February 14, 2014 · Words: 7,320
I wake up to the sound of someone breathing. It’s the soft breath of someone sleeping. It’s long and heavy. I blink.
Light is streaming through the windows and I can see trees passing by. The table is gone and kids are asleep on blankets on the floor. I’m asleep on a bench with a thin blanket wrapped around my shoulders. It takes me a second to remember where I am.
I look over to see whose breathing woke me up. Kevin lies on the floor with his blanket thrown to the side of him. His blonde hair reflects the sunlight and seems to shine like gold. One of his hands is over his chest and the other is strewn to the side. His lips are slightly curved into the tiniest smile.
You know how they say people look younger when they’re asleep? Well, Kevin doesn’t look younger. He just looks more at rest. More perfect.
I nearly jump off my seat when I feel a finger gently tap my shoulder. I turn around to see Baker with his hair slightly matted down, smiling at me with pearl white teeth.He raises a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. “You sleep well?” He mouths.
I nod. “You?”
“Fine,” He mouths back. He turns to sit on the bench and lean his head back. He lets out a big yawn and stretches out his legs. He blinks slowly a couple of times and then surveys the room. He knits his eyebrows.
“What?” I whisper as he looks back at me with what appears to be a somewhat annoyed expression.
“Where’s Sergeant Heath?” He whispers back hoarsely. “He’s not here.”
I look around. Sergeant Heath isn’t in sight. I inspect the faces on the floor but don’t spot his among the sleeping figures.
I’m about to ask Baker what I had missed last night when the van honks it’s blaring horn. Everyone jolts awake and looks around. The car lurches to a stop and I’m nearly thrown off the bench. Kids slide across the floor and smash into the wall.
I scramble to my feet and peer out the window. There are people in black uniforms pointing huge guns at the truck. They shout inaudible threats. I immediately duck down as one approaches the window. A shadow passes over and the door is thrown open. A man in a black uniform that looks like a leotard jumps in and points a gun at all of us. “Hands up in the air! Let me see your hands!!!”
I raise my hands in the air, like everyone else. The man shoves us out the door where more people stand with guns raised. They shout things so loud, I don’t even know what they’re saying. I see Sergeant Heath being pushed out of front of the truck. He looks the tiniest bit annoyed. He scowls. “What’s the matter now, Jason?”
The man who shoved him out glares. “The kids.”
“What about them?” Sergeant Heath says crossly. He folds his arms across his chest.
“Send them back to wherever they came from.”
Sergeant Heath clicks his tongue, “Tsk, tsk. This isn’t revenge. We don’t plan to harm them.”
I gulp down my fear. Harm us? They don’t plan to harm us. Oh. This is getting interesting in a scary way.
“Send them back.” The man repeats in a gruff voice. His face is bright red like a tomato.
“Well then I guess I have no choice, Jason,” Sergeant Heath sighs, his voice full of regret.
The man called, Jason, seems to relax a little in surprise. “What? Are-”
BBAAAMMMM!!!
All of the agents that had knocked on our doors leap out of nowhere and land right on top of the people. Guns are flung to the side and I hear punches hitting people. The place is chaos. I’m not sure what do so I stand frozen, trying not to attract attention.
Then, without warning, I’m knocked to the side. The impact knocks the wind from me. I slam onto the dirt floor. I turn my head to see a man in a black uniform, on top of me. His eyes are filled with hate. He raises a fist and I scream.
A body literally flies past and knocks the man off of me. They go tumbling. I sit up and gasp for air.
Baker, whose hair looks wild from his little fly-by, grapples with the man on the floor. He throws punches and kicks hard. I leap to my feet and run over to assist him.
Baker’s face has dirt all over it and I can see a bruise forming on his right arm. His isn’t that bad compared to the other guy’s. The man’s face is even dirtier and he has a black eye. His nose is bloody and blood flows down his face like a faucet.
I grimace and charge. I leap and fly through the air gracefully before landing not so gracefully on top of the man. I hear him groan as he turns to face me. Only then do I recognize the man as Jason. The one Sergeant Heath seemed to have known.
He growls like a cat and I raise my fist out of fear. I bring it down. He stops it with his hand and pulls me close so his face is inches away from mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Baker being thrown aside by another man.
