The Singularity: Book One In The Dystopian Apocalypse Series

Eshe

Chapter 1: I awoke to the sound of my assigned earpiece buzzing in my ear. Groaning, I sat up and glanced across the room to see my roommates getting up too. It was eight of us in the small dorm. Four bunks in all. 

I hopped down from my top bunk and subtly made my way to the door and down the hall to the showers.

I needed to be one of the first ones in the showers. The required manual labor from last night made me feel dirty and by the time I got back to the dorms, the showers were off-limits.

I got there and jumped in the one furthest from the entrance. I turned on the hot water and started to clean. After a few minutes, I hopped out the shower and wrapped a towel around me. As I lined in front of the mirror to check on my appearance, Lenora walked in with a smile. 

"Hey." I waved to her in the mirror. She waved back and hopped in. I turned back to my reflection and frowned at what looked back at me. My dark brown frizzy hair was a mess and there was still evidence of dirt and smudge on my dark face.

"Aye, Eshe. Nani's mother just made a new set of clothes for everyone in our regimen. She will bring them over maybe later on." I heard Lenora shout over the roar of the showerheads.

"Alright. Did she figure out how to make them have a color that stays in this time?"

"Kind of. Just dark colors." I nodded my head as I began to brush my teeth. "Ay, what's on the agenda today?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but then realized she couldn't see me.

"Ay uhh oo." I muttered then spit out into the rusty sink. The shower cut off and the rattle of the shower curtains being pulled back.

"What?" Lenora asked as I brought my head back up.

"I said 'I don't know'." I clarified for her and then wiped my face. She took the sink next to me.

"Ah. Well, I guess then I will check." She muttered while examining her face. There really wasn't anything for her to check as her face held natural beauty like her mom's. She was light skin with no trace of scars or blemishes anywhere except for a long cut on her upper arm, right below her shoulder. Her hazel auburn hair was shorter than mines in comparison, it only slightly grazed her shoulders. She was slender and thin but not tall or short.

"Alrighty," I said and finished up, remembering something. "Anyways, don't forget. Mudpies Monday." Her eyes were plagued with confusion but she finally realized. She nodded and I packed up my stuff to leave.

I headed back to the dorm. Only three of my dorm mates were there. The exact three I wanted to remind.

First was Nani. She was a small petite Asian-Polish mixed. Her naturally curly blue-black hair reached to her mid-back, but she usually had it up in a bun. Despite the amount of sun we get during our manual labor, she had porcelain pale skin and her eyes were like pure onyx floating in milk. She was currently fussing under her breath about the importance of keeping our small personal space clean as it was the one place the AIs willingly gave us our privacy. All other places we'd find were kept secret.

Next up was Georgia. She and her twin brother were about the only gingers here in the city. Georgia had long frizzy red hair that touched her hips when in her usual low ponytail. Her full figure and slightly sunkissed pale skin was dotted with dark brown freckles. She rolled her seductive green cat eyes as she lounged on her bed trying to read a book but couldn't with Nani muttering.

Finally was Mari. Mari was also Asian. More specifically Filipina. Her straight jet black hair laid flatly against her back. She was tall and slender, actually the tallest of us all. Her chocolate brown eyes were something to be jealous of. The common color was flecked with spots of hazel, creating a mesmerizing image when the sun hit it and even when it didn't. She was sitting on her top bunk rearranging the few posters that she had on the wall of the stars before they've been blocked out before there was light pollution.

Nani noticed my entrance. Her eyes widen in shock when she saw my mop of messy hair that was just as frizzy as Georgia's but was as short as right below my shoulders.

"You should really dry your hair. The air is dirty and could dirty your hair again. It looks like you just washed it." She said, walking over to help me with my hair. Out of all of us- including the guys-, Nani was the one with the fashion sense.

"You didn't even give her a chance, Nan." Georgia sounded out from her bunk. I looked over to see that Georgia was now sitting up, book face down on the page she was reading. I noticed in the corner of my eye as Nani reached for my towel to toss my that she had rolled her eyes in annoyance. I knew that Nani and Georgia weren't really the best of pale but they did truly try. It was just hard when to be friendly to a person you thought was the worst.

"Its fine, Georgi. She's just nervous about the... Mudpie event later on." I said as I reached up to help Nani. There was a small creak as Marian turned around on her bed and swung her feet over the edge and right next to Georgia's face.

"Aren't we all?" She interjected. Georgia made a face of joking disgust as she swatted her feet.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. "Mudpie Mondays are the things we live for." They all nodded in agreement. Just then Lenora came into the room. As if knowing already that Nani was about to fuse about her hair as well. She took her towel from around her neck and started to patting down her own hair.

"Okay, guys. I just checked the board. There is nothing lined up for our regimen today but there is with the guys. However,  they woke up early for it and luckily it's ending soon. I also caught Teddy there. He said the guys will be there in half an hour." She said in one breath as she made her way across the room to her bunk.

"Okay, great!" I clapped my hands together. " Let's head down to the cafeteria and get our breakfast."

Lenora groaned and flicked her wrist. "Y'all can go. I need to do some more stuff. Ah, wait. I need Nani to help me."

I raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Alright, I guess. How about you, Georgi? You're still coming?" I asked, turning to Georgia. She perked up and smiled.

"Yea, yea, yea. I'm still coming. I am hungry. I could eat a whole cow." She said and I chuckled.

"Alright. How about you, Mari? Still up to eat as well?" I asked her. She turned her head to look at me and then Georgia and back at me.

She shrugged and shook her head. "You two go ahead. I need to catch up on something. I might be down later." She said and climbed back up on her bed.

"Alright. Come on, Georgia. Maybe if we get there now, there will still be some pudding left." I waved by to the others and left.