The morning alarm rings. The Eyes, as we call them, run up and down the rows, waking everyone up. They’re called the Eyes because they are constantly watching you and report anything they find rule-breaking or any sort of gossip to the head of the camp. Our head of camp happened to a head mistress; her name was Head Mistress Roland. I had only met her once, and didn’t ever want to meet her again.
There was a set schedule camp members had to follow.
6:00 was morning alarm.
6:30 was morning bathroom time.
7:00 was breakfast. If you didn’t make it, you didn’t eat.
7:45 was roll call in the Cube, as most people called it.
8:30 was report to the work you were assigned to. There was kitchen duty, nursery, care taker, lawn workers, janitors to the camp, and off-location work sites. Children were loaded into buses, crammed three to a seat, and sent off to work wherever they were assigned to. Some girls were unfortunate enough to have this label on their card; invalid. If that was your label, you were put on a separate bus and sent off to a rather deserted street on the outskirts of town. There would be a single motel that was cheap and smelled of moldy food and dust. You went inside the room, and men would come in after you. You would cater to them. Invalid in this camp meant prostitute; you were in the camp as a sex slave. If you were under the age of 11, you were sent off to ‘school’ and taught the basics of reading, writing, math, some history, and some science. Anyone older was given their class time on Saturdays and Sundays.
12:00 was lunch break for everyone. Off-site workers were given meager rations. Invalids weren’t given lunch breaks if they had a customer in.
3:00 was an hour break to use the restroom, fix any injuries, and rest. Again, Invalids weren’t given this free period if a customer was in.
5:00 was dinner hour. Invalids were given this meal, even if they had a customer in.
9:00 was evening bathroom time for those in the camps.
10:00, the off-site workers, except for Invalids, were returned home and given their evening bathroom time.
11:00 was night alarm and bed time.
Sometimes, Invalids wouldn’t get home until 1:00 or 2:00. Even so, they were still required to wake up at the same time as everyone else. Invalids were given some sleep time during their shift.
This was the schedule. Any time missed from this and you were punished, sometimes severely.
I get up from my bed and make it as quickly as possible. I strip off my clothes and follow the other girls in my bunker to the line at the front door. The girl with the red hair, the one who snores, stands in front of me. She tries her best to cover her body with her own arms, but there’s no point; it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. “Stand at attention and don’t worry; we’re not going to judge you. It’s nothing everyone hasn’t seen before.”
“It’s just uncomfortable.”
“You must be new here then.”
“I only arrived here two days ago.”
“That explains it.” I offer my hand to her. “I’m Avery.”
“Molly.” She offers hers in return.
“How old are you?”
“11.”
“You’re lucky. You have some time in here.”
“Why? How old are you?”
“13.”
Molly bit her lip and averted her eyes somewhere else for a moment. She knew why 13, sometimes even 12, was such a bad age.
