Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Emma
I just wanted to bathe and sleep… for the next several turns of the suns if I could.
I stood in line to get my tokens, Tilly behind me as she chatted happily with Dana, another female laborer. I stared down at my hands, the blisters on my palms sore, some of them open and bloody.
When we’d entered the Pit, we turned in what we’d harvested, collected the receipt, and now waited to turn in said receipt to gather our tokens. Today I’d earned five, and I only needed two extra for a hot bath. I’d still have plenty for a warm meal. So all in all, today hadn’t been as crappy as it felt. I wouldn’t go to bed dirty and hungry, so there was at least that.
I closed my eyes and exhaled. A gentle nudge from behind had me opening my eyes and moving a step forward as the line progressed.
The conversation in the tunnel was loud and echoing, the normally chilled, damp air feeling stifling this time of day as everyone crammed into the main corridor to collect their daily earnings.
“Listen, if I can earn two extra tokens by letting Bryce have a little side piece,” Dana said to Tilly, “I have no problem bending over and letting him get a little.”
I could practically see her shrugging in her indifference, her tone telling me she did what she had to. We all did in order to survive. And even if that was one thing I refused to do, I didn’t fault anyone else who traded sex for tokens or food.
“Bryce is such an asshole though,” Tilly said with disgust in her voice. “He’s always trying to get a piece of ass from all the women.”
“And he’s had enough ass given to him that he’s arrogant.” Dana dropped her voice to a whisper, yet I still heard her words clearly. “And his dick is small, so I’m pretty sure he acts like that to compensate for lacking in that area.”
Tilly snorted but didn’t deny it.
I tuned them out as I stared straight ahead, the scent of sweat, dirt, and unwashed bodies something I’d grown used to in all the years I’d been living in the settlement. I looked to my left down the long tunnel that would lead to the bathing chamber. I could practically smell the fresh water and almost feel the warmth soothing my aching muscles.
My stomach gave a loud growl of hunger, but I’d rather get clean than eat right now. Eating one meal a day allowed me to stay not only clean, but allowed me to build up my tokens to use for stockpiling extra rations.
I supposed in the back of my mind I was always worried for the worst-case scenario. But then again, in the world we lived in, it wasn’t like we could be too careful. With the Scorch coming fast, and the very real threat that one day a Dragao could wipe us out, I was hesitant on keeping my belly full in case we had to be trapped down in the Pit for a prolonged period of time.
“Next!”
I blinked back into focus, realizing I’d dazed off as I thought about all the what-ifs. The young girl behind the makeshift table looked up at me with tired eyes and thin lips. She wasn't in a good mood, and it would be easy to take the same attitude with her as she was throwing my way, but I reminded myself we were all tired, dirty, and hungry. She’d probably been working all day, same as me. She undoubtedly just wanted to go back to her alcove, eat a few dried vegetables, and then sleep before she had to do the same shit the next day.
I put on a smile and stepped up to the little scarred table, handing her the receipt so I could collect my wages for the day. She said nothing to me and snatched it out of my hand, looked at it before writing something down on her strip of parchment, and grabbed my tokens owed.
Without a backward glance or words spoken to me, she ushered me away and called the next in line.
Dana stepped up next, and I walked up to Tilly. “Are you heading for your bath now?” she asked, and I gave a contented sigh and smile before nodding and glancing over my shoulder at the tunnel.
“Yeah. I think I’ll skip the dining chamber tonight. I have some dried vegetable and meat rations in my room that I can eat.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to be social anyway.”
She pulled her brows low and crossed her arms under her breasts. “I wish you’d stop rationing,” she said softly. “You’re losing too much weight.”
I looked down at myself, my clothes that were really nothing but strips of red-dirt-stained material sewn together hanging off my form in an unflattering way. When I looked back up at Tilly, her expression softened.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way; you know that. I just worry about your health.”
I smiled and nodded. “I know, but we’re all hungry. We're all losing weight.” Well, unless you were an elder, at the top-tier of the social construct, or willing to sell yourself for some tokens.
“Hey,” Tilly whispered and gave my shoulder a little bump with hers.
I didn’t want Tilly to see me feeling defeated once again. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”
She pulled me in for a hug. “Same time. Same place.”
I gave her one more smile as I pulled away and headed down the tunnel that led to my room. Although calling it a room was being generous. It was really nothing more than a small carved-out hole in the side of the cavern wall, not even wide enough that when I lay down, I could stretch my legs fully out. Hell, I couldn’t even stand straight up without hitting my head on the alcove ceiling.
But it was mine, I had my privacy, and for a citizen in the Pit, it was one of the most valuable things to own.
I kept my head down and focused on the path as I wove my way through the tunnel, hearing the chatter in the main hall grow more distant the farther I moved away from it. When I got to my alcove, I pulled back the curtain that acted as a privacy screen and draped the thick, coarse material on a sharp ledge of the rocky wall, allowing light from the wall sconces in the main tunnel to filter in.
