A faint sound, possibly something at the window reached my ears. I got up to see sunlight seeping through my room and a sparrow pecking at the window.
I prepared some water in a small bowl for it and looked at the clock to see it was 6.07 in the morning already.
Even though it is Sunday, I have a long day ahead.
My shift at the call center starts at 9.00 am. It is important to work on the holidays because we can get extra money, and right now we need every cent we can get.
I was in the kitchen by 7.00 am, preparing breakfast for everyone.
"Good morning, Ichika," I heard Katie's voice behind me.
"How are you doing?" I asked her.
"I'm okay. Sorry, I woke up a bit late today," she said.
"It is fine. Can you handle that?" I asked her to take care of the eggs which were nearly done.
"Yeah, sure."
The next half an hour passed in a flash.
"It's done."
"Yes. we have to head for work, so could you go shop for the groceries? I will take care of the cleaning," Katie said.
"Yeah, I'll do that," I said and thought the conversation was over here but Katie looked like she had something to tell me.
"I have something to tell you, about last night. I am sorry for acting that way. I couldn't control it. What Trystan did was just…"
"No need. You had every right to act the way you did, and it should be me taking the responsibility for his actions as a team leader."
Last night was something we could not have prepared for in advance, worrying about what we couldn't avoid is useless.
"How's everyone doing on your team?" I asked her.
The survivors do not socialize properly. But teams are different. In a small group that works under orders from a leader, it is easier to talk to others as long as they are fine with it. Some of them even made friends with others they know or worked with in the screening.
"The guys are starting to come together in my team, I can spot them hanging out sometimes," said Katie.
"And while you are neither for nor against socializing, you rarely find a good opportunity," I said.
"Yes," she said and confirmed my observations.
"Is Christine doing okay?" I ask.
Last night Christine was hurt really bad. She was bleeding and in severe pain.
"She's fine. I've told her to rest properly for a few days before heading out again."
"What about Courtney?" I asked. She was the last remaining person on her team. To be honest I didn't really need to ask because I knew already.
"That girl is angry…like really angry all the time. I barely talk to her and she doesn't even come out of her room most of the time," said Katie.
Courtney is actively against socializing with others. I know that thanks to the time I spent with her during the screening.
"I think we should give them some time. Everyone has been through a lot and it isn't easy to recover and move on from that horror," I said.
"We are the same as them, aren't we? We need some time as well," she said.
Indeed. So let's take things slow for now. As long as we don't mess up, every survivor will get used to this new and distorted lifestyle.
I helped Katie a little bit before I had to leave for the supermarket. When I was in the common room, I saw 47. He was there with 420, or Kelan if I were to go by his name and Taylor.
For some reason, 47 had this weird look on his face as he heard Kelan talk. I could not make out the conversation from here but Kelan had a sinister look on his face…Suspicious.
47 noted my presence and his eyebrows shot up as if he was caught and elbowed Kelan in the stomach. They thought I might have heard them.
What are these idiots up to this time?
I want to find out but I have other issues to deal with…just as I was about to head out, I came across Annie.
"Oh, Ichika! Where are you off to now? A secret rendezvous with your boyfriend?" She poked me like that.
"I'm headed to work. And I don't have a boyfriend," I said but it didn't look like she believed me. Annie is the kind of energetic girl. I could describe her as careless but it might be an attempt to move towards what one considers a normal lifestyle.
"You're no fun. You are always busy…this time of your youth isn't gonna come back once it is gone," she said.
"Where are you headed to now?" I asked as I noticed her dress code. Clearly not for the indoors.
"I am going out with my friends. It's a Sunday and I don't want to waste it in this shitty hostel. Plus, we don't have a mission, right?" She asked.
"We do not."
As of this point, we have no idea what might be the consequences of another confrontation with the police. For the time being, laying low is best for us.
"Bye! Enjoy your day working your ass off."
With those final remarks, she left.
* * *
"Yes…thank you for calling us, and please give your feedback. We'll be happy to help you anytime. Thank you!"
With that, I finished my call. It was 11.30 am now.
"How many for today?" Katie asked me.
"I've taken 20 calls as of now," I said.
"People are chilled out on holidays. You can tell by their tone," she said.
On weekdays, I get cussed a lot for stupid acts they commit. But it is over a call, and as long as I don't mess up my part, I receive good reviews from the manager.
"I am not good at dealing with morons, I just wish I could punch them in the face," Katie said.
Katie is kind of a reflector, as in you talk nice then she talks nice…and if you talk bad then good luck dealing with her.
"We can find another work for you," I told her.
"No, it's fine. This job pays well enough to pay the bills, so I shouldn't complain…"
"But?"
"I just wish more people from the class could work to ease our load."
"As I said, let's take it easy. We can't ask for such things unless we do not have a good relationship with them."
As of now, this is our priority as team leaders. If we can bring everyone together then we would have to face much fewer difficulties.
If we force them, they might just leave the hostel. That would be the worst scenario.
"I am taking a small break, can you handle the calls? I will be back in ten minutes or so," she requested.
She looked tired. I had no objections so I agreed to it.
I watched her back as she showed herself out of the office.
Two breaks already before lunch. Are you okay? I wanted to ask this but refrained from doing so.
