that's why the three centers supply the island perfectly. But we need to think long term."
"Are we going to have hot water?" Mike asked.
"Yes, the heaters are functional here."
"Oh my god!" Tina cheered. "I thought I was going to freeze in the bunker last winter. It will be nice not to go through that anymore."
"What happened on this island?" I asked. "How was the apocalypse here?"
"To make a short story short, when we understood that the prime minister, the rest of the government and the five stars generals took refuge in the luxury bunker and had the biggest cities blown up, our governor called his cousin who commanded the military base in Brunswick and convinced them to defect by bringing the full military apparatus to Prince Edward. Everything was going well, but we failed to control the refugees. Civil problems with these immigrants also appeared due to lack of planning and control. Contamination reached our doorstep and decimated more than half of the population of people and animals. Luckily, it was close to winter, and the army managed to comb through, killing all those infected in the island."
"How many people?"
"Half of our population." He wouldn't say numbers, but I learned later that almost 50k people, reapers and zombies was wiped out, especially in Charlottetown. That the army went into the woods, into every home and exterminated every reaper they found. And that later, when the tests were ready, whenever they identified an infected person inside the island, the region was isolated and searched until the focus of contagion was found. That's how they made it happen. "So we closed our island, we restructured our system, our organization, our society, our models and only recently, about a months ago, we reopen for immigrants. As you have attested, we developed a rigorous and cautious control. We have no records of attacks inside the island for three months."
"I understand that to do this wasn't in a democratic way, right?" Quinn speculated.
"It wasn't democratic, but it wasn't dictatorial either. It was a joint venture between Prince Edward's governor, the military command and the civilian command. Those who didn't accept the new conditions were free to leave. I can say that very few have left the island because of this political bullshit. The important thing is that it's working."
"Have you turned down many people?" Blaine even asked why he himself would be an outcast in theory.
"Most don't even enter our gates. I tend to reject more than 80% in the triage. You may be apprehensive, but you are the privileged ones."
I looked out the window and I confess that it was a shock to pass in front of the houses and see some children playing. I also noticed that all the houses had bars on the windows, and I guessed that they also had reinforcements on the doors. If there were no walls, that was already a significant change.
The minibus parked in front of a nice building with interesting architecture. In front of it, there was a pole with a flag of the country under construction. The constitution had the figure of the flag, but the photocopy of the design was very bad and it wasn't possible to understand it properly. Then I saw that it was a drawing of a ship going into an island with some trees. It was a kind of gathering of the flags of the two old Canadian provinces, and it was said that it was provisional until the choice of the new flag. Anyway, that was the flag I would pledge my new nationality to. We were directed to an administrative office within that building. We hand out the envelopes with the referrals in a row. There were codes on them, so I was anxious to find someone who could translate them, but no one said a word to us.
"You can wait in the courtyard if you want." The secretary said. "We will call you by name when it comes to taking yours ID picture."
We waited where we had been instructed. There were a few wooden and concrete benches in the courtyard of the building, there was only one security guard watching us and nothing else but a cobblestone floor and brightly painted walls. The place was very clean and organized. I wasn't used to coming across this kind of environment in an urban setting. The towns we passed through were dirty and overgrown. Logan was part rubble. Even in Indian Lake, the locals didn't manage to keep everything so clean.
"How much delay, how much bureaucracy!" Quinn complained.
"I'm not in a hurry." Sam looked at the ground and tested the firmness of one of the stones, kicking it lightly. "It means more time with you, guys."
"And…" Blaine added. "We're in. Look at this place! It doesn't even look like the apocalypse has come this far either."
"Long live the bureaucrats." I mocked.
"From what I understand, this place is the result of a coup d'état with military backing." Mike frowned. "Bureaucracy is natural among these people."
"I don't know if it's a coup d'état." I reflected a little bit. "It's more like successful separatists."
"Wasn't Quebec the separatist province?" Quinn questioned.
