IC - Montgomery Labor Camp

[Emma Tarin]

Star woke up to the typical rooster noise at the crack of dawn. She had shift C this month, and this week everyone was fixing roads, and digging ditches mostly, filling in pot holes and such. Thankfully it was finally spring, and the snow was gone, everything was just mud, fog, rain, and budding plants, but is was still cold at night and in the mornings. The community gardens were running again. Yesterday she had help plant some tomato, and carrot seeds. She had grown sick a tired of the unappetizing caned food she had to keep buying from the general store all winter. Yawning and stretching she got out of bed, and went over to her drawer pulling out her ugly faded blue uniform, pulling it on over her gray long johns. Fashion was not a real thing at MLC, when you first got here you were giving two uniforms with your ID number on the back, a pack of wool socks, a pack of cotton underwear, two pairs of gray long johns, a pair of work boots, gloves, a winter hat, and a itchy bed bundle. You could buy more clothing at the general store, but it was basically the same plain stuff, a lot of people around the MLC made there own stuff out of fabric and cloth. Trade was a big thing around here, you want something from someone you trade something or do a favor in return, like take there shift, people made quilts, widdled wood into stuff, others collected stuff out in the forest area, like mushrooms, nuts, squirrel meat, people made jerky, cheese, and fancy foods like cake. It was way cheaper then buying stuff in the store.

Star had to go to the bus in four hours, to start her shift. Putting on some relatively clean socks, and her mud crusted boots, she quietly opened the door to the cabin and walked out into the fogy chilly morning. The ground was covered in dew, and puddles from the rain last night. She saw several people gathered around the fire pit boiling eggs and cooking rice with last nights leftover gravy. Some people kept to themselves around MLC, but a lot of people shared, and came together as a community, most people brought something from there food stock to share at some meal time or other. Milk, eggs, and stuff from the gardens was everyone's, but if you wanted sugar, bread, meat, rice, or anything like that you had to buy it. A bag of rice which was about five pounds cost 8 bucks, and with the salary of 5-20 dollars a week, well it was not easy. She walked over to the fire warming her hands and saying good morning. Old Lady Willow handed her a bowl of rice with gravy on top, and a hard boiled egg. "Thank you." Star said to her as she took a bite, and sat down on a bench around the fire. More people seemed to be waking up and starting there day.

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Lee was tired and sore, it was only about 5 in the morning and her shift didn't end till 8. She had gotten switched to Shift B for the rest of the month as punishment for running away three days ago, she also got her pay taken down to 5 bucks a week instead of the ten that every new prisoner starts with. She had run as fast as she could, even with the stupid chains on her ankles, when she saw no one was watching, she had gone about six miles before anyone had got her back, staying hidden in a tree for two hours had helped. It had been the second time she had tried to run away. The first time was during the week she had first been sent to MLC, she had only gotten a warning that time. She smelled like asphalt and tar, and filling potholes was one of the worst things ever. Luckily in like a hour, the food being handed out for brake was pears, graham crackers, and beef jerky, instead of one of the nasty hot meals she got on her normal shift, the worst was the nasty hard biscuits and watery mushroom sauce that she hated. It was terrible having a crim shift, she felt sorry for them now that she knew what they had to do all day. She yawned and leaned on the side of the bus, when a soldier yelled at her to get back to work. She flipped him off, and started helping a guy pour tar.

[MsKittyCatty]

Winnie rolled over in bed, grey eyes fluttering open and peering from under her mess of wavy blonde hair. “Hello?” her red lips moved, striking against her pale taut skin. She looked around and not seeing or hearing anything yet, she sat up. She’d just gotten her shot the other day, and it usually took a few days before she could make the voices come back and talk to her. She never got to see her friends because of the shot anymore though. Her hands shook a little, nervous when alone. She hurriedly walked to a corner of her room and grabbed her blue uniform, slipping it on and running out of the cabin. Her bare feet slid in a mud puddle and she landed on her bottom, luckily in some grass. She blinked a few times in surprise and then laughed loudly, getting up and running back into her cabin lik an excitedly little girl. She wiped off her feet and put on her socks and boots, running her fingers through her hair and stepping back out again slowly this time. Her wide eyes flitted all around her, taking in the same things she’d seen for the last 4 years, although new faces popped up all the time. She saw a group of other prisoners around a fire, and fingers still twisted around her locks she shuffled over towards them and the warmth. She thought she remembered that she had to help dig ditches today, but she wasn’t sure. Every time she was assigned to that her arms would start to shake and she would give up and get in trouble. She prayed her arms wouldn’t give out on her this time. “Hi!” she said when she approached the fire, thinking her voice sounded timid and small, but was actually really loud and awkward as she looked between the people. She figured most of them were probably on C shift like she was, and she always tried to be friendly with those she had to work beside.

