The coffee swirled in the cup as she circled the spoon, using a little of her sugar allowance to take the bitter edge off. Her eyes flicked up out of the window and she saw her father rush up to the door, running through the heavy rain. Mina rushed to the door and pulled it open and quickly closed it once he was inside. “Rain was never this bad” He said shaking himself as he pulled off the navy blue uniform of the System.

“So you always say” Mina replied, dead bolting the door once again. She walked back to the tiny apartment kitchen that was also her front room, with an uncomfortable padded bench of a settee in the centre. Her father sat down and she handed him the coffee.

“Thanks, love” He said as he took a sip. Mina sat down beside him with a cup of water and she took a sip. “Aren’t you having one?” He asked her. Mina shook her head, but before she could speak and say why, her father cut her off. “Your rations gone again?”

“In this cold weather it helps those in the infirmary” She said simply.

“Mina… You must stop giving away your rations” Her father said with a sigh, shaking his head as he reached into his pocket.

“No… it’s fine” She said, stopping him from handing over his tokens. “Besides, if everything goes to plan, I won’t need anymore. Just feel bad for my patients” Mina concluded.

“You’ve trained Evan up well, he’ll do fine. Besides, it is about time you stopped worrying about everyone else, and concentrate on you” Her father said, rubbing her on her shoulder. Mina smiled at him and nudged his shoulder with her head before she sat up and sipped from the slightly warm water. “Anyway… I have the list of people” he said, changing the subject.

“Oh yeah?” Mina asked, turning back to him and taking the paper off him and reading down the list. Now, Mina knew everyone in Barrowside. Being the senior medic, it was her job to know everyone. She had records of everyone, having to do routine medicals on them to ensure they were healthy and not infected. It was an interesting list for sure, and there were certainly some personalities on there. Her name lingered on one name a little longer than necessary, Cristi Caravaggio. But she nodded and folded the list up before tossing it into the fire burner, having memorised it and needing all evidence gone.

“They’re all going to meet at the Social tonight” He informed, draining his coffee and getting to his feet.

“Oh yes, third Friday” The blonde said. Every third Friday the Social room stocked up on alcohol (fermented fruits with sugar and whatever else tossed in, her father likened it to old mead) and the Social would be the one place they could talk without being over heard.

“Make sure you’re there for free time” Her father said, kissing her on her forehead. “I’ll catch you in the morning” He added, pulling on his jacket before rushing back out into the rain.

Mina turned back around and looked at the small apartment that had been her home since she was 17. It was small with two rooms, but it was hers. There was the living room and kitchen that contained the bare minimum. There was a bookshelf filled with literature and her medical books. The walls were the same pale green as every other building, with the same worn cream flooring. The settee was hand made in the work sector, brown in colour and filled with aged stuffing. There was a wood burner connected to the chimney tunnel for heating, which was currently crackling with life. The kitchen was uniform white, and gaudy in her opinion. There was a heated metal plate over the fire below and where she did most of her cooking. There was a cupboard filled with mismatching plates and cups and bowls, and where all her packaged food and canned goods were stored. She had been saving up for a while, storing all her food to take with them. The other room was her bedroom, the wooden bed with stuffed mattress, and the cupboard filled with clothes. And that was about it. She shared the communal bathroom with two other apartments, and they had a tight schedule to run by. But the level 2’s had it a lot better than the dorms of 4 and 5. A large block with ten bedrooms, and bunk beds in each room; no privacy. There was a communal bathroom with showers and a communal kitchen and diner. Barrowside was not a pleasant place to live. Everything was run to order and routine, and there was little freedom. It was the reason why she was planning to take a group to the rumoured Haven down in the south, the rumoured free living area that the System was trying to keep secret.

An hour or so later she walked into her bedroom and stripped out of the jumpsuit she wore for work and folded it into the corner, ready to go to Laundrette, and she opened the cupboard. Pulling out a pair of jeans and a white vest, she got herself dressed and pushed her feet into a pair of boots that were over jeans. She pulled on the community issued navy jacket and pulled the hood up over her naturally curled hair. Free time was about to start, and the social was in the centre of the square. She took a token, enough to get herself a drink, before exiting the apartment and heading out into the rain.

She ran through the rain and to the empty market square and headed straight to The Social. It was a bar fashioned out of a wooden stall, and a large wooden roof held up by wooden pillars. Beneath it was decking that supported benches and tables holding candles, and that was their bar. Once under the shelter she removed her hood and jacket, although it rained it was still muggy and warm. She placed the jacket onto the table and swapped her token for a large drink. “Ah, the Scavs found something a bit better than the juice” The server informed.

“Good… That last batch was a bit on the sour side” Mina said with a light smile.

“Sugar shortage” The man said as he produced a bottle with a faded label on it. “The canes got attacked by some rats, so had to be destroyed” He informed, hooking a metal thing under the lid and pulling. “Lager” He informed handing it over. “Scavs found a whole tanker full down on the west coast” He added as she took a sip. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than whatever they had served last week. She went to hand over her token and he waved aside his hand. “On me… For helping my little boy last week” He said, before walking to the next person.

She picked up her drink and made her way back to the table and took her seat, and she pulled a hair tie from her pocket. She piled her hair on top of her head before securing it in place, the odd curl here and there falling free. And so she waited, looking at the closed stalls of the market square as she waited for her party to arrive.

Jørgen Kuyper was a broad, well-muscled man in his mid twenties. A thick, protruding brow and general abundance of dark facial and arm hair lent him a neanderthal-esque appearance befitting the enforcer stereotype, and that he possessed the requisite sour demeanor and aptitude for violence rounded it out nicely. He'd only been in Barrowside a few years, but being a fascist at heart made him a natural fit, so he'd garnered a healthy measure of respect among his peers. That alone shielded him from rumors of heavy-handedness with several of the women in 5A, for there were no witnesses with enough credibility to pit their word against his. Cristi, however, had taken matters into his own hands after a woman he'd know since childhood, and even seen casually for a brief time, shared her brutal and humiliating encounter with Kuyper. Her account prompted him to re-wire a prototype stun device Jørgen was to test, such that the discharge points were routed to the grip instead of the primary leads. The effect was shocking, rendering the enforcer unconscious for several minutes and leaving his hand with serious electrical burns. Two weeks had passed and Jørgen's hand improved daily, which caused concern for some and anticipation for others, as he'd sworn to kill Cristi and was certainly belligerent enough to try.

Cristi's mood was sour as he made his way across the compound, cursing his decision to spend the day in the motor pool, as it was literally the farthest point in Barrowside from his apartment. However, his situation was deteriorating rapidly with the System and other scientists, between the incident with Jørgen and his roommate constantly undermining his position with them, such that field work made for more pleasant days of late. Daniel Webster was perhaps the only one who wasn't on his ass from dawn til dusk and, fortunately, he was an applied guy as well so it was easy enough to get him over with the laborers from time to time. Of course, that was also Mike and Sean's territory as well, and he'd have preferred their company even under good circumstances. They were the silver lining to the figurative cloud following him.

