Twenty-three: Where are you staying?

I went to work the next day and met up with Katja and the others as they were leaving the Compound.

"You better now, Jean?" Katja grinned at me, thumping my back. "About time. It's been almost a whole week since we last saw you. I was getting worried about you in case you were sick somewhere and needed help. I'm glad to see you're back up on your feet. You need to tell us where your apartment is so that we know where to go to check on you in the future. In fact, we should all do the rounds and make sure we know where everyone is. Without our families around, we all need to stick together and help each other out."

"That's a good idea," Priscilla agreed.

"Yes," Maurie nodded. "At least, I agree."

The others mostly agreed. Some kept silent. It didn't matter, it looked like the majority had already decided that was what they'd do after work today.

At work, I was welcomed back warmly by Eleanor and Boss. Most other people ignored me or sidled away, keeping to only the most basic greetings that common courtesy required. The number of teams had been reduced. The crowded noise and business of the office had become quiet and subdued. As if the looming threat of the war crossing the border had suppressed everything.

I was so happy to get back on my old friend, my computer, that I tried to do too many things at once and made a few mistakes. Almost all my clients had left the city for somewhere else. Only one was willing to stay in contact via email and phone after moving away.

In the office, there was the occasional coworker who passed by my cubicle to inform Boss that they were leaving too. Those were all people who lived on this side of the city. It looked like no one in the Compound had been completely cleared yet.

After work, the Compound crowd walked back together. They discussed how we were being avoided and judged by the other workers in the office. They talked about what their plans were as soon as they had been cleared of suspicion.

"I'm leaving with my family," Maurie said. "I'm going to move out of the city as far from the war as I can get."

"You can get to your family if they're on the other side of the trainline?" I asked eagerly.

"Uh, no," Maurie gave me an apologetic pat on the shoulder. "Not that I know of yet. My family live somewhere out in the western suburbs. They're just outside of the warzone. I'd moved into the city to be closer to work. Once I'm all good, we're probably going to go to Tiller on the other side of the country."

"Oh," I looked down. All the excitement rushed out of me like air from a deflating balloon.

"I'm sure you and your family will get a chance some time," Maurie comforted.

"Thanks," I nodded but didn't look up, kicking a pebble into the wall.

"Now that you're better," Katja clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make me jump and rub my shoulder, "we should do some training everyday. I've been going mad with no one to run or train with. No one else can vaguely keep up with me. I'm sure you're probably going a bit stir crazy too, right? You won't say 'no' to me, will you?"

"No," I replied cheekily, and dodged another heavy handed swat. "I've been getting out of shape," I told her in a more serious voice. "I was just thinking the other day that I should start training again. But you'll probably beat the socks out of me until I get my wind back. I couldn't even chase after a thief the other day. I was so out of breath."

"Yeah, there are lots of pickpockets and thieves in the streets nowadays," Priscilla nodded knowingly. "Us dogs and bitches need to beware. It might not be better to chase the thieves down. We might die like in the one hundred dumb ways to die."

Someone sniggered at that and muffled their laugh. Everyone else gave Priscilla a strange look and then continued the conversation.

"I'm serious," Priscilla said, spreading her arms out and looking awkward. "Even the dogs know not to wander in the streets anymore. I hardly see any dogs or cats around anymore."

"Of course," Maurie said kindly to her.

Priscilla nodded emphatically and looked satisfied that she had gotten her point across to at least one person. I noticed her eyes dart over to me and away.

What was that meant to be about?

When we reached the Compound, the topic I had been hoping to avoid came up.

"Alright," said Katja, pointing at the first building. "Anybody live in A Block? We're going to do a tour of the Compound. Everyone needs to let everyone else know where you live in case there's an emergency or you're sick and need help from someone you know other than your current housemates."

We walked around the Compound and discovered that almost everyone was living in D or E block where there were a mix of single storey units and apartment buildings. Only Maurie had ended up in C Block, living with a bunch of other male office workers. A handful were living in the same unit with Katja. After we had toured through the entire Compound, we exited the crowd of buildings into the central square where all the shops were had already opened for business.

Katja turned to me before we all split up to do our own things.

"Aren't you staying in the Compound? How come you didn't bring us to where you're staying?" she asked with her hands on her hips. "Come on. Speak up. Tell us."