Our conversation was interrupted when the secretary summoned us to take the pictures. One by one, being called by name, we sit on the bench and look at the digital camera, as if we were going to do the yearbook at school. The secretary asked us for a few more minutes to finish making our identity cards because, apparently, nobody leaves Borden-Carleton without one.
"I just hope I didn't look like an idiot." Tina was anxious.
"Everyone looks like an idiot in these pictures." I snapped.
"Samuel Evans and Blaine Anderson." The secretary called the two and handed them the identity card that had a printed photo, name and a bar code.
"Alright, I'm Administrative Agent Sebastian Liward. I was assigned to accompany and install Messrs. Evans and Anderson." Said a kinda skinny and short guy. "Our shuttle leaves in 20 minutes."
"20 minutes?" Suddenly, I freaked out. Sam and Blaine were leaving for god knows where. We only knew that it would be for farms, and that they would become peasants.
"Where are we going?" Blaine looked like he wanted to cry.
"To a village called Kinkora. It's not too far from here. It's a community of farmers, and you will be the new workers in the area." Liward explained.
Our goodbyes were a bit sloppy. I hugged Sam and Blaine tightly, in a way that I didn't want to let them go. But there they were. We cried. I cried through this pain of separation. They weren't dead, and I knew that someday I might find them again. But we were a family that had just experienced its first fragmentation. After all this time together, Sam and Blaine, the fishing buddies, who were each other's best friends, would live another reality away from us. The only consolation was that they would be together. Maybe.
"It's surreal that we have to part ways after all this time." Rachel said with tears in her eyes.
"It won't be forever." Blaine smiled awkwardly. "Soon the big holidays will start, and you will be able to visit us." Yeah, maybe not.
"You will be able to send each other letters." Liward explained. "Soon, the phone line will be restored for the civil population, and you will be able to call each other. Don't worry."
At a time when there was no more internet, the old and infamous version of dial-up connection was for the exclusive use of the army and the government.
"At least you will be together." I tried to encourage them.
"Of course, after all, we are brothers."
Blaine and Sam got on the bus along with the administrative agent. It was strange to see them go, at the same time that I had that melancholy feeling that another cycle of life had come to an end.
"Rachel Berry, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike Chang, Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez." The secretary shouted our names to hand us our IDs.
I looked at my picture, and it wasn't too bad, but I stifled a laugh when I saw Tina's. She looked pained. Messing around with each other's pictures was just a brief moment of relaxation.
"Good afternoon." A black man, somewhat like Major Thomas approached us. "Our transport to Charlottetown had a problem that required mechanical assistance, so it will be delayed to such an extent that we are in danger of arriving in the city during curfew."
"And you are?" Quinn asked.
"Robert Thomas, I am the administrative agent who will accompany the five of you."
"Thomas? Are you related to the Major Thomas who interviewed us?" I asked.
"He is my brother."
"And you were saying we're not going to Charlottetown today..." Mike got back to the main subject.
"Correct. So I'm going to direct you to an accommodation. We must move to the capital tomorrow morning."
Robert Thomas took us to a collective housing that must have held about 30 people at once. But there were only five there: us. As I suspected, the barracks had sideboards for an iron bar that was to be placed in the door, as Robert instructed, just in case the emergency power plant sounded. We couldn't lock ourselves in there or we could get into trouble. The windows were all barred, as I had already observed. Even with them open, a reaper or zombie wouldn't get in because of the big wards. It felt like we were in a prison, but that's okay. The moment and the dangers justified those security devices.
The shelter was basically made up of bunk beds. There were no sheets and we weren't even provided with blankets to keep warm. There was bathrooms at the back: one for men and one for women. Bathroom with a single toilet, sink and shower. Robert made one last appearance that day carrying a tray with a jug of water and food: bread with butter inside: one each. I was starving and didn't care for the simplicity and poverty of the meal. Then, I chose to sleep in bed under a more centralized bunk and away from the wind coming in through the window. Rachel lay down on the next bed.