[drfunsake]

Arianne was vaguely used to the life that she'd had for the past year, it wasn't much easier than her old life. She made a face at her work boots, they weren't her style. Street life had been a bunch of scrounging and sneaking away things that she could get her paws on and that had usually been dingy t-shirts and jeans that had seen better days. The real steals had been jackets and the likes. She was up and ready for the day quickly, a nagging sensation in her stomach as she tried not to think about the outside world anymore, she honestly just wanted to get back to the corner where she had kept her residence for so long. She was in C Shift with enough other people so she wasn't fretting too much about it.

She headed through the mud-soaked earth, the soles of the boots were sticky with mud and she kept sinking at the heel. She sigh-growled and began an unnecessary march to avoid losing a boot, her small figure tearing through the muddy obstacle before she came to a halt at the fire where people gathered. She'd sometimes seen other street people set fires in garbage cans and cook food in a similar fashion. She almost commented, almost but was side-tracked by that thought and sunk in a place a little ways away. She didn't much cared about the mud that was getting on her clothes, it wasn't too bad anyway. "Hi there." she muttered towards the gathered people and the girl who had already said it in a rather loud voice. She brushed a bit of hair behind her ear and folded her arms over her knees, she didn't say much after the "hi there". She didn't want to break into unrequited conversation.

[Azena]

The bus bounced as it came across a bump in the road. Thomas cursed under his breath as the large prisoner next to him farted from the impact. If this was the kind of pleasantries he could expect for the rest of his life, it was going to be a very long sentence. Looking around, it didn't seem as bad. He took note of the diversity of the bus. He couldn't imagine these children and elderly being sent here for bombings. The rumors of undesirables being sent to the labor camps must be true. The boys he used to work with took care of their own. They set up secret lodgings for friends and family that may have been sought out by the government. Thomas tried to guess which ones were oddities. It wasn't as hard as you'd think, even with the drugs. They tended to twitch and look nervous. Many of them just discovered their powers and some had just gotten used to them. The injection essentially erased a part of them, left them incomplete.

One of the soldiers stood up and walked down the aisle. He re-checked everyone's handcuffs as the guard towers came into view. I had considered loosening my cuffs, but it'd be pointless. I'd never get off the bus, let alone make it anywhere safe before the soldiers caught up. The bus stopped in front of the gates. The door opened and a young soldier walked on and spoke with the driver. I felt pressure on the back of my seat. The smell hit me before his words.

"Hey, I know you. You're Drifter, right? Yeah, yeah, I saw you back in Philly. Crazy shit you pulled. Too bad, huh?" Philadelphia was actually a mistake. He was told the National Bank was going to receive a very large deposit by a state official. The money itself could go a long way, not to mention the diamonds that were supposed to be there as well. It was a large job that Thomas spent three weeks just planning. The job went flawlessly. Until they reached the vault.

"You win some, you lose some. Now sit back before our friendly escort decides to club you. Again." Thomas kept his head straight, but let his good eye follow the soldier that walked the aisle. He certainly didn't squander his authority and sent a free thwack upside the head of a prisoner here or there. Not like anyone would stop him. To his comrades, we were nothing more than free labor, no better than the cows and tools we'd be working with. I made a note to remember his face. The young soldier stepped off the bus, the door closing behind him. When the gates opened, the bus rolled inside the camp.

"Here we go. You ready, boss?" Boss. That would be an interesting concept.

[Cedric of trall]

You can't be serious the richly dressed man whined, Sorry Mr. Sanders but you have a gift, and the world isn't ready for it just yet Erwin explained not even looking up from the computer, thousands of fake identities reflecting in his eyes from is screen. Mr. sanders wasn't happy about it but this man was the expert he guessed so with a resigned sigh he went to stand behind Erwin So witch one of these is gonna be me he asked after a couple minutes of starring at the jumble of information? Again without even looking up Erwin handed him a envelope This is the new you, it has everything from birth certificate to high school diploma, oh and enough money to get you started somewhere, Mr. Sanders smiled Thank you Mr. Zaistev i'll never forget this.

