The Day Earth Died

10. Stiff Fake

"This might sting a bit," the nurse said.

I quietly stared at the white ceiling of the infirmary. Everything was white in here. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the lights, the beds. It was blinding. And it smelled odd. The odour was thick and stagnant. It wasn't natural. It was forced, artificial. It dribbled down my windpipe and oozed out of my lungs sluggishly.

My pills were gone. And with this blood test, there wasn't a way in hell this nurse wouldn't find out I wasn't a man. Maybe I should've thought this whole thing out better. The needle sunk into my skin painlessly. I was still fairly numb from my descent. I watched the blood rush out of my vein into a narrow plastic pipe. It seemed like an awful lot.

"It's done." The nurse stuck a cotton ball on the nick with a band-aid.

She watched a screen and read the information it displayed. Soon, her eyes widened and her lips gaped a bit.

"Yeah, I'd rather keep that a secret," I said.

Blood had drained from her face.

"I... I can't."

I clenched my teeth, cross already.

"I mean, the data is automatically sent to the head nurse's server. If she finds out I didn't say anything, I'm fired," she babbled.

I sat up on the bed.

"And if I am fired, my family and I will starve to death."

The nurse glowered.

"My husband might leave me," she argued.

I gritted my teeth further until I could hear them screech.

"Then let's make sure no one finds out, shall we?" I ripped off the band-aid and then threw it on the shiny, white ground. I trampled it on my way out of the busy infirmary.

Once our vitals were checked, we were split into small groups to tour the establishments. My vitals weren't actually checked. I just stormed out before she could do that. There were hundreds, no, thousands of ways I could've handled this better. I could've bargained with her, or threatened her, or bribed her. Walking off was the worst thing I could've done and yet that's what I did anyway. Temper control was perhaps a skill yet to acquire for me. Now any second, some people could come and drag me out. Still, I had some hopes that wouldn't happen. That nurse didn't seem willing to turn me in. She just sounded like she felt like having a who has it worse competition.

The guide asked our names and told us his. Haile. He was very expressive as he exclaimed about how great it was here:

"You'll love it here!" I winced as he flailed his arms a bit, one of them decorated with a horrid leather bracelet.

We started the tour with the dormitory: a long corridor with small individual bedrooms on the sides and a common bathroom at the end of it. It was cleaner, bigger, cozier, and safer than at home. I put my bag away under the bed of my assigned room. Number 4377. Haile mentioned this was the dormitory F of building 7, hinting that there were at least 6 dormitories per building (and there are many, many buildings). However they justify it, the governments really are recruiting an army down here.

Haile then led us to the cafeteria. We marched through yet another corridor that, judging from its narrowness, was a link from one building to another, and down a wide staircase. The eating room was large, ridiculously large. As big as the Square kind of large. It was overwhelming.

"Everyone gathers here at breakfast, lunch and dinner break," the guide said.

"The governors too?" I asked without thinking it through. Amell gave me a shoulder bump of disapproval.

Haile looked at me with a sour gaze.

"No. You see, they work hard. They don't have the time to spare," he said.

"They should at least pay their respects to their officers." I stared back at him, adamant.

"Well, the governors are important people; it would dangerous for them, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, sure," I gave up, dissatisfied with his answers.

Haile granted me a courteous smile. It made the walls of my mind itch. It felt fake. It looked fake. He walked past me and a gust of air carrying his scent brushed against my face. Leather, resin and scotch.

Haile went on and showed us the schedule. Breakfast at 7 AM, lunch at 12 PM and dinner at 7 PM. "Don't be late or you might not eat," he warned. I gave the cafeteria a last look as we moved on. There were tables and tables and even more tables arranged everywhere. The room was hugged all around by windows that allowed a view of space with its myriad of stars and galaxies and whatnot. I couldn't put my finger on whether I found the sight gorgeous or eerie. Either way, it was a view I had to get used to from now on.

We exited the cafeteria to get outside and reached a platform that was yet again hung by metallic chains to the rock over our heads. From there, you could see the cause of the difference in stability from one building to another. The dormitory, cafeteria and infirmary were held stable by a thick column of metal, not thin chains. The platform we were on slightly rocked as we walked. Again, I felt nauseous.

"You look sick," Haile commented.

Startled, I straightened my posture.

"I'm not." He shrugged and kept walking with a small snicker that went unnoticed by everyone but me.

I felt even sicker. By now I was certain: he wasn't as innocent as he claimed. Faking naive simplicity this way was pretentious. And there was something about his eyes that didn't sit right with me. His gaze made me uneasy.

"Here's the meadow. Wheat fields are up there, apple orchard is down there to your left, poultry is raised to your right..." he started.

Corn up left, carrots and potatoes up right, rice down right, pigs to the left and cane sugar and canola up front. I had no idea what half of those meant. I only dared purchasing some corn, carrots or potatoes on special days; birthdays mostly. Mum loved the unique sweetness of corn. Too bad it's worth quite a lot. Maybe she could get some at the Rationing if I requested it. I pondered over the chances of her being well. She had lived alone for some time before my birth, though she was healthier then. Now with what was eating away at her legs, she couldn't stand without a cane anymore. It saddened me but I didn't let myself pity her. She would've hated me for it.

The ladders and grille footbridges leading to the fields were perilous. No safeties, no nothing. The ladders were made of a solid but soft braided fabric and the handles were wooden. The "fields" were dirt chunks resting on huge metallic plates hung to the rock. They had an orangeish light warming their soil and a pipe system gradually watering them throughout the day. Haile got us climbing up and showed us how officers plowed and cultivated the rations. Meat and eggs were left to the workers who received further training. Any civil work was picked out by seniors who wanted to get out of the meadow. We, the novice, inherited the simpler and muddier workload no one else wanted. I didn't mind. Not the work at least. I did mind the climb to get there but yet again, I'd have to grow on it.

"Last stop is the gym. Not that I'd recommend you guys to use it," Haile said and laughed.

I rolled my eyes, though I had no knowledge of what he was even talking about. His tone was enough to tell it all. I glanced at Amell. He gobbled Haile's words, unaware of the stiff fakeness in the guy.

The gym was, like anything else here, wide. Weights on racks, punching bags, benching stations, treadmills and stationary bikes. That's all there was to it. Haile pointed out that we'd need physical strength to work but that we were not strong enough yet to train in the gym. Another guide passing by interjected, arguing that it wasn't true and that we were free to come here and try it out as we wished. I was glad someone called him out. I wasn't okay with being the only one to see through his antics. The guides quarrelled with all the pettiness they could seem to gather. Awkwardly, the two groups of new officers stood there and looked around.

A bell rang through some speakers to announce early dinner for the newcomers.

"Just in time," Haile praised himself (and taunted the other guide) before letting us get there by ourselves and leaving to busy himself with whatever—I couldn't care less.