The train ride wasn't very long, ten minutes at the most. After a few minutes, the blonde girl had given up the silence and was talking again to the red-head, albeit softer.
Linda explained to the rest of us that the base was divided into three sectors, and each of the sectors were divided into three towns. She told us we were all going to Sector 3 C.
"Creative." The taller twin muttered. He had a British accent, I noticed.
"Most towns have created their own names for their town. However, their all labeled respectively." She seemed to ignore the boy's comment.
When the train finally stopped, we stepped out.
Sector 3 C was at least two times larger than the room that had contained the trains. The walls were metal, as well as the floor, and they stretched up nearly four stories. This one also had a glass roof, though it was flat instead of rounded. There were stairs that led to all four stories, and they were dented and darkened with age. Next to the base of the stairs was an elevator that I assumed went to all four floors as well.
People flooded the giant space, filling it with noise that echoed of the metal walls and hurt my ears, as well as a subdued roaring sound. Talk about rush hour traffic.
Linda's voice startled us, and by us, I mean everyone except the taller twin and the blonde (who was still talking), from our gaping at the large structure. Thankfully, she was close enough and it wasn't loud enough for her to have to shout so we could hear.
"The first floor is dedicated to shops, mostly. You can find nearly everything you'd ever need here. Food, clothes, whatever," she said, motioning out towards the scene in front of us as if to emphasize her point.
Most of the storefronts were glass, and the insides seemed to hold torrents of colors and posters, a startling contrast to the metal walls, which while clean in comparison to the stairs, were still just metal, and boring. After we were done taking in the first floor, Linda herded us up the stairs to the second one. The elevator next to the stairwell read 'HANDICAP USE ONLY. PLEASE USE OTHER ELEVATOR'.
"The second floor consists mostly of recreational activities and the school. A few different departments have offices here, as well as on the third floor."
"Recreational activities?" The red-head asked. The tall twin rolled his eyes at her.
"You know; a gym and pool. Things like that. Free time activities."
"Oh," A blush painted the girl's cheeks.
We continued on to the third floor, which Linda informed us contained housing and offices, and up to the fourth floor, where she said we were heading, and contained housing as well as the rest of the offices. It seemed simple enough to remember.
She opened a heavy-looking wooden door labeled 'OAD' and ushered us inside.
"OAD is an acronym for Orientation And Data." She told us before ducking behind the stretched counter and sitting down in a black leather office chair and typing away at a keyboard.
There was another woman next to her, who looked quite older. She was heavy set and dark skinned, with black hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her skull and dark eyes scanning the information on the screen. The name plate in front of her read Suzanne Colfer.
The office seemed welcoming. The walls were painted cream and a spotless white carpet covered the floor. Behind the counter was another door marked 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'.
A printer on a table behind the two women beeped and spit out a page.
"Cameron Woods?" Suzanne asked, grabbing the page and handing it to the shorter twin, who said thank you. Oddly enough, he didn't have a British accent like his brother. It wasn't one I recognized.
"Samuel Woods." This one, of course, went to the taller twin.
"It's just Sam." The boy replied, jaw twitching slightly, as if annoyed. Suzanne pursed her lips and shook her head before grabbing the next piece of paper.
"David Lynam." She passed the paper to the wiry boy with glasses. It didn't seem as if we were going in any order.
"Micah Viano." I muttered a thank you and glanced over my paper as Damon got his.
HOUSING: Floor D 13
I assumed my room was on the fourth floor. The rest of it was a schedule, letting me know I had to be at the school, floor 2, or B, At seven-thirty, where I'd take a variety of classes until three on weekdays. I had free time from then until eleven O' clock, which was listed as the curfew for minors, aka myself. It didn't seem much different from home.
"Terri Simmons." Terri was the chatty blonde girl. She was short with pretty blue eyes and features that made her look innocent. Her blonde hair was cut to her chin.
"Ella Roy," was the last to get her schedule. I noticed now that Ella, the red-head, was very pretty. Her eyes were a soft green and her hair was down to her shoulders. She had almost impish features that made her look mischievous. She smiled at Suzanne as she took her paper. I liked Ella better now that she didn't seem constantly annoyed.
I was oddly pleased to find no one in our group had one syllable names. Well, Sam did, but he didn't seem particularly friendly anyways.
"It's five O' clock now," Linda informed us "Minors have an allowance of three hundred a week until they're assign their jobs. I suggest getting something to eat on floor B, and you can do whatever you like until then."
We all gave affirmations as Linda shooed us from the room.
It was much less crowded now than it had been only twenty minutes before. We all stuck together, probably because none of us wanted to go off by ourselves.
We got something to eat at a restaurant called McCary Burgers. Their double bacon cheeseburgers were almost as good as Pang's. Almost.
I listened to Damon and Ella as they talked about rugby. I couldn't really contribute, considering I knew nothing about sports. Ella, thankfully, made the switch to books and movies. Happy that I could actually be a part of the conversation, the three of us talked until we disbanded. Apparently, Ella had a thing for horror movies and was terrified of water. Damon, obviously, liked rugby and didn't like movies at all.
Overall, Ella seemed much more shy than I'd thought, and Damon liked to be funny. I wasn't sure where I fit into that circle.
By the end of the night, after watching Damon go pale and nearly throw up after he looked over the fourth floor railing, I was thinking that maybe the base wouldn't be so bad after all.
Even though the rumors were true, and there was no chocolate.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
