3.2

Cass hurried back to her bunker, the seconds before “dark” ticking away. The light was dimming rapidly, but she was almost there. A few more meters before she’d be safely inside, away from the patrolling enforcers. She could make it, right? Luckily, one of her bunkermates held the door open for her, so she wouldn’t waste time fiddling with the key to open the door. She sped up her pace, so the young man – was it Travis? – wouldn’t have to wait too long for her. With an eye on her drink, Cass ran inside the bunker. The boy sighed in relief and slammed the door shut.
      “Thank you,” Cass said, taking a well-deserved sip from her can after the effort she put into getting home before dark.
      “No problem, I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.” The guy smiled and went back into his private room – room 1535 – to get a set of playing cards. “We’re meeting up in the hall in a bit, after the evening service has ended, to play some games and talk. Near the bathroom area near room 1525. Would you like to join? We barely see you around, so it’d be nice getting to know you.”
      “I want to decline, but I feel like I should say yes to your offer after you helped me.” Cass smiled sheepishly, fidgeting with the tab on her can. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you guys, I’m just not that much of a people’s person.”
      “It’s fine if you leave after a game or two, but you’re our age and we’ve never officially met you. My name’s Travis, in case you didn’t know or forgot.” He offered her his hand to shake.
      “I’m Cass. Nice to meet you.” She carefully shook his hand and hesitantly let go. “I’ll see you all in a bit then.” Cass followed the hall towards her room and flopped onto the chair at the dining table. Lazy as she was, she tried to reach the cupboard with rations from the chair and almost fell, but she managed to grab the top box with food.
      She broke the vacuum seal on it. Inside was barely anything special. Some beef jerky, some dried fruits, a small bottle of water and something that was supposed to become steamed rice and vegetables was in this one. She poured the water over the rice, cracked the heating pack to start the chemical reaction, and closed the box. It was the usual routine, but sometimes you were lucky and would get a tin with an actually good meal. They claimed it was prepared by a chef of Conqueron, probably because they had made too much dinner at once and it was a disgrace to throw away good food, even above the ground.
      She barely ever had that luck though. One time, she was lucky to get something they named spaghetti, with some tomato sauce and fancy bits of bacon and cheese sprinkled on top. It had probably tasted better when it was fresh and not vacuum-sealed and preserved for a few days, but she had to agree that it was better than the normal rations they got.
      While waiting for the rice and vegetables to be done steaming, she picked up the bottle of the anti-radiation pills she had to take. She had read the bottles numerous times before, mostly when she got bored and didn’t want to read ‘the Conqueron Times’.
      Anti-radiation pills, to keep you safe from harm and danger. One pill a day keeps the radiation away!
      Nothing new there on the bottle. No ingredients, no information, just the description and expiration date. The same thing she’s read ever since she can remember.
      Cass was twirling the bottle in her hand, when something weird caught her attention. A code on the bottom of the bottle, 1<3`/. She took a quick glance in the tin and figured she still had a minute or two before dinner, and went to fetch the bottle she had finished two days ago from the trashcan. She turned it upside down, but no code on the bottom.
      “The fuck?” she muttered, comparing the two bottles. They were identical in every other way, but her new one had a code on it – it looked like a cipher of sorts. “This cannot be a coincidence.” She glanced around, dusted off and cleaned the old bottle and dumped her new pills in there. The only thing left now was to hide the container with the code on it somewhere safe until she had found out what it was.
      As a last resort, she emptied out one of the rationing tins and hid the bottle in there, behind the actual rations. She tried to remember the code by heart, but knew she’d have forgotten it by morning already. A cold chill went down her spine at the thought of what the code could mean. Did they start numbering the bottles? Was it an accident? Or was it meant to end up in her hands?
      The ration she had prepared was a little overcooked by now, but it didn’t matter. She was too occupied with her nervous thoughts. It can’t be a coincidence, right? she thought. But what if it wasn’t meant for me, but for someone else? And now that I have it, am I going to get chased, because I own it now?
      A knock on her door scared her senseless. Her fork clattered on the floor, as she had apparently let go of it.