Jason yanks the back of my hair. I yelp and try to use my free hand to loosen his grip but it’s like iron. He pulls my face even closer to his. His breath smells of rotten fish as he speaks. “Well, if it isn’t the famous Samantha Sampson. You look just like your father. I’ve just been dying to meet you.” I squirm in his grip but it’s no use. He pulls me even closer. “It’s funny. With your father that is. I can’t believe it. Maybe-”
He doesn’t have time to finish. Suddenly his grip loosens and he starts shaking as if he’s having a seizure. He collapses to the ground and goes limp. Sergeant Heath stands behind where he was with a lightsaber-pen in his hands. His mouth is curled in a nasty snarl and his hands are stiff like a rock. His chest rises and falls quickly. All of the men in black uniforms stop what they are doing and start running. Jason, who had lay limp in front of me, suddenly jumps up and starts running too. They disappear through the trees and leave us alone.
Sergeant Heath mutters something, tucking his little pen-thingy away. The other kids are scattered around with their hair tousled and their faces dirty. Baker gets up from the ground and coughs. Grace stands sobbing and Keith is swearing under his breath.
“Who were those people?!” I exclaim staring at Sergeant Heath.
He sighs and brushes off his uniform. “Some old friends.”
“Friends?” Pat says. “Those were some pretty awful friends.”
Grace, who is puffy eyed now, sobs, “What did they want?”
Sergeant Heath keeps a straight face but his voice cracks as he speaks. “It’s a little difficult right now to explain. We’ll be at the Infinity Facility in about an hour. Everything thing you want to know, will be answered.”
He turns around without another word and strides off to the van, leaving us wide-eyed and confused, wanting an explanation to all of this.
I can’t get my mind off of what the man Jason had said. About me being the famous Samantha Sampson and all. I don’t tell anyone this even though Sergeant Heath asks if they told us anything as we head back.
“No,” I answer bleakly as he asks me. He eyes me, scrutinizing my face expression. I put on my best what-are-you-talking-about mask. I’m probably failing miserably. Whether he knows or not, he doesn’t show it. He continues asking each kid, one by one, but none got as much scrutiny as me. Nor does he seem to care what answer the other kids give.
The van jolts to a stop. Again, I am almost thrown off the bench.
“Whoever is driving needs to learn how to step on the brakes better,” Kevin says gripping the bench, his knuckles turning white.
Sergeant Heath ignores him and stands up. “We have arrived at the Infinity Facility. Door open.”
The door slides open and he steps out. We all stand up and follow him out.
I am not surprised as I thought I would be. Compared to the van, the place looks like nothing. We’re in a simple car garage with concrete walls and a single elevator at one end. There’s a metal door where we came in from, that has the same infinity sign with the bar cutting it in half, already closed. I hear a click of metal as it locks.
We turn to Sergeant Heath as he speaks, “We are in one of the ten entrances in the Infinity League. This building is about the same size as the capitol building in Washington DC. Might be a little bigger give or take.”
My mouth drops. “The capitol building? Where are we?”
“I said a little bigger give or take.” He looks down at his tablet and punches in something. He glances up at us. “I might as well take you to the infirmary to get your injuries tended to, if you have any, and to get you guys cleaned up. However I must show you children around so you don’t get lost.” He claps his hands twice. “Elevator to level 4.”
The elevator door slides open revealing a shiny silver interior. Sergeant Heath waves his hand. “Well what are you waiting for? We haven’t got all day.”
It only takes about two seconds for the elevator to close and open up at the next level. The elevator pings and the door slides open. We step out. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
We are in a gigantic, and I really mean gigantic...room with walkways in the air and people walking around. The place is mainly white and silver metal, and kind of round. There isn’t a single corner of the building but round walls and dips. The floor is flat and curves up against the walls. It looks very futuristic.
On one side, there are what I think are workers, drawing blueprints for stuff, and on the other there are dozens of screens like the one in the van, in which people do things on them. It’s hard to see since it’s so far away, but I can see the pictures of each one of every person that works here. Someone is scrolling through them and typing in data and information. There are many more things too, but there are too many to describe.
“This,” Sergeant Heath booms, “is the main room. We usually call it the Joining Room because it connects to the rest of the places. You get to any and every room in this building through the Joining Room.”
“This,” I hear Pat breathe, “is awesome.”
Sergeant Heath grins, “It is something. Oh, here are your instructors.”
A group of people are walking towards us, each holding identical tablets as Sergeant Heath’s. I quickly do a head count. Ten. They stop in front and study us.
