Hushed voices filled the silence of the evening, disturbing me from my fretful slumber. Two soft voices spoke in inaudible words just barely loud enough to be heard. The husky voices and the groggy mind made it difficult to match the voices with a face. 

I rolled over on the bed so that my front faced toward the voices. My eyes parted into blurry slits. Through the foggy vision, I could see two silhouettes standing in the center of the small cabin blocking out the path of the moonlight trickling in through the cracks in the walls. 

There was a considerable height different between the two of them. The shorter flailed arms wildly in a frantic mess. My sleep deprived brain failed to identify the figures arguing before. I passed up the temptation to force the argumentative couple outside.

My actions would’ve been worthless as the taller one opened the door, letting more light spill into the room. The smaller one quickly ducked out, pulling the door sharply behind. It closed in silence bringing the darkness back with it.

The silhouette of the taller interlocutor migrated toward the shadowy side of the cabin. Once his figure became indistinguishable, I ceased my eavesdropping. 

Falling back to my original position stomach up, my eye lids grew heavy. Whatever the conversation had been about, it was foreign to my knowledge. It was too far into the night for me to have pushed further into figuring out what was happening. 

Sleep encased me once more, cradling me as if I was its child as it sang me to sleep in a symphony of silence. 

~*~

“Morning.” Nat said, meeting me at the shed the next day. 

I yawned, grudgingly accepting the Cutter he held out for me. It seemed to weigh more than normal, but I ignored the new strain on my muscles, focusing my attention on the path before us. “Morning.”

We walked in silence to the fields. The long stalks loomed threateningly over us as the heat beat down terribly. It was going to be a long day. 

Nat led us to a new area which I hadn’t been in yet. There was one other pair working a few yards away diligently. He kept us far from them as we worked, going at a steady, but slower than normal, pace. 

Silence conversed with us as we worked with nothing but the sounds of falling stalks to replace it. The sun beat down brutally on my skin. Droplets of sweat had already begun to form underneath my arms and around my hairline. Next to me, Nat seemed to be experiencing similar symptoms of the unforgiving sun. 

When the trumpets blared, signaling the end of the morning shift, a ubiquitous sigh of relief passed over the clearing. Nat and I finished the stalk we were working on before turning the Cutters off. The other couple that had been working in the same clearing had left as soon as the trumpet sounded, leaving us alone. 

Nat led the way out of the clearing. Our shirts were stained with the morning’s sweat. It seemed brutally hot out today, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to continue through the afternoon shift. Nat seemed to be struggling just as much as I was. 

“Eva…” he whispered in a low voice. 

“Yeah?” 

Nat moved his body closer to mine to keep his voice as quiet as possible. I strained my ears to pick up his hushed words.

“There’s another meeting tonight.”

I nodded. 

My heart beat quickened. Never before had he warned me of a meeting; I had discovered them on my own. There had to have been an unknown motive for Nat informing me of the impending gathering. 

Struggling to keep my physiognomy calm and collect, I followed my companion to the cafeteria to finally satisfy the growls of my stomach. The line seemed to move quicker than normal, much to my pleasure. 

The food looked the same as it always had, but after being forced to eat the Isolation meals, it looked better than before. It occurred to me as I grabbed a tray that I had nothing to compare the foods to. My mind failed to pull up some source of energy and nutrition that succeeded the quality of what I was eating here. 

While I knew there was something better, I wasn’t sure what. The thought tugged at the back of my brain as a spoonful of yellow muck was dropped before me. I shifted down the line slowly. It felt as if a whole had opened up in my mind, taking away memories too sweet to lose. 

Nat noticed the confusion on my face as we walked toward the opposite wing of the Mess Hall. I didn’t question why we hadn’t simply sat at our original place. The answer was obvious: we weren’t supposed to be here. We had to hide ourselves amongst the crowd.

Nat took a seat in a small area, shifting over to give me as much space as possible. He balanced his tray precariously across his thighs, devouring into the meal before him. I mimicked his actions. The satisfaction of finally having something warm slide down my throat let a moan slip from my mouth. My stomach growled with anticipation at having waited over twenty-four hours for decent food. 

We ate in silence.

Nat waited until most of our tray had been cleared before he spoke up, “What were you thinking about before we sat down?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked casually.

He chuckled, “You looked like you’d forgotten who you were. You were in some serious thought.”

“Oh,” I bit my lip, feeling my face heat up. “It was nothing; I had a foolish thought.”

“Of…?” He prompted.

I hesitated a moment before giving in and explaining the confusion I felt about the food choices—or rather, lack thereof. My eyes were trained on the tray before me. I refused to give in and see the condescending look his eyes were sure to be giving me. In his eyes, I was nothing but a child with childish thoughts.

It surprised me when Nat’s head bobbed in agreement out of the corner of my eye, “I’ve often wondered that.”

“You have?” I asked, almost too quickly. 

The corners of his lips twitched so slightly I feared it had been nothing more than a trick of the eye. “Yeah. I know what they serve us is terrible, but the only other food I can remember is what we ate in Isolation.”

