"What's your name?" A delicate voice asked. The girl felt hands on her shoulders, and someone was touching her head. Weird.
"I," Her voice came out hoarse and scratchy. She coughed for a second and started again, "I don't know m'am," For some reason, she knew to be polite. She felt like she was raised that way, but by WHO?
"Bax. Check her check in sheet," The woman ordered. The girl looked up at the woman. She had lovely brown eyes and soft wrinkles. She was in her 40's. Her smile lines showed prominently. She had strikingly red hair that was styled in a pixie cut. The girl looked down again, the harsh fluorescent lights hurt her eyes. She couldn't believe it took her this long to get adjusted to light.
"My name is Ora. BAX!" She demanded, then turning to the girl. "He isn't the fastest," she said, a dazzling smile crossing her face. The girl smiled back. It hurt. Why did smiling hurt?
Bax grabbed a sheet and read it off. "She's about 15 years old, give or take a few. She's Hispanic, uh, black hair brown eyes, yada yada..." He skimmed down a few lines and clicked his tongue, "Her name is scratched out, but her last name is Flores." He threw the clipboard to the ground. Flores jumped.
Ora squeezed her shoulder. "You cool with being called Flores?" The girl nodded. "Great. I bet you're hungry. Being stuck in those tanks for long periods of time isn't the best for you," Ora said, standing up and pulling Flores up with her. "You can talk, right?" She joked. Flores didn't respond.
"Why don't we just throw her out of here? Rations are getting low and we don't need any more bodies in this place," Bax complained, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's only 15. If we kill her now she won't have to deal with the above," Flores' heart skipped a beat. Panic filled her chest.
"W-what do you mean above ground? Aren't we already above ground? What's happened?" She asked frantically, gripping Ora's arm. She didn't want to die. She had just woken up. Flores wanted to live again. She wanted to breathe without the pain for a least a while longer.
"You really don't know? How long have you been in the tank?" Bax questioned. He took a few steps closer. Flores was feeling overwhelmed at the moment and didn't want to deal with a giant man towering over her, who, by the way, wanted to kill her for food.
"I don't know! I don't remember anything! I just know that...that some woman wants me to go to an ink factory!" She explained, her heart racing a mile a minute.
"Bax. Cool it for a bit. She's only fifteen. Lemme see that clipboard," Ora said. Bax refused. Ora huffed and got the clipboard herself and scanned it. "Oh my god... Bax. She isn't 15 you idiot,"
He growled, "How old is she then?"
"At least 47,"
