Chapter 5.8

Over the next week, we gradually practiced enough so that it was almost natural. But as the week wore on, the more restless I became in waiting to hear back from Sean. I think it made Shadow restless too, when we weren't doing anything in particular, I noticed him pacing up and down the ward, and if I could see the details of his expressions, I sure it would have been aimless.

"You okay? It's your turn." Bella interrupted my thoughts; I hadn't realised it was my turn in our game of cards and everyone else was staring at me, waiting for me to make my move.

"Fine." I sighed and studied the cards in my hand. I had a terrible hand, and I knew I wasn't really paying attention to the game. I was going to lose in my next go anyway, so I selected a random card and tossed it on the pile. I sighed, "I'm out." I discarded my set of cards at my feet and stood, breaking the circle.

"Let's take a walk." Theo scattered her own card in the pile and took me by the arm. I couldn't be bothered to resist, so I let her lead me out into the rest of the compound.

"I know you're worrying about Sean." She said after a few minuets of silence.

"Mmm…" I hummed; I didn't really feel like talking. Maybe I was worried about him but talking about it wasn't going to do much.

She didn't press me anymore, and instead lead me around a circuit of the building. In the past week we'd become quite familiar with the compound- well the parts we had access to anyway. They were slightly over capacity with the extra people they took in, but it meant there were a diverse range of individuals stuck in the FDD that normally wouldn't be anywhere near a military compound.

Theo seemed to flourish under such conditions, all things considered, despite being stuck underground and nowhere to go (with a war going on and all), I think she sort of enjoyed the environment. Theo had a way with people, despite being brisk and sometimes curt attitude, she had an agreeable feel about her that meant not many people ended up disliking her.

Somehow, she'd gotten to know several of the refugees that sought shelter. Talking to the refugees (Theo did most of the talking), we discovered The White List- something of questionable morality, but functional. It was a list of names that was created for national disasters; it contained names of those that the government deemed necessary for Reagas development in all departments. If a disaster of national magnitude were to occur, then the FDD would step in and protect these people, to protect the future of Reaga. Most of the refugees were those on The White List and their families; most of which wasn't even aware of the existence of The White List before being swept away and protected as Garlantia invaded.

One example was Ian the map maker- making maps wasn't his profession, he was an engineer by trade but drew maps as a hobby and claimed to remember each and every map he ever drew. He spent his time bent over a writing desk, redrawing the maps he had to leave behind. He was a bit of an odd character, but that's what made him so interesting, and Theo immediately took a shine to him.

Amongst the sea of temporary beds and small bags of belongings, Ian had managed to wrangle a desk and lamp; he was hunched over a large sheet of paper, precisely drawing lines with his mismatch sets of protractors, compass, set squares and varying sizes of rules with different measurements on. "What map are you drawing today?" Theo bounced on the balls of her feet next to his desk.

"How annoying that I had to start my collection from scratch… Such a waste." He leant back on his chair and rubbed his eyes, forcing his rounded glasses onto his forehead. For a moment I thought he hadn't heard her, but then he answers, "the sewage system that runs under Yvert."

"Lovely." She grimaced.

"You say that now, but what would you do if there was a blockage that needed to be dealt with? Let the streets overflow with shit?"

"I can't say I've ever thought about it." She shrugged with a smile creeping into her expression.

"Well, you'd need a map to unblock it, I'll tell ya that. Here, I need fifteen parallel lines 1cm apart starting from that line." He pointed at the map and handed me a ruler and pencil. "Fuck it up and I'll get you to redraw the entire thing from the beginning." Maybe he noticed how restless I was feeling, or maybe he just wanted to get his map done quicker and we were just available, there wasn't any way of telling with that man.

"Where are you going?" Theo asked as he rose from his seat.

"Alas a man cannot draw maps every second of the day, there are things ya gotta do."

I took his seat at his desk and examined the map; I quickly realised where he meant. It was a mind numbingly boring task, but it required focus, so I did. I precisely measured out thirty one-centimetre marks adjacent to one another, and connected them to make fifteen perfectly straight lines.

Theo had wandered off somewhere else, and I finished just as Ian returned. I slid out of his seat, and he sat to examine my work. "Hmm… Not bad."

"Thanks." I nodded politely, coming from Ian, it was a complement. Admittedly, it didn't take much finesse to draw straight lines, but I was sure he really would have made me redo the entire thing if I messed it up.

"Excuse me, you're Ezra aren't you?" a man in his mid-twenties interrupted. He looked a little nervous, but also desperate.

I though he was another one of those scientists come to ask to study us, so I answered, "please leave us alone, we aren't interested." He didn't seem like a refugee, he seemed unfamiliar with the little refugee camp that they'd made in the bottom floor offices.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I mean!" I dodged his hand which reached out to grab me and started to walk away.

"Please! I heard you were held captive in Cenderhan!" He called.

I hesitated, why did he want to know that? "I was. Why do you want to know?"

Theo, who'd heard to commotion from wherever she'd been hiding, re-joined me and stood defensively by my side, ready for confrontation. I noticed a few other people watching the outburst.

"My little brother went to school there. I just wanted to ask if you saw him." He fumbled through his wallet and bought out a small, folded picture of a boy about eight or nine years old. His hands were shacking.

Theo softened and took the photo from him. We both examined it, but I couldn't say I recognised him. It seemed like he caused a surge through-out the refugees, one and then other came forward with names and pictures of people who were missing from across Reaga, until we were surrounded, and couldn't escape even if we wanted to.

"Everyone please calm down!" Theo yelled, "Ian, can we use some of your paper?" she asked, and he was already ripping it into strips. She grabbed a handful and a box of pins off his desk and forced herself through the crowd. At the other end of the room she shouted, "I will take a name, age, approximate location and a picture if you have one."

Next to each picture, we pinned small pieces of information, and soon we had an assorted patchwork of missing people on the far wall. I worked alongside Theo, relentlessly against a never-ending mass of people with missing loved ones. It spread throughout the entire compound, and we got people from every department step forward with their own list of names. The patchwork spilled onto the adjacent walls, lining the room with missing faces. I didn't recognise any of them, but it seemed to give people hope.

When we finally got through the last of them, we flopped down, leaning against each other's backs, exhausted. My stomach growled, reminding us that we must have missed dinner. Then Ian dropped a pack of sandwiches in each of our laps, "you did a good thing today. I don't know if it'll do any good, but they'll appreciate it, and they'll remember what you've done." He gave a sad wrinkled smile, and resumed his place on his stool, hunched over his map of the sewage system.

"It was a good idea." I admitted. I was close to turning that man away, but instead it turned into something good.

"I'm glad we did it." She agreed, although I couldn't see her face, I knew she must have been studying the wall, hoping to see a familiar face.

"We should probably get back." I muttered, but neither of us could be bothered to move.