The Fence

Chapter 52: Home

Three Weeks Later

I hear a knock on my door. I gently put my tablet in the spot on the couch next to me. I didn't get much sleep last night; a bunch of the people on Floor 6 were stomping on the floor. I could hear them perfectly well. They were gossiping loudly about who had died in the explosion. It wasn't something to gossip about.

A boy looking about Grey's age is at the door. I gaze at him, waiting for him to explain why he was standing at my door and who he is.

"If you're looking for a dorm, you have the wrong room," I mutter.

His brown eyes only twitch, either out of irritation or surprise. "No, I'm not looking for a dorm," he replies. "My name is Beck. I came to drop this off. You're Kirbena Marcus, number 17, right?"

Quickly, I take in what he looks like. He's strong, definitely. You can gather that much by taking one second to look at him. He's muscular, and looks like he's done a lot of physical training. His hair was a copper color and wavy.

After I store the memory of him in the back of my mind, my eyes find the box in his hand. "Drop what off, exactly?"

"The funeral for everyone who passed is later at 3:00. This is a black military suit to honor them. It has your number on it."

"Oh," I sigh. I reach out to take the box, but Beck puts it just out of my reach. I shake my head at him, waiting for another explanation.

"Bring Sutikka, okay? I'm sure he would want to mourn the fallen too."

"Okay," I murmur, grabbing the box from his hands. "How do you know his name?"

"They told me when they asked me to drop the box off."

I smirk. "So are you the delivery boy or something? You don't look like one."

"What do I look like?"

"A football player."

A smile finds his lips for the first time. "I was," he chuckles. "I have to get going, 17."

I frown a bit. "17?"

"Yep," he says, popping the 'p'. "See you around."

"Hey, wait!" I call, peeping my head around the corner. Beck turns back around to look at me. "Do you know where a boy named Pine is staying?"

"Pine..." Beck murmurs, trying to think. "Number 72?"

"Yes?" I reply, only knowing one 'Pine'.

"Yeah. Grey offered to take him into your squad. He's on this floor."

"Okay, thanks."

Beck goes to Ky's door next, and I close my own. It was nice to know Pine was safe and actually in our squad. Even though we only just met, he was helpful to have around and was good company. I think I'd be sad if he were just shipped off to another squad.

I pull apart the box easily and inspect its contents. It looked a lot like my other uniform I have, but it did have some differences. While my normal uniform had a scythe printed on the back, this one had a bomb printed instead. I understood why immediately; it was to recognize how so many people died. The pants were just a simple black color with no special design. In the pocket, I had pulled out a small plastic replica of a scythe, probably to pin on our shirts. We had survived, and so had our weapons. It was an interesting way of running things, but it was nice that they were being honored.

I look at the clock. Currently, it's 11:30. I have 3 and a half hours before I have to head down. On the box, there was the place where the funeral would be held. It was on Floor 13. I sigh, placing my outfit on my dresser.