II
My eyes quickly adjusted to the gas lamps hanging overhead. The entrance led onto the top floor of Humurom, a large circular walkway overlooking the six floors below and the dining area on the bottom. Hallways led from the main chamber down and around to all the levels. Everything was a brown metal: the floors, the walls, the railings, everything in sight. The faintest of footsteps could be heard no matter where the stepper was. The days were filled with noise of deer hide on metal floors. Strange works of metal art were placed on every level. The leaders thought it would give the place a “pleasant” look. It failed; it only reminded us of our limited recourses.
Milton thanked the guard who let us in and ran around the circular floor to a hallway that led straight to level 6, second from the bottom where the leaders were. I wandered out to the railing and looked down. Several people were already sitting at tables waiting for the kitchen doors to open. They whispered, if not then their conversations would clearly be heard by everyone.
I took the second corridor to the left, it passed through all the levels. The halls were dark and rarely lit by more than one lamp. I stopped and looked out at 2. It was the first of three levels that housed the occupants of Humurom, I can’t call them inhabitants. I also stopped and looked out at 4, where my residence was. By this time news must have gotten out that meat was in the bunker. Excited talking replaced the usual whispering. I stopped at 6 to try and find Milton. Halfway around the floor I went past the Leader’s Office. Inside I saw Milton and Matilik, the head leader, looking into one of the cases. I couldn’t see what they were looking at, but they both seemed concerned. I decided that I would ask Milton about it later, and continued to the bottom, level 7, the dining area. Seeing the case open made me notice the emblem on it for the first time. It was a blue triangle with an orange eye in the center, very strange.
The leader of the Dining Office, a short lady with long brown hair, came up to me in a hurry. She handed me five Cut Passes and disappeared into the hallway. Cut Passes were given to the hunters who brought back food. They would allow the hunters and a few friends to cut the line and get the first share of the food, which was usually the largest. I pocketed two and kept the other three out so everyone would make no mistake that I was responsible for the meat.
The line was already forming when I arrived. I cut straight to the front and was the first one in. The kitchens could be seen behind the servers. I looked back and saw the dishwashing station that I spent many hours at when I was a teenager. The server was a guy I knew, though could never remember his name.
“’Bout time you got some real food. If you went another day – and I mean this – I was going to have Matilik switch you back down here.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I got some meat.”
“Yup, here’s your serving . . . oh two, alright here you go. Say ‘hi’ to your mom for me.”
“Alright.”
I had two plates, each with a small piece of dried meat and a glob of Nutrition. Nutrition was a white substance cooked up in the kitchens that replaced real food when we couldn’t get any, which was the case most days. It was the most tasteless substance imaginable, but it kept us alive. I knew the secrets behind it and was extra proud of myself for not having to eat only that.
On the way out people saw me and asked me for the passes. I was so excited to finally be getting some attention for being a hunter that I gave two away before even thinking about it. I guess I ruined my chances of being a “king for a night”. I should have had them beg for them, but that’s not really my style. A friend of mine named Stud was coming up right as I got to the hallway that would lead me up to 4. His name was strange, but it wasn’t his fault. The leaders decreed long ago that there would be no repeating names and no last names. Most names became hereditary. Hardin was actually my grandfather who died just before I was born. For some, though, they weren’t lucky enough to get hand-me-down names. Stud was one of them. When he was born his mother did not want to give him the name of an ancestor, so she made up one in hopes that he would be good looking. It apparently worked. Stud was about as handsome as they come in Humurom. His perfect hair and face reminded me of someone out of those old stories I read.
“Hey, Hardy, you want to give me one of those Cut Passes?” Stud asked. He saved the charm for other people; he knew I didn’t like it.
“Yeah, man, here you go. Make sure everyone knows it was Milton and me who got it.”
“Everyone already does, news travels fast around here. Speaking of news, did you hear Matilik was considering me for the Hunting Office?”
“How do you know?”
“That’s one of the perks of being in Leader Training.”
“Lucky.”
“We can’t all be hunters.”
“Who would want to be?” I was going to say something else, but he got lost in the crowd heading for the kitchens.
There were five offices in Humurom. When someone turned sixteen they were chosen by the leader of whichever office felt could use their services. There is the Dining Office, which deals with the food and every aspect of it. The Residence Office, that cleans peoples residences and also takes care of the halls. The Hunting Office, that sends people out to find food. The Files Office, which is in two parts. The first is the actual Files Office, that’s where one person spends all day with the history of Humurom. It’s a pretty important job. The other part is the library. There people take care of the old books. The last office is the Leader Office. That’s the most important one, and the one Stud was in. The leader of each office is chosen after a lengthy Leader Training period. Only really special people get chosen for the training.
I made it up to 4 and found my residence, 404. I carefully opened the door while holding both plates and was met with the strangest smell. My mother was very sick and needed almost constant attention by the medics who come under the Residence Office. I didn’t trust them at all, nothing they did ever seemed to help her. The residence always smelled of whatever crazy concoction they could come up with using what limited resources they had. Mama was in her room at the end of the hall. She didn’t look well at all. She was in the middle of life. Her cheeks were sunken, breathing hard. I hated to see her like that.
