Chapter 3: Knox

Work in progress. This is immediately following Knox's introduction to HInder.

[Knox]

When I opened the door, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. I checked my watch’s map and found the path to the cafeteria first. I needed food. It had been almost a full day since I’d eaten anything. I followed the map to a cafeteria, nearly empty except for a few stragglers here and there. The biggest clump sat in the middle of the space at a big table. I approached the food line and saw someone ahead of me putting food on his plate and then scanning his watch under a small gray box with a light. The box beeped, the light turned green, and the guy exited the line.

I cleared my throat and took a plate cautiously, almost expecting someone to stop me. Nobody did, so I proceeded ahead and put a scoop of what I hoped were mashed potatoes on my plate. I added a few small tomatoes and proceeded to the checkout line. I held my watch under the box and hoped I was given enough money to start out that I could afford my meager lunch. The box beeped, the light turned green, and as I drew my hand back out from under it I saw that my watched showed the numbers 97.42, which I figured was my remaining balance. I wondered how I would get more as I picked up my plate and headed toward a table.

I sat down at a table near the edge of the room, alone. I popped one of the small tomatoes in my mouth and savored the tang, then looked at the potatoes and realized that I had nothing with which to eat them. (Damn it.) I stood back up, taking my plate with me, and walked back up to the food line. There was a small tray with forks and spoons next to where I got my plate, so I picked up a spoon and returned to my table.

No sooner had I sat down than I heard whispering behind me. I turned my head slightly and realized that the whispering was coming from the big clump of people I’d noticed when I’d walked in. I turned back to my food, deciding that I’d be better off ignoring them. I shoveled a spoonful of mashed potatoes into my mouth and tried not to gag at the taste. It was awful. (What the hell IS this? It tastes like squashed plastic!) The whispering behind me turned to barely stifled laughter at my visceral reaction to whatever I’d stuffed into my mouth, so I swallowed begrudgingly and ate another tomato. I heard the scraping of a chair against the floor and then there was a girl plopping down in the seat next to me.

She was short and curvy, with olive skin and thick black hair that fell in waves to her shoulders. (The polar opposite of Kaylie’s tall, thin, and blonde features.) But her eyes. God, I’ve never seen eyes so striking. One was blue and one was green, and they absolutely shone with intelligence and determination.

“I’m Nadine,” she said, matter-of-factly, sticking out her hand for me to shake. “You’re the New Guy.” Somehow her tone capitalized the words, like New Guy was my title.

I shook her hand and nodded. “Knox.”

Nadine blinked.

“Uh, Knox is my name,” I clarified.

“Ah,” she said. “Anyway, I figured you should know that the s**t you’re eating is called tofu, and we generally add other stuff to it to make it edible. You don’t just shovel it down.”

“I thought it was mashed potatoes,” I admitted sheepishly.

Nadine grinned. “Why don’t you come sit with us?” she asked, rising from the seat.

(Make some friends, dumbass! You’re here forever; might as well not be alone.) “Sure.” I picked up my plate and followed her to the table from which I’d heard the whispers.