“Good afternoon children.” The youngest woman says. Her face is serious, and her deep red, wavy locks are cut to at her shoulders. She’s gorgeous. “I am Carol Byrd, the head of the instructors. I am Sergeant Heath’s second in command. We would like to welcome to you to the Infinity League Facility. Each one of you children will get one instructor that will be working with you to help training as well as other things.”
“What training?” I ask. “No one has told us anything yet.”
“What movies have you watched recently?” She asks.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Um…” It takes me a moment to remember the title. “The Avengers.”
She nods. “Ah. And think back to that film and imagine what training they must have gone through. Yours will be similar.
“They didn’t do any training in the movie.” I point out.
Her eyes gleam. “Well, they must have before they shot it. A very modified version, but yes. They did.”
Sergeant Heath rolls his eyes. “Enough. We don’t have any time to waste now. Let’s start the roll call.”
“Roll call?” Baker inquires with a knitted expression.
“I said we don’t have any time to waste,” Sergeant Heath huffs indignantly. “Now this is who you will be paired up with.”
A young man that must be in his mid thirties steps up. “Marcus Thompson?”
Mark steps up with his hands shoved into his pockets. “Thats me.” The man takes his arm and places around Mark’s broad shoulders. “I’m Ryan Hoffman. Nice to meet you.”
Mark shrugs off his arm. “Nice to meet you.”
One by one the kids are paired off with some person. Kelli gets the oldest person, who is a woman who looks like she is in her mid sixties. Kelli just smiles her sweet smile and stands next to her.
Then it’s just Baker, Kevin and I left. There are two tall lanky looking...twins left. They look like mirror images. They stand the same way and hold their tablets both with the same hand. And it doesn’t help that their outfits are the same either. And then of course, Carol Byrd. And I just have a gut feeling of who I’m going to get.
“Samantha Sampson.” Carol Byrd calls out. I take a meek step towards her. She let’s out a shining white smile and pulls me closer. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Carol.”
“Uh...I...um…”
“Baker Thomas,” One of the twins boom. His voice is extremely deep. Baker walks up and shakes hands politely. The twin smiles warmly. “I’m Peter Byrd.”
“Kevin Klein,” the other booms in an equally deep voice. They shake hands as well. “I’m Jack Byrd.”
I look at Carol who stands beaming at Kevin. I look at her, “Are those your brothers?”
Her laugh is like a bird song, “Oh no. They aren’t. However, that would be interesting. Wouldn’t it?”
Sergeant Heath gives a nod to the instructors and turns to walk away.
I stand awkwardly with Carol until everyone else leaves. When I look back at her face, her shining smile is completely wiped off and replaced with a focused expression. “Okay, now that they are gone, I don’t have to play ‘overly bubbly girl’.” She hands her tablet to a person walking by and looks at me. “I’m supposed to be showing you to your room first, and a tour of the housing places, but I think the training room would be much better.” A small smile flashes across her face, and she turns and walks.
The training room location is very easy. We turn to the east wing, and take two rights and then a left, and we are here. The room is huge. It’s probably the six times the size a gymnastics building, and is filled with all sorts of things. We walk down the center walkway as Carol explains to me what each station is.
“Over here is the sparring station where I’ll teach you how to do hand to hand combat. And over here is the climbing station.” She motioned to a section with various metal structures, and a big round dome.
“What’s that?” I inquire, pointing to the structure.
“That’s a simulator.” She says, then adds, “You’ll use it later when you’re better in training.”
She continues talking about all of the stations, which takes forever I might add, and then we head out.
My stomach grumbles and I shift around uncomfortably. Carol glances at me, then smiles, “Oh, I’ll take you to the cafeteria.”
I nod silently. “Umm...can I ask a question?”
“You just did.” She points out, the tips of her mouth pointing skyward.
“I didn’t-oh...” I smile sheepishly. “Well, since we’re going to the cafeteria, I just remembered something. You know how in the truck we came in, when we ate, the food came in little packs? And when we added water, it...appeared. Plate and all. How does that work?”
She thinks about it for a moment, blowing a strand of blood red hair out of her face. “Let’s just say that we have very smart scientists. I actually don’t really know how it works.”
I nod. “Is the food like that in the cafeteria?”
She stops abruptly in front of a white door that says, “Key Card Access Only” in big red letters.
“You’ll see.” She says and opens the door, beckoning me in.
