I woke up the next morning on my own. I decided to make myself useful and ask for some jobs to do. Everyone else was busy at work and I felt kinda lame.
I was assigned to sort through scraps to find anything useful. I couldn't say I enjoyed it but it was better than nothing. I sighed as I put a bolt into the useful pile and put a piece of glass into the trash pile.
"Hey, want some help?"
I looked over to see Louis looming over me.
"Sure. It's pretty boring though."
"Well then let's make it interesting. While we sort, let's ask questions about each other."
I shrugged and okayed him. He sat next to me and we just asked questions like he wanted.
"So how did you end up in that mess? The one we found you in?" He asked with a tilted head.
"I was abandoned when I was 8... after this whole thing started. I had only been living like this for a year when I was left alone. I searched for people for 6 months before I found a family. Or so I thought. I worked basically like a slave till I was 14. I tried to escape twice but it didn't work. Then when I decided to escape for the third time, that was when you guys attacked. I tried running but one of the workers saw me and immobilized me with that sheet metal. And that's when you came. Two hours after I was trapped."
"Wow. That's scary. I'm glad we found you."
"Okay my turn. What's a C.I.D.?"
"What?"
"When you found you said to everyone else that you found a C.I.D. What is a C.I.D.?"
"C.I.D. stands for citizen in danger."
"You find people in danger so much that you have an acronym for it?"
"Yeah. We've taken a few people in. Like Clem and Aj. They are people we've taken in." I didn't know how to respond so Louis just asked another question "how long do you think you'll be crippled?"
"Another 7 weeks."
"Well, we will just have to get to know each other well then."
"I would like that." I smiled at him.

I had always been skeptical of people, ever since my parents left and I was abused. But for Louis? I just knew I would be okay around him. Maybe it's his hope and his joy that's so few and far between with people nowadays but I really did trust him. He was my only friend as of right now.

I laid in bed with my eyes staring at the ceiling. It was cracked in many places and had a couple of wet patches. Sometimes I felt like this ceiling. Cracked and thinning. I had thick skin and all that bullshit but sometimes I was run thin. I sighed heavily and grabbed my knees and pulled them close to my chest. I threw the thin blanket over my body and closed my eyes. Just a little more time.