The End Of Nothing And The Beginning Of It All

Chapter Twelve: Hope

I have lost track of the days. Each one merges into the other, the same events unfold each time in a never ending cycle. By this point I'm absolutely starving but the kid is well and sleeping better, so that makes it worthwhile. I'm waiting any day now for a guard to open the door and let us out. We haven't developed symptoms after all, even though I knew we wouldn't and I think it had been about 2 days by now.
Until one morning, instead of the sound of a sliding metal tray waking me up, I hear a creaking of the metal cell door opening. We are greeted by a guard, still fully clad in his metal protective gear which was obscuring his face, asking us to follow him. Where would he take us now? I woke up the kid and took his hand to guide him. We followed the guard into a small room where he removed his metal mask, sat down in front of us and began speaking to us as if nothing had happened.
"Welcome. We are glad to have you part of the clan now that you are free of infection risk. We hope you enjoy your time here and feel at home. We will let you settle in and meet everyone before we ask that you participate in camp maintenance. I will show you around, please follow me." he said, leaving no time for questions. Me and kid followed him again, staying silent and confused. This place was huge. It was as if it had been here for years already. I mean I hope it hadn't been here for years, otherwise that would mean I was unconscious for a lot longer than I first thought. We zigzagged through the camp, with the strange guard pointing out each different section. These included the laundry, the kitchen, hunting and scavenging, resource manufacturing and of course the guard tower which I had already seen in its full glory. We kept trailing around, each person seeming friendly and introducing themself as we went. We reached the school area where all the children on site were home schooled.
"Right. This is your stop little guy" the guard said gently pushing the child towards what looked like his teachers. But kid resisted, clinging onto my arm. "Come on now. You have to learn" the guard said becoming less patient. The teachers all ushering him in. But he still refused and said "Mummy" in a small helpless voice. I felt so sorry for him. He didn't want to go. "It's ok. He can go later, he's just a bit scared of everything that's happened in the last few days" I said to the teachers and the guard. The teachers seemed to understand however the guard seemed annoyed. "He has to go back to school at some point. That is a requirement of all our children" he said before continuing to walk forward. "What would you do if he didn't go then? Throw him out?" I said jokingly with a slight laugh, as if they would throw a child out there with those creature things, but the guard remained silent, not disagreeing with my point. He always had an answer for everything, which made me become increasingly scared of this place. We finally reached the end of the tour, where the guard dropped us off at the kitchen and dining area for another meal before leaving. The food tasted so good. I had no idea what it was but I couldn't care less as I was so hungry. We had finished our food when another guard came and sat with us. Can't they leave us alone for one minute? He took off his mask. He looked about my age, around 18. He had short blonde hair and piercing light blue aqua eyes. His skin was tanned illuminating his large white smile.
He started talking to us.
"Hi I'm Henry" he stated joyfully as he shook our hands. "And you must be Hope. And who is this?" he asked pointing towards the child.
"I hoped you might be able to tell me that considering he's lived here long before I came" I laughed.
Henry chuckled back "Sorry, this guy hasn't said a word here with us. We found him alone and abandoned out on a hunting trip" he explained.
"Oh" I said in disbelief. How could someone abandon a child so young? I hope it wasn't on purpose at least. It made me feel even more protective of him now. "I call him kid" I continued.
"Right well nice to meet you kid but shouldn't you be in school?" Henry asked.
"He doesn't want to go today" I reply sharply.
"Well unfortunately school isn't an option here kid" he stated, still smiling, directing his words towards kid.
"I said he isn't going today" I repeated defiantly. Henry sat back in shock. I don't think he had ever had someone say no to him before but he didn't argue with it. He remained silent for a while.
"I am his mother" I continued feeling even more responsible for him now. Kid continued to cuddle into my arm.
Henry laughed at me "We all know that you aren't his mother. You're not old enough" he said continuing to smile.
I turned to kid and asked "Who am I?". I prayed for his sake he would reply how I thought we would. "My mummy" he said back. I looked up at Henry with a told you so look. He quickly changed the subject.
"Well ok then. It was nice meeting you both and I will see you again very soon I'm sure. I'm always here if you need a friendly face to talk to" he said with his large grin before waving goodbye and walking off. Thank god that didn't last long.