X-periment 5

Tent City

        As I was led into the building I had the strange feeling that I was being watched. I looked around and made eye contact with Jerry who simply gave me the slightest of smiles, a reassurance to whatever was to follow. Upon entering the building, the light given by the broken windows slightly brightened up what what I presumed to be the entrance. In doing so, it revealed a large staircase that led to another level whose details I couldn't make out for obvious reasons

"So, um where are we headed exactly?" I  ask Jerry who seemed momentarily distracted, most likely because the way she lashed out would be considered reckless.

"The...place...city...tents. Sorry. What did you say?" She asked while clutching her forehead with her hand.

        As I stared at her, I analyzed her body language. Clearly fatigued from the trip and undoubtedly frustrated and stressed, has caused the area from her shoulders to neck to tense. This combination has led to what seems to be a headache.

"Uh... where are we headed to? "

"Oh the Tent. Well really it's called Tent City."she told me as we walked side by side.

“And I was told this isn’t it...”

“No. You will definitely realize when we’re there. Hey um, you’re going to be asked the same question but can I trust you?” she was clearly now a little bit more alert. Although I should have been puzzled or the least bit suspicious from her question, I wasn’t. I wasn’t because if I was in her situation I would’ve asked the same exact thing.

“No way to tell.” I replied knowing that if I had said a definite yes, then I would be fooling her and myself. I didn’t know if I could trust anyone let alone myself yet I was curious by whatever she had in mind to tell me, whether it be now or in private.

“Okay, good. At least you're honest so for the most part, I can.” I was about to cut her off but she shook her head causing my words to die in my mouth. But I practically told you that you couldn’t risk it! Were all people outside of the Insitute truly this-this irrational!

“You are going to be talking with the 2 heads of our council. And no this isn’t a dictatorship we allowed the people of the tent to hold an election.”

“Hold a what?” I ask in pure confusion. What was the word she had just used? It was foreign to my quite broad range of vocabulary.

“Surprisingly enough, it was a term quite popular among people before the war. But by the time each foreign nation either became conjoined to what we have today and the Americas became the U.N.A.R. it became obliterated. Plus when the Newfound Savors were writing the One World of Peace and Equilibrium Order, they made sure that the document prohibited a nation from conducting an election for world leaders and representatives. Hence the reason why Dronium refuses to have anything to do with most of the world. And why we are the verge of another war given that their people- leaders included-want to strike against this hidden corruption called Humans of a United Earth, HUE for short. Our ancestors had developed something somewhat similar to it long ago,  the United Nations or something like that. But honestly I wish I could-"

"Jerry, stop." I find myself silencing her. I couldn't handle her rambling, this wave of new information was starting to make me dizzy; and at the same time my bandage needed to be changed before an infection developed

        She stopped talking and and we walked towards a set of stairs that led to a caged box to to which when I asked, was told was another type of lift. Clearly different from the ones I knew, it looked unable to support the entire group's weight but surprisingly enough it did.

        Before I took a step inside Jerry held me back. I rose my eyebrow in confusion but her expression gave away nothing. The lift was shut closed and those inside disappeared. The gears of the machine were deafening and nearly drained Jerry's next words.