Tent City

Chapter 21 - Kelsie

After Andy kissed me, it seemed she became cold and uncaring. We still had our lessons together, but her face remained blank, her words monotone and her demeaner professional. I was hurt by this and started thinking that I had done something wrong. I questioned myself, "Did I not kiss her properly?" "Did I repulse her?" "Maybe, she wasn't into other women?"

Then I remembered that if she didn't like me, she wouldn't have kissed me. But even knowing that Andy did make the first move, I still self -doubted. I sighed to myself in frustration. I distracted myself with the black words against yellowed pages, as I read yet another book on survivalist first aid. I struggled to focus, the topic was boring, and it told me exactly the same as the other first aid books I've read.

I read it for a couple of more hours before I couldn't handle the repetitiveness and boring words. I slammed the book down on my bed.

I decided to take a walk around the bunker to relieve my boredom. I thought I'd check in with the cooks to make sure that Ben's birthday cake was in progress or nearly finished in time for his party tomorrow. The cooks had even organised to make Ben's favourite meal: chicken nuggets and potato chips with tomato sauce.

I had to laugh to myself when the cooks asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner. There was no hesitation as he piped up excitedly, " nugs, chippies, and sauce."

Ben really didn't have a chance to have a favourite meal in Tent City.

We were given rations, which were generally food that didn't need to be put in cold storage: old fruit and vegetables that had mouldy bits and were growing roots, dehydrated vegetable soups full of salt, a bag of rice, a single loaf of bread and an occasional piece of dried meat, we didn't even know what the source of the meat was. It could've been beef, pig, lamb, or something else. I hated to even think about what animal we were eating or even if the meat came from a single animal source, let alone a mammal. There were rumours that the meat could've come from insects or even humans.

The bunker dwellers were the only ones who knew what they were eating as most had their own source of food. The surface dwellers had to rely on suppliers and hunting to find food.

The suppliers were given the excess food that the bunker dwellers deemed uneatable for their own, but apparently eatable enough for us, because we lived on the surface and we should appreciate what we've been given.

Some of these "suppliers" were unscrupulous and used meat that they had harvested from mutated insects, contaminated animals, and literally killed humans for the" dried meat" that they supplied the tent cities that dotted the liveable landscapes.

The suppliers got paid by the volunteer associations that ran the tent cities, and the volunteer associations had money donated to them from "generous" bunker dwellers.

Thinking about the situation, we surface dwellers were forced to endure purely because our ancestors weren't rich like the bunker dwellers. The thoughts ignited so much anger and resentment inside me. The anger and resentment were so strong that I had to clench and unclench my fists to have even the smallest control over my anger.

I shook myself out of the emotional hole I found myself in and focused on the present. It was Ben's birthday tomorrow, and I should be focused on his happiness and be excited for him. He was safe and healthy for the first time in his life.

I talked to the cooks, and they showed me the progress they made on his cake. The cake was chocolate, with soft chocolate icing and shaped like a dinosaur, Ben's favourite dinosaur was the T-Rex.

He was disappointed when I told him that dinosaurs no longer existed and had disappeared a long, long time ago.

I was happy about the progress of Ben's cake, so I decided to go and find Andy to share how good the progress was on Ben's cake and to ask her if everything was prepared for tomorrow, and confirm that she would be attending Ben's party. Now, all I had to do was find her. It took me questioning numerous people to actually find her.

Apparently, she was in the sick Bay with Commander Lee, as he was in a bad way. I felt sad for her and wanted to check up on her as Commander Lee was an important  person in her life, and had mentored her for years.

I struggled with my thoughts as I tried to make a decision on whether it was appropriate to check up on Andy or even if she wanted to see me. I decided that if I loved and cared for her, why wouldn't I check on her?

So I garnered my courage, took in a deep breath, straightened my back, and walked into the sick bay with as much fake confidence I could manage.

I found Andy, but I wish I hadn't
It felt as though a lightning bolt had struck through my heart, and it stopped for a second as I saw Andy kissing another woman. I stopped the uncontrollable urge to burst into tears as my heart broke and felt as though it had dropped to my feet. The only word that I had the energy to say was, "Andy..."
I couldn't bear to stay in that room any longer and left before Andy could explain herself or the situation.

I just made it to my room before I could no longer hold it in. I collapsed on my bed and let the tears fall. The wounded sobs escaped my lips as my body shook with utter grief and sadness.

I couldn't cry for much longer as Ben would be home, and I'd hate for him to see me in such a state. After all, it was his birthday tomorrow.