Vestige | The Society

Eight | Routine

Everyone gathered in the church, waiting. They all wanted to see what the big speech was about. Alexandrea sat between Sylver and Grizz. Her eyes flicking around the room, trying to busy herself and speed up the time. 

"We need to know what we have," Cassandra's voice rang out. Everyone turned their heads towards her, silence covering them all. "And what we are at risk of running out of. So there'll be an accounting of resources. Once we get a handle on that, we'll begin to ration food, eating meals communally in the cafeteria."

"Smart," Alexandrea heard a mumble beside her. Her smile was wide as she watched.  

"We'll also share houses, in case water and electricity are in limited supply. Which, at this point, We don't know. But, it's better to be safe because if we run out, we don't have a solution," Alexandra turned her heads to the boys. None of them seemed to be happy. Clark rolls his eyes for the tenth time making Alexandra roll her's and try to restrain herself from punching him. She had never liked him. "No one will be doing any of this alone. We'll have rotating worklists. That way, everyone contributes the same. And this includes in the decision making. It'll be by a committee. Finally, We're going to put together a committee on going home. So we can formally investigate how we got here and how we're going to get back."

There was a sparse muttering between people. Some agreeing with Cassandra and others not. Alexandra looked around, trying to figure out who was for and who was against. Her eyes rested on Campbell and Harry. Neither looked happy. She wasn't surprised, both entitled and neither a big fan of Cassandra. "Adopting this new way of living doesn't mean we're giving up. It means we're smart and prepared. That's the plan." Alex turned to see Sylver with a smile on his face. As mile that was like twenty billion stars to her. "I think we should vote. Okay. All in favour, please raise your hands." 

Every girl in that room raised their hand. Sylver, Grizz, Sam and more boys also raised theirs. A few kept their hands down. Soon almost everyone had their hand raised, but two people. Harry and Campbell sat with their hands down. "I don't think we can do this unless it's unanimous," FInally, the two gave in and raised their hands, a defeated look on their face. Alexandra and Harry linked eyes.

"Thank you," She mouthed, making the boy smile slightly. She turned back around, giving Cassandra a wide grin. An applaud echoed through the church. A feeling of peace settled in Alexandra's chest, almost like fear was wiped from her body. Everyone began to leave.

"I think this could be a really good thing," Sylver looked at Alexandrea, his smile growing.

"It might," He responded, "Although, I'm not sure that everyone is happy about it," He motioned towards Cassandra and Harry. They watched as Harry began to storm off. 

"I'll catch up with you later,"

"Okay," She ran up to Harry, calling his name. He swung around to look at her, only to be pulled into a tight hug. 

"Thank you. You didn't have to put your hand up, so thank you," He squeezed her back. His anger about the situation dissipating. He rested his head on top of her's. 

"As long as your happy,"

"You really are a softie,"

"Sh! Don't tell Cassandra," Alex let out a giggle, giving him one last squeeze before letting go and stepping back. Having had been a while since she had really gotten to talk to Harry, she enjoyed the little moments like that one.

"Just don't freak out when it all starts to happen,"

"I won't, I promise," Waving goodbye, they parted ways. 

--------

"Well, it looks like you and I are on library duty. They actually listened to you,"

"Thank God. So Sylver, let's get to the library. I want to see if they've got Peter Pan there," Alexandrea said as they walked away from the job boards. Cassandra had agreed to let them work at the library as long as they also run classes every now and again. The first class was that night, psychology. It was one of Alexandrea's favourite subjects. The way the mind worked was astonishing. 

"Peter Pan?"

"What? That and Alice in Wonderland are my favourite fairytales," 

"Well, they weren't lying when they said you learn something new every day. Why Peter Pan?" Alexandrea thought for a while. 

"I guess it's the fact that they never have to grow up. I mean, who doesn't want that? To be a child forever and not have to care about anything. Growing up, I had to grow up quickly. I guess I like the idea of forever being able to be a child. I also love the darkness of the original story. Did you know, that in the original story peter pan killed the lost boys when they grew up? The reason they were forever children was that he killed them before they grew up," Sylver looked at her. His eyes filled with worry. He believed the little things about people revealed the most, and she had revealed a lot. 

"Why did you have to grow up quickly?"

"I don't think I'm ready to share that yet. Even now, I'm still trying to get over it," She refused to look at him - worried that her eyes would reveal more than she wanted them too. She knew opening herself up would be hard, and he began to see that too. He just knew she'd been through something, that had changed her; he wanted to see the Alexandrea before that. Perhaps she was happy, carefree and extroverted. Or, maybe, she had always been so careful. A deer stuck in headlights. He was ready to wait millions of years to peek behind the wall she had set up.