"It's weird, but I'm exhausted." Rachel confessed. "I didn't move today to feel this way."
"We are not moving as usual these last few days. But make no mistake Berry: we are exhausted."
"I wonder how Sam and Blaine are doing?"
"Hopefully better than us."
"San?"
"What's up Rachel?"
"Are you afraid?"
"I don't know. I'm certainly looking forward to it. I don't know if I'm scared.
"I am scared."
"You have every reason to."
"How could someone who wanted to go to Broadway end up in the army?"
"It's the apocalypse!" I smile slightly. "You're going to be fine, Rachel. With no formal training, you've done pretty well this whole time. Imagine now with a bunch of trained people and heavy weapons? Just don't be a martyr. If anything goes wrong, think of yourself, release the gigantic ego that we know you have inside yourself! And think of us… not in a save us way but in a I need to get them way."
"Us family?"
"Yeah. Family."
Rachel rolled onto her side and laid her head on top of her arms. I was also overcome by fatigue and I blacked out.
...
Charlottetown was a partially fenced and walled city, much to our surprise, and with all entrances completely controlled. Robert said that not everybody could get in every place, and that there was a much tighter security check in the capital. When we got off the bus, we were tested again.
"No one enters the capital without taking the test." Robert explained. "You get used to having your fingers pierced."
After we passed the sanitary checkpoint, as the test site was called, we took "public" bicycles, which were painted yellow. I haven't ridden a bike since the day I got my driver's license when I was 16. We followed Robert with the bicycles, and noticed that Charlottetown's traffic was basically made by them. We saw a car here and there, but Robert said that only the police and the army drove cars around the city. Generally speaking, it was a very ordinary city, with low-rise buildings, lots of residential areas and one or two buildings with more than three storeys. In short, Charlottetown was a small city with an average urban structure that had a lot in common with Lima, Ohio.
"We have three military bases here in Charlottetown. The airport became the base of the air force. We have the coastguard and the navy bases, and the army reception center, but their training camp aare in Wood Islands and Pictou Island. We are going to the reception center first to drop Rachel Berry there."
We arrived at said reception center twenty minutes later. The place was completely surrounded by a fence, so we stayed at the gate. Robert got off his bike to talk to an officer and then came back to talk to us.
"This is the time, Rachel. I'll leave you here at the gate and Private James has already called the recruiter to come get you here. Say your goodbyes."
Rachel hugged Tina, Mike, Quinn. She was very emotional and tears were flowing freely down her face. Rachel left me for last and instead of hugging me, she kissed me on the lips, with her tongue this time. I let her do it and I kissed her back this time. She was shaking and afraid. I really didn't want her to leave, but I didn't play by the rules anymore. All I could do was pray that she would be okay.
"Remember what I said: don't be a martyr."
"I won't be."
Her recruiter arrived at the gate and Rachel was taken away. I felt Mike, Tina and Quinn's eyes on me, which unnerved me.
"When did this happen?" Tina said with wide eyes.
"This is not the time to argue about this, okay?"
We got back on the bikes and Robert led us this time to the university campus, and he handed us over to a Jane Glaslow, who had red hair and a tough accent. He wished us luck and left without giving us further encouragement. A protocol good luck and that was it, he had fulfilled his task and would soon be returning to his family in Borden-Carleton. We walked into the office and briefly handed our IDs over to Jane Glaslow to scan the barcode. So, she printed out four files, got keys and asked us to accompany her. We walked to a one-story building that had a booth. A girl worked there and she handed us a bag each.
"Hi, my name is Laura, and I'm the condominium manager. If you have any questions or problems about the dormitories, you should report them to me. Any problems with your diary or activities, you should report to Jane. Is that clear?"
We just nodded.
"This is your basic starter kit." Then we checked that in the bag with the basic starter kit there was a bedding set, a towel, a personal hygiene kit, a small blanket and some toilet paper. We also got a notebook and a pen. "You can have one meal a day for free in the cafeteria. If you want to eat more, you will have to have credits to pay for it. Laundry works every day but your access code allows one free wash once a week. If you need to use the launderette more, you'll have to pay. The tanks are free."
