The truck rocks side to side on an unpaved road. Unmapped. Unknown from them.The clouds are heavy with rain but the air is still. The rain makes me want to cry. I let out a sigh. It resounds in the big military-sized car. I wonder how this car works, does this mean cars aren't affected by solar flares. Dad can use the company car. He's always bragged about how fast it goes on both levitation rails and normal roads. They'll be safe. I calm my anxious heart.It is like the feeling of having to perform on stage in front of unfamiliar people, you get so anxious but I've developed a skill of telling myself I'm excited. it works magic every time. So I do it. The magic works."The car is diesel-powered," Hugo says from across me. His knees touch mine but there is no space in the small truck."Huh?" I ask again. Was my face that easy to read?"It's a diesel-powered power truck. A solar flare only affects electricity." He explains more."Oh..." I mumble and lower my head. The magic flops. Like flip flops. Duckies have flip flops. Webbs. Shut."Good job bud" Eron slaps his head from behind. Canadian?The car moves over bumps and Betty's mom groans while a scarred man holds a big gun to his chest. The man's eyes are set straight on the road. Half of his face is scarred with fire, it makes him look ugly when he frowns which he's been doing for the past 3 hours we've been headed south.We near a big round cage, that looks like it can rabid mammoths, and near the entrance are dozens of cars. A static buzz comes from the scarred man and he answers it confirming his identity and how many people are in the vehicle, then the door lets us through.Multiple cars are parked haphazardly in the huge parking lot surrounded by barbed wires. It is almost like a prison but just not for us. I hear the screams and cries of children mostly. So many adults and little to no children. I'm nudged out of the car and almost stumble when Veronica yelps and hoists me back up.I let out a soft grunt and a nervous chuckle. "Thank you" I blush and hope my dark hair covers my burning cheeks"Come on kids, let's check-in," Betty's mom says I pass by a blond woman with green and white checkered clothes, she sends me a friendly smile and pushes her cart forward. I feel my heart ease a little."I'll get going," The scarred man says and Hugo stops him by holding the hem of his shirt. I'm surprised by this display of affection. Hugo hadn't talked to the man I'm assuming was his father throughout the ride."I-" Hugo starts but stops himself. He lets go of the shirt and the man walks away with two huge officers clad in army clothes. Everyone is holding a gun and radio transmitters. No baton."Come on" We're moving once more and I can't help myself but ask."How do you know each other?" I let my words hang in the air and Veronica answers me by telling me of the complicated past family current family relations. I summarize it as that they are all in some way childhood friends.We get to a queue, and it doesn't take long to get checked in. Wish it was the same when I was ordering at a WacDonald's but it might never be.I notice now that there are very small amounts of people as compared to how much they looked when I first came in. The office I was quickly getting closer to was squeaky clean. Not a single blemish. No blackberry. There are armed men on every door and at every corner.'"Why aren't there more?" I mumble to myself. "They are probably still in the city" Lucas startles me from behind. I give him a brisk nod. What's with him and scaring people? If only that worked on the zombies...they probably aren't even humans anymore. He doesn't try to explain further so I don't ask.We moved to another checkout once again after they had told us to leave any belongings behind. I'm kneeling down and searching through my bag when I see a small pink bunny container with mint that belonged to Fiona, so I sneak it into my pocket.The queue moves very slowly, so slow I feel like I'm standing for hours until my name is called, this jolts me out of my daydream and I realize Veronica isn't in front of me. I look forward to seeing her talking to a very tall armored man and she points at me while Betty enters the door just by them."Your name?" A nice brunette lady behind the desk asks me and she hunches over her writing board with a ready pen."Uh...Hallaway Xan" She repeats to herself and I start to feel nervous.Her blue eyes come up and it's as wide as saucers, her red lips are in a permanent pout."What grade?" She asks and I feel my eyes go blind from the brightness and innocence surrounding her. I decide to have faith in this institution because of her cuteness. It's like if she's happy working here, then it's safe."Grade 11," I say.She goes back to scribbling something on another pile of files that has my name on it. "Any special skills?" she asks."Um...sorry what?" I panicked. She looks up at me and asks again"Any skills you're good at? Medicine? Babysitting? Laundry? Anything?""Um...Um...I don't know" Realization dawns heavily on me. I have nothing to offer. I look around and I see behind me dirt-covered desperate people. They need my help but I can't offer anything. California is a small city but most of our work is done by electricity. But like Hugo had said, with a solar flare electronics were basically useless.I was mommy's perfect girl so I never really had to worry about my next meal, about how to take care of myself. I realize my whole life has been planned out like a schedule. From my knife lessons to the small running competition at my rundown school, it was all Mom's ideas. We were also pretty well off so I never had to think for myself."I don't have anything" I hang my head low in shame and reinstate."Oh, she's useless, guess your luck ran out, potato" I feel my neck heat from Lucas's words"It's okay dear" She gives me a small smile in understanding. "We have housework programs, you look like a fast learner, you could pick work up."I've moved along and given a null plastic pin with the word Laundry on it. I hear the lady ask again"Your name please?" The lady at the desk is helping. Whether she knows it or not, everyone just wants a familiar face. Like the girl next door or really anyone that isn't trying to bite and rip your skin off. Blueberries.I meet up with Veronica, and Betty is holding towels and body care products in a cluster. Grace sits to the side, drying her wet hair with a towel and now I get to see her pretty face. She has a mole just above her right lip. It gives me a feeling of an iconic 80's model. Not nostalgic."They said, three people at once but I didn't want to get in with someone I don't know" Betty sings off with her soft voice. She's a good singer."What about Grace?" I ask and take the white fluffy towel from Betty."She had to go ahead because she was early" We enter the narrow bath space and an awkward silence falls on us. We shyly twirl our hair and avoid each other's stare. The floor looks very squeaky today not like I've been here more than 3 hours."Let's get this over with" Veronica stutters and puts the shower on, the shower head is turned to Betty so it directly hits her in the face. The water comes out clear. Not blueberry."Hey, that's too cold" She giggles but doesn't sound offended."Oh, oops" Veronica laughs and aims her head at her clothes getting her wet. Betty reaches up to grab the shower head but she's just a few inches short."Shortie" Veronica snorts. "I'm not short, you're just too tall""Haa~ That was just what I needed" Betty squeezes water out of her pigtails and I agree with her. Although we only had two shower spots, we still managed a small water fight. With me and Veronica teaming up on Betty. Betty argued she knew Veronica longer and that they were friends. Veronica then switched sides and it was me against them. It ended with Veronica saying she'd be my friend so we once again teamed up on poor Betty.This was an experience I knew Mom wouldn't have let me have back then. I find myself always thinking and comparing things with mom's rules but I know if mom wasn't here even with the newly gained freedom I had, I wouldn't want it. Stupid, right?"Guys, I just saw my parents" Grace comes in rushing with a dream look. Her voice is airy and high-pitched. She has long strong legs but a short torso. She had the stature of a dancer."Where are they?" Betty holds Grace's chubby hands into hers."They had to get working" Grace removes her hand from Betty's hold and moves to sit down. I had made a secret promise that I fully intended to keep."We should go now, it's almost lunch time and we might see someone we know" Veronica shrugs her towel from her shoulders. Her hair was still dripping wet but she looked and smelled good even without the deodorant they provided.It should be possible to see schoolmates from a school we just narrowly escaped from, right? Maybe a schoolmate who hadn't come to school. Specifically, a schoolmate who likes froggy boxers.Nini