The Fence

Chapter 10: Bottom Floor

"If there's one place the guys would've gone," Merida says, leading me from our table to the elevator. "It's the bottom floor. We've been here for hours, but I've already heard so much about it."

"Like what?" I ask, pushing the button. The elevator hums under our feet as it plummets downward.

Merida shrugs. "I think everyone likes to hang out there."

When the doors ding open on the bottom floor, we are immediately showered with flashing neon lights and thumping music, loud as an elephant stomping its feet on the ground. We stumble our way off the elevator as a group of chortling kids board, oblivious to our presence.

"They seriously have a club in the Central Building?" I exclaim over the music, squinting through the lights. The area is so loud that I feel bad for the recruits housed on the floors just above us. A group of recruits is huddled around a pool table, intently watching a striped ball roll into a hole like a praying mantis watches for threats. A few others laugh as a plastic red puck goes flying from an air hockey table and claps against someone's knuckles.

Merida scrunches her nose. "Grey did say we could do whatever during our free time."

I step out of the way as a giggling girl almost barrels into me, amber liquid sloshing around in the cup she's carrying. "Sorry," she murmurs before stumbling toward the elevator.

"I didn't think this is what he meant," I sigh, checking my uniform for any new stains.

"I'm sure it wasn't," Merida replies nervously. "Is this job so hard that people need to get drunk just to function?"

Either that, or this job is a joke.

I'm ashamed for even thinking it, and a blanket of white, hot guilt rushes over me like the burning sun. "They just want us to have fun, right?" I say, trying to drown out my thoughts with audible words. "For protecting Gambos. They're rewarding us."

"Merida, Bena!" Neveah calls, and we turn around to face him. His pale eyes sparkle, a lantern in the dark. "You made it! Sorry we left you earlier. We weren't sure when you were gonna come back."

Merida only nods and clutches her sketchbook closer to her chest. I touch her elbow gently, trying to reassure her. "This is some floor," I say.

Neveah gives me a witty grin, looking around the room. "Isn't it awesome? I threw some great parties at my house, but imagine what I could do here!"

I shake my head and roll my eyes. "Are parties all you care about?"

Neveah only laughs. I cock my head to the side, observing the way his features are illuminated with delight. This is the first time I've seen him this happy. "Ky's watching football at the bar," he says. "I saw you two and came to get you."

The bar is long, made of polished, glimmering redwood, stretching the length of the opposite wall. Several bartenders are working, carefully mixing drinks of different colors and sizes like clowns constructing balloon animals. A large, flat screen TV is mounted to the ceiling, and clusters of recruits are gathered around to watch the different castes play football.

Jake tried to teach me the rules of the game once. We were sitting against our dull blue lockers, so jaded that even the slightest touch would cause them to squeal. He was watching a recording of a past game on some sort of portable tablet, jumping at every little play made.

"All I see are guys tackling each other," I said, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Well, yeah," he replied. "That's why so many people love it."