Chapter 18

The door was locked. Rain pushed in a code she couldn’t remember having used in years and was relieved when the door popped open. Her three roommates watched with wide eyes as she entered the room, their faces relaxing once they saw that it was only her and not a mob of rebels, although, she had a feeling Mist wouldn’t be too upset if it had been.
The other two women, Breeze and Gale, were sitting on Breeze’s bed, the top bunk above Mist, holding on to each other with pillows squeezed to their chests. Mist was sitting on her own bed with her tablet in her hand, as if nothing unusual were happening in the world. If it hadn’t been for the look in her eyes as Rain came through the door, she would’ve thought she wasn’t concerned at all.
Questions bombarded her before she could even get the door closed and hang her backpack up. Gale and Breeze alternated asking her how she was, where she’d been, what she knew, and a million other questions while Rain tugged her tablet out of the bag, just wanting to be left alone. She really wanted to take a shower, but the idea of being naked during an emergency wasn’t appealing--especially since she’d been close to naked when the ordeal had started. So, instead, she sat down on her bed and waited for them to stop talking before she decided what to say and what to keep to herself. Mist wasn’t asking anything, but she wasn’t looking at her tablet either. She was curious.
“I’m fine,” Rain assured them. “It was a little scary, but I’m all right.”
“What happened?” Breeze asked, her bottom lip trembling slightly. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and squeezed Gale’s hand a little tighter.
Shaking her head, Rain said, “I’m honestly not sure. I was in IW and was just about to leave when the emergency lights came up and all the power in the room failed.”
“Really?” Gale asked, her green eyes wide. “So… the Inseminator was… free?”
Rain nodded. “He was. But they gave strict instructions for the men not to move or anything. So he didn’t.” She looked at Mist then, and her best friend tipped her head to the side slightly. If anyone knew when Rain was lying, she did, and she could tell now. But the other girls couldn’t see Mist’s reaction. “I just sat on the floor for about twenty minutes until the electricity came back on. He was strapped back in, and then a Mother came to the door and asked if I was all right. I told her I was. She let me out. Another Mother told me where to go. I went to the dressing room, changed, grabbed my stuff, and came home.” She tried shrugging nonchalantly, hoping they’d buy her “it’s no big deal” approach, but they weren’t done with the questions.
“What did he look like? You know, with the lights on?” Gale asked, a grin pulling her face so that she looked like a small child trying not to giggle in class.
“Yeah. Did you get a good look at… it?” Breeze wanted to know.
“It?” Rain stared at her for a moment, pretending she didn’t know what Breeze was talking about, trying to force her to articulate. Mist was shaking her head at Rain in disbelief.
“You know. His… thing.”
“His...?” Rain held her arms up, out to the sides, like she couldn’t grasp what she was getting at.
“His… manhood.”
“Oh, that.” Rolling her eyes at her own alleged silliness, Rain shook her head, and Mist covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Sure. I saw it.”
“What did it look like?” Breeze asked, her eyes like saucers.
“What did he look like?” Gale repeated. “Was he muscular?”
“Of course he was muscular. They have to be.”
“Was he tall? Which one was it?” Gale asked as Breeze repeated her question about Adam’s appendage.
“Uh, I couldn’t tell how tall he was because he was in the chair the whole time. Taller than me, I’m sure. I think I might’ve picked… 28D? No, maybe it was 34P. I can’t remember.”
Gale let out a hot breath that resembled her name. “How can you not remember?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been through a traumatic experience. It’s hard to recall a lot of the details. I spent most of my time looking at the door, waiting for someone to let me out.”
“Ugh, you’re no fun.” Breeze tossed her pillow at Rain, and she laughed, knowing she was joking around. Rain tossed it back to her. “Your one chance to see a naked man with the lights on, and you blew it.”
“I guess so. I did see his manhood, though. It was weird looking, about how I’d imagined it.” It wasn’t as if all of them hadn’t felt enough of them. Or seen pictures in medical books.
“Sometimes they feel a little misshapen,” Breeze noted. “Was it like that?”
“No.”
“Was it big?” Gale wanted to know.
“I would say so. But he’d already fulfilled his insemination responsibilities, so I’m guessing, even with the shots they’re given, it was smaller than it had been before he finished.” Rain tried not to think about what Adam told her about those shots, or anything else he had to live with. She wanted to talk to Mist about it, but she didn't want to confide in the other two. Breeze was a blabber mouth, and Gale would break under any sort of pressure at all.
Lying back on her pillow, Rain dangled her sneakers off of the bed thinking she shouldn't get her blankets dirty but needed to keep her shoes on in case something happened, and they needed to run. Rain still had no idea what the blood had been about or why a Medic was dead.
The two on the top bunk went back to looking at Breeze’s tablet, talking about hairstyles and clothes. Happy for the reprieve, Rain closed her eyes for a second, trying to collect her thoughts. But all she could see behind her eyelids was Adam’s face.
There were so many other things Rain wished she would’ve asked him, questions that popped into her head now that she hadn't thought of then. What was it like growing up in IW? Did he know what his duties would require when he was younger? Did he remember being in a nursery, or had he gone to IW when he was just a toddler, before he was capable of remembering life before? What kind of books did he read? What did he dream about?
A loud buzz came over the speakers in the hallway making all of them jump, even Mist. It’d been a long time since anyone had used the public address system. Rain couldn’t even remember the last time it had happened.
“Women, pardon this interruption, but it has been brought to my attention that the earlier risk is completely under control now, and you may go back to your regular activities. I repeat, you may go back to your regular activities. While it is perfectly safe to go outside, we suggest everyone stay in for the evening, with your friends and loved ones. Thank you, and have a good evening.”
“Was that Mother Thunder?” Breeze asked, still staring at the ceiling as if she could see the woman through the speaker--and the wall.
“Yes.” Rain recognized her voice having just spoken to her in the hall. She wondered if it was true that the threat was over. If that was the case, then why couldn’t they go outside? Were they just afraid something else might happen, or was there really someone or something still lurking out there?
“Well, I’m going to go eat. I’m starving.” Breeze slid down off of the bunk, her feet contacting the floor with a jar.
“Me, too.” Gale used the ladder. It wasn’t a surprise they’d go together. They were hardly ever apart. A lot like Mist and Rain. Well, how they had been anyway… until recently.
The girls put on their shoes and headed out the door, chatting about one of the hairstyles they’d seen on the tablet. Rain was glad to see them go. Now, maybe she could take a shower and go to sleep.
Mist had other plans. As soon as the others were gone, she slid to the edge of her bed, placing her feet on the floor, and waited for Rain’s full attention. With a deep breath, Rain turned her head and looked at her friend. “Now, tell me what really happened.”