Digi's eye's drifted open he was in his cabin laying next to his bed as he always did, some of his cabin mates joked that he didn't even remember how to get into bed they were only partly right, what a strange dream that was who was Mr.Sanders but the bigger question was who was this Mr. Zaistev that everybody kept confusing him with. He was Digi part time mechanic here at the camp, a little flustered by the dream he sat up with the same dull expression that he always had, and started to change his clothes without taking off his boots, the night before he didn't even get undressed before going to sleep mostly because he had a hard time untying the strange loopy knot that had been used to make sure they didn't fall off. He always preferred just keep the dang things untied the shoe string didn't make sense to Digi so he figured they were useless. Just as he finished getting a new set of clothes, no easy feat when you cant take off your boots, his stomach rumbled bringing forth an annoyed grunt from the dimwitted man. He pushed the door open and made his way outside and towards the fire pit completely ignoring the puddles and the mud that quickly caked his boots. He walked past the quite brown haired girl, she always looked like she was worried where her next meal would come from Digi couldn't understand why considering that the fire pits where always in the same place, she seemed like a nice enough person though and offered her a smile as he trudged past her. The old lady saw Digi coming and gave him a motherly smile How are you doing today Digi she asked slowly, he didn't reply at least not with words he had forgotten how to form anything but the simplest syllables, but he did give her a nod and a smile to show he was ok. Still smiling she handed him a bowl and he went to set next to another brown haired girl on the bench, but second guessed himself when he saw that the other girl was still sitting by herself without any food.

Now seeing as the girl was sitting off by herself in the mud anybody would guess that she wanted to be left alone, not Digi though the concept of wanting to be left alone didn't even register to the man. So he did what anyone in his position would do he worked his way back around the fire and plopped down next to the girl in the mud, he gave her a simple smile and held out his bowl to her offering to share his food.

[TheStinger]

Anthony wakes up at the sound of the rooster singing. He hardly could open his eyes as he was extremely tired and his back was hurting from all the work he did yesterday. Normally, because of his cell regeneration oddity he would not have such problems, but the bastards gave him a shot just two days ago and it takes a couple of more days before the regeneration could work again. He started rubbing his eyes as he gently opened them. Most of the poeple were still fast asleep, some were like him, having trouble waking up. He looks around, trying to make some sense of the cabin he was in. He then grabs the sheet that was covering him and he threw it away as he got out of bed and opened up his draw, grabbing his blue uniform and putting it on. he then takes his socks and boots from under the bed and puts them on.

The boots were dirty as hell and the mud they had on last night was dry on them now. He grabs a carton of milk, two eggs, two onions and some cheese and headed to the exit. As soon as he stepped out his right foot sinked in the mud soaked earth. Anthony looks disgusted at the ground. "You gotta be kidding me! Not this shit again." He said as he started shaking the foot, making some of the mud drop. He then heads to a fireplace where 3 other men where. "Morning guys!" Saluted Frank as he leaned down and put his food on the ground along with the food of the other three. "Morning Tony!" Saluted the three men in tandem. "Here you go guys. I traded some cheese from Dave yesterday. The guy wanted some tomatoes badly, so I gave him in exchange for that." Said Anthony who continued. And I also got this from the store yesterday. I payed a lot of money for it but what the hell... He said as he displayed a small container with salt in it.

At the sitre of the salt the three guys were like they came to life. "Oh shit you got salt man, here gimme some." Said one of them, an african-american, visibly glad, as Anthony started boiling his eggs. Then they all started eating food, taking from one another whatever they brought.

[BiHeathen]

Zayn had already been wide awake as he sat in the corner of his room the size of a closet, holding his knees up to his chest as if he was in a mental institution. He wasn't in the cabin with the other guys. Instead, they had put him into solitary confinement because of his fits of rage and the possibilities of his drugs wearing off quickly. If they did, he would destroy the entire camp like he did his school and neighborhood. They didn't want to risk it so they've been giving him twice the dosage and leaving him alone. He had no bed, no nightstand. He just laid on the floor in his dark room. You would think he would be used to this since his mother would lock him into his praying closet for hours at a time. But he hated it. Go to your closet and pray...go to your closet and pray for forgiveness kept repeating over and over in his head. It's like his mother was just outside the door taunting him to no end. Zayn burst into tears and started banging his head against the wall over and over, wanting the voice of his mother to leave his head. "Stop it mama! GO AWAY!" All he could do was sob. He had no clue where the solitary rooms were of even if they were close by to the others where they could hear him. He was going insane. "I wanna get out...I WANNA GET OUT NOW." In another fit of rage, he ran up to the door and started pounding it really hard. He could feel the blood in his fingers as he kept banging on the door, then using his feet to pound the door. He screamed at the top of his lungs to be let out. He was only let out a few times a day. Mostly to eat and to do labor work.

