Chapter 16: Clarification

Francis walked to the cafeteria with a disturbed look on his face.

"What is that girl trying to do? For once, I'm not worried about Chris's ability to control myself. He seemed legitimately scared. I hope she doesn't try to do IT with him."

Francis got his breakfast rations and sat down at a table. As he began eating Jackson came and sat down next to him.

"Hey man, what's that face for."

"I'm worried about Chris."

"Is his wound not healing?"

"No, it's not, but that's not what I'm worried about. I don't know exactly what's going on or I'd tell you. I don't want to be starting rumors," said Francis.

"Understood, but it's only the two of us that aren't involved." 

The two didn't say much after that. They just stood there in awkward silence. Five minutes later, Chris and Heather walked in. Chris seemed to be trying to keep his distance from her. He wasn't in his wheelchair either. 

"Hey, you're gonna open up your wound again, stop running!" ordered Heather.

"Stay away from me," responded Chris.

Francis and Jackson moved between Heather and Chris, blocking her way. 

"What did you do to him?" asked Jackson.

"I did what I needed to do," replied Heather.

"Well, what need to be done?" asked Jackson.

"None of your business!" retaliated Heather.

"Alright it's my turn to ask. What did you do to him?" interrogated Francis.

"All we did was take a shower together."

"What!" exclaimed Jackson.

"What does it matter what we do together?" asked Heather.

"Most times I could care less what you two do, but when I see Chris in this much distress and trying to avoid you, it raises a few questions. Look, we all need to stick together. We can't have situations like this that could tear us apart. So in the future, please try not to do anything indecent without consent for both parties," said Francis.

"I'm sorry if it seemed like I blew things out of proportion," Chris began, "don't worry about it. She didn't do anything to me, and she kept herself covered with a towel the whole time. She only wanted to make sure my wounds got washed properly."

"Seems unlikely, but whatever you say," sighed Jackson to himself. 

Francis turned around to Heather. "I'm sorry I acted irrationally."

"Don't worry about it," replied Heather. "Let's get our breakfast and get to work."

"As the outside ambassador I have a question," Jackson started, "We should begin thinking about outdoor construction. Living in here past the three months could have negative effects on our health. Not that I'm a construction expert, but if anyone knows how to build a house, there was about 32,000 board feet of lumber. My father was a construction manager, and I remember you need about 16,000 for one 2,000 square foot house."

"Just one of those is enough for all four of us to live in," said Francis in shock.

"Yeah but we have enough for two."

"Remember, none of us know how to build a house," replied Heather.

"Was there anything in there for cement mixing?" asked Chris.

"Don't know, I'll look into that," stated Jackson.

"For right now we need to make sure we can live a stable life here inside the bunker for the time being. If we lose our focus on staying alive indoors and begin focusing on living outdoors too soon, we'll end up falling apart. Francis, I need you to run an updated count on food supplies. Find out how much was stolen and how much food we have per person and what we need to change in order to survive. Jackson, if we want to start building before we need to leave here, we need to make sure the wood can handle the environment. Take an insignificant piece of wood out there and leave for a week and give me updates regularly. Heather, just keep doing what you're doing. Do I make myself clear?" ordered Chris.

"Yes, sir!" shouted the others in unison.

That day Chris was given the day off because of his injuries. He was told to go back to his room and rest for the day. 

"Man, I feel useless. I'm supposed to be the one that protects everyone, but now I feel like I can't protect anything," said Chris, sitting down on his bed.

He laid back onto his bed. Right now he felt like he was in a prison more than ever. For the first time since he has been in here, he felt alone. Everyone else was off working and he's stuck in his room like a child who's been grounded for a week for breaking his mother's favorite vase. He was hopeless.