The carriages are hanging from a cable that stops under the pavilion. Normally they’re electrified by the cable, but once they’re taken off the main circuit, such as the line in the alley behind the orphanage, you have to manually push them. They’re bulky, awkward, and sharp. I pull the one Vernon is pushing, taking it from him so he can move the other two inside. I lock it down at the far end of the pavilion, Lil locks hers next to mine, with Vernon bringing up the rear.
“When do you need these by?” I ask, as I know the government won’t want them idle long.
“Three days,” Vernon replies, wiping his hands on a cloth he keeps tucked into the pocket of his filthy overalls.
“That shouldn’t be too bad,” Lil says. “If we can get the others to help.”
I stifle a laugh since I know that’ll never happen. Since the Head Master hasn’t been around, many of the others have gotten used to doing nothing. Most of them spend their time lounging around the common room watching television, or tormenting the staff. We did have a governess once, but she vanished one night. No one knows if she left voluntarily or not. Citizens do have a habit of disappearing during the night. It’s never spoken about. If someone is gone the following morning, everyone has to act as if they never existed to begin with. Those occurrences have become more legend now than fact, but the others like to speculate on who will be next.
I turn to Lil and ask her for the scraper as Vernon leaves, locking the gate behind him. The car in front of me is almost rusted through in the floor. I spend most of the morning scraping away the rust, trying to get to the clean metal below before I begin making repairs. I break for a small lunch that Brink brings down to us.
“I was wondering if you were out here,” he says, handing me a sandwich and thermos.
“Someone has to get these fixed,” I say, snatching my food before he can pull it away like he usually does. “I don’t want any Aedox raiding us. Going through their torture once is enough.”
Brink smirks and retreats to the house.
The Aedox are the security forces of our ruling city, Tarsus. They closely monitor everyone in the Outer Limits, and if we’re not performing up to their high standards we’re put through a series of punishments. The easiest being locked in a room without any windows for hours, to the harshest, being burned. I, thankfully, haven’t had the worst chastisement, but I haven’t had only the easiest either. It took a couple of times for me to learn that I was not in control of my life, and my body bears the scars for that.
After I finish eating, I remove the badly damaged floor from the carriage and solder a new one in place. It takes me all afternoon to buff out the rough metal. It’s dark when I start spray painting. Lil barely made a dent on the one she was fixing, which means an early day for me tomorrow. My hands are covered in black paint when I finally stop for the night. I’ve missed dinner, but Tilda has a plate for me in the kitchen. She and I eat together. She could eat with the other staff, but she’s as much of a fan of them as we are.
“It’s your day tomorrow,” she says to me, after sipping her coffee.
“I know, but with all the work out there to do, that isn’t going to happen.”
“Max, you have to take some time for yourself. Your clothes are so dirty they can walk themselves out the door.”
We both laugh. I know she’s right, but with two more cars to be repaired and no one doing a damn thing except me, time for myself doesn’t exist. Not even for one day.
Tilda finishes her soup, then leans over to me. “Before you go to bed, leave your clothes in the basket at the top of the stairs. I’ll wash them for you.”
“You’ll get in trouble if you do that.”
“By who, Head Master Edom? He hasn’t been here in ages.”
I thank her by helping with the dishes. I head upstairs and gather my clothes, changing into a black tank top and shorts to sleep in. I don’t have to worry about Brink walking in on me as he’s too busy downstairs staring at the television like everyone else. The one respite we’re given is hourly entertainment from Tarsus. We don’t have the option of watching it every hour, but it is constantly running. The one problem is it’s the only show on. It doesn’t repeat, it just continuously runs non-stop. “The Litarian Battles” is the only thing ever on, and people just can’t stop watching it. Young men and women competing against each other in simulated battle, all for the chance of living in the utopian city of Icarian. No one knows where it’s located, or even if it actually exists. The government only allows those who prove themselves worthy in The Litarian Battles to go there.
During the “Selection”, all current contestants wear the most ridiculous clothes. For the women, bright colored skirts over patterned leggings, crop tops with short sleeves in various colors or thin fuzzy sweaters, and all with glitter coated hair in non-natural colors. The men wear brightly colored pants, white shirts, and flashy vests. During the actual game itself, the outfits are uniform, all the same design.
I’ve never been interested in watching. Brink can’t get enough of it, which is fine with me because it keeps him out of our room. Lil is indifferent like I am, but she does view it every so often.
I drag my clothes out of the room, dumping them into the basket by the stairs. A few minutes later, Tilda comes and picks them up. The shower will have to
