Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 87-

Day: 120

Days Left: 5360

Lives Saved: 0

"You know it wasn't that long ago since you set up the system?" Rin sighed. "And already you're going to change it. It's been working fine. There's no need to-"

"Oh! But this is all for something else!" Corinna grinned whilst holding a wheelbarrow full of objects. She wobbled it in an attempt to balance the contents from toppling over. "It's to help Ivette move around the place easier."

Rin paused for a moment, glancing back to where the person in question was sorting through shelves then moved onto the next by dragging her hands on the floor, propelling the skateboard. "Fine."

Corinna beamed, unable to contain her excitement at her new project. She followed Rin, hauling the wheelbarrow along into the conservatory. Sumit and Ivette didn't even question what the pile of items was for as she passed, already they had accepted the fact that Corinna's DIY projects were going to be a common occurrence.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Rin, attempting to guess by examining the assortment of things.

"For the moment, I'm going to put rope along each aisle of the conservatory, then along each shelf in the shop," explained Corinna. "She'll be able to pull on the rope to move forward. It'll be a whole lot quicker, and she won't have to hurt her hands or dirty them by touching the floor."

Rin nodded. "Simple. Effective."

"That'll do for now-"

"For now?"

"Yeah." Corinna took out the rope from the wheelbarrow. "She can't be on that skateboard forever."

"So, what? You planning on making a wheelchair."

"Eventually."

Rin's eyes widened, clearly impressed. "You know how to make one?"

"Well, no... but I can learn through trial and error." Corinna retrieved a tin of nails and a hammer. "I suppose I'll need to somehow make it all-terrain. She'll be fine inside but won't be able to go far in the sand or the marshes."

"Give her tank treads," Rin laughed, taking more rope out of the wheelbarrow.

"Yeah, that could work!" Corinna smiled, taking Rin's joke seriously. "But one project at a time. I promised I can only move onto the next one after finishing my current one."

"I trust you have more project ideas for this place."

"Of course!" Corinna glanced back at the irrigation system she had constructed, cringing at her handiwork now that she had thought up of numerous better arrangements.

Corinna and Rin began to work, hammering the rope along the aisles of the warehouse. Despite Corinna's many attempts at conversation, Rin remained relatively quiet, only responding with minimal effort until she put her mask on and then became silent altogether. Regardless, hating the lack of noise, Corinna continued to ramble to herself, talking to Rin either about her family or any other projects she wanted to venture in the future.

When they were running low on nails, Corinna announced to Rin that she was going to get some more. This was met with a simple nod of the head from Rin.

Rummaging her way through the shelves to try and find some more, Corinna overheard Ivette and Sumit talking along with a voice that somehow felt familiar. She ducked down instinctively, knowing that outside of Rin, Sumit, Ivette, and Harmony, all the other prisoners she knew had been hostile towards her.

"Is that everything you need, dear?" Corinna heard Ivette's voice. The unknown one seemed to have replied, but she couldn't make anything out due to how muffled and quiet it was.

"Yeah, I'll show you where," said Sumit's voice.

Corinna calmed herself down, knowing that they were a customer. One of Ivette's rules was that any conflicts and fights between customers were not allowed in the shop so she should be safe, regardless of who the stranger was.

Continuing her search, Corinna eventually found the nails and stored them inside her hoodie's front pouch.

"Here it is," said Sumit.

Corinna jolted in surprise, hearing the young man behind her, a few of the nails falling out of her pocket. She gasped, "you came out of nowhere!"

"Ah, sorry!"

Crouching down, Corinna collected up the nails. She reached out to the last one when another hand got there first.

"Here," said a familiar voice, giving the nail to Corinna.

"Oh, thank you-" Corinna looked up, seeing who it belonged to.

It was the woman with glasses. The one that had tried to steal their food. The one that Corinna had bludgeoned with a shovel.

"You alright, Corinna?" asked Sumit.

"Yeah," Corinna gulped, standing up, her eyes still fixed on the spectacled woman.

"Okay..." Sumit returned his attention back to his customer, motioning to a nearby shelf with a box full of glasses, monocles, and goggles. "Here they are. Not sure if they'll have the right prescription for you."

"Thanks. To be honest, I'll take whatever I can get my hands on," replied the woman.

Corinna noticed that one of her lenses were missing and the other had a thin crack down the middle.

The woman tried on a few pairs of glasses, then her eyes were drawn to Corinna who was still staring at her. "You work here like Sumit?"

Still frozen, her mind replaying the scene from when they last met, Corinna could not respond, so Sumit answered for her, "she helps out in the more behind the scenes kind of deal."

"I see. It was Corinna, right? Almost chose that name myself."

"My friend also chose that name," Sumit said. "She goes by Rin, though. Popular name. I guess you've lost your memories too?"

"Yeah." The woman sighed. "But from what I've heard that's the standard around here. We'll all eventually lose it." She paused, biting her lower lip. "At the moment I'm torn between Jessica and Samantha."

"Both have great potential for nicknames."

"Yeah..."

They both looked at Corinna, awaiting her opinion, trying to involve in her in the conversation since she was still standing nearby.

She remained silent.

"I think I'm gonna go with Jessica," said the spectacled woman.

"You do look like more of a Jess than a Sam, I'd say."

Corinna swallowed down a gulp of saliva, attempting to soothe her dry throat. She opened her mouth, but no words could escape. Unable to do anything, the young woman left Sumit and Jessica's side, returning back to Rin in the conservatory.

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