S a l e t é I V

XLVI - Lunette - Un

The next morning, there had been no need to rush. 

In spite of this, the factory kids entered into a tremendous scramble, the jolt that they brought to the warehouse as a whole a driving force that Cassia instantly wished to be a part of.

Alex cupped his hands around his mouth as he called out to the group from the fireside down on the ground floor.

"Alright! If you need the bathroom, stick with Sunshine! If not, hit the storeroom! I'll fix you up with something to munch on!"

"Is it cereal?" Marin called back from somewhere closer to the stairs. 

Cassie couldn't quite see him yet, as Klavdiya and Zisel were still in the process of giving the flames their own round of feeding after they'd let it wane through the night, providing only enough scraps to keep it lit at times.

"It might be!"

"Boring." Marin grumbled.

"You're boring! Now hurry up!" Alex shouted, making most of the girls from both sides of the group laugh, as well as Marin himself. 

Cassie reached for the younger lad with one hand as he went by, the boy taking her hand whilst he was close enough.

He was looking good that morning. They all were. Well, perhaps aside from Félicie, but her prominent case of bed hair could be fixed with a good brushing.

Whilst Cassia had kept an eye out for Marin, Flo was able to catch her by surprise, greeting her that morning with a lovely, warm hug, the young lass still in her pyjamas.

"Morning! You feeling okay?" Cassie asked her, her chosen term of endearment leaving Flo looking rather content.

"Mhm. Can we go together today? When we leave?"

"We don't know what's going on yet. If we can, then you bet."

Flo was able to continue with her routine in a better mood after hearing that, and Cassie was glad to know that she could provide such relief. 

She would have like to have been paired up with Marin too, as she felt that the two of them would be unshakeable if they had Flo between them.

She was going. That much was certain. The older kids weren't leaving that day unless one of them took her with them, and that was final. So long as she had hands and feet, she was going to put them to use. That was her commitment now, not only to her friends, but to herself.

"We've got a couple of slices of bread back here, if anyone wants those for something!" Alex announced, calling out from somewhere within the storeroom this time.

"I'll toast them."

Connie volunteered herself from the job, the young woman already dressed and ready for the venture that was ahead of them after coming down from the bedroom later than the others. After being entrusted with that remaining bread, she took it out to the fire, taking a small stick from their fuel stash so that she could hold them over the heat safely. 

The other older team members stayed at the warehouse to eat as Aimée took the younger bunch away to start getting ready, the two sides no doubt set to switch once they were back. In the meantime, there wasn't much for Cassia and the other warehouse girls to do - seeing as Alex had already made many of the preparations the previous evening - and so they were free to sit tight.

"Have you talked any more about what we're gonna do?" Klavdiya asked Connie as the teenager saw to the toast.

"Yeah, a little. Chief wants to stick with Monet, and he wants Captain to stick with Gunner. He and Captain are gonna pick two buddies each after that, so we get two groups of four."