In time, we would learn that credits were a kind of currency in circulation in Edward-Brunswick. Certain things were pure public grant, but if you wanted to buy any object or extra-better-service, you had to pay with credits. These credits were generated with hours of work's bank. Later I found out that it was Economy 101, about a capitalist system infiltrated in a kind of socialist logic. It was new for all of us.
Jane led us to a dorm building and showed us to an apartment on the first floor. The space was small but well-appointed, and already furnished.
"Here are the Changs. This is a special apartment for immigrants who are married or have a family. It has a bedroom, a kitchen-living room and a bathroom. You will be comfortable here." She handed the printed document to both of them. "Here are your itineraries. Tomorrow you all undergo medical examinations, and star your basic safety training. As you are immigrants, you will only receive your weapons when you become effective citizens. Don't forget that the curfew is at seven p.m. You will be arrested if you don't comply this order and may be expelled."
"Wait, does it say I have engineering classes during the day and work in the afternoon? Is that right?"
"Yes… in your file it says you are training for electrical engineering."
"Am I with the cleaning staff?" Tina said with some disappointment.
"Everything is right. You will become an engineer and you will clean the streets." Jane was very hard and cold, very different from Robert. "Now you two."
When Major Thomas said that they only accepted the others for manual labour, he wasn't kidding. I felt sorry for Tina. Apparently that town didn't need artists or designers like her.
Quinn and I followed Jane towards the building next door to Mike and Tina's. We also went upstairs to the second floor and she opened one of the bedrooms. Unlike Mike and Tina's apartment, ours was just a dorm: with two single beds on each side of the room and a few pieces of furniture.
"Your bathroom is the collective one. Each floor has separate men's and women's restrooms. These are your itineraries. Like the Changs, you have clinical exams tomorrow, you'll go through basic safety training, and then you'll start studying and working."
"Does it say here that I'm going to take medicine classes and that I'm going to work at the hospital?" I nearly panicked. "This must be a mistake. Quinn is going to be a doctor. I chose engineering."
"I'm also going to take medical classes and work at the hospital, San." Quinn frowned.
"There is no mistake. If your interviewer has determined that you're going to be a doctor, that's what you're going to be because we need it and because you've shown talent for it. If you do not accept these terms, as an immigrant you can ask to leave the island under the penalty of never being able to return."
"You mean a person who is a citizen of the island can choose what they want to do?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, after we do our compulsory military service, we can choose between three different areas of work, selected through academic aptitude tests."
"What if someone doesn't want any of the options?"
"You can choose to do blue works or leave."
I sat on one of the beds, probably the one that will be mine and sighed. Tina was going to clean streets, Rachel was going to be a soldier and I was going to be a doctor? I looked up and thought of my dad. He must have been laughing at me in heaven. Jane left the dorm key with us, something we couldn't lose under penalty of fines.
"What was that?" Quinn was referring to the kiss, obviously.
"Rachel likes me." I said without giving much explanation.
"When did this happen?"
"I don't know. Ask her."
"You and Rachel by any chance..."
"I never cheated on Brittany."
"Okay." Quinn didn't look too convinced, but so what? I told the truth, but the fact that she didn't believe it was never my fault. "So… you will follow in your father's footsteps…"
"Not because I want to."
"Well Santana, I never told you that, because I would never give in. But as much as I love studying medicine, you're the one with the natural talent for it."
I flipped the switch and the light came on. We had a shower with hot water, appliances worked. It was another world and I experienced a culture shock there, so to speak. But I wasn't very happy with the outcome, even though I was in a seemingly safe place. I didn't expect a party, I didn't expect confetti. I guess I just wish Brittany was here.
