CORINNE

The moment before she opened her eyes, Corinne imagined she was home. The pillow smooshed on her face added to the fantasy and she sighed deeply. She had no idea what was the time, but light that came through the window and clamour of people outside told her it was morning.

A knock on the door made her sit upright in her bed.

"Yeah?" She called and that guy Tyler hung out with opened the door, averting his gaze as he realised she had nothing on except her bikini. Corinne chuckled.

"It's time to wake up." The guy said loudly, shaking Tyler out of his sleep.

"Jeremy?" Tyler murmured. "Oh, fuck, my head hurts."

"We've got something for that." Jeremy laughed out loud, his gaze escaping towards Corinne. Jeremy was not bad, she thought as she eyes his tensed muscles in a tight, black shirt. He had that well-trained, obedient soldier vibe. She liked her men obedient.

Corinne got out of the bed and turned away from Jeremy as she put on her clothes.

"Why do we have to wake up?" Tyler grunted. "It's barely dawning."

"We have to work." Jeremy said. "The day here begins as soon as the sun comes out. You'll get used to it."

"I'm used to staying in bed until noon." Tyler murmured.

Corinne grabbed everything that might be useful, including all the money she had on her. The bills drowned in the ocean, but they were already dry now and the wallet kept them from ripping apart.

"What's the currency here?" Corinne asked, deciding they were too evolved to exchange goods. These were modern people, after all. Modern people rarely gave up their money.

"We have our own coins, lors. If you have medicine, you can trade it for some lors at the exchange office." Jeremy said as Tyler went to wake up Greg and Olivia. "You came on a life raft, if you have any materials for fixing the raft, you can trade that. Any building and fixing material is very useful here."

"What about dollars?" Corinne asked, picking through her wallet. She was smart enough to bring her wallet with her which consisted of all of her credit cards and 500 bucks in cash.

"You have money?" Jeremy's eyes grew bigger as he looked at the wallet.

"You have money?" Olivia voiced herself as she lifted her head off the pillow.

"Why is that such a surprise?" Corinne asked. "I figured we might end up anywhere; it's much better to have your ID and your credit cards with you. In my book, you're all idiots for not bringing money."

"I have some cash." Tyler said. "Can we exchange it?"

"You can only exchange cash at the palace." Jeremy said. "Now, get up, it's time to work."

Tyler and Corinne looked at each other as Jeremy left the hut and closed the door behind him.

"So, the queen is hoarding dollars." Corinne mumbled. "Not suspicious at all."

"What do they mean, we have to work?" Olivia whined. "I thought we were going home!"

"I can't deal with this." Corinne eyed Tyler and he sighed as he came closer to Olivia, attempting to explain to her that everything that happened yesterday wasn't, in fact, a dream.

Corinne grabbed her backpack and left the hut. The pyre in the centre of the square was out and people roamed through the open space, all carrying their goods and minding their own business. The determinedness replaced the carefreeness from last night's party on people's faces as they stormed through the square. Corinne enjoyed the scarce rays of sunshine that managed to protrude through the thick forest. The smell of dew lingered in the air.

"Hey," Jeremy came to her and grinned, flashing his straight, white teeth, "you're Corinne, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "and you're Jeremy. Thank you for helping us, Jeremy, we'd be lost without you." She batted her eyelashes at him, hoping she wasn't overdoing it. He was a soldier, which meant he probably had access to a key for the gates.

"You're welcome." He smiled. "I know what it's like to be a new guy in here. If you need anything, let me know."

Corinne caught his gaze and smiled.

"Don't worry, I will." She said right as Tyler, Greg and Olivia exited the hut.

"Why are we awake?" Greg complained and squinted at the rays of sunshine. "It's morning. No one should be awake in the morning-"

Greg barely finished the sentence as an older woman, dressed in a grey suit, with small pearls on her ears and her grey hair in a tight bun, appeared in front of them. A clean, polite smile was plastered on her face when she looked everyone in the eye. In her hand, she carried a notebook and a pen. Her hair gave away her age, but her face was surprisingly smooth, with nothing but tiny wrinkles around her eyes and her lips. As soon as she appeared, Jeremy disappeared; but not before Corinne noticed a flash of disgust in his eyes.

"Good morning, newcomers." The woman said in a rehearsed, television voice. Corinne already didn't like her; a vibe of fakeness and pretence lingered around her.

"Hello." Tyler stepped forward, probably reading the annoyance on Corinne's face. "I'm Tyler."

"It is so nice to meet you." The woman said, the smile unwavering. "My name is Linda. My job is to help make the transition to our beautiful city comfortable."

"Uh-" Corinne was already about to spit out something mean, but Tyler gently touched her elbow from behind, stopping her in her tracks. She shot him a mean glance, which he ignored.

