บท 13: Thirteen: Set apart

The soldiers came back in the afternoon. No shops were open and there was nowhere to find food for lunch. As a result, we each had to open up our emergency stashes of food that we kept in our drawers. Those that had nothing had to get something from somebody who had extra. Eleanor had even taken out one of her hidden stashes of lollies to share amongst us.

The soldiers returned and glanced over us with impassive gazes.

"We're here to take you all to the Compound," the long nosed X.Wheeler said with a look of impatience. "Come on. The people from the other businesses are gathering in the lobby downstairs. We still have to visit the businesses on the other floors, so you can take your time. Just be there within twenty minutes. We'll be taking a role call to make sure we've got everybody, so don't any of you try to slip away."

X.Wheeler looked pointedly at me.

"It's good that some of you managed to get cleaned up and into dry clothes though," S.Stevens tried to say in a more friendly tone.

I sighed inwardly.

We humans are a judgemental species of being.

Downstairs, we saw many people from different businesses from various floors. To our surprise, there weren't as many as we expected. None of the Boskies from upstairs were present. A dour looking lady from an accounting office on the same floor as us shot a sharp gaze at me and then pressed her lips together. I didn't know what that was meant to mean. We had never properly met before. Only seen each other in passing. Had I ever done anything to her? Beside her, a sour man looked me up and down with a sneer.

What?

I looked at myself in my gym clothes and then at Katja who shrugged at me. We turned our backs on them and decided to keep to ourselves. While the others mixed with some of the people we knew from our floor or that we sometimes met in the gym or elevator, I looked out the window. The dark sky continued to cast sheets of water down upon us, accompanied by the occasional thunder or lightning that streaked across the sky.

Finally the bus came and our names were checked off a list when we boarded. Looking back, I saw Eleanor and Boss watching. Eleanor was wringing her hands, while Boss had his arms crossed across his chest while he spoke to one of the soldiers.

"You go on ahead," the soldier checking names gestured to Katja but held me back. "You get in the van."

He pointed to the large black van sitting in front of the school bus that the majority of people were getting on. Katja patted my shoulder and I followed the unfriendly accounting couple to the van.

"Right, you're all here," said a soldier once I had been seated beside him. "You three will be living in a different building block with different rules from the other people in the busses. You can probably figure out why. You'll be given your own rooms but don't be too happy about it. Your curfew times are different and your doors are controlled electronically. They will automatically open at 0700 in the mornings and lock at 1900 hours in the evenings. If you are not in your rooms after curfew, there will be consequences. At present, you are only being suspected of having contact with the Boskies. At some time in the near future - if you haven't already been, you will be interviewed to find out where you were yesterday evening and ensure whether you are guilty or innocent of collusion with the enemy in the past or present. Living separately from the others is just so that we can keep a closer eye on you until it is decided what to do with you. Your rooms will be checked randomly every few days."

I raised my hand.

"Yes," the soldier looked down to check his file for my name, "Miss Wallace? You have a question?"

"Just out of curiosity, what are the curfew times for the others?"

"They have from 0530 until 2000 hours," the soldier said. "Any other questions?"

"Will we be provided food, water and clothes?" I asked. "Will we still have access to our bank accounts? Can we still go to work?"

"You will be provided small meals until your initial checks have been cleared. If you are found guilty, you will be moved to another location. You have nothing to worry about if you're innocent. Once you've been cleared, you'll have to organise your own personal effects and have access to your bank accounts again. In the meantime, your bank accounts have been frozen. You may return to work when the border has stabilised and if you have passed the initial checks."

"Are there any shops in the Compound?" I asked.

"Not at the moment, but a coin laundry is being set up. There will likely be a bakery and small grocery store opened there for residents as well. I would recommend you all behave with great prudence if you have nothing to do with the Boskies, because there will be a lot of surveillance in the Compound and not all the cameras or microphones are easily seen. Anyone caught tampering with the surveillance equipment will immediately be moved to another location. Anything else?"

"What happens if we don't manage to get back to our rooms before curfew?" the sour man asked.

"It will depend upon the situation and consequences will be given on a case by case basis," the soldier replied. "The security staff will most certainly give you a telling off at the very least and question you closely. Any other questions?"

"So we're basically prisoners until we clear the initial checks?" I asked.

"You can put it that way," the soldier said. "During war time, certain measures need to be taken. We know there are still Boskies and their helpers around on this side of the city and we need to identify them as soon as possible to prevent the Boskies from taking over this side of the city as well. I hope you can all understand."

"What happens if we've only had a chance encounter with the Boskies and were threatened by them?"

"Then you need to tell us as soon as possible," the soldier gave me a serious look. "You won't have anything to worry about if that is the case and you tell us the truth. We will protect you. Is that what has happened to you?"

I nodded.

"Have you been interviewed already?"

"Maybe?" I shrugged. "It wasn't a formal one."

The soldier nodded.

"You should be all right then," he reassured me with a smile that brought a dimple on his right cheek out. "You'll probably still have to go through a formal interview. Any more questions?"

"No. That's all," I looked down at my hands, wondering if I would get in trouble when the story I told Priscilla didn't match up with the security footage the army must have gotten from Heartly Station. Would it make me look more suspicious? If they investigated me, would they find out that I was the one who broke the internet a few years back? I was pretty sure I'd covered my tracks but I could have missed something. What would they do with me if they discovered me?

The accounting couple were looking out the windows. They seemed very calm about everything. Was I the only one feeling so nervous?