We step into a small room with yet another door. There is a slot where Carol slides her card into. It flashes green and the door lights up to become a screen. It doesn’t show anything, but Carol places her hand on it and begins sliding it in various directions. A second later, we hear a latch unlock and the door swings open. I glance back just in time to see something that looks like a windshield wiper, wipe the door free of handprints, then slam shut.
I’m about to ask Carol another question when the smell of cooking food hits me. I can smell hot sizzling food and pizza and spaghetti and french fries and...and…
I want to run in the direction the smell is, but I don’t know where to turn. There are five hallways each with another door at the end.
“So, exactly how many doors do we have to go through?” I ask dully.
She says nothing and walks down the middle hallway. I roll my eyes and follow her. She opens the door and we step into what I know is the cafeteria.
“Oh. My. Gosh.” I say while wiping my mouth. “That was the best pasta I’ve ever eaten.”
Carol smiles and puts down her sandwich, “I’ll tell that to the chef. But personally, I think his cakes are better.”
“Then I’ll order cake on a later date.”
Carol smiles at me and rests her chin on her hand. Then her eyes seem to light up as if she’s forgotten something, “Oh, I forgot to give you your watch.”
I look at my wrist. “I never gave you my watch.”
She pulls out a little silver wristband that looks like something out of Star Trek and puts it on my wrist. I realize she has the same one.
It’s about six sizes too big and I raise an eyebrow. Then suddenly, the band starts...getting smaller. Part of the band seems to have gotten skinnier and slides into the other part smoothly, like a snake slithering into a hole.
“Nice.” I say and look at it. The top has small silver disk, that reflects the light like a mirror. I tap it. The disk expands into a bigger circle, so it resembles a watch more, and a digital clock pops up. The time reads 2:30pm.
“Thanks.” I say, still examining it. “So this whole thing was for a watch?”
“No. That’s also a caller.”
“A what?” I ask perplexed.
“A caller. You can call other people if they have the watch. Here, just swipe the screen to the right,” she swipes for me and the screen turns black. “You say something. It has to get used to your voice.”
“Umm..Call Carol Byrd.” I say to the watch. A little red phone pops up.
Carol looks at her watch, which is vibrating. There’s my name in small font in the center. She hits the red phone icon. “I meant to try someone else.”
Oh. I look down at the watch which has turned back into a wristband again. I tap the screen and swipe to the right, “Call….uh, Baker, uh, Thomas.”
The phone icons pop up again. A moment later I hear Baker’s voice. “Hi, Samantha.”
I smile. This is way cooler than a phone. “Hi. I’m just...testing this out.”
“Cool. I’ve already called Mark and Kevin.”
“Cool. Um...okay. I guess I’ll see you later.” I say awkwardly, not knowing how to extend the conversation.
“‘Kay. Bye.”
The screen flashes back into a watch and then shrinks down. I grin.
“So is everything here from Star Trek?” I ask, adding lots a sarcasm into my voice.
Carol gives me a weird look. “What’s Star Trek?”
I drop my jaw and stare at her. “You...never mind. Is everything here really high tech like the truck we came in? I mean, how did the table pop up? Or the big screen that came down?”
Carol brushes crumbs off the table. “Well, that’s just a prototype we were testing out. I’m surprised it didn’t break down on the way.” She chuckles. “That’s the probably the coolest vehicle here. It runs on electricity.”
I nod. “So it also is a 'green' car.”
“Well, this whole facility runs on sunlight from our solar panels. Our supply of sunlight is limitless. The chances of running out out highly unlikely.” She says. A waiter comes to take out dishes and leaves, after awkwardly smiling at me.
“Well,” Carol says standing up. “That was a good lunch as usual. Let me show you to your room, I think you’ll like it.”
After another minute of walking through “Key Card Access Only” hallways, we reach a long hallway, with about twenty doors on either side. We walk up to one that says “Room A5”.
Carol hands me a key. “This is all yours. I’d keep it on necklace or chain, just so you don’t lose it.”
“Right. Got that,” I say and unlock the door. Before I can even turn the handle and open it, the door swings wide open and I see Pat’s beaming face.
“Hi.” I say.
“Hey, Sam. Come in. We’re roommates. I’ll show you around.” She says and ushers me and Carol in. She closes the door quietly behind us.
Carol smiles. “I’m Carol.”
Pat reaches out and shakes her hand. “I’m Pat. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Carol replies. “I assume Teri already showed you the room.”
“Yeah,” Pat nods. “I can show Sam around so you can go off and get stuff done.”
