Thirty: Mutual swiping

<p>As it had the past few months, the cheerful morning chimes for the end of curfew and start of another day woke me up. By the time I had completed my morning exercises to wake myself up and finished getting myself ready for the day, the bell for my curfew to end rang out. The electronic lock on my door clicked and I ran out to get my laundry done before I had to leave for work. Without as much work to do anymore, these days we started work later and left work earlier.<br/>While I waited for my clothes to finish washing, I ate my breakfast bread while watching the sun rise. Gone were the days of balanced diets. Being able to have anything in my stomach was good enough now. Into the dryer my clothes went and I filled my drink bottle at the nearby drinking water fountain, watching the sunlight peeping up over the stone walls of the Compound and spilling out across the ground. The new barbed wire shadows on the much taller and thicker walls stretched out across the ground. Once my clothes were done and had finished tumble drying, I dropped the freshly folded pile off in a corner of my room and then strode out toward my workplace.<br/>The Bosky soldier was nowhere to be seen this morning, which was good, but it didn't mean he wasn't still watching me from somewhere. My workmates had decided not to wait for me this morning, so I trotted at a fast pace without falling in a run so as not to reveal to my watchers just how scared I was of walking alone in the city now. I was getting better and better at spotting my watchers now, but I was an amateur compared to their professional training. I couldn't always tell who they were. All I knew was that they were there. I could feel their eyes on me.<br/>Sometimes I'd catch a glimpse but they'd all gotten a lot better at blending and hiding lately. They had learned from and through me. I was learning from them. Maybe some time soon, I should take them all for a run again and see if I could shake them off my tail just for the exercise. Then I could return to the Compound alone and proud of my achievement. That might be fun. But then that would prove to them that I was roughly aware of who and where they were. It would be no good to show them just how good I was. Messing with them last time while pretending to be lost had been enough. Much more and they'd probably catch on. Then I'd be under even more suspicion.<br/>Work continued as usual during the day. There was less work and more collaborative joint tasks instead. We helped each other out with the last few clients that were left. I helped with double checking and making last minute changes since I was the fastest.<br/>"We don't need to worry about anything when we leave," I heard two workers talking during their morning coffee break. "Jean's here and it's not like she'll be able to go anywhere. Boss is probably just keeping her on because she's so useful but sooner or later, in order to avoid suspicion, he's going to have to get rid of her."<br/>"I used to think she was nice and easy going. A good person to get along with. Who knew she would turn out to be a Bosky sympathiser and a spy. I wonder why she hasn't been arrested."<br/>"There's probably not enough evidence. You know how smart she is. She's probably hidden her tracks. We should have guessed there was something wrong with her from the beginning. She was always too shy and introverted."<br/>"I thought she just liked to have her privacy but it turns out she was actually hiding such evil deeds. It's because of people like her that so many people have died and our city is in turmoil."<br/>"I hate two faced people like her the most. They act nice to your face but look like you've bullied them if you point out the mistakes they've made. It's not like she's innocent. Why keep up the act? Frankly, it's disgusting."<br/>I agreed. Their fake act was just as disgusting. If they hated me so much, why keep up the polite facade? They could take some of their temper out on me, kick me or pinch me like some of the others had before they left. I wouldn't hold it against them. I mean, I'd be upset and all, but it was better than the super fake niceness.<br/>At least they were leaving. I wouldn't have to hear them whispering about me anymore.<br/>At lunch, I ate alone at my desk. I noticed that Priscilla did too.<br/>In the afternoon, Eleanor called me to a meeting I had known nothing about and led me toward an interview room, turning the radio on for increased privacy of conversation. We headed to the interview room furthest away from the open work area. The time had come. My turn for an interview, I guessed. Now we would see which way the die had been cast.<br/>"You're not going to fire me are you?" I smiled at her and swallowed, half hoping I sounded like I was joking, but probably sounding much too nervous for that.<br/>"Fire you?" she said with genuine surprise, frowning a little. Then as if a lightbulb had gone off, she gave me a brilliant, reassuring smile. The first real smile I had seen from her for weeks. "Oh, no. There's nothing to fire you for."<br/>"Oh," I said. "That's good to know. I was worried that I had done something wrong."<br/>"Not that I know of," she said, her dimple showing so that she looked much more her usual cheerful self. "Not unless you have a guilty conscience. Anything you want to confess?"<br/>"No. No," I gave a small laugh, more relieved than I wanted her to know. "Not at all. The only guilty prickling in my conscience is that I swiped one of your jelly snakes from your desk last year when I was needing some sugar."<br/>Eleanor laughed.<br/>"That small thing? Last year? I didn't even notice. Don't worry. No need to be so nervous. I'll forgive you for that little misdemeanour. My lollies are for everyone to share most of the time anyway. Since we're confessing," Eleanor lowered her voice and glanced around, "I'll admit that I was the one who took your last pad of pink sticky notes last year. I only meant to borrow it but I somehow forgot to give it back."<br/>That made me laugh in return.<br/>"Then we're even," I said.<br/>"That's right," Eleanor winked.</p>