feel like shit. Luke and Trevor are still in bed. Both have fevers but they should be fine after a few days.”
“Your friend fared much better, honestly I’ve never seen anything like it. You must have built up a tolerance in the citadel.”
He nodded towards Jazmine and Camina, who were pushing their food around a few tables away. Jazmine had a big pair of dark sunglasses on, I didn’t know where she found them. Maybe in one of the shops downstairs.
“What about the chest?” I asked. “Did you get it open?”
“Let’s talk about it this afternoon,” Marcus said. “After everyone has had time to freshen up.”
By everyone, I assumed he meant me. I didn’t need to smell my armpits to know I was rank. But first, breakfast.
I grabbed some more tea and smeared butter and strawberry jam between two pieces of toast, before joining the girls at their table. The condiments came in little plastic containers, and weren’t nearly as fresh or tasty as what we made in the compounds.
“This food tastes like it’s been on a shelf for a hundred years,” Camina complained.
“It probably has been,” I said. “Though I’m actually impressed. Who would have thought the rebels even had access to food like this, I thought they’d be living off of bats and spiders.”
“Only on Thursdays,” Beatrice joked, from the table behind us. We waved good morning. Other than the few residents we’d already met, most were keeping their distance—they stared with a mixture of scorn and curiosity, if not downright malice.
“This could be rat sausage,” Camina said thoughtfully, taking a bite of her breakfast. “But it’s still delicious.”
“My head feels like it got slammed through a wall,” I grumbled.
“It very nearly did though right?” Camina said. “So don’t complain. Maybe next time you won’t leave me behind to fight elite.”
She leaned back in her chair, and I caught a glimpse of the dark scars across her abdomen, beneath her tanktop.
“We weren’t planning on fighting anything,” I said. “Honestly, we thought it would be a quick trip.”
“Here,” Jazmine pushed a round white pill towards me across the table.
“Where’d you get that?” I asked, snatching up the pill. I’d seen Aspirin before, but it was usually only used for emergencies between renewal ceremonies. Unlike elixir, it was legal to store and distribute, though too expensive for most people to afford.
“They have a robust black market down on the 4th level.”
“What did you have to give up for these?”
“Who says I had to give anything up?” she winked, adjusting the sling around her broken arm. Even with elixir, it would take a few days to heal completely.
After breakfast I headed to the co-ed shower system. Trevor had pointed them out earlier but I’d only had time for a quick shower. There was a long line, the water was warm, and we were only allowed 2 minutes each; although more time and hot water could both be purchased for a surcharge.
“Hot water, like coffee, is an indulgence, not a necessity,” Jacob had said.
“Like hell it is,” I’d grumbled. The water was refreshing, and I lathered my body with the pink sanitizer, scrubbing myself clean until the water ran cold.
After the painkiller Jazmine gave me, I was almost feeling like myself again. I fumbled outside the stall for my towel, but it was gone. I poked my head around the plastic curtain and saw it hanging on a peg across the room.
Shit. I covered myself as best I could and made a beeline for it, just as another figure came into the room. I stopped just short of knocking him over, but still ran into him hard enough to steal his breath.
“Easy,” Trevor grunted. “I’m unarmed.”
I shoved him out of the way and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around myself quickly. Trevor was in boxers, and dripping wet. I pulled my eyes away from his muscled torso.
“What did you see?” I said.
“Nothing, I swear,” he said, holding up his palms, though the smirk in his eyes told me he’d gotten a good look. But whatever, I was going to have to abandon my notions of privacy living down here.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, “after yesterday? Jacob told me you were sick.”
He frowned, tousling his dark hair with a towel. I noticed he had a tattoo I hadn’t seen before on his bicep; a serpent curling around the tip of an arrowhead. They were rare in the compounds, but I’d seen several people with them down here. I knew they took weeks