Tall, intimidating walls and cliffs surrounded a vast patch of soil and dirt. Upon first sight of her surroundings, Strawberry saw wheat-looking plants everywhere. Off in the distance, she caught sight of a techy-looking shipping container, surrounded by many rusty, old shipping containers.
Rocco finally pulled himself together to give Strawberry the best welcome he could. "We're here, Strawhead."
Strawberry just stared off into the distance, seemingly zoned out.
"Strawhead?"
No answer.
"Strawberry?"
Still no response.
Rocco gave Strawberry a soft push to wake her.
"Ah, sorry. This place just looks...welcoming."
"That's nice, but we need to verify you."
"Verify?"
Rocco dragged Strawberry to the modern-looking container and walked over to a keypad. Strawberry looked around, anxiety-ridden. Her eyes followed Rocco's fingers as they inputted a random code. It seemed to be the correct code, as a camouflaged door cracked open.
The two walked inside. The lights were dim, and Rocco held Strawberry's hand, walking her to a registration window.
"Stand here, and face the window," Rocco said, monotonically.
Strawberry did just that, and upon doing so, was flashed with a camera light. A couple of times. It only stopped once it caught a picture where Strawberry's eyes weren't shut from the light.
A tiny scanner popped into the camera's place, processing Strawberry's face. After a few seconds, it beeped and shut off. A printer whirred at the window, and a piece of paper came out with Strawberry's genetic information.
"You'll have to write about yourself later or ask someone to write for you," Rocco replied to the question running through Strawberry's mind.
Strawberry nodded and handed Rocco her paper. "Please hold it for me," she mumbled as politely as possible. Rocco folded up the paper and shoved it into his pocket.
Another metal door popped open, leaving a tiny gust of steam. Beyond the door were bright lights and a canteen. Rocco entered through, calling out, "Hey guys! I got us a new kid!"
"Yo, really? I didn't think you could, pfft," a teenage girl's voice laughed.
"Shut up, cloaky!" Rocco shouted in response.
"Sure thing, pebble, sure thing."
"Fuck you."
There was distant laughing and giggling just before Strawberry stepped through the door.
All eyes turned to Strawberry. The room was dead quiet, save for the ambience of running refrigerators, boiling fluids, and the ticking of a single clock.
Strawberry grew anxious with every second, watching everyone stare at her. Her breathing started shifting a bit, getting quicker and quicker. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a boy broke the silence with, "Welcome to the group, kiddo."
Strawberry nodded, smiling softly and mumbling, "Thank you." She turned to face Rocco, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"You can sit down. You seem tired," the boy called out, waving his hand to the bench he was sitting on. Strawberry sat next to him, and he handed her a large wafer cookie.
As Strawberry nibbled on the cookie, the boy introduced himself. "My name is Damien, what's your name?"
"Strawberry."
"That's a cool name! I'm guessing you met my friend Rocco."
"Mhm."
"He really is a good kid, just a bit off in the noggins. I've known him since I was 5."
"That's nice."
The two sat in awkward silence until Rocco's return. He sat between them and handed Strawberry a card. Strawberry accepted the card, which, upon further inspection, was an access card for most functions of the new place.
"So, Strawhead, you want a guide to help you out around the place for a bit or do you wanna mentally die of anxiety trying to figure shit out on your own?" Rocco asked plainly.
"I'd much rather prefer having someone to guide me through my first few days," Strawberry grumbled.
"Perfect! Damien and I will help you throughout 5 days and 5 days only!"
Rocco hopped up and started heading to a circular door. Damien looked back at Strawberry apologetically, as if to say, "Sorry about him. I swear he's nice." Afterward, Damien stood up and began walking with Rocco through the door, waving for Strawberry to follow them.
So she paced on, trailing the two closely, readying herself to observe and understand everything she could about her new home.
YOU ARE READING
An Itsy Bitsy Strawberry
Teen FictionStrawberry has always been on the run with her friend Driver, running a store all the while. However, when someone strips her away from this "normal" life of hers, she has to learn to adapt to the place, including learning skills such as talking to...