That it was third Friday should have been the ray of sunshine but, again, the incident with Jørgen soured the day. Mina. As early as he could remember, even when girls were icky and had cooties, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and he'd never stopped chasing his angel. As a child, he'd followed her around like a puppy, and as a teen he'd flirted with her mercilessly, eventually asking her out on a "date", such as they were in Barrowside, every week for a year until she finally said yes. They'd been off and on ever since, the awkwardness of adolescent immaturity transitioning to adult complexity always seeming to get in the way. Cristi thought they'd finally found each other, though, over the last couple months until Kuyper showed up in the infirmary. She genuinely cared for people, whether they deserved it or not, and he loved that about her, perhaps more than anything else, but he'd underestimated its depth. Everyone knew, whether they admitted it or not, that Kuyper had some payback coming and it wasn't that, at least as far as he could surmise, that bothered Mina. It was that Cristi had inflicted it. They tried to talk it out, but he'd hit a nerve and was too stubborn to apologize, so they'd left it on bad terms and hadn't spoken since.

Cristi was soaked by the time he reached his apartment. As he slung the door open, it was evident by the smell that his roommate was already home and cooking something horrible. The man had no sense of taste at all and always seemed to go for the most offensive-smelling foods imaginable. Seriously, Cristi hadn't believed preserved things could smell as rancid as what Richard managed to bring home, but the man was as cheap as they came and would gladly risk a questionable can if it saved a token. "Missed you today." A sneering call came from the main room which, given the cramped accommodations, was just a few feet away. "Strong back, weak mind. Isn't that what the System sends to 5A? Well, while you were hanging out with your under-achievers, we got some news. Jørgen Kuyper's going active in a couple days."

At 6'1", Cristi was half a head taller than Richard and, from his involvement in construction, in considerably better shape, so he momentarily considered thrashing the man's skull against the wall a few times. Yeah, that would go over well with Mina. And the System. He was a hair's breadth from some serious disciplinary action and he knew it. Pushing back the adrenalin and the throbbing of blood rushing through his ears, the hallmarks of fight or flight, he calmly slipped out of his issued work jumpsuit and slung the soaked garment on the tiny kitchen counter, or more correctly on the other things already piled on it. Without a word he crossed the short span of the main living area to his room and started dressing for free time. As he did so, he engaged his roommate in the verbal duel.

"That's great ... Dick. Glad his hand's OK ... Dick. But I'm wondering ... Dick ... why he got burned in the first place?" The question had been on his mind since the event, though he hadn't shared it with anyone but Daniel. Cristi had designed the stun device, or at least the schematics, and it shouldn't have been capable of doing any serious harm. Honestly, it had been more a theoretical exercise than anything, since the device would clearly have no effect at all on Greys.

"Yeah, me too. Guess you fucked up the math genius. And, really, the Dick thing. Kinda juvenile, don't ya think?"

"No ... Dick ... I don't. And no ... Dick ... I didn't. You did." No sooner had the words left his lips than the revelation came that, just maybe, Richard had gotten the math right but was operating with a different goal in mind. "Unless ..." Cristi stopped himself. The device was useless against Greys and Richard had amped it up purposely, leaving only one intended use. The thought sickened him, that his work would be twisted to such a purpose, but nothing seemed to be off limits where control of the populace was concerned. Slipping on a worn pair of leather boots and an equally worn, but sturdy, leather jacket, he snatched up his remaining tokens and left, slamming the door behind him.

If he'd dried off any in the few minutes he spent in the apartment, it no longer showed as the deluge again pelted him. In the short distance to Market Square, he'd already decided to blow the rest of his tokens if there was any significant alcohol content to whatever sludge they'd managed to dredge up. That is, until he saw her. Mina was already there, seated at a table by herself and sipping her drink. A few loose curls dangled down across her soft face, and as his eyes took her in his mood instantly softened. He placed a token on the bar, exchanging it for a luke-warm beverage.

"So, Cristi, when can we get something with a little more bite?" The man tending The Social had the best of intentions, and Cristi admired the fact that he did, as it was one of the few pleasures afforded them.

"Yeah, about that. You know where I'm at, man. I get a still going and it's my ass." A brief conversation ensued between the pair about distillation, the current situation with Kuyper, and virtually anything else Cristi could think of to avoid Mina. She was so damn beautiful and as much as he needed her, more as a friend than anything, his endurance was too thin to weather any residual anger.

Finally finished with the blueprint, he sat back in his chair and reviewed his work. It was only theoretical of course, but if it was accomplished, Daniel would be able to unlock a source of energy readily available but inaccessible since before the invasion. His illustration measured about 12 inches across and 4 inches high. In truth it was only a hundredth, a thousandth of the scale he imagined it to be. Angling each of hundreds of reflective surface just so, he would be able to concentrate light to a focal point, thus allowing a solar panel in that focal point to produce electricity.

He checked and rechecked the positions of each mirror, the angle each had to be held at down to the thousandth of a degree at various locations on the curvature of the earth and the time of day. He wasn’t completely sure of the accuracy of his calculations, but he was confident that the logic behind the design was sound. When he was a child, he had been working out in the open for an entire day, and though it was always cloudy, his skin became painful and reddened. One of the older men, a teacher, explained to him that although he couldn’t see it, the sun was past those clouds and was always sending its energy to them. In this case, it was obvious that his skin absorbed a little too much of that energy.

Smiling wistfully, he closed his eyes, remembering those more innocent days. His mind brought him back to the past, when he was free to tinker and learn as he pleased, only being forced to do something when they were in fear of being discovered or attacked. His thoughts drifted to Cara. Her smile. Her eyes. Her last words. He opened his eyes again, the moment of reminiscence gone. His right hand came up to his left arm, finding the precious piece of cloth and running the pad of his finger along it. Sighing, he remembered what she asked of him with her dying breath. The memory haunted him.

Ten months. He had spent the last ten months in this place. He had tried to keep to himself as much as he could, but one particularly persistent coworker had picked his way through his shields. Cristi had through no small effort managed to get Daniel to open up a little, and bit by bit got him to share much of his life story. Daniel hadn’t stayed very clueless about Cristi’s life, either. Often, when they spent time together working with the mechanics and construction teams, Cristi would talk about what was on his mind, and Daniel was more than willing to listen.

Cristi’s most recent problem presented itself in what was reported by his roommate as a faulty design. Poring over it again, he couldn’t understand what went wrong. All the calculations were correct, every power level carefully levelled. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave up finding something wrong with the schematic. It was because of this he had doubted the accuracy of his own work, and went to triple check his solar generator schematic. Satisfied that nothing was wrong with it, he rolled both up and packed his most important blueprints along with Cristi’s in a cylindrical container, easily passing for a thermos. He proceeded to collect some cans of food he had stowed away around his part of the room and put them in a bag along with the “thermos”.

He planned to find Cristi tonight. Knowing him, he was at The Social, drinking away his stresses. That was fine with him, too, because there was someone he needed to meet there. There were certain rumors spreading about a group leaving the community. He had to see if it was true. Donning a hooded jacket and shouldering his bag, he set out toward The Social.

Upon arrival, he pushed back his hood and scanned the room. He found Cristi finishing a conversation with the bartender and walked over. As he approached the bar, he waved a greeting to the bartender, who returned the wave with a pleasant smile. Turning to Cristi, he smiled and lightly punched his arm.

“So I’ve been running over the numbers, and it just doesn’t make sense. What happened should not have been possible unless someone tampered with the safety mechanisms and applied almost triple the power it was meant to have…”

He paused, tracing Cristi’s line of sight to the beautiful woman sitting at a table.

“Ah.”, He said knowingly. “I suppose you haven’t exactly made up then?”