Carol nods. “Sure. That’d be great. If you need me though, I’ll be in the room next door. It’s the one by the TV set.”
Pat smiles. “Thanks.”
Carol turns and leaves. Pat almost slams the door behind her, but catches it at the last second, smashing her finger in the process.
“Oww! Man! That was not smart...Oh Gosh!” She swears, sucking on her finger. “I’ll have to remember the doors are really heavy…”
I resist the urge to laugh and let out a weak smile instead. “So...I guess we really are roommates.”
Pat looks at me, her face contorted in a half grimace half smile. “Yeah, well, we’ll officially be roommates once I show you around and my finger stops hurting...oww…”
It takes about a minute before Pat takes her finger out of her mouth and begins showing me around. It really feels like stepping into a sci-fi movie. It feels like a dream, except when I breath in through my nose, I can smell febreeze, and when I strain my ears, I can hear the humming of computers running.
“So over here is your bedroom. This is your tablet which has access to a library, so you can read whenever, and do other things. There’s a sheet of paper somewhere that has the list.” Pat explains as she bounces around the room. “Oh, and the bathroom is here, it’s kind of hidden, but it’s here.”
She whirls around and walks out to another room, I have to run to keep up. She continues talking. “And here is sort of a living room. Here’s the TV, and this door is a connecting doorway to what’s-her-name’s room.”
“Carol,” I say gazing at the door.
Pat dismisses the subject, “Yeah whatever. I’ll learn it eventually.” She points to another doorway, “That’s my room, which if you really wanted to look at, you could. It looks just like yours, except I’ve already messed up my bed sheets.”
For the next ten minutes, she babbles on about some of the features of the room, which include hologram-conferencing. She demonstrates by going into the other room and making me go into my room. She does something and her hologram pops up in front of me.
I can hear her voice echoing from a speaker, “And that’s how this works. Normally, you can answer on your watch, but we all have passwords, which I happen to know yours, that will force the call through.”
“Cool, how do you hang up?” I ask gazing at her hologram. It’s almost looks real, except it’s see-through.
Pat pauses for a second. “Umm...I think there’s a button.” She presses a button on a remote and I hear opera music play. “Nope, thats the TV...remind me to change the channel later on. Um...Oh yeah. Take your right hand and swipe to the right.”
She lifts her right hand and swipes her hand through the empty air, and the hologram clicks off.
I blink and sit back on my bed. “Holy smokes.”
The door opens and Pat’s head pops in. “And that’s about it. I gotta go to the bathroom so you just hang tight.”
She slams the door behind her and I hear her feet patter across the cold floor. Another door opens and slams again.
“Stop slamming the doors,” I mutter under my breath, examining the neat room.
Pat has already showed me the technology part, so I am left to explore the rest, which isn’t much besides a closet, a table, and my bed.
I walk up to the table and sit down on the silver swivel chair. The table is glass, and I can see my bare feet on the smooth concrete floor. I place my right hand on it, and lift it up, examining the hand print I just made. I can almost imagine my dad yelling, “Sam! Don’t mess up the clean table with a dirty handprint!”
The table suddenly lights up and I jump in my seat. It now looks just like the screen in the van that we came in. Little letters pop up, and I squint to read them.
“Fingerprint Scan. Match.” it says, in small white letters. The screen suddenly lights up, like an LED light, and I shield my eyes. It suddenly swirls towards the center, as if there were a black hole, and then explodes back outwards, throwing and scattering icons.
I lean in closer, watching the icons drift around aimlessly on the screen, like bubbles in the air. I scan them and quickly spot the one that I’m looking for.
I tap the little square with my finger, and it expands, filling up most of the table, while the other icons float to the edges, bordering it.
“Infinity League: Profiles.” The title says at the top. A sea of faces pop up, with names under each one. The list is in alphabetical order, and I scroll down until I find who I’m looking for.
I tap the unsmiling face. Carol Byrd. Her picture grows, and information about her pops up.
Carol Byrd
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 119 lb
Date of Birth: Unknown
I blink. How can someone not know when their birthday is? I exit out of her info and scroll back up to the top, where there is a search button. I click it, and, like an ipad, a little keyboard pops up. I don’t know what to search. I type in random names. Bob. Fred. John. George. Stacy. Helen. Charlotte.
Then, feeling a little in a gaming mood, type in Jason. About seven faces pop up, and I recognize none of them. I sigh and sit back, swiveling the chair to face my bed.
