As Mak said, there won't be any more food in the death zone until the usual lunchtime. The water, however, was turned on a bit earlier. Most of the prisoners rush to the food distribution immediately, but as always, I am the last one.
"Hello Janine!" Akara greets me with a nice smile on her lips.
I respond to her greeting kindly, but I don't say anything to Tosa. As usual, she looks at me with her poisonous gaze.
As poisonous as the water, I think to myself, a thought that makes me chuckle.
But would I really suspect her? Actually, no.
Akara sets my bowl on the table, which I immediately take gratefully. I'm about to leave when my gaze falls on Tosa again.
It's just a small thing I notice about her. So small, but so alarming that I almost drop the bowl.
At first glance, Tosa seems confused, but then she seems to understand. Hastily, her hands hide the small pendant that once glowed in a toxic green under her shirt. Now it's just colorless, as if it had once been filled with something.
And I remember very well who gave it to her back then.
"Is something wrong with you?" Akara's voice sounds worried, just like her gaze, which is on me.
I shake my head and manage to smile somehow. When I look back at Tosa, her gaze seems even more poisonous than usual. As if she wishes for my death at this moment.
It is clear that she is afraid of my discovery and the possibility that I might tell someone about it.
I hurriedly move away. To Moriphos at the table.
It's the same table as always, where Musator and a few of the men from the drinking night also sit. As soon as I come to the table, he makes room for me so I can sit next to Nora, who is poking disgustedly at the mush. But today, something is different. Normally, there's a full bowl in front of me on the table, but not this time. It's empty. Mak's action must have worked.
However, this fact hardly makes me happy.
But my thoughts are only with two specific people. Tosa and that scumbag Kyle. Could they really be behind the poisoning?
I could believe it of Kyle, but Tosa? She seemed nice around Marto and not as cold-hearted as her lover.
Still, an uneasy feeling creeps over me. Kyle doesn't seem like someone who would let anyone with such knowledge live.
I should talk to Mak about my suspicion as soon as possible.
Lost in thought, I poke at the mush without even noticing it myself until one of the men speaks to me.
"Hey Janine!" he wakes me from my thoughts. "Have you lost your courage, or are you being spoiled too much by Mak?" He winks at me. "He seems to think he can mix business with pleasure."
As if in protest, I take a spoonful of the mush, put it in my mouth, and swallow it down. I make a disgusted face as I do so.
"Apparently not!" The table immediately starts laughing, and I join in. Only one person doesn't seem happy about the topic: Moriphos.
"Mak isn't my type anyway!" I wink at the men, then turn my gaze to Moriphos with a nice smile on my lips.
"Really?" One of the men raises his eyebrows. I look at him and nod, at which he immediately starts laughing. "Please don't go soft on us, then we can tease him about it next time."
I can understand why Mak likes to have these drinking nights with the men. They are all really nice.
Later, when everyone leaves the canteen, I stay seated with Nora to share with her.
"Don't you find it unfair that you're so popular with the men just because of this stuff?" Her voice has a resentful tone, her gaze is on the bowl.
Surprised and questioning, I look at her. I don't know why Nora suddenly brings up this topic, especially since I don't feel popular here. Which I tell her as well.
"The men are quite nice, but I don't think I'm popular with them." I smile at her. But when she raises her gaze, my smile disappears.
Nora looks at me with such hatred and envy, unlike anything I've experienced here so far. At home, it was everyday for me to get such looks from her, but on the station, we had understood each other so far.
What have I done to deserve this now? I don't understand.
"I've heard more than once how the men said you're an impressive girl," she shouts while I look at her even more confused.
"I haven't noticed any of that," I admit. But how could I? I've been with Mak or Gasard all the time, while she was always near some of the prisoners.
"But they say it," Nora snaps at me. "Like everyone else." She says the last part softly, barely audible, but with a slightly sad tone. Louder, she shouts after a short pause, "You only have to look at Moriphos and Mak! They hardly take their eyes off you!"
Her tone makes me angry. Nora is practically shouting at me, but so far I can control myself, even though anger is rising in me.
"I know Moriphos likes me!" I admit. I'd have to be blind not to notice. "And Mak..." I let out a frustrated snort. "He's an idiot! I don't like him, and he doesn't like me!"
"For someone who supposedly doesn't like you, he watches you very closely all the time when he's here," she mentions. Something that Marto already made me aware of.
"He's supposed to protect us," I shout, even though it's quite obvious that he only watches me all the time.
"But not only here are you so popular." A sigh escapes Nora's lips. Her gaze wanders sadly to the ground. Her voice no longer sounds as angry. "You were also very popular at home. The girls envied you for your beauty and figure. On top of that, you always bragged at school about how great everything was with your agent. The boys adored you, and the rest thought you were great because you were such a nice and polite girl." A hint of envy resonates in her voice.
"But I don't just have admirers and admirers," I sigh. Especially she has made my life difficult.
"Is it so hard to hate you?" she snaps at me angrily. "My father constantly raved about you and said how great it would be if I were more like you. And besides..." Nora stops, the anger in her gaze giving way to sadness. "… besides, Andy only got together with me because he couldn't get you."
"Is that so bad?" I ask in an indifferent tone. It's news to me that Andy ever had a crush on me. So far, I've only heard him cursing. Although mostly after a cold shower.
At my question, Nora only looks at me angrily, but before she can say anything, I smile at her and say, "I mean about Andy. After all, he loves you, otherwise he wouldn't have endured hiding from your father on one side and getting a cold shower on the other." At the last part, I wink at her and laugh out loud.
Nora nods. She has calmed down, even though she now looks sad again.
"Do you think they're both okay?" she asks.
My hand rests on her shoulder. An encouraging smile is on my lips. I hope I can at least calm her down a bit. "I'm sure they're both fine, and I'm sure Mak will at least find out how Andy is doing. We should ask him about it."
A smile crosses her face. "You're right, maybe he's even here," she says.
While she finishes her bowl, we talk a bit more about this and that. To be honest, I always thought she was the biggest brat, but now, since we've met here, I've really come to like her.
Talking makes us lose track of time until a guard enters the room.
We fall silent immediately.
A cold shiver runs down my spine as I see him. Nora reacts more strongly, pressing her body against mine. I can even feel her trembling.
Neither of us calms down when another person enters the room. Tosa.
Her gaze is so venomous as it falls on us intruders that I instinctively have to swallow. Damn, at this moment I would even believe she might tell him what I overheard and they would both get rid of us.
But her expression changes instantly when she sees her lover. Now she seems cheerful and happy.
Kyle's steps approach her, and I grab Nora to leave the room with her.
"If we were somewhere else, I'd kill you immediately," Kyle's voice sounds so icy that an overwhelming fear rises in me at once. Nora beside me flinches at his words, even though he's talking to me.
With my heart pounding and pulling Nora behind me, I leave the canteen.
Are they really behind the attack?
I wouldn't put it past them.