For the most part, all of us were ready to go to the dining hall in about eight minutes. We have learned to get ready quickly before the fresher food is gone. Most of our food is pretty good. We make our baked goods in the bakery from wheat and flour we grow in the farm, where we also get our fruits and veggies. And then the protein of course comes from our animal supply.
As we are walking down the hall we can hear the boys Vayden, Carlos, and Jeremy behind their door. They seemed to be arguing again over their theories, which confuses me because they all seem to have very similar views on things.
As we walked down the hall of crowded people, I began to get a headache, and as I looked around I wasn't the only one. All of us, small, large, tall, and thin, began to reach for our temples in distress. When I looked up at the long rays of lights, I saw that they were brighter than usual. They were never that bright. It was so difficult to comprehend, and it was a horrid, severing pain. We just weren't used to it. After about twenty seconds, the brightness lowered and began to become normal. Once we reached the large dining hall that I have been familiar with, we grabbed our food for the morning and sat in our spots. Now our spots for the dining hall aren't assigned, but since we have almost always sat in the same spot for most of our time down here, it became permanent by choice. Right next to us were the boys, Vayden, Carlos, And Jeremy, as normal.
As I took a bite of my cinnamon bread, my sister looked over at me. I replied to her with a facial expression saying 'What?'. She rolled her eyes and looked at mom.
"So Myla came into our bunker five hours after curfew..." My sister, Clove, informed my mother.
My mother looked at her in surprise and anger, then at me.
"Myla!? Is this true?!" She gave me a look that probably would have froze me if I wasn't used to it.
"Don't act surprised. You know that I do that often..." I told her.
She huffed and my youngest sibling, Gip, looked at her and copied her exclamation. My mother leaned over the table and rubbed his hair. He turned two last week, yet we don't celebrate birthdays through the community so my family just did a small celebration before curfew. I remember my sister, Clove's, golden birthday last year. She was really happy. She did turn seventeen after all.
I grew bored and finished my food, so I looked over at the boys. Today they were talking about the lights. The lights has been the only odd thing I've seen down here before, so I decided to chime in on their debate.
"Uhm, what are your thoughts on why it happened?" I said, interrupting their now heated argument.
Vayden looked at me in surprise and replied,
"I think it has to do with the head council. They are up to something and I've noticed it for years."
Jeremy shook his head and almost began to yell.
"I've already told you this Vayden! The council wants to keep us safe! They don't want to obliterate us!"Jermey yelled in a whisper.
"I never said they wanted to obliterate us. I was making a statement that I don't trust them as much as you," Vayden calmly explained.
As all of this was happening, I saw Carlos was slumped over his seat and looking at his shoes.
"Carlos, is there something you would like to say?"
He looked up at me with wide eyes. They almost looked blood shot. He looked...scared. He opened his mouth to say something and was interrupted by marching. I turned around just like everyone else did, like a shepherd herding his cows the leader of the council marched behind the large line of loyal council members. They stood stone still, almost seeming to take no breath. As for the leader, he stood in the middle front.
I took a quick glance at Carlos. He looked ghost pale and seemed to be shaking. I quickly turned back around when the leader spoke above all noise in the dining hall.
"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you already know, I am the proud leader of the council. You may or may not be concerned about the overly bright lights this morning. But I am here to tell you that everything is perfectly fine and should go back to normal."
As a big suspicious grin spread across his thin and long face, he took a pause. It seemed like four minutes in front of the reality of twenty seconds.
"As I said, everything should go back to normal but one thing, Curfew is now an hour earlier. I don't want to hear any complaining. I've been hearing of more bunker-swapping and as you know that is not allowed here. Stay in your own bunker all night for your safety, and as always, don't leave your bunker after curfew..."
As they left, we all looked around at each other's faces in surprise. Never have we ever had a meeting like this in the dining hall, especially this early in our day. I turned back toward the boys and then I saw Carlos had disappeared. I felt like I went pale. No one is allowed to leave until after breakfast. Why did he leave? Where did he go? And my biggest question, who went with him?
I turned to the guys and they said he must have had an emergency. They didn't seem worried, so my fear slowly vanished. Pulling my box out of my pocket, I opened it, peeking at the item inside. I jumped when the buzzer went off for assignments, which is weird because I am used to it by now.
As I stood up I turned and put my box away in my pocket, but as I looked forward Carlos was standing there more frozen than earlier, eyes blood shot, and staring at something. I think he is staring at me...