AUGUST IS A FEVER

6

Time passed like it always did, so awfully slow. You and the girls in your cabin stopped counting the days after a while. Years had definitely passed. Even if you were frail and short from stunted growth due to lack of good food, you could tell you were probably about fifteen or sixteen. You may have been older but you still felt stupid, especially when you were around the other greens. The last thing you remember about school was struggling with fractions, long division, and decimals. And here are the other greens being smarter than a scientist.

All of the girls and you stopped tracking the seasons. You gave up hope that you would ever leave. Every hall you passed taunted you with Clancy Gray posters - the son of President Gray who was the only freak who had been cured.

Ruby and you never really talked, just a small wave or hi when you were allowed or alone with the other girls in your cabin. Even then, you all would have to watch your mouth. The PSFs were always watching, there being cameras in the corners of the room. With the sudden influx of children at Thurmond, they couldn't always keep an eye on you, but it was better safe than sorry. What if the bright red dot in the center of the black beady camera lends would return while you were speaking about escaping?

You laid on your bed that was above another girl named Samatha Dahl. You weren't friends with Ruby but she was. The two were inseparable. Sam was smart and brave, but being a green, the smart part was expected. She had blonde hair and deep brown eyes. The brown coloring would frequently be swapped with a glowing green whenever she would use her abilities.

It was a thing you caught onto over time, the eye thing. You hoped they wouldn't notice that your eyes would never trade in their normal color for the expected brilliant bright green. With the lack of using your own abilities, you couldn't control them all too well and with eyes always watching you, you definitely couldn't practice. You feared a day where you would accidentally use them and your eyes would glow a red color, giving away your deepest secret. You became ashamed of your abilities.

One thing that was strange to you that you developed was some sort of tic in your hands. They would be twitching when you were stressed and angry, and with you being in this prison, that was almost constantly. You didn't tic like this before you survived IAAN.

One day you were working in the warehouse with all the other greens, making boots for the PSFs. The government couldn't fund money for these camps, so the camps became self-sufficient. The kids made their own uniforms and made the PSF's theirs. You had been segregated, boys from girls, and all colors stayed with their own.

As you were trying to sew the leather pieces of the boots together, your hand began to shake, twitching uncontrollably. You dropped the needle onto the floor between your own boots.

"Fuck." You muttered to yourself as you went to your knees and with your shaking hands, tried to find the tiny sewing needle. Eventually you did but you had to try and wait until your hands stopped. You wanted it to stop so badly but if felt like a hiccup - no matter how hard you tried to suppress it, you couldn't.

"Why aren't you workin', freak?" Asked a PSF, pushing you with his rifle. "Stop shaking." He demanded.

"I - I can't - I'm trying, I'm sorry." You said, trying to think of something to get him to leave you alone. "Tourette's syndrome." You lied. This wasn't an ordinary tic disorder, it had to do something with your abilities. If you told them that, you were sure they would find out about you being a Red and shoot you right then and there.

The PSF just hummed dismissively.

Your mind returned from your thoughts to tonight, you pulling the thin sheets onto yourself from your bed. You readjusted your position onto your bed as you looked at the camera. The red dot eventually went away and you let out a breath you didn't realize you were even holding. Looking at the bead-like black camera, it reminded you of the beady eyes that were sewed onto Kitty. You always thought they were cute, but the thought of thirty to forty year old PSFs watching you made your skin crawl and you want to rip your hair out.

The night came and went, then the early morning began like usual. No matter how many years it had been, you still hadn't managed to get used to the sounds of the PSFs shouting at you all to haul your asses to the cafeteria for a light breakfast that kept the stomach cramps at bay. As long as you weren't complaining about your stomachs hurting, it didn't matter to the PSFs if you were still craving more of whatever stale piece of bread they were serving today.

After choking down the usual flavorless bread and beans that were a little too cold, you soothed your throat and cleared it of any gross aftertaste that remained with the water that was in the small cup that was provided. You sighed and glanced at Ruby and Sam. You wished you had friends, but with your situation, you felt like friendship was a privilege at this point.

You had always been hot headed with a but of temper before everything happened. You were a good kid, but you were angered easily. You learned your anger and abilities were somewhat connected, so these days you tried to avoid feeling mad in fear of provoking your own hands to light on fire and your eyes going blood-red, giving yourself away.

Friends brought the occasional fight. Fights brought angry outbursts. Later that day, you figured Sam and Ruby were going through a fight of their own. Sam even went to the point of pretending to not even know her name. It seemed harsh at first, even you let out a low whistle when you heard Sam act like that. But as time went on, Sam and Ruby stopped talking entirely. Ruby seemed hurt and it hurt you to see her like that. You felt angry on her behalf, but you tried to ignore it as to not accidentally burn anything or anyone. You couldn't help but feel empathetic towards Ruby.

It was unclear what happened between the two girls. What you did know however was the Ruby Daly and Samantha Dahl friendship era had come to a messy end.