“Turn Off,” I say aloud. The table makes a clicking sound, and when I glance back, it has turned off. “Awesome, just like the movies.”
Someone knocks on the door, and Pat opens it before I can do anything, “Hey, I just got a call from Kate, she wants to know if you want to go explore the place with us.”
“You don’t have to knock if you’re just going to come in like that,” I say, trying to hide the smile on my face.
“Cool,” Pat says, dismissing the subject as usual, “So you want to come or what? We’re meeting in the Training Center. Kate wanted to see if we could try out some of the stuff there too.”
“Sure, I’ve got nothing else to do.” I say, standing up.
Pat nods, “Great, now let’s go get lost.”
“Are you sure we go this way?” I ask, looking at the unfamiliar hallways. “When I came with Carol, we went down a passage that said, ‘Key Card Access Only’.”
Pat continues to stroll on down the hallway and rolls her eyes. “Does it look like I have a key card?”
“Umm…no, but I was just saying-”
“Exactly,” Pat says without even glancing back at me, “Which is why we go down here. I wonder why you guys went that way. Teri didn’t even say anything about stuff like that. Oh! Here we are!”
She stops to examine her surrounds, which is just an empty hallway, without anything in it, except for a bend at the end. She spins around and huffs, muttering stuff. “Or maybe it was the other way...no cause I remember turning that way...ummm…no…”
“Why don’t we just keep going down the hallway?” I suggest, trying to get a peek around the corner.
“Umm...sure. Sorry…” Pat says, still disoriented. “I’m following you.”
I sigh and start walking down the hallway. Pat follows close behind, muttering stuff about which way to turn and being so dumb.
We turn and find ourselves in the Joining Room, which is still full of people, bustling around.
“If I remember correctly, it’s in the..umm..East Wing.” I state, “That’s umm...where is the East Wing?”
“Whoa,” Pat says incredulously. “I forgot about this place…which is stupid because we were just here.” Pat slaps her forehead. “You know what? I should just stop talking right now.”
I shake my head, letting my hair fly around. “Nah, it’s kind of nice hearing stuff like that after this morning….so, is that the East Wing?”
I point my finger to the opposite side of the huge room. “Over there.”
Pat shakes her head and flicks her unnatural blonde hair, “No, ‘cause if I remember correctly, we were facing this direction when we first got it. I remember because we were facing these big screens.” She motions to the huge screens to the right of us. “Therefore, the East Wing must be...darn, straight ahead of us.”
As if I didn’t say that already. “Yes. Straight.”
Pat lowers her head and lets out a reproachful sigh. “This is embarrassing.You know what, I’ll just follow you.”
“Fine with me,” I mutter, beginning to walk. We are on the third floor, so after going down two flights of stairs, down the east wing, and two rights and a left, we find ourselves facing the humongous Training Room.
It is empty, except for a couple of adults here and there, sweating and exercising. And of course, a girl with bright blue hair is standing over by the trampoline section, watching a man do flips in midair.
“KATE!!” Pat shouts out, her voice echoing throughout the huge room. “KATE!!”
Kate apparently can’t hear us, and keeps her eyes fixated on the guy who is now doing what seems to be a mix between a triple twist and three backflips, all done sideways. I can’t help but stare at him myself.
“Psh. She has earbuds on,” Pat says, apparently her eyes fixed on Kate. “Just wait ‘till I yank ‘em out.”
I give her a shocked look, my expression, aghast. Pat gives me a funny look and laughs.
“I was joking,” She smiles to herself and struts on down towards Kate, as if she’s a fashion model on a catwalk, her head held high, her arms swinging freely at her sides.
“I knew that,” I say to no one in particular, then follow Pat, vaguely wondering why she dyes her hair blonde.
By the time, I’ve caught up to them, Kate has already taken out her earbuds, and is chatting pleasantly with Pat, every so often, running her fingers through her blue hair.
“...and I got a room with Kelli, who is such a darling,” Kate says with such enthusiasm, that if you didn’t know what she was talking about, you’d assume someone had just proposed to her.
“I know, Kelli is so sweet. And she sounds like it too,” Pat nods her head, fascinated with the conversation. “I wonder if she can sing...she seems like the person who would.”
“I can sing…” Kate puts in, pointing her finger into the air.
“Really, I…” Pat’s head turns to me, realizing I’m standing next to her. She shakes her head, grinning. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Kate, this is Sam. We’re roommates.”