"Is she okay?" Radhika asked me. She is senior to us, her experience of working here is 3 years. She is our team leader in this call center.
"She's okay. Just a little headache," I said.
"Ichika, have you prepared the reports analyzing the complaints?"
"Yes. I have mailed it to you."
"Good work, as always."
With that, she excused herself when she was called by someone and I resumed taking the calls.
"Ouch!"
I screamed so loud that dozens of eyes turned to me at once. I didn't notice until a moment later because of the pain in my ear.
"What happened?" Radhika asked me.
"There is shrill static coming through the line," I said, taking off the headset.
"Hold on. I'll call the systems department," she dialed up from her desk and turned to me, "this might take a while. If you need to, you can take a break."
I excused myself away from the working area. It wasn't just us. Most of the lines in our bay had static coming from them. The systems guy arrived and Radhika explained to him about the static.
I went to the espresso machine, and a couple of minutes later Radhika arrived with the manager of operations. He was tall, thin, and dressed in formal attire. He had hair in his gel and he wore a smile that gave me the creeps. I acted normal, though. There were three people in this place but I tried to look as distracted as possible by focussing on my phone.
"So, are you free? The managers are planning a camping trip. I thought I'd ask you," he said.
"Let's see, I can't be sure though," said Radhika, with hesitation in her voice, and trying to increase the gap from him in a natural way, "I mean we have relatives coming this week and there is an occasion…" she continued.
"But can't you convince your parents? Everyone would be there and it's not so often that we find a time to go on camping," he said, moving close and putting his hand on hers.
I hear you, girl. It is amazing how you have suppressed the urge to run away,
"It is a nice opportunity to free ourselves from work and get to know each other more," the manager said. Her hand moved to the back of her neck, and she adjusted her hair. Trying to wash away the dirt she caught. The manager didn't take any hints from her, whether he was oblivious or he chose not to was irrelevant. I need to bail her out now.
"Morning, sir. How are you?" I appeared in front of them.
"Hello. You are Ichika, right? I heard you just started working here a few weeks ago," he said to me.
"Yes," I acted blatantly excited just to get his attention, "it is my first time working here and I really like it. The environment is really good here," I said.
With that, he started engaging with me asking about my school life and friends and whatnot. A couple of minutes pass by before I managed to sneak in a small comment, "it has been a while, I think the static might have been resolved by now, right?" I looked straight into Radhika's eyes and put her on the spot.
"Oh yeah. I totally forgot that. I have to go now, " she said and immediately stood up to leave.
"Hey, wait. I didn't hear your answer, "
"I'm busy…we'll talk later," she said and left. It was just me and this creep here.
"Have you ever been on a camping trip, Ms. Ichika?"
Oh, is it my turn now? I'm not of age…even if I was, hell would freeze over before you're offered an opportunity.
"I don't know…I do have some sleepovers with girls at the school, but I am not much interested in the outdoors," I said and smiled at him.
"Is that so? Well, enough fooling around. We should go back to the cabin," he said and left. I decided to roam around a bit because I saw the issue won't be resolved for a while.
A text arrived from Radhika. 'Systems guy said it will take a few hours, the issue came due to construction. Thanks :)'
It might have been a coincidence, but I arrived at the same place as Katie. On the balcony, I could see her leaning on the railing and staring into the city ahead. Countless, indiscernible noises from the road reached my ears– vehicles, people talking, and ongoing construction all mixed fell upon my eardrums.
"Hey, you're here. What happened?" She asked me.
"Static in the lines. Systems sent people to deal with it," I told her.
She turned back, once again staring into the sky.
I walked up and stood next to her, doing the same. I wanted to see what she was seeing in her world.
"What are you thinking?" I questioned her.
"I can't focus, my thoughts jump from one thing to another very quickly," she said.
Her gaze lowered slowly.
"You're lying, I can tell."
"What?"
"You're blaming yourself for what happened with Christine, aren't you?"
During that mission, Katie's team was cornered by unknown people. Christine was hurt, her identity revealed— Katie blamed herself for it.
"How did you know?"
"The same happened in the screening, too. You distance yourself, lose that charming smile, and your face grimaces in pain. I can tell."
She smiled as if thinking there was never a point in hiding it.
"I don't like where we're headed– this uncertainty in the future, this imminent chaos I feel in my gut. I don't like it at all," she said.
She likes to embrace the peace while she can, it hurts her soul knowing she would have to let it go.
"This isn't the life we deserve, but it is what we've got," I said. I can't say anything for certain as of now. And this is just the beginning.
"Oh, my fate! Tell me what you have in store for us," she spread her arms wide and looked up to the clouds.
"Our fate is in his hands, so you're asking the wrong authority," I joked.
"As if he would ever answer a request," she said, referring to our actions a couple of days ago.
Both of our phones buzzed at once. We thought it might have been a message from the company or something, but that wasn't the case. Katie took her phone out to read. Immediately her face strained and froze, and her posture became rigid. She lifted up the screen to show me, and it looked like fate had answered.
THE INSTRUCTOR HAS ORDERED YOUR PRESENCE ON THE COMMON RESIDENCE'S ROOFTOP.
* * *