Not waiting for a reply, he reached into his bag, taking out the blueprint from the thermos, making sure nobody could see what he was doing. He jotted down a few quick notes that highlighted the safety restraints and power levels.

“Take this and show it to her. It should show her that your original design simply would not allow for that extent of damage to Kuyper’s hand. Maybe that would calm her down a little, seeing that you never meant for him to get hurt… Well, at least not to the extent he was.”

Sean was in the southern part of Barrowside, where a group of old buildings, still relics of the humanity's past, were being deconstructed. The site was safe, the wall surrounding it was built a month ago, and then reinforced by professional workers some weeks ago. It was a place where sounds of sledgehammers, crowbars and a pneumatic drill were ringing relentlessly. Lots of workers were covered in the combinations of dirt, concrete dust and sweat. Even when the rain has started, they still did their work until the whistle indicating that the job was over. Even after that, Sean was still bringing his hammer onto the crumbling walls, cracking them with each strike, until they finally went down. The man wasn't a bright one, but his years of working in this field has gotten him enough experience on how it was the fastest way to demolish a building. Sean was breaking the old walls until an overseer came.

"Damn it, Mattock, every bloody time you stay here, when the whistle indicated you should have gone out already."
"But I don't need to go do I? I can do more?"
"No, everyone finishes work at the same time, no exception, you can have your hammer tomorrow."

Sean sighed, and the facial expression of this grown man looked like a child's who is going to lose his favourite toy, before handing over the sledgehammer.

"Now Sean, go to your dorm, change and then head up to the Social room, like every once in a three weeks."

The worker now nodded and hurried to his dorm, leaving a trail of wet and muddy footsteps across the room, until he found his bed and his cabinet. He took off his soaked workclothes, carelessly throwing them onto the bed, not realising that if left that way they will start stinking in time. Sean has simply pulled on some clothes, that a friend of his once managed to scavenge. Being dressed up, he headed towards the social room, where there lots of smells and sounds. He got to the bar and used some of his tokens to get a meal and a drink. Being a simple person, he didn't have too much needs, and he actually even liked the taste of all of that.

Mike was elbows deep in a vehicle, the patter of rain against the roof of the workers sector helped keep him calm when doing particularly annoying tasks, specifically replacing a water pump, a fairly standard procedure, but none-the-less annoying. After sealing the gasket, tightening all the bolts, and putting the belt back on the engine, he walked to the drivers side and fired it up. He checked for leaks and once he deemed it safe, slammed the hood shut and turned the engine off. Mike walked over to the garage door where a stern looking system guard was standing. "She's all good now, Jim. Don't think it'll overheat anytime soon now, but you know where to find me if she does." Mike said to the guard who, after hearing the good news stern look melted into elation, he shook Mikes grease covered hand and pulled him in for a one-armed hug. "Thanks Mike I don't know what I would've done if HQ found I had fucked up another truck!"

Mike just laughed at his friend, despite not having the most trust in the system he'd found a few people are exceptions, Jim was one of them. Before Mike could respond, Jim quickly slapped a token in Mikes open palm. "Maaan, you keep sneaking me tokens like this you're gonna go and get your ass fired or something, Jim." Mike said in a hushed voice while looking around to make sure no other mechanics had seen. "Well you know it's third Friday and all, and this is the second time you've done something for me so, y'know it's the least I can do." Jim's radio gurgled to life suddenly and there was a code Mike didn't recognize called. "I gotta head out man, thanks again!" Jim opened the door next to the garage and jogged out into the rain.

Mike wiped his hands off with a rag, picked up the clipboard and pen hanging by the front desk and jotted down parts used and labor time for the day. He went to his personal Toolbox and put everything in it's place and locked it up. As Mike stepped out of the workers sector he put his black ball cap on, the team logo long faded into nothing but an outline of a capital A with a ring around the tip. Mike walked quickly through the road to get to Market square, he didn't want to bother going all the way to his quarters just to get some clothes wet, he practically lived in his mechanic jumpsuit anyhow. He had made his way to the Social where people were already piling in for third Friday, it's a little routine celebration but a routine most people are happy to have regardless. Mike walked up to the bar and pulled out the token Jim had given him and it was soon replaced with a glass of light colored beer much to his surprise, Mike took a healthy sip and savored it, not the best he's had but the best in a long time. He looked around the bar and spotted a few familiar faces. Daniel Webster was sitting next to Cristi Caravaggio going over something or other as the were most know to do. Sean Mattock was a little ways over with a meal and a beverage, once again very typical. And of course Mina, everyone knew who she was, if you didn't you were either in perfect health or you were dead.

Eve wiped the sweat from her bow and took her hair down from the tight military style bun she had been forced to wear it up in, it was sadly pretty greasy and while naturally wavy it was a little limp from the last…how many weeks had it been? With soap and clean water in short supply she had the choice of food or bouncy pretty hair. Oddly enough her hair lost but she wasn’t going to cut it, “I love your hair! It’s so pretty” A sweet, high voice spoke from behind her right ear, divulging into giggles not a moment later, Eve knew better than to look but her body responded immediately and her heart broke anew. With a heavy hearted sigh she made her way back inside and dropped off her bow, arrows and knife before punching out and nodding to the man covering her shift.

She wasn’t overly a team player but then scavengers and border guards were both more or less solo jobs, it was why she’d taken them when she’d gotten to this place, It was fun, all those years those men had come, painting Barrowside as a paradise, yet her first and lasting impression was far from it. Though what could she do? It wasn’t like she had anywhere to return to, or anywhere else really to go. As long as she kept her nose clean she had a nice cushy job, the enforcers kept people inside from playing up and security kept the walls safe, in all her years here she’d shot maybe half a dozen greys. Being a scavenger was a bit harder, a lot more risky but hell she’d managed the trek fron the farm to Barrowside alone and most of the time it wasn’t overly different. She had food, the lean pickings from her previous life meaning she didn’t often run out of tokens and was able to occasionally sneak one to the scruffy bony kids she saw on her way to Patrol.

Those poor bastards deserved better, not here, they deserved grass like her mama had spoken about and blue skies, they didn’t deserve to ever be hungry at the very list. Though the system had its rules, its crazy ass unfair fucking rules. She’d been penalised rations and forced on double shift last time they’d caught her giving out her tokens. The weak got weaker and the strong got stronger and it always felt awful, it was those moments of clarity where she was almost glad Jess was gone, the girl had been too gentle for this fucked up world. Her hand found her heart where ripped sports bra held the lock of hair.

She was soon among people again, most kpt their heads down and got on with their work but kids were either dumb or braver than most and ran up to her chatting at her excitedly. One scruffy boy spoke about having dug in the rubble of a toppled building and finding the head of a teddy bear, he beamed at her like he’d hit the jack pot, “Well shit boy, you’re going to be better at scavenging than me!” She high fived him and he grinned a toothy grin at her while a couple of others told her about their day. By the time she was back at her little apartment she’d forgotten all about the stagnant system and that bloody letter.