Quinn was the complete opposite of me. She was loving that dorm space we were placed in. I saw her in that awful hand-me-down dress, in her boots that we've been wearing in the woods all this time. Her image already showed this state of transition between the apocalyptic world and the post-apocalyptic world. We had absolutely nothing but a room and an itinerary. But for Quinn, it was as if she had been reborn. No wonder she was the first of us to fully adapt.
...
(FIVE YEARS LATER)
The medical tests they made us to do were basically laboratory tests. Our cholesterol was very low, as well as all the rest of the nutrients. In short, we were basically malnourished people. But this has been corrected over time. Our safety training was really basic, and they taught us things that we had already learned in practice. But it was interesting that they organized a security scheme. If the city's security sirens went off, everyone knew what to do: stay if you're indoors or run to the nearest public place. If a person has injuries such as bites or scratches, they will need to be isolated until the medical team arrives with the tests. The armed forces are the only ones authorised to walk in the streets, and citizens can take their weapons and defend the place they are in against threats, but they cannot go out armed until further notice.
It reminded me a lot of fire rehearsals at school.
When I went to college, it was strange that all the class schedules were at the city hospital. The place was spacious, well equipped, and its structure was very similar to my father's hospital in Lima. But it was a place lacking in human material. Doctors and nurses died like ants concentrated on leftover cake when you throw detergent with bleach on top of them. What I mean is that if there weren't enough doctors and nurses for that hospital, what about the rest of the island's staff? Or the so-called new country?
When I was faced with that reality, and when I became aware that most people my age were doing military service, as was Rachel, I understood why Major Thomas assigned me to the medical field. Everyone who had the slightest talent or predisposition to become a doctor would do so. Thomas even used the argument that Quinn and I were immigrants, therefore under no obligation to do military service despite our age, to get us into that hospital.
Classes were taught by the physician available to a group of only 12 people. When Quinn and I arrived, we turned into 14 medical students. Classes in the morning, work in the afternoon. For the first six months, however, Quinn and I worked as cleaners at the hospital. We studied and worked in Charlottetown for three weeks, six days a week with Sunday off. For one week of the month, part of the team moved to other areas: Summerside, Moncton, Cape Jourimain, Borden Carleton, Georgetown, Shediac... wherever they needed. Being moved inside the island was smooth and safe. But when we needed to serve outside of it, it wasn't uncommon for us to be on alert and even take up arms on behalf of reapers or, mainly, other people. It seemed like the winter was only time of the year we had the most peace of mind because reapers migrated south.
As time went on, our roles progressed: cleaners, administrative assistants, nursing assistants, doctors' assistants, interns... I don't even know how I could breathe. When we completed two years on the island, already as titled citizens of Edward-Brunswick, our professors evaluated us and determined which area of medicine we should pursue based on the assessments, our performance in studies, and our characteristics. Our wishes had less weight in the analytical set. Quinn was assigned to the clinic and research. Quinn had small limitations of movement in her fingers as a result of what those monsters had done to her, which prevented her from being a surgeon. My friend didn't like it very much, but soon she came to terms with it and began studying to be the best general practitioner in the world.
What about me? My father at that point had a stomach ache from laughing so hard, because I was assigned to be a surgeon.
In the new Edward-Brunswick express training plan, in the third year on the island I was already performing my first surgeries. I performed the simplest surgeries by myself, with suturing wounds (something I had already done before), and I was an assistant in the more complex ones. By the end of the fifth year, which in this system meant my graduation, I was already performing small and medium-complexity surgeries on my own, and assisting in highly complex ones. In that world without many doctors available, we didn't have the luxury of choosing specialties. We needed to be complete, and that's why I was trained to be a trauma surgeon.
I remember when we got our speciality directions, Quinn had a fight with me because I didn't treat her hand properly when she took the stab. Like I'm going to perform sophisticated surgery in a bunker and without the slightest training. She didn't talk to me for almost a month out of frustration. Look, we lived together! Imagine the mood in our house? There were no luxuries to being an expert at just one thing, like pre-apocalyptic medicine, so Quinn, when she wasn't working the emergency room at the hospital, she had her nose in a book or a research lab, honing herself to be the fantastic GP and a professor.