In a few minutes, some of the guards opened his doors and grabbed a hold of Zayn who was still kicking and screaming. Instead of seeing guards, he was hallucinating and seeing his mother dragging him into his closet. "I don't wanna pray momma! I don't wanna go in my closet!" You will pray for forgiveness you whore of the devil! was what radiated in his head. But in reality, the guards were just holding him down in his room long enough to sedate him with a shot. His screaming and violent movements soon started to cease and immediately he was out like a light. "This kid is really messed up in the head," one of the guards said to the other as they left Zayn there sprawled out in his room. The shut the door behind him, leaving the boy alone in the darkness.

[Emma Tarin]

Lee decided it was best to get a mild injury to get out of working, and be sent back on the jeep instead of on the on the bus, she wanted to go to bed so bad she was not thinking as clearly. She came up with the idea of pissing someone off enough for them to take a swing at her, she could take a punch from someone weak, looking around at the other prisoners, most looked like people you did not want to mess with. It had to be a convincing injury, and she had tried the whole 'I fell and twisted my ankle routine', it didn't work. Spotting Peter a boy only a year or two older than her with major anger issues, and who liked to steel stuff from the old people, she decided it would be easy to rile him up, and he looked weak enough that the punch or slap she was hoping for would not do to much damage. Shoving her shovel into the ground with force, she scooped up a pile of muddy dirt and flung it at Peter.

The dirt was all over him in a second, and he turned around to see Lee holding back a laugh. "You did this? You stupid brat!" Peter said stomping over to her with his shovel in swinging position. She was not expecting to get hit with a shovel. Lee ducked as Peter took a swing at her, she kicked him in the nuts , hard, and as he crumbled over into the fetal position, she kicked him in his back, and then the soldiers came to pull her away from him. "He tried to kill me with that shovel!" she yelled. But all the soldiers saw was a girl kicking a boy on the ground. "5011Z you now have, two days in Solitary, Officer Quinn, take her." Said the second in command, soldier Wallace, who had a very displeased face, as he gave orders to everyone.

Lee was handcuffed, and put in the back seat of the MLC jeep. She had heard the rumors about solitary, makes you go mad. She had heard the screaming and banging coming from the crazy boy who had been locked in solitary, since like forever. She started contemplating ways to get out of it, but she had no idea. Solitary was in the basement of MLC, the underground where storage and solitary cells were kept. What had she got herself into, she just wanted to sleep. She closed her eyes mentally kicking herself, sometimes she hated herself. The officer Quinn guy who was taking her to solitary seemed like a nice guy, but he also looked like he had never broken a rule in his life, so there was no way for her to convince him to let her go. The jeep stopped as the gates to MLC opened letting them in, along with a transfer bus full of about ten new prisoners. It was odd to get so many new people at once, but there was a lot of empty beds as of two months ago, after a coal mine explosion killed like twelve people.

Lee watched as the new prisoners got off the bus, about four men, two kids, two old ladies, and two twenty something chicks. There emotions varied from angry, freaked out, intimidating, sad, indifferent, and pleasant. She watched as the guards handed each of them a welcome bundle, a bed assignment, and there work shift sheet, all while yelling out the rules of MLC. No fighting, no stealing, no PDA, when an officer tells you to do something you do it, no yelling, no...etc.

Officer Quinn parked the jeep and got her out of the back, taking her towards the cellar door that held the cells. "Please don't make me go to solitary, I'm sorry I kicked him. Please." She said in the most innocent girly voice she could muster, hoping for some sympathetic or something. "Don't even try that miss, everyone knows what a troublemaker you are, it was only a matter of time." Officer Quinn said walking her down the stairs to the dark damp underground. There were only like seven solitary cell, one with the crazy guy in it and the rest were open for anyone. The officer opened the one next to the one marked 0192X, and let Lee inside shutting the door and locking it behind him. "SHIT!" she yell as she slammed her fist into the door.