The ashes of which seemed to goad her from the fire place, the whole thing left a sour taste in her mouth really. She was still undecided as she stripped down, tossed her uniform carelessly aside and pulled on her favourite (and only) outfit, jeans, comfortable boots and a top she’d scavenged up on one of her runs. They were her going out clothes, it was the social function tonight, alcohol, the only thing made this shit hole a bit more bearable but she still wasn’t sure she was going. She always went, it would be strange if she didn’t, yet if she went she’d be suckered into hope and that was a dangerous thing.
“Imagine, one day we might be able to see the real stars Evie!”
“Don’t be stupid Jess. Why do you think that?”
“No reason, I just have hope.”
“Where’d you learn that word?”
“Mama’s dictionary, it means-“
“I know what it means, it means I’m not getting any sleep tonight.”
“What do you think we’re doing here Evie?”
“Same thing we do every day, try and survive long enough to die from hunger instead of mauled by those things.”
“There’s more to it than that Evie, there’s got to be. I feel it in my toes, you got to have hope Evie, you’ll see.”

Shaking her head she snapped out of the pleasant little memory and stood from her chair, she was going to go get drunk, Jess had now seen to that. Scooping up a very small handful of saved up tokens she slipped out of her apartment, down the hall and out into the street. She didn’t care about the rain and walked the distance from the apartment block to the social room enjoying the slightly refreshing yet burning sensation it gave her. She went straight to the bar, lay down a token, accepted the gratitude of some 5A who’d clearly spent a token or two already. Stare him down when he went to touch her and until he went away before accepting the drink from the bar tender, she didn’t move from the bar, instead she turned so her back was facing it, elbows on the rickety wood and took a carefully measured sip from the bottle.

Exile opened the door to his classroom, thankful for the break the third Friday offered. His eyes scanned across the empty classroom, falling finally upon his desk at the opposite end of the door. He was thankful to have this job, even if it didn't amount to much in the eyes of the System. It gave him a medium through which to perpetuate his political ideals and enrich the youth of Barrowside. Between reading and writing lessons, he would often talk about his political ideals and encourage open debate about the society they live in. It's gotten him in trouble from time to time, but he was easily the best teacher in the school's English department, making it hard for them to get rid of him. Still, it was a good job to have, allowing him to mold his students into the freethinking type.

But today he was alone, with nothing more than his thoughts to occupy him. That and perhaps his novel, or a short story. "No," he thought, seeing the rain fall outside his window and hearing it's rhythmic patter on the roof. "Today is a day of thought," he mused aloud, striding towards his desk, upon which sat several papers. Some were his own, pages from stories he had written, but most of them were works from his students. Every few weeks, he devoted a week to a sort of free write; a time in which the students were allowed to write whatever they wanted to, within certain guidelines. He figured he'd take a moment to look through some of the papers, and as he read each piece, ranging from somewhat disjointed writing to poetry that would make Shakespeare cry, he couldn't help but see the potential in everyone's works. Even the ones that didn't contain proper spelling and grammar had a meaningful theme, something that Exile always appreciated.

He chuckled as he read a love poem one of his brighter students had written about another. He would keep it a secret, but he knew the boy was shy. He'd have a talk with him the next time he saw him. Another student had written an extremely well-written elegy about her father. It had happened only a couple of years ago, and Exile could tell she was still coming to terms with it, but she was definitely coming to terms. It was a bittersweet thing, seeing her paper. He set it aside and continued going through the others. He used to see this job as a front; a way into Barrowside and nothing more, but over the last few years he grew to appreciate the true value his job held.

By the time he finished reading the last one, he realized he had spent quite a bit more time than he intended, spending over two hours reading all 19 papers. He chuckled to himself and picked up the stack of papers that were to be his next chapter in The Oasis. He had hardly began writing when he remembered something he had heard. He got up and looked out of his window towards The Social. He had heard rumors about someone organizing a party to leave this compound, and he had definitely considered going. The only reason he wasn't already there was because he was conflicted. He felt like he had a duty here, as a teacher. As much as he wanted to leave, as much as he preferred freedom over security, he didn't want to leave his students behind. Besides that, he knew there was no such thing as true security. He had learned that lesson years ago.

He turned and sat back down, contemplating what to do next. He knew that he would likely never get another chance like this, and time was of the essence. The sound of rain pattering on the window matched the pace of thoughts through Exile's mind. His head turned to the storage closet on the right side of the room. The classroom doubled as a metal shop for Exile, and since he became a teacher he had used the closet to store some of his builds, not least of all his contraband AK-105 and survival knife. The System didn't usually inspect the school, but he made a hidden area within the closet for the weapons anyways. There were a few parts and tools in there as well, but there was no need to hide them.

His head turned back to the pile of ungraded papers. He never wanted to make this place a permanent home, but he also had developed a connection to his students. The least he could do was grade this last assignment and leave them a note. "The latter can come later," he thought aloud as he took out a pen and began grading the papers.

---

Even after two more hours the rain continued to pour into the streets of Barrowside, and Exile ended up getting a crash course in gymnastics trying to avoid the puddles. Luckily for exile, The Social was just a few yards away from The School, so he didn't have to be in the rain for long. There were several people gathered near the bar, some of whom he recognized. Daniel and Christi seemed to be musing over some sort of diagram; no doubt electronic in nature. Mina seemed to be sitting alone with an untouched drink in front of her. Everyone else seemed to just be enjoying a meal or drink. Exile figured he'd do the same, digging a token out of his pocket and heading for the bar.

The bartender called out to Exile before he even reached the bar. "Hey, what can I do ya for?"

"Anything that isn't between mud and turpentine, please." That got a laugh out of the man. "Lucky for you, the scavengers found some good stuff a few days ago," he said, putting a bottle of what looked like beer on the table. Exile placed his token next to it and took the container off of the bar. "Thank you," he said before turning back towards the crowd. He tried to read the label on the bottle, but it was too faded to make out anything. Still, it had to be at least edible, right? Exile took a sip out of it, finding it to be of somewhat decent quality as opposed to the usual garbage. "Huh. Actually tastes like it has alcohol," he mused. He took another sip before finding a table to sit at, taking off his messenger bag and pulling out several blank pages of paper and a pen. He took another swig of the beer as he began writing, taking an occasional pause to look around and try to pinpoint the meeting.

[Rosalind and Februari]

The Social slowly filled up, everyone lived for this day. They all called it the third Friday, but there was no time or days anymore, not like there used to be. Day would rise and night would quickly fall, they never could really tell when or where they were. But it just seemed to sound good to those who remembered the old world, some sense of normality in this wretched world. Mina drank from the bottle, it was an odd taste. She could not see a date on it and tried not to think of how old it was. She placed the bottle down and Cristi walked past. Their eyes locked, but only for the briefest of moments. She looked back down, since their parting last time he had avoided her completely. After what he had done to the Enforcer, things had soured somewhat. It wasn’t that she had stopped caring for him, but his insistence for defying rules was a heavy strain. As she had tended to his hands he swore revenge, to the point Mina snapped and threatened him in return. His hands would need constant work, but if anything was to happen to Cristi, she would not only withhold treatment but also have him trialled at HQ for his sexual harassment of the ladies, which would end in exile. This was of course kept quiet, he wouldn’t have it known that a woman was calling the shots!