Quinn and I lived in our initial dorm for two years. In those time, perhaps due to proximity and history together, we had a romantic relationship for three months. It didn't work out very well. The sex was good, but Quinn was way too complicated and complex for my taste, and I ran out of patience. I loved her, but being her girlfriend for a brief period of time was a huge mistake. We quickly understood that we functioned much better as friends, and that, in fact, we just mixed things up. At the end of these two years, as soon as we gained our citizenship, we could rent a small one-story house in a neighborhood close to the hospital. It was only a two-bedroom house, but it was like winning the lottery. I couldn't even remember the last time I slept alone in a room just for me when we moved. It was so good!
I also became involved with another person after Quinn Fabray. Her name was Audrey, she was a Montreal survivor who arrived in Edward-Brunswick two weeks after us. She was a qualified, experienced nurse who survived the apocalypse because she was on vacation and therefore away from any hospital. Audrey was 30 years old, she had a small kid, she was brunette, wavy hair, green eyes, a little taller than me. Her family was Canadian, but of French origin. We became close because, first, we worked in the same place, second, because Quinn and I were under her supervision for a while when we had to learn about nursing work as part of our learning process. And third, because I was having a hard time learning French, and she had more patience teaching me than Quinn did. After Quinn and I broke up, Audrey stepped in and started flirting with me shamelessly. Rachel hated her (and the feeling was mutual), Quinn was indifferent, Mike and Tina were supportive of our relationship.
But Audrey was transferred to be the permanent staff of Summerside. Cities smaller than the capital had a small permanent team, and it was very advantageous to get such positions because you earned more and didn't have to travel once a week to other cities and towns in the country. Those who chose to work for the permanent team in off-island cities earned twice as many credits and had many more benefits. But there was also the constant risk.
I've never wanted to leave the capital or anywhere away from my family when I had the opportunity. Audrey and I tried tried to maintain a long-distance relationship for three months. I got permission to spend a week with Audrey in Summerside during my vacation (we had a week's vacation every six months, plus the country's founding and Thanksgiving holidays, plus the two weeks of winter break that from Christmas to the 5th of January). But when I arrived in the city, I felt that things were not the same. We broke out after almost two years together. Audrey knew a guy in Summerside and married him six months later. Five months after Audrey (it wasn't that easy to find lesbians in Charlottetown), I had a relationship with Isabelle, who was a female chemist who worked in the laboratory of the state-owned pharmaceutical industry, and who provided the reagents for the tests. Isabelle was also older than me, but without kids. Our relationship lasted a year. I was so into Isabelle, but that fucking cunt cheated on me with the check in bitch from the pharmaceutical building.
Quinn had a story of short relationships after we broke up. All with men, including her mentor, who was the head clinical attendant at the hospital. I swear I wasn't acting out of jealousy or anything like that, but I wanted to smack Quinn over the head to see if some sense would creep in. Instead, I slipped an anonymous note denouncing the husband's affair into his wife's purse. Quinn had serious father issues and she always tended to get involved with older men. That was something annoying about her, because I thought Quinn would never be fully happy until she resolved these issues.
Rachel Berry... what can I say about Rachel Berry? She said she had a series of affairs between fellow military men and women. But we only met one of them: Reese. A true megalomaniac idiot. And no, and I didn't have to do anything to end that story.
Whenever possible, we got together with Mike and Tina on Sundays. Mike started studying electrical engineering on campus, and then he would go to work in a variety of industries: in power plants, reinstalling and maintaining power lines, and wherever else he was needed. Just like me and Quinn at the hospital, he also started at work doing the simplest blue worker's tasks, like cleaning, and evolved into more complex tasks over time. Mike's work system was also very similar to ours: three weeks in Charlottetown and one week allocated. Tina, by contrast, was called a general maintenance assistant, which was a pompous name for street sweeper and cleaning lady. The job was simpler, but she never had to leave the town or the island.