She puts her arm around my shoulder and pulls me so close, that our shoulders bump into one another.
Kate beams and puts out her hand for me to shake, “Nice to officially meet you. I don’t think our time in the van really counted.”
I tentatively shake her hand. “Yeah. Nice to meet you.”
Kate continues to show off her teeth and looks at me and Pat. “Hey do you guys want to jump on a trampoline?”
“I don’t think we are supposed to be doing this,” I say nervously, anticipating someone’s shout, telling us to get off.
“Nah, don’t worry. No one said we couldn’t, so we can’t exactly get in trouble,” Kate shrugs, climbing onto an empty blue trampoline, her feet sinking a foot.
“Even Pat isn’t too enthusiastic about this,” I point out, glancing at Pat, who is eyeing the trampoline nervously.
“Not enthusiastic basically sums it up,” Pat says bleakly.
“Aww, come on. We aren’t going to get in trouble,” Kate says, bouncing the trampoline under her bare feet. “Now let’s try this out.”
She bends her knees and takes a great leap.
Suddenly, as if on cue, we hear a familiar voice boom, “Excuse me?! What are you doing?”
Startled, we all whirl around to see Sergeant Heath, hands behind his back, legs widened to shoulder width, and his face frowning.
“No one gave you permission to use our equipment so get off right now,” He says staring down Kate, who suddenly doesn’t look so confident in herself. She slowly starts to walk off the trampoline, keeping her eyes glued to Sergeant Heath.
“Quickly!” He barks, his face angered.
Kate quickly scrambles off the trampoline, her face beginning to pale. She leaps onto the ground and straightens out, looking up at Sergeant Heath, who towers over her.
“Next time I see you, any of you, using a equipment you are not authorized to use, you will learn that disobedience and failure to follow orders will result in consequences,” He says sternly, his eyes driving into her. “Do you understand?”
Kate nods, shrinking back like a terrified kindergartener.
“I want to hear you answer,” He barks, leaning forward, pointing to his ear.
“Yes,” Kate squeaks, her face a white sheet of paper.
“Good,” He says, “This isn’t a playground.”
With whirl, he stalks out of the room, his leather shoots tapping against the concrete.
We stand mutely for a moment, shocked, watching as Sergeant Heath disappear around the corner.
Pat and I look at each other, eyes wide. Then suddenly I realize Kate isn’t here.
Pat realizes it too, and we scan the room for a second when we both turn around to see Kate doing a frontflip on the trampoline behind us.
She stops bouncing and lets out a wry grin. “What? I heard what he said. I was crossing my fingers.”
“So, what do you think of this whole place?” Pat asks me, finished the last of her pizza that Carol dropped off about half an hour ago. “Like, what’s the overall impression its left on you?”
“Well, for starters, it’s about the biggest building I’ve ever been in,” I state, wiping my mouth with a paper napkin. “Otherwise, it feels like I’m in the movies.”
Pat grins, revealing pearly white teeth, “Same. It feels unreal, as if this is some strange dream….but it’s not because I can tell.”
I pinch my shoulder, and sharp sting drives through my arm. “Yup, not a dream.”
“Ha, nice try but no,” Pat says, suppressing laughs. “Pinching your arm is what they do in the movies. It doesn’t really work.”
I cock my head, “How so?”
Pat shrugs, “Your mind can do weird things. And of course this might not be the best explanation, ‘cause I don’t know if it is true, but I’m pretty sure your mind and produce pain in your sleep. Like in my dream, I broke my arm and my arm felt like it was on fire…”
“Oh,” I say, blinking. “So, how do you know this isn’t a strange dream?”
Pat looks at her hand, “First, I look closely at my hand, taking in all of the details. Often times in my sleep, it is hard to see little details. Then I look away. When I look back, it should be the same. In a dream, it can be distorted.”
I glance down at my hand, counting five fingers. “Is that it?”
“No,” Pat laughs again. “The last thing I do, and like I said, I could still be way off...I breathe.”
Raising an eyebrow, I chuckle “Breathe?”
“Yeah,” She says, “When I breathe in deeply, I can feel the cool air flowing through. Then I breathe through my mouth. If I can feel the cool air across my tongue and go down my throat, then I know it isn’t a dream.”
She takes a deep breath, demonstrating. She stares straight at me, then takes in a deep breath through her mouth. I blink, then Pat breaks out laughing, and rolls over clutching her stomach, beaming.