Cristi considered Daniel's suggestion for a moment, hoping that by chance the drink was stronger than he estimated that it might shore up his resolve. It wasn't. "I appreciate the effort, but nobody else needs to get dragged down on this." He glanced over his shoulder at Mina, meeting her eyes briefly before turning away. "And definitely not her. It'll be fine. Jørgen probably won't kill me." He wasn't sure if he was saying that more for Daniel's benefit or his own. "Besides, that's not really what I'm here for ..." Flipping down another token, so his free hand wouldn't get jealous of the drink in the other one, he gave Daniel a wink and backed away from the bar. He hadn't noticed a couple of the other arrivals - Mike, Sean, Eve, and others looked like they were still making their way through the rain. It wasn't until he stood beside an empty chair across from Mina that he finally looked at her, knowing her effect on him would take hold as soon as he did. But this wasn't about that. Not tonight. Setting the drinks down, he fell into the seat and kicked it back on its hind legs. "Awesome free time. I feel so free right now I could ... yeah."

A voice broke Mina's thoughts and she looked up and saw Cristi plonk himself into the seat across from her. It was hard to ignore the old emotions and affections that rose inside of her. “So free you could continue to piss off HQ?” Mina asked raising an eyebrow, before she smiled at him to show she was only being playful. “I take it you spoke with my dad?” She asked. Knowing her Father would want her looked after, he no doubt sought out Cristi personally.

Polishing off the last of the mediocre lager, he slapped the empty bottle down on the table and returned her smile, his familiar spark returning. "Exactly! A still! This place needs a little high-octane hooch!" It wasn't the first time he'd mentioned the idea, as he'd done a small batch some months earlier and had been encouraged to attempt it on a larger scale. There were few things, however, that would thoroughly piss off the powers that be like such an endeavour. But aside from the risks of explosion, producing a toxic batch, or just plain giving the huddled masses enough liquid courage to whip themselves into a revolt, what was the harm? "Anyway, I did. He mentioned something about keeping you out of trouble." Cristi tapped a finger against his temple, "He might be a little ... y'know ... me keep you out of trouble?"

Her finger traced the neck of the bottle as he spoke, running over a rough emblem of some sort. She shook her head as he spoke of the alcohol, knowing Cristi was always full of mad ideas. Mina took another swallow of the beer and placed the bottle back down and she chuckled quietly, the corners of her mouth slipping into a smirk as he spoke of her father. Maybe the old boy had been watching from afar or maybe he just knew. But he knew there was something there, something Mina was too stubborn to just admit too. He had said before "He'll take care of you... I know he will" without elaborating, now she knew who he was talking about. "Maybe you're right" She said to him, leaning forwards a little bit. "I doubt you'd be able to look after a paper bag!" Mina teased, placing her hands on the table and her fingers playing with a ring on her right hand. "You'd start a fight in a shower cubicle" She concluded, looking up at him through her lashes.

"Nah, I'm harmless." Cristi tipped the chair back down and leaned forward across the table, "But meet me in the showers later and we can test that theory." If only. If his suspicions about how things would soon unfold were anywhere close to the mark, there wouldn't be much time for showering. He'd already started making a mental list of what needed to go and what could reasonably fit in a single pack. How to cram it all in and somehow make it lighter by a few pounds would take significantly greater spatial voodoo than he was likely to see in his lifetime. "Anyway, you've got a point about the paper bag ... but I'd never leave it." Things were about to get awkward and that was something he promised himself he'd avoid at all costs, at least until he had his own shit straightened out. Glancing around, others had made their way to The Social, and their curiosity had to be at least as great as his own. So, instead, he changed the subject. "Shall we?"

As he mentioned meeting in the showers, she was flooded with memories of that night and she couldn't supress the smirk, and no doubt he would know exactly what she was smiling at. But as the Social filled up, she remembered why she was here and it wasn't for a waltz down memory lane. As she looked back up at him, he mentioned about never leaving. An uncomfortable knot formed in her stomach and the smile left her face and she looked away from him. A mixture of emotions filled her but she pushed them aside, and remembered why she was here. "Well, we'll see who joins us" She spoke before picking up her drink and taking a large mouthful.

The social was filling up quickly, no doubt it was due to the rain, it drove people to find shelter wherever they could find it. The bar wasn’t large so it meant she had to move but as she righted herself from the coarse wooden surface she wondered where she would be going. The rain pounding down outside offered to refresh her and the darkness whispered its promise of solitude, she wasn’t anti-social but big groups put her on edge. She’d seen what happened to people kept taught in small areas, Miss Mina would have a busy day tomorrow be it from enforcers or each other.

It was nice, civil at first –even if the noise of so many voices would make her head ache after a while- but people had low tolerances to alcohol, it wasn’t a commodity they had often, so it wouldn’t be long until judgements were impaired. Then one wrong gesture, one wrong word and the ugly side of people came out, it was the one thing that the greys had in their favour, she’d never seen them attack one another. Not that they seemed to particularly work together either, it certainly didn’t change her mind on them in the least.

If she left now, without even hearing the good nurse out, what did that change? She turned the bottle between her fingers, was she really going to walk out, get drunk alone, spend an evening hating alone, she liked her personal space but sometimes too much alone was bad for a person, right? Besides, it was like Adrianna said, take every opportunity you can, of course that had been about scavenging but it applied to life too. That old guy, Papa Mina had passed her the note before her supply run, hid it with his other papers, if he was willing to put himself in such an unfavourable position with the system then didn’t she at least owe him to hear out his daughter?

Her boots stopped her behind Cristi’s chair, he was the dumb arse who’d got himself in trouble with Jorgen. Of course, having been on the receiving end of some of Jorgen’s harassment she wanted to personally high five the guy, however he clearly lacked self preservation instincts so she sort of wanted to hit him with a chair too. Apparently he learned better through beatings, laying a hand on his shoulder she internally cringed, man cooties, she hoped they’d wash off. “I can’t make up my mind if you are stupid or brave…though I guess the two aren’t mutually exclusive.” Her tone gave little away but an odd mirth danced at the corner of her lips and eyes.

Taking a slow drink from the, whatever it was in the bottle, she slid around to a free space but remained standing, bottle edge half balanced on the table. “Are we enjoying the hard work we put into getting you this? We lost Stevenson bringing it back but all things considered, pretty good right?” Stevenson had been slow, scavengers dropped all the time, Greys or the natural pitfalls of the ruins outside Barrowside, sometimes bandits. Adrianna, her mentor, had died last year, she’d got her leg trapped when rubble fell, greys were nearby. It hadn’t been a pretty sight to come upon. With a heavy sigh she took a sip of her booze in both their memories and glanced to Mina. “Oh, that reminds me, that thing your father asked me for. I’ve got it.” It was a rather pointed statement but one didn’t slip the words ‘escape’ and ‘oasis’ into regular conversation.

Just this once Jess, She thought to herself, I’ll put my faith in hope.

Sean was just standing in the middle of the social room, rather keeping his distance from a lot of other people. He was munching on an interesting tasting stew, of which even the cooks probably didn't know what they put there. Besides the mystery stew he also had a glass of beer. It tasted different. And while he did like the sweetness of fermented berries and fruits, this was also pretty great. So the man just stood until his plate and his bottle was empty. While it was enough food for him, he still wanted some beer, and as he checked through his pockets he found at least three more tokens. Sean looked for more, and in one of his pockets he found a note. He didn't remember writing anything. So he raised the thing to his eyes and stared at the paper for at least ten minutes. "When in the place of booze and chow, be sure to find the lady doctor". It took another five minutes for him to recycle what he just read. The only lady doctor he ever met was the kind one, known as Mina. He placed the note in his pocket and walked to the bar, placing the collected tokens on the table and taking the beer for that, without really thinking whether or not he is going to need more.

