I crumpled to the floor after that. Too much info to process. The floor was cold, but at least wasn't stone, like in that prison place; also it was a lot cleaner, and no blood stains. Were the lights always so lacking? I thought. They probably were.
I almost felt like crying, but I couldn't let myself cry in front of her.
"Go ahead and cry Potato it just won't do anything around here" she said from her top bunk.
"Why can't you play nice?" My voice was shaky.
"Nice? Why can't I play nice?" she snickered. "Nice gets you killed Potato"
"How?" I was sniveling.
Her tone was so flat that it was obnoxious "Betrayal, being taken advantage of, the usual"
"The usual"
"Oh. My. God. How sheltered were you Potato?"
I was so choked up that I couldn't answer.
"Why the hell did I get stuck with her as my roommate?" She asked under her breath "Come on, get up." She basically hauled me up and onto the bed.
I had so many questions that I couldn't seem to sputter out.
"Okay, sorry, I shouldn't have been so harsh. Hey, look at me" she said so kindly that I couldn't refuse. "Lets start over. How doe that sound?"
I choked on a laugh of approval. "Why Potato?"
"I dunno, just came to mind. You seem to be fond of potatoes."
"What are potatoes?"
She giggled "Come on, Potato, how do you not know what potatoes are? You couldn't have been that sheltered. Everyone eats potatoes, even the rich"
"I just don't? Hey, what doe sheltered mean?"
She started adding layers of confusion on her face "You do't know what sheltered means?"
"Nope"
She sighed. "Okay, sheltered is like, sheltered is like held indoors and not allowed to see the outside"
"But I went outside all the time, especially to he forest, even though the authorities got mad at me for it"
"Authorities? How humble! Everyone calls 'em coppers 'round here"
"Why did your voice change?"
She shrugged "Peaks out every now and then. Okay we need to get serious, like now. Please tell me you know how to fight"
"Kind of. I sparred with comrades in class and when we got bored"
"Okay good thank GOD!"
"Hey, why do we always say God? I know it was some old expression from back before all the glass and everything, but why do we still say it?"
"All the glass...?"
"Yeah, you know, what normal buildings are made of"
"Shit! Shit shit shit shit! Don't tell me you're from one of those cities."
"What cities?"
"For-" her wound-up body released "of course you wouldn't understand. This makes so much sense now! "
"Wha-"
"Okay, you need some SERIOUS catching up on the real world, but first, we both need you in fighting condition. They tell us every now and then to be prepared for certain events in a rough time frame in this place."
"They?-"
"Okay, fight should be tomorrow. That's enough time."
"Whoa, whoa, slow down"
She was basically bouncing off the walls, when suddenly a box in the corner of the room made noise . "Ladies, I hope you're all settled and cozy with your roommate. You're going to want to trust them for this. PLEASE EXIT YOUR ROOM AND FOLLOW THE GUIDES. I REPEAT: PLEAS EXIT YOUR ROOM AND FOLLOW THE GUIDES"
"Fuck, we don't have until tomorrow. We have five minutes."