“Sorry,” she wheezes, “Your expression was just priceless.”
“Oh,” I say sheepishly. “Sorry…”
Pat sits up. “No, no don’t. I-”
The front door opens and a tall lady, probably in her mid thirties, steps in. She has long blonde hair that is tied up neatly in a bun at the top of her head, and is wearing the same black uniform, that reminds me of a fancy leotard, that Carol was wearing.
“Hey, Teri,” Pat smiles, standing up. Teri walks over and shakes hands with her.
I scramble up to my feet and walk over, “Hi, I’m Sam.”
Teri smiles then shakes my hand, “I’ve heard many good things about you Miss Sampson.”
“How’d you know my last na-”
“We keep records of every person who enters the facility,” She smiles warmly. “All you children are quite the buzz around here.”
Pat blushes and turns away, pretending to be absorbed in the TV. I can’t help but also blushing, after seeing Teri’s glowing face, as if she was a proud parent.
She strides down the living room, and walks up to the door that connects our room to Carol’s. She knocks twice. The door swings open and Teri quietly walks in, quietly waving to us, before closing the door softly behind her.
“So that’s Teri,” I state, gesturing in the direction of the door.
“Yup,” Pat sighs looking down at the floor. “That’s Teri. She’s really nice…”
I sit awkwardly for a couple of seconds, not knowing how to carry the conversation forward.
“So, how did you find out your parents disappeared in the so-called explosion-slash-fire?” Pat finally asks, looking up.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“Don’t,” I say, letting out a reassuring smile, “It happened a really long time ago. I don’t even know what she looked like.”
Pat blinks, “What?”
“Well, my dad doesn’t keep pictures of her around the house. I guess it hurts too much….you know what? I actually have no idea. I barely know my dad either except that he would always have babysitters watching me and he was never home.” I chuckle. “And when ever I was sick and he worked from home, he would work in a room, we would just call it The Office, and he would get really really really mad if I went inside. I tried once. Found him typing madly onto his laptop, occasionally scribbling down notes into his notebook. When he saw I was there, he shoved his papers under the desk and slammed his laptop shut. He basically just pushed me out of the room and locked the door shut after that.”
Pat gives a sympathetic look. “Wow. That’s…harsh.”
I give her a playful nudge. “The only one who’s being harsh is you. Tell me something I don’t already know about you.”
She grins back. “I can say my abc’s backwards, I’ve got the Preamble memorized, I don’t actually know how to speak chinese, and I can recite 100 digits of pi.”
“Oh,” I speak, adding heavy sarcasm into my voice. “Well, that’s obviously not enough. I mean, I can totally do every single one of those….”
“Oh, and I can also do kung fu,” she adds.
“Patricia Xu!” I exclaim. “Is there nothing you can’t do?!”
“Whoa there,” she laughs, pointing a finger at me. “I already told you that I don’t know how to speak chinese.”
I laugh hard, “It still doesn’t make a difference.”
Pat opens her mouth to speak, but then we hear a loud beep echo through the room.
“Ahem, good evening. This is Sergeant Heath.” A PA blares. I quickly locate the speaker on the wall. “I am making an announcement for the ten children recently recruited. Tomorrow, you will meet in the training facility at 7am sharp for your first training. Anyone late will be summoned to my office to have a talk. Also, schedules of this week have been inputted on the network and may be visible using your computers. And lastly, lights should be out by 10pm at the latest. Thank you.”
“Wow. What a cheerful message,” Pat says boredly, standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow! I’m gonna go to bed now…”
She stops in front of her bedroom door. “Wait, what am I supposed to wear?” She whirls around and looks at me. “Are we supposed to sleep in our clothes ‘cause mine are filthy. Yours are too, except you don’t have any bruises or scratches on your arms like the rest of us. Lucky.”
I instinctively look down to examine my arms, which look perfectly normal except for a dirt smudge here and there. “Yeah, well, Baker did help a lot.”
“Who?”
“Baker, you know the last one to come on the truck.”
“Oh, that guy,” she frowns. “We should call him, The Cook.”
She turns around and disappears behind the door calling, “Good night!”
I head to my own room, finding a white tank-top and black leggings folded neatly on my bed, a small white note on the top that reads, “You can wear these for tomorrow. -Carol”
I pick up the note, rereading it again and smile, looking down at the clothes. I quickly rinse off in the shower and slip on the clothes before slipping under my sheets and falling asleep.
© Jody Lin 2021