Sean looked through the room until he noticed Mina. He didn't know why, but he decided to follow the instructions on the piece of paper, and he went to the table stood there for several minutes rather awkwardly and then opened his mouth:

"Hello"

Sean just stood there, feeling how his cheeks are lighting up, as he rarely approaches even the people he knows. He couldn't think of anything more to say, so he just waited for a response.

Daniel sighed as he carefully rolled up the blueprint, secreting it back into its hiding place. He had to keep them safe, at least long enough for the ideas they contains to be shared and spread. He contemplated, as he often did, what might happen should one of these blueprints fall into the wrong hands. Ideas were wonderful yet extremely dangerous things, and once unleashed take on a life of their own.

Thinking back to his meager schooling back at what he called "the compound", he remembered a few of the lessons he had learned with a new perspective gained through experience. One of the older men named James had always taught him and his classmates never to underestimate the power of a man who truly believed in an idea. A man who had the spark of an idea in his mind was a man who had the potential to ignite his heart and the hearts of countless others to rally behind his cause. With careful stoking of the flames, the idea would sweep countless hearts like an inferno consuming all in its path. Every idea had this potential, but needed only one successful implementation.

More often than not an idea would spark that fire in the man's heart, spreading to others of like mind, influencing the lives of all those it touched, and gathering more and more support until it became so ingrained in that society's lives that it became the norm. Such was the case with religion. Ideas of fate, God, or the attainment of enlightenment spread like wildfire through the hearts of those who were willing to believe.

Another such idea was the idea of quantities and being able to label quantities by a system of numbers. Dollars, yen, euros, pounds, and countless other systems of currency were implemented in order to quantify the value of a service or a product. The entire idea of currency seemed a bit strange to Daniel. A slip of paper or a coin of a specific shape and size or with distinctive markings that people used to call money was all that human life revolved around. Those with more of this currency could do more of what they wanted. There were even special slips which could have a quantity written on them in order to transfer a specified amount of funds from one person to another. In the end these were only simple slips of paper and small bits of shaped metal that humans manufactured as a physical representation of the idea of currency. Through this idea, they were able to quantify the power that they had to make others do their bidding.

Such was the sad truth of human nature. We had taken the one universally excepted system, numbers, and found a way to gain more power, but only for those with means to use it.

And that, however, was the other part of the lesson. Ideas are only as powerful as the minds who choose to accept them. A madman would take the idea that a man could fly and jump off a building, while an intelligent man would wonder how this is possible and take steps to understand how such a feat might be accomplished. Other times it required a collective conscious to ponder the idea. This collective conscious made of intelligent minds from many areas of study would be able to collaborate and expand on because this knowledge of their unique expertise. A physicist would be able to explain the forces behind's a birds flight to help them understand what was needed to achieve flight itself. An engineer would be able to take that information and design something capable of providing all necessary elements of flight. A team of builders would be able to complete the engineer's design.

As of right now, that was all he was here for. An idea. So far, the idea had five minds with this spark. Five sparks waiting for the chance to ignite themselves. Walking over to the table, he stood by Cristi's chair next to Eveleyn. Shifting his bag to a more comfortable position on his shoulder, he recognized Sean, a construction worker who was physically the strongest man he'd ever met, though mentally was a bit... Subpar. Still though, it was good to see someone of considerable strength in the group. He didn't know much about the woman standing at his side, but he figured he'd learn more about her as time went on. It appeared she had been a part of the group who found the beer everyone was enjoying. He never took a liking to alcohol, so had none. Instead, his thoughts turned to what else she would be able to scavenge.

Pulling up a seat, he sat at the table, putting his bag full of canned foods next to his chair. He didn't know how soon whatever was going to happen was to occur, but it was always a good thing to be prepared.

Cristi and Eve.

"Ominous boot steps and icy talons. Evie! " Cristi tipped his chair back to its hind legs again and craned his head back to look up at her, albeit a bit upside down. "Perspective, babe. You see a glass half empty and start looking for water, when maybe you should be looking for a bigger glass." From the awkwardness of his position and the vagueness of his response, it wasn't clear whether he was truly offering his take on things, or just spouting some pseudo-philosophy as an excuse to crane his head back and check out her chest, which was perilously close. That his tone seemed sincere and his expression a bit startled when he realized exactly where Evelyn was suggested the former.

Eve grinned at Cristi, he had no idea what favourtism she showed him letting him call her that, that was Jess' name for her, even her scavenging team had to call her Eve or Evelyn. She told herself it was largely because he was an idiot and since he got himself in trouble often enough he didn't need her busting his balls too. Of course he didn't get way scott free when he called her that, she flicked his forehead with her free hand as soon as he came breast level with her. "Ah shit, philosophy already? I haven't had enough to drink for this." She teased, "Icy talons? Way to make a girl feel loved." A faux pout worked its way onto her lips but it disappeared with her next swig of booze.

Cristi tipped his chair back down again and rubbed at his head. "Totally worth it," he muttered under his breath before looking back up at Evelyn. "It's a gift, really. The whole making women swoon by insult thing ... I don't have it, but I imagine it'd make things ... yeah." Cristi had more thumbs than there were 3As he could tolerate and Evelyn, bless her, stole one of the prized digits. Not literally, of course, but he imagined it within her repertoire. Nudging an open chair back from the table with his foot, Cristi set his second empty bottle on the table with a hollow clank, "Have a seat. Let's talk about that bigger glass."

Eve shook her head lightly, he had a strange way of lightening even the darkest of moods, the little bastard. His mumble elicited a small smile from the usually stoic woman who momentarily considered punching his arm. "I wouldn't count yourself out the running suga', my heart beat one whole beat faster...could have been the beer though." She teased with a wink. As a chair was nudged for her by Cristi and others seemed to join the table, she gave them them the brief cursory glance one gave potential threats before dismissing them for Cristi. Taking the chair and kicking boots up onto the edge of his, "Ah yes, this bigger glass of yours." She would have put her boots up on his thighs but she was being semi-polite for now. "Must say I'm pretty curious, especially if you're involved."

As much as I'd love to continue teaching all of you, my place is not here. It never was to begin with. I'm truly sorry that I have to leave you behind, but this is my calling. It's been a honor teaching all of you, and I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors. -Exile

He set his pen down next to the small pile of discarded drafts and began re-reading the note. After several minutes he sighed and set the paper down. "This will work," he muttered, having finally written a parting note that he felt neatly summed up his thoughts. He put the note in his bag, along with the less-than-satisfactory drafts he had written before. He may have been acting overly paranoid, but he felt that if he tried to dispose of the papers someone would read them and know that someone was planning to leave. Certainly The System would want to crack down on those responsible, and Exile wasn't going to be the one to trip up and leave a paper trail that led straight to him.

It occurred to Exile that he didn't even know if the rumors were true. The very definition of a rumor meant that the validity of it was, at least, hit or miss. Maybe Exile wouldn't even need the notes. Maybe he would make an idiot of himself and show up to school the next day quietly laughing about how idiotic he was to believe such rumors. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to see if they were, in fact, true.