“Hey, Mama, I got you some meat.”
“Really? The first in months, how exciting.”
“And guess what? I got it while hunting.”
“Oh, you know I don’t like it when you go that far out. You told me you were just going as far as the church.”
“But Mama, you know that there’s no food that close.”
I handed her the second plate.
“It’s already dried. You didn’t steal this from their zone did you?” She sounded worried.
“No of course not. Do you think we would have made it back if we had?”
“Don’t joke about that.”
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
We ate in silence. The meat was so flavorful; I almost forgot how great real food could be.
“Did you learn anything from Milton today?” Mama asked.
“I’m always learning things from him.”
“Good, now I hope you will be able to work the files now, or go back to washing dishes.”
“Mama you know only really smart people get to work the files. And there is no way I’m going back to the kitchen staff, I hated it down there.”
“But you like hunting better?”
“No, I guess there’s really nothing I want to do. I wouldn’t mind working the files, but I wish there was something else.”
“I know dear, but there isn’t anything else unless you get picked by the leaders. Sometimes we have to deal with what we have.”
“We always deal with what we have, which isn’t much.
Her face suddenly brightened, it was nice to see. “Guess what I did today?”
“What?” I couldn’t suppress my grin at her happines
s.
“I walked all the way around 4.”
“That’s great, you’re getting better.”
“We’ll see.”
“I know you’re getting better.”
“Are you going down to hear the music?”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that, it’s been so long since anybody brought back meat.”
Every time a big event happened in Humurom, including when the hunters bring back real food, the band plays. Everyone shows up to hear it. They play ancient violins and other odd instruments that have been created in our solitude, but it’s still pretty nice. The players themselves are trained from all the different offices.
“It’s nice that they do that,” Mama said, finishing up her Nutrition, “and you will be up with the leaders this time.”
“Yeah, but it’s no big deal; tomorrow will begin just like today never happened.”
“But you’ll have the memory, and you’ll grow from it. Just because tomorrow may be different then today does not mean you should forget it.”
“I know.”
“I think it’s about time you get ready for the celebration. You’ll want to look your best while you’re in front of everyone.”
“You’re right. I’ll go get ready.
I left Mama and went into my room. It was smaller and luckily did not smell as strange. There was a small mat in the corner that was once used by my great grandmother. I realized that I did not have anything to do to get ready. We only had one thing to wear. Everyone is assigned a gray shirt and pants. I don’t know who makes the clothes. Some say they are left over from before the war. It’s probably true, they seem very old.
Instead of going straight down to the dining area I went to 5 to the library. It was deserted; everyone was already getting ready to hear the music. I found a small table in the back and sat down, thinking over everything that happened that day. It was a pretty good day; I didn’t get killed and got meat, so it was a success. If only everyday could have been as productive. I scanned the bookcases for something I hadn’t read yet. My mind wasn’t fully into it so I sat back down to clear my mind. That was something I tried to do on a daily basis. Bad things happened to those who dwelled too much on their situation. I’ve heard of people having complete breakdowns when they fully realized that there was no escaping the gloom. We were all either stuck inside a metal tube of a bunker or outside where we could get killed any minute by Cityers. I really didn’t want to lose it, so I made sure my mind was clear of all negative thoughts before going to sleep every night.
I could hear the band getting ready. They would drag their little stick things across the strings of their instruments, creating a horrendous screeching. When they finally got things ready and could make tolerable noises, I left the library and went down be the center of attention.
The leaders were up on a high table set out for just those occasions. Next to it was another empty table where the guests of honor sat. I took my seat and waited for Milton. It didn’t surprise me that he hadn’t shown up yet, he wasn’t one for big to do’s. I looked out at all the people of Humurom, about one hundred, and wished Mama had felt well enough to come. Matilik started out by thanking me and Milton for the food, the first in ninety seven days. He then let the music begin. The band played an up tempo song of their own creation. Everyone got up to dance. I waited at the table; I never knew what to do in situations like that. About an hour later Milton finally showed up.
“Are you alright, Mil?”
“Yeah, look don’t worry about me, what you should be worrying about is sleep. Wake up is at two pre-dawn tomorrow.”
“That’s early.”
“Yeah.”
Pre-dawn was about a half hour before dawn, so two pre-dawn was an hour. With no windows we would only guess when dawn was. The only clock was one that had to be cranked in the Leader Office. Two pre-dawn was generally at five.
“What were you looking at earlier, in the second case?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Was it something important?”
“It was nothing.”
“I want to know.”
“Just shut it alright.” He leans in close. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
I quickly tried to change the subject. “So how about that music?”
“It’s good.” Milton said nervously.
“The food was good too.”
“If only everybody got some, they ran out near the end.”
“That’s sad.”
“Look, I’ll be seeing you; I need to go by the Hunting Office.”
Milton left me there alone. I was really curious as to what was going on, but I knew that he would not be able to tell me in Humurom. Even whispers could be heard around corners.
The music lasted another hour. When it ended I went back up to my residence. I thought a lot about my mother and how sick she was. It did not take me long to come to the decision that I would not be leaving. I just couldn’t do it; she needed me there and not running around looking for Cityers. Milton and I got lucky once, I was sure we could do it again.