Anna's memory

Chapter one

That was a year ago. And many things changed since then. Well, some did. She didn't particularly like to talk and keep to others. She was a loner in a community, which didn't go down very well. They all played like a big team, but she was no team player. It took the others a long time to really accept this. They tried to talk to her, engage her in conversations and activities, but failed miserably. 

It took them a long time getting used to it. But she did her part. And when she got the tour of jobs she immediately got close to the animals. She enjoyed working with them, and she was very good. Better than any other, actually. And according to her personality and attitude they often underestimated her, like they did with jobs. Harriet, now one of her very few close acquaintances, reckoned her to be a Slopper, someone who cleans the bathrooms because they aren't good enough for anything else. But she proved them all wrong, and now Harriet was close to her. Soon recognizing her talent and intellect, which doesn't mean it's not there if you don't talk much. However, it did affect her performance at first. It's hard to do proper work when you hate to ask. 

But she came a long way since then, and was now a proper Glader. Well, sort of...

"Say something! Your constant grunting and nodding really ticks me off!" Beth erupted.

"What do you want me to say? She's got an infection. But you can see that for yourself." Anna answered calmly and without an expression.

Beth gritted her teeth. "Yea, but how could it happen and what about it?"

She shrugged, giving her the same look. "How am I to know? I take care of them, yes, but I cannot know everything, can I? And I'm no doctor either, but I'd say some penicillin can fix it."

Beth's face flushed a fierce red, and she stomped away cursing under her breath.

Harriet came over and clapped her on the shoulder. "You know how to tick her off." She nodded towards Beth.

"Well, I didn't mean to, but her questions were rather silly." Anna answered her.

"You never mean to, but you always do." Harriet fired back.

She shrugged again. "That is not my fault. I'm barely ever asked any sensible questions."

Their leader laughed and clapped her on the shoulder again. "Maybe not, but some questions have to be asked, even if the answer is more or less clear, you do have to understand that."

"I do understand that, and I did give her an answer. It's not my fault a nod isn't enough." Anna answered shrugging.

Harriet shook her head and left her to her work.

***

After the little argument the life in the Glade went on more or less as usual. The work with the Stockers, that's what people who worked with animals were called, Livestock raisers, was fairly easy, as long as you kept out of Beth's way, which wasn't usually the way for Anna. She didn't like to admit it, but they really had something going between them. She could firmly feel how Beth despised her. Every little thing she did could set her off, and Anna quickly learned not to care. She did at first and it upset her. She did not understand, but she noticed that Beth was easily set off by many things. Not as much as with Anna, but still. The best way was to let it go.

Anna did, and the argument now forgotten she chatted with her friend Jane, another Stocker. She was about the same age as her and been there only for about three months but the two of them became friends very quickly, and Anna liked her a lot. Actually, she liked her more than just as a friend. She loved the auburn, wavy hair, her full red lips and freckled cheeks. Yes, she loved her, but had not told her so. Anna was fearful it wouldn't go well, and might lose her. Her heart ached, for every moment was a blessing as it was a curse, being with her, but not fully.

And Anna's thoughts were becoming darker by the day. She'd never been optimistic, rather the opposite, and her thoughts were already dark enough because of their situation in the Glade. Being sent here by who knows who, trapped and their memories wiped, except for their first names. Not knowing who she was, not knowing why she was there, and just by being there, depressed her. That was no life. Being closed in a box of stone with some trees, never allowed going out, only having their work and themselves, which frankly depressed her even more. It seemed to her as futile existence, and every day gnawed at her. And it began to show a long time ago.

"I still don't get why they didn't make you the keeper of the Stockers." Jane said to her. "I mean, you run it here better than Beth ever could." 

"Oh, that'd be hilarious, wouldn't it? I can see her head exploding." She said sarcastically. "Be real, they'd never take someone like me, and honestly I'm glad." 

Jane wiped her forehead and asked, "But why?" 

Anna gave her a look that said do you have to ask? "I don't want to be the boss and be responsible. It's hard enough already." She said darkly.

Jane gave a worried look but Anna took no notice. She stopped her work and watched the south gate. It was evening and the gates would be closing soon, and exactly through that gate the runners would be coming back. Especially Sonia, her other friend, and closest confident and like a sister to her, who knew all her secrets. Sonia was older, about seventeen and been here much longer than Anna. She was tall and in great shape, which was necessary for a runner. She seemed delicate under her veil of blonde hair and soft face with piercing blue eyes, but she was tough. And actually the keeper of the runners, who were eight people in all, running the maze every day, mapping it and trying to find a way out. And every evening Anna watched those doors, through which Sonia ran every day, to see she got back safely. 

And today was no different. Sonia came running through those doors with her partner, Marie, who was a smaller, about 5 feet 2 tall, Asian looking girl. Anna did not know her well. Only what she heard from Sonia. 

They both kept running towards a small concrete building with a metal door where, Anna knew, they were going to draw their maps and compare them with previous days, to find a pattern, Sonia had told her. Anna smiled one of her rare smiles and got back to work, she'd talk to her later, knowing they had a lot of work to do now.

Later on all three of them were sitting around a cozy fire, the light slowly fading around them. Anna was looking into the flames, allowing herself to relax, feeling better with both of them close.

"So, how did it go?" She asked not taking her eyes from the flames. 

Sonia knew it was directed at her. How many times had she heard this question? "Pretty much as usual, nothing new again." She answered looking over at Anna, whose expression did not change, but Sonia knew that inside her a fire burned, consuming her. "But don't worry, we will find something. There is no giving up!" She added quickly hoping they would, or it might be too late for her. 

Anna's eyes never left the flames. "I know you will. You never give up. You will get them out." She said to no one really. 

Sonia's worry became more pronounced than ever in her expression. Them. Not us. But them. She didn't count herself in. What she had in her mind, she wondered. She wanted to say something but bit her lower lip.

Jane noticed too. "What do you mean them?" She asked worrying. "We all will. You, I, Sonia, Harriet and all the others as well, we all will make it. One for all and all for one." She told her. 

"Yes, exactly!" Joining in. "We are a team!" 

Anna only smiled sadly. But nothing could prepare them for what would happen tomorrow.