Exile took another look around, noticing that Cristi, Evelyn, Sean and Daniel had gone to sit with Mina. Knowing Mina technically worked for The System, he didn't suspect she was involved in the escape plan until he noticed that her drink was just as full as it was when he first saw her. It had been several minutes since then, and Exile didn't take Mina as the type of person to skip out on a drink, especially after having bought it herself. The way she held herself hinted that something was on her mind, so it was definitely possible she knew something about the rumors. Hell, as far as Exile knew, she could have been the one orchestrating the whole thing. The fact that Cristi was there made Exile think of the situation as being more likely, since he and Mina often thought alike; the same went for Daniel and Cristi. Exile couldn't speak for the rest of them, but he figured three out of five was enough to cement his theory.

Exile picked up his beer and took another swig before walking over to Mina's table. "Ladies, gentlemen. Mind if I join you?" he asked, gesturing towards an empty seat next to Daniel.

Mike noticed there was a nice crowd forming in Mina's presence. That was enough for him to realize that what she had said was true the last time he saw her. It was clearly a little under wraps but he had been getting bandaged up a week or so ago and Mina mentioned to him something or other about driving. Knowing full well that he had minor driving privelages if only to diagnose the state of a vehicle. He wasn't sure what she had in mind but he had a good idea of what might be happening in the near future.

Mike made his way towards Mina and the group, it was clearer the closer he got that there was a plan forming in some way, sure people of various trades mingled together from time to time put this particualr group seemed well to thought out to be of any coincidence. Once he was in earshot he lifted his hat slightly and nodded at Mina. "Looks asthough you've got quite the following miss Mina." Mike said with a warm smile while pulling up a chair across from her. "I don't suppose that has anything to do with what you mentioned a while back?" Mike said referring to the driving talk a while back.

If he was right in assuming this then he didn't need much prep time, he just needed his toolbox. Commandeering a vehicle however would be a whole different scenario, it's possible just not probable, Mike didn't dwell on it for too long however he just patiently waited for Mina's response.

“Eat up, kiddo. That’s all for this month.” Carter handed the remaining rations to his son, who took a glance at them then stared back at his father.

“What’re you going to eat?” The child said with a stern expression.

“I’m not hungry...” Carter responded, smiling warmly. Seeing his answer didn’t satisfy his son’s expectations, Carter’s smile faded a bit. He sighed and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “You don’t need to worry about me, Henry. I want you to have it... eat up.”

Henry sighed, a fake smile on his face. Carter nodded, walking to the door. Without facing his son he spoke to him, “I... uh... I have to get goin’. Y’know... the social’s tonight and I’m already late.” He waited for Henry to reply, the boy was silent. “Love you too.” Carter said bitterly, exiting his miniscule cabin.

Carter stuffed his hands into his pockets, walking out in the rain. He kept his head tilted down, his shoulders stiff and hunched over. Rain rushed down his face, soaking into his scruffy, grey beard. He glanced up as he passed through the market square, taking notice of its vacancy. Carter decided he liked it better this way, absent of his neighbors. That realization triggered pondering of the oddity of him showing up at a place like the social. He wasn’t particularly liked in the community and he didn’t particularly like the community. “Do it for Henry...” He muttered under his breath, as if he was worried that some unseen fellow would hear him.

Carter arrived at the social. Besides some glances of disdain, his entry went unnoticed. Carter combed his fingers through his sopping hair, scanning the room for Mina. He halted his search for the medic to get a drink.

Carter had no tokens, they had all been spent on rations and his rations were depleted. He grunted, turning his pockets out in vain. He then spotted a man and a woman sitting at a table, they were laughing, enjoying their beverages. Carter’s eyes drifted to the tokens on the tabletop... he really wanted that drink.

Without hesitation, Carter walked over to the table. The man turned his head, the woman did the same. They both knew Carter, which was a bad thing.

The man frowned, “What do you want, Carter?”

Carter smiled innocently, rubbing the back of his neck, “Just sayin’ hi to my pal, Jack. It is a social afterall...”

The man narrowed his eyes, “It’s James.”

Carter’s heart sank. James turned back to the woman. They continued their conversation, ignoring the desperate, haggard man who wanted a drink. Carter glanced again at the tokens, one of his brilliant “plans” brewing in his head.

Carter started walking away, but after taking a few steps he tripped on some imaginary substance. He staggered back to the table, falling on it.

“What the hell?!” James exclaimed, standing up.

Carter laid there for a moment, then looked to James. “I tripped... sorry ‘bout that.”

James gritted his teeth, speaking with an agitated tone, “Just... get off the table...”

Carter nodded, and stood up. He glanced down at his soaked boots. “Shit... damn shoes keep comin’ untied...” Carter kneeled down to tie his shoe. He picked up James’ tokens he intentionally knocked from the table during his fall and pocketed them.

Carter finally got his drink that he longed for. He turned and examined the room, taking sips from his cup as he looked for Mina. He spotted the small crowd Mina had collected and made his way toward their table. As he made out faces, he went through their names in his head:

Big Guy With the Hammer... Mechanic... Guy with a “C” Name... Teacher Guy...

He made it to the table before he was able to complete the list in his head. Carter just stood beside Sean, crossing his arms. He awaited recognition.

Mina half listened to the talk around her, and there was the odd thing that annoyed her. Perhaps she was just too stressed to enjoy much, but there were certain characteristics she didn’t find nice in people. The table slowly filled and Mina sipped from the bottle as the mechanic turned up. As he took his seat she nodded to him. “Here is the one place we can all talk without raised eyebrows” she informed him. Categories and levels usually kept to their own, having their own regimes when it came to free time. If they had met in the market square in a big mass like this it would have looked suspicious. At least here, it simply looked like they were just all sat at the same table, as there were few on offer. She wanted to get this over with and then get back to her own rooms.

“Alright, listen up” She said calling silence across the table, but not loud enough for the rest of the bar to stop. “I am only saying this to you all once, so you need to listen. And there is no discussing it afterwards, it is quite simple, you are in or out” she said, as they all looked to her. She cast a sly eye around and no one was paying any attention to the group, they weren’t. That was the good thing about the Social, it happened so rarely everyone was more interested in the offerings then what anyone else was doing. Mina leaned back to the table “The rumours of a haven are true” She said. “My father has found the exact co-ordinates, and has mapped the route. A scav mission is being sent out down their way tomorrow, before breakfast call… If you are in, then we will be leaving instead of the Scavs” She spoke.

She watched their faces; it really was no time at all. But that was the best way to be, no word of rumour could be caught, no one could let anything slip. Mina and her father had been working on this mission for a long time, but they had had to keep it very hush hush. The haven was rumoured to be right the other side of the country, and they would need a lot of supplies. It was why she had timed it with the scav mission, their vehicles would be fully stocked and with enough fuel to get them across. They were using the largest transport available too. Her father likened them to RV’s, although Mina had never seen one. It was a heavy duty vehicle and it was for that reason she needed Mike. As the most experienced mechanic, he had full clearance to the transport and was also taught to drive, unlike the rest of them.

“Tomorrow, at dawn light, the Scavs are coming to the infirmary for their inoculations” She informed them. “Instead I will be giving them a sedative. If you are coming, be at the infirmary for that time. You’ll be leaving in full scav attire so no one will know it is you until we are gone” Mina added. She took another sip from the beer before pushing the bottle aside; she really had no taste for it. “If anyone has anything that is in confiscation, then come to me at the infirmary before lights out tonight and I will see it returned. I know you all probably have a load of questions, and again, if you need them answered, then I will be at the infirmary all night. I will give you all inoc’s on our way out” She added, and she made to leave, before turning back to the group. “I would give this serious consideration before turning up. I cannot guarantee safety or safe arrival… it is going to be dangerous and we will be going out of the usual boundaries of the missions” She said shaking her head. “Just make sure, you’re ready, because we won’t be able to return, if we do… we’ll be exiled” She informed them all before getting up. Exile was being put out in the baron lands, unarmed and unaided, and no one lasted beyond a day. She gave them all one last look before she offered a kindly smile.