"It is a beautiful city, indeed." Tyler said and Corinne rolled her eyes.

"Welcome to Lordorn!" The woman cleared her throat. "Lordorn has a long-lasting tradition of freedom, peace and community. The town has been built in 1822, when the first settlers arrived. Together, we have built this beautiful place, but only because we worked together on achieving our goal. Today, we continue to strive towards greatness! In Lordorn, every individual is special and has a unique set of skills our town needs." She handed sheets of paper to each one of them. "By filling out these forms, we will be able to find out which skills you have that could benefit our society. In return, this society will open its arms and invite you to our loving family."

"Bullshit." Corinne murmured and the woman's eyes went so wide they looked like they were going to pop out.

"Excuse me, young lady?" Her nostrils flared as she came closer and Corinne could hear Tyler sigh.

"You sound like a job add, and we all know companies never give what they promised." Corinne took the sheet out of Linda's hands and skimmed through the thing.

"Please, fill out the blank spaces." Linda said through her teeth and everyone took their papers.

Date of birth, birth defects, menstrual cycle, Corinne turned to Tyler and met his gaze. His eyes spoke volumes about what he thought of the questions. Heteroanamnesis, history of mental illness in the family, convictions.

"Why the fuck do you need to know whether I had chickenpox?" Tyler dropped the niceties and Corinne nodded as soon as she got to that box.

"This is a rough place to live." Linda offered a tight smile; her eyes remaining stone cold.

"What if I don't want to answer?" Tyler asked.

"I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to work then." Linda's smile stayed intact and it began to creep Corinne out. She kept on reading; occupation, achievements worth mentioning, special skillsets or hobbies, I-fucking-Q.

Corinne left out her mother's addiction on purpose. There was no way they would be able to find that out. Also, what the fuck would they do if they found out? Kill her? They'd be doing the world a favour. Corinne handed the sheet back and Linda's smile twitched slightly as she read through the form. When she lifted her gaze, her smile turned fawning.

"Impressive." She said. "I am pleased to meet you, Corinne."

"I wish the feeling was mutual." Corinne smiled politely. A nervous chuckle escaped from Linda's lips and it was all it took for Corinne to realised she would be the top of the hierarchy in this place. Way above Linda, apparently.

Others gave her the filled-out forms and Linda's expression immediately turned into a frown.

"Well, we can always use more farmers." She looked at Olivia and smiled tightly. Olivia's eyes filled with tears momentarily.

"But-but I went to college!" Olivia cried out.

"A useless one." Linda waved with her hand. "Tyler, a high school graduate and skinny. I suppose we can turn you into a builder over time."

"Just my luck." Tyler's smile surprised Corinne and she tried to read his expression. He wanted to be placed at the bottom of the hierarchy.

"Greg!" Linda squealed. "I see you put football as occupation and boxing as a hobby, any special achievements?"

"State champion, Ma'am!" Greg nodded firmly. "I may not be smart, but I can kick the living shit out of anyone, Ma'am."

"Perfect." Linda smiled. "You will make a great soldier, Greg."

"Thank you, Ma'am. It's a dream come true." Greg grinned.

"Follow me." Linda said and gestured with her hand.

The group went through the square and Corinne noticed Kay sitting with some people around one of the tables. Their heads were buried deep in the papers scattered around them.

"The farmers are already in the field." Linda said. "I suggest you join them. I will escort you there." She turned to Tyler, who was eagerly looking around and Olivia, wiping her tears.

"We'll meet you for lunch?" Tyler asked and they all nodded.

"Greg," Linda turned to him, "Jeremy will explain your first day trials." Jeremy was still lurking somewhere in the distance and headed towards them as soon as Linda said his name.

"Awesome!" Greg exclaimed.

"And Corinne," Linda turned to her, "I am so sorry for my behaviour earlier. Anything you need, let me know. Also, I am sorry for waking you up this early, you won't be working before 9am. You may join your co-workers for breakfast."

"Thank you-" Corinne's words were interrupted by shouts coming from the gates.

A couple of men carried an unconscious body. Corinne recognised the body as one of the guards at the gates when they came to Lordorn yesterday. His face was flushed and sweaty, his eyelids fluttering and his blue lips shaking.

Come to the water, Corinne. The voice stopped Corinne in her tracks, as Kay and others rushed past her to help the fallen soldiers.

"I'm sorry," Linda said hastily, "it's an emergency. I'll see you later." She jogged towards the man.

Come to the water, Corinne.

"Why would I do that?" Corinne whispered, simply to test the voice. She tried to remain calm, but her heart threatened to explode in her chest.

From water we came, to water we shall return.

The bite on her leg began to itch and burn. Corinne barely kept her footing as the sharp pain spread through her leg.

"I guess I'll come to the water." Corinne grunted.

Just like that, the pain stopped.