Rats: Shai's Story

Todd's First Day

Author's note: Glad this story is getting more reads. Please keep commenting and voting!

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The sun was burning Ren's skin. It usually turned a bright red colour that burned and then flaked off. She wished she still had her thick brown curls to cover her head and neck from burning. She was on her hands and knees picking raspberries off of bushes. Two Rats worked on every isle of bushes. Ren was paired up with an older woman that she couldn't remember the name of. Mitch and another Officer were patrolling the bushes and watching them closely, mostly to make sure they weren't eating any of it.

The temptation was taunting Ren. She was so hungry and the sweet smell filled her nose and the juice ran on her fingers. She wanted to lick it off, but if Mitch saw her she'd be whipped for sure.

The hours went by slowly as Ren filled her bucket and then dropped it off and filled her bucket up again. When the whistle blew the Officers yelled at them to all get back into the warehouse. Ren got up off her knees and emptied her half full bucket before going back to the warehouse. She ate her soup that night imagining the taste of the juice on her fingers.

Everyone in the warehouse was awakened when the door to the warehouse slid open. A few people popped out of their beds right away. Ren saw that it was black outside and knew that they most likely weren't going to take them all out. There weren't many chores that could be done in the dark.

"Everyone stay in bed!" one of the Officers shouted. "We just have some new arrivals."

Ren rolled over and groaned. She was woken up for a couple of Newbies. They'll all be whipped after a week here before they learn the rules, especially if they've never been to a camp before.

A couple of Rats settled into the empty beds. Ren heard someone lie down in Eliza's empty bed, but she didn't bother to look up and see whom it was.

The sharp whistle blared to signal the start of the day. Ren threw herself out of her bed, trying to ignore the sharp pain that ran up her abdomen. She watched as the man in Eliza's bed got up.

His scalp was still fairly white as they just chopped off all his hair last night. He was fit, so she knew he just came from the Slums of one of the Cities and not another camp. His eyes amazed her though. They were a crystal blue that she had never seen before. She wondered what colour hers were. She hadn't seen a mirror in years and couldn't remember what she looked like.

He furrowed his brows at her and she realized she should quit starring at him. The Officers started to shout and Ren put herself into the flow of traffic of Rats leaving the warehouse. She hurried her way into the barn and grabbed one of the buckets off the wall. Settling herself down in front of one of the cows, she worked as another girl sat down in the stall with her. Ren took a quick glance at the girl's face and she didn't recognize her. She started working quicker before the girl asked her questions.

Once she was done she brought her heavy bucket of milk out to the fridge. She waited in the line of girls already done to empty her bucket. The Officer inside the fridge was telling them to hurry up as the girls quickly, but carefully, dumped their milk into the container. Ren felt her arms shake as she lifted the weight up and emptied it. After, she quickly climbed down the steps and hurried outside, but she enjoyed the last little bit of the cool air inside the fridge.

She made her way as fast as she could to where the raspberry bushes were. Once there she saw a couple Officers strolling around them. As it was the end of the season there weren't many raspberries to pick. Ren took one of the buckets and made her way into the bush. She got on her knees and began plucking every raspberry she could see. An Officer came over and scanned the number on the back of her neck, just to make sure she was working in the right station.