Mina then took her leave. She went via her rooms to change back into her overalls and collect what few things she wanted to take with her. The book her mother loved, whose female lead Mina was named after. The folder which contained her and her mentors notes and treatments for ailments, if the system knew she had this she would be punished. She piled all her food supplies but she had changed her mind on taking them with her, instead she was going to take it to the 5 cabin and let the families split the lot. Mina paused as she looked down to the large bag of packaged goods and her own rucksack that contained her own clothing. It was hard to feel really sad about leaving here; Barrowside was run to such a harsh regime. But still, it had been home. She sighed and turned out the lights before leaving the apartment.

The blonde went via 5 block and deposited her food, to which she received hugs and praise, and she smiled to each of them, before excusing herself and making her way across to the infirmary to relieve Evan. “Ah good… I am exhausted” Evan said as she walked in, the fluorescent lighting hurting her eyes after the darkness of outside.
“You heading to the social?” She asked, placing her bag down by the desk, and taking off the jacket.
“Maybe… Mr Tomen kept me busy though” Evan said, signalling the old man in the other room who was quite the hypochondriac.
“I discharged him yesterday” Mina informed, running a hand over hair.
“He insists he still has abdo pain… he thinks he might be infected” Evans said pulling on his own jacket. Mina rolled her eyes before shaking her head.
“He’s an ex teacher turned cleaner… he’s never been outside!” She added, before Evan waved. Mina smiled, she would miss him, but she was safe in the knowledge that she had taught him all she knew. Mina looked back to the desk and saw the inoc’s in the box with the needles in sterilization. Of course there was no inoculations against the infections, but there were booster jabs to help. Most people had never been outside so their bodies had built up little by the way of immune system. Only Scavs and the system security were normally given these jabs, much to Mina’s annoyance. She sighed and went to check on Mr Tomen.

Before things between her and Cristi could get too far, be it philosophical or playful Mina finally chirped in, it was a saving grace really. It was hard to have defences up around Cristi, he was just so damn good looking and somehow still as adorable as a naïve little kid. She couldn’t have am an going around ruining her reputation for being a bad ass, it was about all that kept most of the higher tier perverts from attacking her whenever they felt they could. Having the reputation for breaking someone’s fingers for calling you the wrong name would be somewhat dampened if people thought she was soft on someone.

So she offered Cristi a wink and a grin before dropping her boots from his chair and turning to face Mina and listen to their new ‘boss’. About half way through though Mina had successfully rubbed Eve the wrong way, she couldn’t tell if it was the prissy ass tone she was taking, as if she didn’t want to be here or with these people that –from her assumptions- she had asked for herself. The way she seemed to try and assert her authority and superiority by being as blunt and quasi-aggressive as she could be, even though in Eve’s mind she looked like a pissy teen who hadn’t gotten their own way. Or if it was because she was talking about her crew as if they were something nasty she’d stepped in outside.

The ‘Scav’s’ worked more than their fair share, while even the enforcers had an easier job than they did in general, most people got to stay in Barrowside, rarely step foot outside unless they were stupid or surrounded by enforcers. Scavanger’s worked in small teams of five or six, usually they split up as soon as they were out of the gates and they could be gone from their vehicle days at a time with no shelter, little food and only whatever they’d carried with them to defend themselves. They got attacked by all sorts of fucking things out there just to fetch people more food, alcohol, or fulfil random and stupid requests from people. Sure they got upgraded from Level 4 to Level 3 but on average a Scav could have that shiny apartment about eight to ten months before a new tenant moved in.

If you fucked up in Barrowside you went to nurses like Mina and you were fixed up, out there if you fucked up you died. Sometimes you’d get to listen to the people you ran with scream as a bandit raped and ate them or a Grey ripped them to pieces and you had to stay still and quiet, not make a sound until they’d moved on. All the time wondering if they were looking for you, if they’d find you and what would happen to you if and when they did. She’d known Scav’s to get suicidal at the thought of facing another run, who’d rather face punishment from the System than deal with what horrors lurked outside the wall.

Oh Mina could romanticize it all she wanted but outside these walls was a fucking death trap, every single step could be a person’s last and so to talk about her friends, her job as if they were nothing more than a stepping stone irked her rather a lot. Oh she wasn’t very good friends with any of them, as a Scav you learned quickly not to get too attached f you wanted to survive but even still she was loyal to these people who risked their lives every time they took a step outside the wall usually for scraps, parts and trinkets that other people were too fucking scared of to go get for themselves.

So as not to indulge the urge to smash her glass bottle and ram it into Mina’s face to teach the bitch a little humility she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and took a deep and slow breath. When she was finished talking at –she certainly wasn’t talking too anyone the way she was speaking- them and it had gone quiet Eve lifted her head and opened her eyes to feel a new flood of anger wash over her. Apparently they weren’t even good enough company to sit around with after and they certainly didn’t deserve to voice their opinions or their own ideas. Gripping the bottle rather tightly as she watched Mina strut off as if she was a damn Princess she heard rather than felt the glass break, with Mina out of sight she glanced to the broken bottle and brushed aside the shards, “What a fucking bitch.” She breathed beneath her breath, checking her hand for cuts which, unsurprisingly, was absolutely fine.

“Talking about my crew like we’re nothing better than greys?” She sighed and stood from the table, “I need another drink.” Shaking her head she walked over to the bar and waited for the bar tender before addressing him, “Something strong.” The tender nodded and slid her another bottle, different from the first, filled with something rather clear and he eagerly took her token. As she took a mouthful she idly wondered if they even bothered trying to hide the anti-freeze they slipped into the moonshine but decided that she honestly didn’t give a shit. It tasted like gasoline sure but it was liable to keep people like Mina from dying tonight so it was going to do the job fine.

Turning back to the table she wouldn’t be utterly surprised if it was empty, people who had little to do with one another usually rarely bothered to mingle until the alcohol got flowing and these lot, aside Cristi maybe, didn’t seem the sort to want to mingle until a lot of booze was involved. Of course she hoped they hadn’t buzzed off, it would look rather suspicious if as soon as the blonde left everyone else had run off, people here were dense but not dense enough not to spot such suspicious behaviour. Even a moron knew better than that, of course, she wasn’t really sure what she was dealing with here. Oh she knew people’s names, roughly what they did but she hardly bothered with most of them, hell she probably wouldn’t have bothered with Cristi either if he hadn’t made a point of trying to talk to her before.

At first she’d put it down to him wanting to fuck her, that’s how it usually went at these things but when he was shut down he’d just laughed it off and spouted more philosophical nonsense. Returning to the table she spared no manners this time and kicked her feet up onto the table top, crossing her legs at the ankles and glancing to her left where, she hoped, Cristi would still be, briefly she waggled her brows before taking another mouthful of the lighter fluid flavoured beverage. When she thought her indignation had died enough to make the words coming from her mouth somewhat comprehensible and not peppered with swearing she finally asked, “So….what do we all think?”