Let's Start A Riot

Chapter Twenty-Four - Death Duty

Just before 9pm we leave the cabin and head for the camp mess hall which is used by visiting soldiers and agents. Marcus leads us through the back entrance of the hall, and into the kitchen. I gasp when I walk in and see dishes piled all over the counters, stacked twenty plates high, glasses and cups haphazardly balancing in leaning stacks. There must be well over two hundred plates, plus bowls, cutlery and more. There isn't a space on the kitchen counters that isn't covered.

Hugo looks at it grimly. "Welcome to your first death duty, Patience, where there are enough chores to bore you to death. No shortcuts are allowed," He points up to the cameras spaced around the room, covering his mouth, and dramatically whispering, "They're always watching."

"Bagsy no washing, floating food in water makes me ill." Sarah says and grabs a towel.

Hugo grabs the other with a grin. "Looks like Marcus and Patience can be the ones with old people hands when we're finished."

Marcus rolls his eyes. "And we'll be the ones out of here early since by proxy, you two also get laundry duty while we fill up the sinks." He rolls up the sleeves of the black hoodie he is wearing, and my eyes track every vein that runs up his arms like a map to places I want to explore. "Oh, and since there is no cheating, you two will be drying these dishes long after we're finished washing them, which means you get to stay until all of the laundry is finished too."

Hugo's grin drops. "Bagsy washing the dishes tomorrow night."

I laugh and shake my head, stepping toward one of the many sinks to fill it up. Hugo and Sarah go through to the laundry room to get started in there, and Marcus and I get started washing.

* * *

Three very, very long hours later and I'm almost drooping into the sink, my arms like jelly and my eyelids like led. We have only managed to make it around halfway through all the dishes, and Hugo and Sarah haven't even made it halfway through the humungous laundry pile.

Hugo tries to make the tasks more fun with his usual stupidity and banter, but even he has gotten bored of that and has resulted to complaining every few plates he dries, declaring drying to be the more arduous task, even with Marcus telling him to shut up every time he does.

Finally, Hugo breaks his pattern. "That's it," He says, wiping at his brow, "I'm calling for a midnight snack. We're in the kitchen so we may as well."

"Do you want to get more dish duty? The chefs in here are vicious and probably better at interrogation when their food goes missing than we are." Sarah warns, but Hugo shrugs.

"Can't help the midnight hunger, you put me in a kitchen full of food, I am eating the food." Hugo declares and starts opening the fridges, rummaging through them.

"You're not going to stop him?" Sarah asks Marcus, an eyebrow raised.

Marcus shrugs. "If it gets him to stop talking every three seconds, he can eat all he wants. I am the one that's terribly bad at interrogation so if they ask, I'll just tell them he took it and he can do the extra dishes by himself."

"Oh, so now you'll talk." Hugo says sarcastically.

Marcus smirks.

I dry my hands, which are doing their best impersonation of a prune, on a towel and drop to the floor, leaning against the sink with a groan. "And we have to do this for two weeks already? Yeah, I'll rat you out too, Hugo."

Hugo glares at us as he stuffs a pork pie in his mouth and grumbles, "Traitors. I think I preferred it when you argued about everything, must've been a good or—"