I made the two steps it took to get to the small basket in the corner that held the few extra pieces of clothes I’d made for myself and gathered a new set I could put on after my bath.
Please let the pool be empty. I’d love to have a few minutes to myself.
Although even if it was empty, I’d have to bribe the attendant to get actual alone time.
Once I had my stuff and an extra token in my palm, I stepped out of my alcove and put the privacy screen back in place. I made my way back down the tunnel, my head lowered, my focus on my feet. I was almost to the end of the tunnel, where I could take a right and head to the pool, when I felt the heavy presence of someone move up behind me. My spine straightened, my skin tightening.
“I was wondering when I’d see you again,” a deep voice rumbled behind me, followed by two distinctly familiar chuckles.
I closed my eyes briefly, breathed out, but said nothing as I kept going. But then a large body inserted itself in front of me, causing me to halt suddenly.
“Hey now. It’s rude not to respond when someone addresses you.”
A smart-assed retort was on the tip of my tongue on how he technically hadn’t asked me anything, and therefore it didn’t require a response, but I bit my tongue. Egging him on would only make the situation worse.
I didn’t want to look at him, but I also didn’t want to show him that he made me uncomfortable or scared. That would only give him more power. So I lifted my head and looked into Leland’s dark—cold and dead—eyes. I was pretty sure Leland wasn’t right in the head, that he had a disconnection, a lack of something essential that would’ve made him wholly human and empathetic to those around him. He was just too uncaring for it to be normal.
“I’ve got someplace to be,” I said low but kept my voice even.
He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, a piece of his front tooth chipped from a vicious fight he’d gotten into with another man months ago in the common area. Leland had put the other man in the infirmary, and now the guy walked with a limp and steered clear of Leland for obvious reasons.
And because Leland had connections with the elders and those of higher ranking, he’d gotten a slap on the wrist, his actions deemed justifiable because they’d been in “self-defense.” Which had been a load of bullshit, but who was going to go against them?
Leland was a bully of the worst kind. He was the violent, brutal kind.
He leaned his shoulder against the cavern wall and grinned more broadly. When I said nothing, his brows pulled down low, the impatience clear on his face. “How about I walk you to the common area? Or maybe we can eat evening meal together?”
I was pretty sure Leland was insistent on harassing me because I was one—probably the only—woman who refused him in all things. Even my fear couldn’t have me submitting to him. And I was pretty sure he saw that as some kind of game, something he wanted to conquer.
But I would never give in to him. I’d rather die fighting him off.
“That’s okay.” I went to make a move around him, and he took a step to the side, his shoulder brushing up against mine. Instantly revulsion filled me. But he didn’t stop me. I said a silent prayer to whoever was listening or small miracles.
I could hear his two lackeys laughing, and whatever he murmured under his breath was probably vile and disgusting toward me.
“I’ll see you later, Emma,” he called out, but I ignored him.
I went around the corner and exhaled roughly, not realizing I'd been holding my breath the entire time. Leland made me instantly tense and wary, and as soon as I was out of his vicinity, I felt like this weight was lifted off me.
Soon enough the scent of clean water filled my head and washed away all the filth that Leland brought with him. I walked through the entrance to the grotto and thanked whoever had listened for letting the pool be empty. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes, I'd take it.
The older gentleman standing guard by the pool pushed off the wall and strode toward me, his hand held out, his gaze moving over my body. I said nothing as I gave him my tokens and then slid one extra into his outstretched palm, a silent agreement for a few moments of privacy.
After he left, I looked around to make sure I was truly alone and then quickly stripped out of my dirty clothes and got into the water. A sigh of bliss left me as the water enveloped my sore body, and I closed my eyes and leaned against the outer edge of the pool. The grotto was large enough to have four grown adults sitting within it, and normally it was filled to capacity. But right now everyone was just getting off their work detail, heading toward the dining chamber to get first dibs on the freshest pieces of food. So I happily took the time and just relaxed against the rough lip of the grotto, not caring that the stone dug into my skin.
I wouldn’t have much alone time, so after giving myself a few minutes to enjoy the quiet solitude, I reached across for the little bag I’d brought, took the small sliver of homemade soap I’d purchased with a token and a strip of material to wash, and lathered it up before scrubbing it all over my body. I cleaned my hair twice, then went over my body once more until my skin was reddened and sensitive.
I draped my long, dark hair over my shoulder and braided it, the nearly black locks a thick rope that hung to my waist.
I wanted to stay longer, but I knew the attendant who was watching the bathing chamber would come in soon, and I didn’t want him watching me get dressed. Which he would. They always did.
What I wouldn’t give to just get away from all this, to say screw the rules and the procedures and all the hard work. What I wouldn’t give to just be taken away to where nothing else mattered and all I had to worry about was myself.
But as with most hopes and wishes, they only ended up being dreams.