NUMB

Day Thirty-Six - Elyse (pt. 1)

There is another assembly in the morning. It happens before breakfast. The sky is still dark as we all file out into the courtyard. The stage is set up again, but Sheila hasn't arrived yet. I wind up in the middle of the crowd, separated from Edie. I can still see her from where I am standing, her posture rigid and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. I assume that standing in a crowd of people is something she still hasn't gotten used to feeling.

Someone bumps into me as they try to wiggle through the crowd, and then stop when they look at me. It's Krysta. She smiles at me and makes room for herself next to me by shoving someone out of the way.

"What's up with dragging us out here before grub?" She asks me. Her hair is messy, the black strands tangled together and thrown into a ponytail. She rubs her finger against her nose, against the edge of her empty eye socket and then looks at me. "Are you a morning person? You look like you would be a morning person."

"I've never thought about it." I say.

"Of course you haven't." She exhales loudly and tucks her fingertips into the waistband of her pants. "Do you think she's gonna tell us that it's now mandatory to have invasive tests done on us as well as the weeklies?"

Sheila finally arrives and puts an end to the murmuring of the crowd. She looks exactly the same as she did the last time we had an assembly. She wears a dark red pantsuit today and I am reminded of the blood pooling on the floor in the infirmary.

"Good morning everyone." Sheila addresses us with a tone that sounds like forced cheerfulness. "I have called you all here to talk about the state of the virus and your weekly visits to the infirmary."

More than a few people shift around in the crowd.

"I am aware of the increase in sickness and I would like to assure all of you that we are doing everything in our power to eradicate whatever virus is causing all of this. Your weeklies will continue on as scheduled and I'd like to remind all of you that these are mandatory visits." She pauses here, her eyes sweeping over the crowd. "It has been brought to my attention that some of you are skipping out on your weeklies. It is in your best interest to attend them and receive the shots and any other necessary boosters. Until we can figure out what strain of virus is affecting you, you are still in danger of catching it—"

"Yeah, okay." Krysta mutters under her breath and then moves to speak in a hushed voice to me. "What a load of crap, right? She's the one infecting all of us in the first place. The only way this thing is stopping is if she decides to choke on her own words."

A girl standing in front of us turns to look at Krysta, who raises her eyebrows in a "what" gesture. The girl faces forward as Krysta puts some space between me and her. Sheila continues to speak about what is to be expected of us and more about the danger of skipping weeklies.

She does not comment on how the sickness didn't start until after the new shots being administered. She does not comment on how that boy killed himself yesterday because of what she is doing to us.

I watch her from my spot in the crowd, watch the way she stands stiff the entire time. She hardly moves at all when she speaks. I wonder how someone can stand so still for so long.

Krysta hasn't stopped moving since she stood next to me. She keeps twirling her hair around her finger, or shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Sheila stands like a statue, the only things moving on her body are her eyes and lips.

After a while, she steps down from the stage and Wardens jog up to immediately begin taking it apart and transport it away from the fence.

For a moment, as Sheila leaves, I am able to see the greenery outside of the wall through the open gate. I can see the tops of buildings that sit at the bottom of the hill. I can see Boulder.