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Star ate her breakfast, conversing with whomever wanted to talk. She could see in the distance, that at the front gate there was a transfer bus. She wondered how many new people there were this time. She hoped none of them were kids. She waved hello to Winnie, who seemed to be a little mentally gone, as a lot of people who got the injection ended up being, like Digi. She had heard Dr. Salmon talking to a guard a few days ago, that scientists had been working on a oddity nullification bracelet, that was done with testing and trials in china, and was coming to the states soon, the MLC was going to be one of the first labor camps to get them, then there would be no need for the injections every month. She also heard him say something about how is was a lot safer than the injections and that it wouldn't mess with there minds anymore. Star was hopeful, and come next month instead of the terrible burning shot they would be getting bracelets that somehow kept there powers away.

She ate the last of her food washing her bowl out in on of the many water pumps throughout the camp. The water was ice cold as she washed the dish out. Little Jillian came over to Star, handed her a baby chicken and ran off towards the barn. The baby chick squirmed in Stars hand, she handed the bowl she borrowed back to old lady Williow, thanked her again as she began walking over to the closest chicken coop. Opening the door quietly she placed the baby chick inside. Jillian had come on the transfer bus here, at the same time as Star. Jillian was a selective mute, and only seemed to talk to Star or Grandma Luna. She was a sweet girl, but it was sad that the only reason she was here was because she was an orphan.

Star went back into her cabin, it still was only about 5:30 in the morning. She wondered about the new people coming in right now, there were three empty beds in her cabin, she hoped the ones assigned to her cabin were pleasant. She laid down on her bed, and began rereading the letters she had gotten from her family over the years, looking at the birthday cards and photos they sent her, was something she did every day before heading off to work. It gave her a bittersweet feeling, to read them. Prisoners got there mail every Monday morning, and today was Friday.

[drfunsake]

Arianne glanced at the guy who had settled beside her, surely she had seen him before but she never really spoke to anyone. He was holding his bowl to her and she didn't quite know the appropriate response to the unspoken offer. Would it be offensive to turn it down? He didn't seem rude, just sort of quiet like her. "It's fine." she managed and mustered a smile to him. "I'm fine, I'm not really hungry. Thanks though."

She arched an eyebrow and extended a hand to him, she mostly wondered if he would even respond. "Hi, by the way. I'm Arianne." she said and tilted her head at him. She actually didn't know why she was bothering him but maybe it'd be a good excuse to talk. She hadn't spoken in awhile and her thoughts certainly weren't great friends. She sometimes thought they weren't very great at all. She thought too much and that often made her seem cold and closed off. On the contrary she enjoyed talking but she couldn't seem to for very long.

[MsKittyCatty]

Winnie smiled as a few others showed up, waving to them and taking some food graciously. “Thank you!” she said, this time so softly, it was obvious Old Lady Willow couldn’t hear her. The older woman simply smiled and nodded though. She sat down, missing the log she was aiming for and landing on the ground in front of it. Feeling a little like a weeble wobble, she shrugged it off, laughing at herself and eating up her breakfast. She scarfed it down quickly, licking the bowl clean and then putting it on her head. “France’s newest fashion craze is no longer the bowl haircut,” she said, face completely serious as she stood, walking in an over dramatic, model like way. “But the bowl hat… be jealous,” she purred, hands running down from the bowl to her blonde locks and petting her hair. She smirked and gave the bowl back, walking away as if nothing had happened. She seemed to be seeing things all around the camp that no one else could, when really she was looking for her illusionary friends. “Hello?” she called out, looking all around the various cabins and under things, trying to find them so they would talk to her. She pouted a bit the longer she looked, eyes sad as she hesitantly approached one of the guards, twisting her hair around one of her hands. “Where are my friends?” she asked quietly, eyes wide and moist. In the back of her mind she was afraid they had abandoned her, since she had barely seen glimpses of them over the last 4 years. She suddenly heard a noise and jumped, looking over to see new prisoners arriving. Her eyes still wide she watched, lips parted and waved enthusiastically to the newcomers. “Have you seen my friends?” she called out, tilting her head and wondering if maybe her friends had come on the bus, or were outside of MLC and these people might have seen them.