Stepping in, she was relieved to see there was a door. It slid. When they walked in, a motion detector switched lights on.
“Oh, cool. A smart apartment.” Tilly said. Megan looked at her. Tilly was such a positive person, but Megan was a realist. By any other name, this was a prison cell. There were dividing walls that went up six feet but not all the way up to the ceiling. In each cubical, was a bed that was cantilevered into the wall. A thin mattress and pillow were there. Flat sheets, a wool blanket and bath towel, were folded neatly at the foot of the bed or bunk. There was a built-in nightstand with a generic, gooseneck lamp.
There were three beds, so there would be another person coming. A thin corrugated slide could be pulled across the bed chamber for privacy. Across from the cubical that held the beds were three corresponding lockers. Megan opened hers and looked inside. There, inside, was a spool of thread and needle, small scissors, a comb, bar of soap, and nail clippers. In a cup, there was a toothbrush and tube of paste. Her eyes began to tear up. This place felt like a prison, she didn’t care what anyone said. She couldn’t stop the warm tears that slid down her face.
She felt herself pulled into Tilly’s arms. The taller woman was making shushing noises.
“It’s gonna be okay Meg, really. Look, it beats the hell out of living in a tent. We’ll fix it up nice. Look, it could be worse. I heard there have been a lot of women disappearing. I’m hearing rumors of human trafficking outside the camp. We work and we have a place to sleep and food to eat. We can even take showers. I know it isn’t normal, but nothing’s been normal for a long time now.”
“I know you’re right Tilly, I do. It’s just…I don’t know. Something isn’t right.”
“What can we do about it? For now, let’s just settle in. We don’t have to report to work until tomorrow. We can try to take a shower. There is a shampoo dispenser in there. We can wash our hair and everything.” Tilly smiled down at her. Megan hugged her friend. She was right. There wasn’t a damn thing they could do right now. Maybe, after getting acclimated here and figuring out the lay of the land, things would get better. They had a bed and she’d chosen the bed farthest from the door. They also had a small living room. With doctor’s office furniture, a mustard yellow fabric. The floor was a smooth gray concrete.
She put her extra yellow coveralls on the foot of the bed. She walked to the small bathroom. It had a stainless-steel toilet, sink and shower. Below the sink, was a shelf, it held bottles of cleaning products. To the side, near the shower were three sets of shower shoes. There was no curtain on the shower. Inside, like Tilly had said, was a dispenser, marked shampoo. It was all institutionalized fittings. She guessed that because they had to accommodate so many people, that it could not be personalized. That, she supposed, would be up to her and Tilly. Still, why so many cells? It was a massive complex. It would take months to finish, but she had nowhere else to go.
Walking back into the living room, she saw the wall clock. Dinner would be in three hours. They were instructed to ensure when they came down, that they had their numbers stitched on. She went back to her cubical and picked up her extra set of coveralls and the numbers. She grabbed the needle and thread. She would spend her time stitching 120220 onto her coveralls.
“If you sew, I’ll read over the rules. It’s a lot of rules.” Tilly grumbled, her brow crinkling.
“Okay.”
“I’ll also end the suspense.” Tilly said, flipping rapidly through the pages, stopping now and then and flipping on.
“What’s that?” Megan asked, thread hanging out of her mouth.
“Most of the punishment is death.” Tilly said, color leaving her face.
Ӝ
Tilly was stunned, most of the punishments listed were death penalties. She looked over at Megan, whose face lost all color.
“It’s a good thing we don’t break rules.” Tilly said, trying to smile, though failing. She’d not been too disturbed by Lynch’s execution. She had started to regain her weight. The rules were a little overwhelming and they frightened her.
“Yeah, kinda makes you want to be a goodie goodie.” Megan said, shaking her head.
“Well, good news, no drugs allowed, so no junkies will be in this place.”
“Yeah, no meth heads. That’s good. Besides, I’m not sure anyone could get drugs into this place. It’s pretty secure.” Megan said, shifting the material in her lap.
Tilly was glad. She’d dated a boy in high school, who’d done meth. It had been a really bad situation and the boy had stolen from her and her family. It had turned her off to drugs and drinking. Both bad news in her book.
“It also says that jobs will be opening up, and if we want to get signed on, we’ll need to be quick. They are putting in gardens on the top three floors. I think I’d like to work in the garden. How about you?” Tilly asked, flipping through the pages and scanning.
“Yeah, that sounds good. I heard we’re supposed to get a couple more coveralls, so our dirty ones can go to the laundry. I don’t want to work in the laundry. I worked at a hotel laundry once, it sucked.” Megan said, thread hanging out of her mouth.