“I’m glad you understand.” I said softly.

He didn’t respond. We settled back into the silence that had filled us while we filled ourselves. While others conversed all around, the two of us sat in thought. I pulled at the depths of my brain to bring forward the memory of a better food, but the line continually came up empty. 

We sat for a few more minutes before I stood up to throw my tray away. Nat followed in my lead as we zigzagged through the densely packed cafeteria. I could feel the hour ticking away quickly and knew that soon everyone would be rushing back to their work stations. 

As Nat and I left, there were more people outside than normal. A few chatted in small clusters arbitrarily about while others walked begrudgingly to their designated job. Nat and I separated from the crowd as we headed toward the shed. 

I had never noticed until now how the shed sat off away from the other zones. It forced us to walk the opposite way of most, labeling us as Cutters instantly. 

Nat took his time opening up the door and grabbing two Cutters. 

“Ready for round two?” He asked playfully.

I let out a groan, accepting the heavy piece of equipment with a dirty look. That earned me nothing more than a soft chuckle.

~*~

The sun was sinking down below the horizon and taking the deadly heat with it. As the coolness of the evening settled in, a soft breeze picked up. People chattered about as they walked to and fro from the Mess Hall. 

Nat and I walked in silence toward our cabin, having already eaten the disgusting food. My energy had returned to normal, my stomach aching from the amount of food I had consumed. Nat had given me part of his meal after insisting he wouldn’t have finished it to begin with.

“I think it’s going to rain tonight.” Nat said in a soft voice.

I glanced to the clear sky, noticing how despite the rays of the sun still shining through, some stars were visible. “I don’t think so. It’s too clear out.”

He chuckled, “Whatever you say.”

“Why do you think it will?”

“It usually rains after an incredibly hot day. But it won’t begin until very late in the evening.” He said casually.

“Smartass.”

Nat shrugged, “What can I say?”

“What are we going to do if it rains?” I asked, wondering whether the meeting would be canceled or not. 

I crossed my fingers with hopes it wouldn’t.

Nat was silent for a moment before he answered, “If it rains, we’ll go outside and play.”

I hesitated a moment.

“Seriously?”

“Eva, it hardly ever rains here.” One corner of his lips pulled up into a smile, “If it rains, I’m going outside.”

I laughed softly. “You’re so strange.”

“I’m not the only one who will be doing it, I promise you.” He mumbled.

I cocked an eyebrow, silently asking him to elaborate. Nat simply smirked in response, keeping his lips sealed.

We arrived at our cabin a few minutes later. As soon as we walked inside, Nat made a bee line for his bed. He fell face first into the uncomfortable mattress. I stifled a chuckle and turned my attention to the two others in the cabin.

Eddie and Jacob sat on the adjacent cot, their backs against the wall. I took a seat next to the two men, squeezing my body into a bubble of free space. My leg pressed against Jacob’s. He held my eyes for a moment before looking away.

For a few minutes the four of us sat in silence. Nat had turned his head to face us, but that was the limits of his movements. Eddie’s breathing was soft and steady, a metronome to fill the void. Outside we could hear the incoherent conversations of passersby. 

Jacob was the first to break the silence. “We still on for tonight?”

“Yeah,” Nat grunted.

“You coming, Eva?”

I nodded, a smile crossing my lips, “Absolutely.”

Jacob returned the grin with one of his own. “Awesome. I’ll make sure to wake you before we leave.”

“Thanks.” 

“Just don’t be too loud.” Nat snapped irritably.

“I’m never loud!” Jacob argued

“You aren’t, but she is.”

I scoffed, offended, “Nat! I am not! You’re the one that wakes me when you leave! I’m quieter than you.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah. Just keep on tiptoes tonight.”

“Always am.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Eddie interrupted the argument with a new topic, “Do you think it’s going to rain tonight? I think so. My joints think so, at least.”

Nat’s eyes greeted mine with a smartass smirk. 

“Eddie, shut up.” Jacob laughed, shaking his head softly. He turned toward me to explain his comment, “This old man hasn’t stopped talking about his aching body all day.”

“I’m not that old!” Eddie argued.

Jacob simply rolled his eyes disbelievingly. The atmosphere between the two of them was always playful. Even during serious moments, there was never any tension in the air, despite the contrasting ages. I found myself enjoying the company of the two men.

“So what did you think of your first round of Isolation?” Eddie asked, turning his head enough to see me.

I bit my lip slightly, shrugging, “It was… awful.”

The three men laughed at my response. I gave a half-hearted chuckle, unsure of what was so humorous about it. 

Noticing my confusion, Eddie laughed harder, “It was much worse than just simply ‘awful’ wasn’t it?”

I nodded bashfully.

“Get used to it.” Jacob warned, “Nat’s been in there more times than he can count, and he’s managed to drag all of us in with him.”

My eyes darted to the boy lying on the bed. He smirked smugly, giving a casual shrug of the shoulders, “What can I say? I’m a bad boy.”

“That you are.” I mumbled under my breath, too quiet for anyone to hear. 

Nat met my  eyes, giving me a devious smirk.

*******

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