Marigold

white borders. In the center was a yellow diamond. There was even a little white table and dresser, yellow flowers with green leaves painted in the corners. The same pattern decorated the bed frame, white with cheery flowers and leaves marching along the headboard. The wall pattern alternated between thick and thin stripes in navy blue, shamrock green, and white. A blue shelf on the wall held two large yellow pots that had artificial red flowers. Placed at opposite edges on each end, in between the flower pots, were books, and—she had to admit—a pretty creepy looking clown doll right smack in the middle between the books. Davis got up to take a closer look at the books, clown, and flowers. She loved books and spent a lot of time in the libraries in all Pods and at the Everett Center. Davis read the titles, running her finger over the weathered spines. To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Little Women—she had read all those and thought very highly of them. There were also a few magazines, different fashion and cooking magazines, but nothing specific she recognized. There was one book lying on its side, Frankenstein. She had never read that one and pulled it off the shelf. Then something caught Davis’s eye, and she walked over a little further with the book still in her hand. A metal chain was hanging down from a metal plate on the wall. She pulled the chain with her free hand, and the metal plate pulled open, and whoosh, a cool breeze came out into the room.

“You’re lucky.” Quinn walked into the room, startling Davis, making her jump back and drop her book. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you. I was just going to say you have one of the few rooms with a vent. Ringo fixed up some of the rooms with some kind of weird exchange vents—I’m not quite sure how he did it. But it’s pretty genius. A fan somehow sucks air from outside; then, several filters remove any impurities and toxins, and then another fan blows a fresh breeze out. They were pretty intricate to make, though, so only a few rooms have them. And this is one of them.”

“Oh, what about the creepy clown? Is there a reason for that?” Davis said with a slight smile.

Quinn couldn’t tell if Davis was sincere or being ornery. Quinn took a bet on genuine and politely answered that it had been Ringo’s when he was a child. He had kept some books, magazines, trinkets, and mementos in the bunker and allocated them among the rooms for decoration.

“Oh, does that explain that too?” laughed Davis as she nodded her head toward a very bizarre framed poster. It was on the far side of the bed, between the nightstand and the wall. It was directly across from the closet, so earlier, when she turned around after hanging up her towels, she had first seen this poster featuring multi-colored rainbow cartoon bears that were dancing around a rainbow spiral.

“Ah…yes…that gem,” replied Quinn. “Well, you did get the air vent. Therefore, you also get the bears.”

Davis got a solemn look on her face and then looked downward. She felt uncomfortable and awkward. Her head was buzzing again, and she started to get worried if she didn’t sit down soon, falling over may become inevitable. She got herself over to the bed, sitting lightly on the edge of the mattress.

“I’m sorry if that was too much.” Quinn was looking concerned, and Davis noticed something in her eyes. Quinn looked compassionate. Davis felt like she hadn’t seen that in a long time, or even that she’d ever seen it or even had compassion herself. Perhaps she did. Davis hoped that it was in her all the time, a deep-rooted feeling waiting to become unearthed. Like a dull dream fading, she felt something in her brain awakening. She nodded her head in a way that let Quinn know it was okay.

“Anyhow, I brought you some clean clothes. Sorry I didn’t bring them in sooner.” Quinn walked over and placed the clothes on the edge of the bed. “I think these should fit. I had to guess. After you get dressed, if you’re up to it, I can show you around, where the food and water are and the garden. Also, where you can find other clothes and do laundry, that kind of thing. And if you want, you can meet the others.” After a short pause, she added, “But, take your time. No rush. We can even do it tomorrow or later in the week.”

Before Quinn left, Davis noticed another look in her eye. A look that told her the meeting actually could not wait.

~

Although it was clear she should, Davis couldn’t get herself to go out right away. Her mind was floating again, and she felt ill. Laying her head down and not meaning to fall asleep, Davis drifted off as if being coerced by sleep. The next thing she realized was that an enormous cat was sitting on her bed looking at her. That wasn’t there before, Davis thought. She looked at the cat and blinked her eyes several times to make sure it was genuinely there. The cat blinked back. She looked over at the door, seeing it was ajar and how the furry interloper got in. Davis had seen cats in person, feral ones walking in the streets, but she had never been near one. Realizing she’d never been this close, she couldn’t be positive that the cat was extra-large, but it seemed that way to her. Humungous but not overweight, the cat was long and lean—looming, like a king looking at his subject, from the edge of the bed. The cat had great large green eyes that seemed to be calling her an idiot. The cat was handsome, a mix of dark and light gray stripes and some cream and white stripes and markings mixed in. The cat’s long, slinky