I headed for my job. Everyone's two days of break were over really quickly. We resumed our jobs and I headed back to the kitchen. Working hard and... doing my best. If I liked my job so well, then why did I feel so sad when I had to go there? Why did I feel as though there was more... like I had somewhere to go?
That's when I realized it. It wasn't the job, not completely at least. I knew what it was. It was actually being separated from Cal. I felt like he needed me there, or else he would be in danger. I knew he would. I just knew it.
I walked to the city hall, leaving my job early. I requested a meeting with Imode and waited. When I was finally in her office, I told her my idea.
"I want to quit my job as a chef in the Cooking Class. I want to join the Pathogen Hunters." without giving me any time at all, she simply told me no.
"President Imode! Please! I read that this year they are low on people! I don't care what I have to do!" I pleaded, hoping she would change her mind.
She was silent for some time before looking in her desk, scurrying through the drawer for some sheet of paper. She held it out and told me she would make an exception for me, as long as I promised to be safe.
I promised her, but couldn't tell if that promise was a real one. I looked at the paper, and it was an emergency slip for joining another job. I guess this wasn't an emergency, but I would take it. I looked at the sheet of paper and read carefully.
"This document may only be used for emergencies. Some exceptions are allowed. We are running low on volunteers for this year of Pathogen Hunters. For which we will allow anybody to join the Pathogen Hunters at any time. Perhaps this shortage will go away."
Underneath that was a line to sign my name, address, and phone number. I did so and passed the sheet back to Imode. Her expression was quite blank and she looked away as she put the sheet into an envelope. I left the room as Imode told me I could. Why did she look so sad then? She told us of her experience in the Pathogen Hunters career... what did she not tell us? My mind didn't linger in that rabbit hole for too long. I simply left the building and went to the park. I sat down on the swing and lightly propelled myself forward. Why did I sit there? Why did I even sign up for the Pathogen Hunter Job?
I knew the answer, but was that really it? Was it just to protect Cal? Maybe there was something more? Why did I try to kiss him at his house? What was the point in that? We are just friends, right?
"Kaywa!" a little voice echoed to my right. I turned to look and could see Miki. Miki is an elementary schooler who is extremely cute and small, and could never say my name right.
I jolted up and ran over to Miki. She jumped up and down, and so I picked her up and spun her around in circles. Her mom watched with a smile on her face and I finally realized how long it had been since I'd seen Miki. She was ill for quite some time, so much so that we feared she wouldn't make it through... but she did.
***
Upon waving goodbye to Miki and her mother, I left to go to school. I needed to collect my stuff from my locker, since summer was mainly for jobs, you get money and extra credits to graduate and go to a school of your choice based on your skillset. I wanted to go into cooking since Cal enjoyed everything I cooked for him and Byul at school. I liked cooking for Cal and Byul...
The school was dark and honestly kind of scary. I collected things from my locker, which had been dented for years now. I held my finger on the fingerprint pad, and my locker locked. I made sure it was securely locked before walking to the Home Economics Classroom. I checked to see if Mr. Montgomery was there, (which he wasn't) and I collected my equipment, (mainly pots and pans, with some utensils that belonged to my mother) and left.
Leaving the school was a relief, but I also wanted to walk some more at night. So I walked near the fence and found mine and Cal's entrance/exit point. The way we got out to go camping and stuff... suddenly and very abruptly, a Pathogen jumped onto the fence, got electrocuted, and fell off in flames, burning and screeching.
My heart was racing and I was sweating from the fear. I ran up to the fence and looked down at the thing. It was dead. The fence where Cal and I used to exit from was always broken, we never broke it, but we did fix it before anything troublesome became of our town.
I fixed the barricade a bit, even fixing the locks and latches. They were mainly used to keep our little barricade on the fence connected to the fence. The only way to remove it from the inside was the latches and locks. The only way to open it from the outside was a keyhole, which Cal always had the key to.
***
At home, I was sitting alone. My family wouldn't be home for a couple of days, so I just quickly texted Cal and Byul in our group chat. They shouldn't be on their second mission/assignment just yet, so they should have been able to respond.
Yet they didn't.