Tina and Mike were doing well and had a little girl named Greta Carole Chang. Like us, as soon as they got the title of citizens of Edward-Brunswick, they also had the right to request a small house. That's when they had Greta's christening and their wedding on the same day. It was planned to be on a day that Rachel was on her week off, so the five of us celebrated together. I'm Greta's godmother.
Rachel had her moments. After six months of basic training, she worked three weeks at some post, then got a week off in Charlottetown. It was common for Rachel to stay in my dormitory with Quinn. Even after we moved into the small two-bedroom house, Rachel slept in our living room. She worked as a sniper and turret sentry from the beginning. Obviously, Rachel hated what she did. But the fact was that anyone who remained in military service for another five years could retire after that earning a minimal pension, was entitled to own a simple house, and was given a golden licence to set up a business or serve in public office. Rachel didn't want any of that.
We went a little over two years without seeing Blaine and Sam. They got citizenship a year after we got it, because they weren't selected on their own merits in the screening process, and this observation slowed down their process of gaining all their rights. I didn't agree with it, and I didn't make those laws either, but it was how the country understood things about immigrants. Even today, the entry process is very restrictive and controlled.
Our communication with Sam and Blaine was rare, but it improved after their citizenship. Blaine and Sam were sent to Kinkora, which was a rural village that served as a base for small businesses and some facilities for the region's farmers. The town had practically two avenues and no more than 500 inhabitants after the apocalypse. I went there with the medical team a few times, and there really wasn't anything attractive in Kinkora. The based medical team consisted of a single doctor and a nurse, and they treated people with home visits, since the medical clinic was nothing more than a poorly equipped room. People who needed to receive more complex treatment or who needed to be hospitalised in Kinkora were usually sent to Summerside, my ex-girlfriend's town.
Anyway, Sam and Blaine worked on several farms in the region, mainly potato ones. Blaine built up a base of relationships in that village and never left. Sam, on the other hand, after six months based in Kinkora was moved to other similar villages around the island.
When I, Mike, Tina, Greta, Rachel and Quinn arrived in Kinkora three years after our arrival, was to celebrate Blaine's citizenship. We fought for Sam to be allowed to come to the party, and we managed to bring him too, bringing the family together for the first time since our arrival in the country. It was a pleasure to see with our own eyes that they were doing well. Sam was healthy and continued to be desired by the female population, and Blaine got a boyfriend. His name was Jason, and he was already living on the island before the apocalypse, helping his father run the farm business.
The citizenship party for Blaine was at Jason's farm, which was a very simple but cozy place. They had chickens, three dairy cows, some horses, a beautiful and very naughty chocolate Labrador, in addition to the vast plantation field. Jason decorated the barn, we had great food, we dance and, in the middle of the party, Jason asked for Blaine's hand in marriage. We returned to Kinkora six months later for their wedding celebration. Blaine found his place in the world, where he could work in his husband farm and then sing his heart out in the local bar in Kinkora. Sam had a more itinerant life experience and didn't usually spend more than six months in one place, because he was always moved around by the administrative agents. This was compulsory while he was a probationary immigrant, but once Sam gained citizenship and had the right to a say, he was so used to it that he asked to be moved.
What I can tell you is that it's been a very intense five years since we arrived. In five years, the world was reconfiguring itself. There was no more United States, there was no more Canada. Countries functioned more like city-states or decreased in size. I knew that a few countries in Europe resisted. Iceland, England, Ireland, Denmark and some deep north countries managed to retain government and territory. The rest of the countries underwent profound changes. China has lost two-thirds of its population, India and Middle Eastern countries have turned into reaper territory. The tropical and equatorial countries disappeared and fragmented into fortified city-states. New Zealand survived and we heard reports that Chile and Argentina still existed, but without their original territories. They moved to the regions of the Andes and Patagonia.
Five years... I never would have thought I would survive that long.