Chapter 4
Seda
“Wake up, sleepyheads!” Benny burst through the bedroom door and jumped onto Seda’s bed, knocking the air out of her. He ruffled her hair, which had come undone from the braid overnight while she slept. Seda roughly pushed him off the bed and threw the blankets over her face with a loud groan. Even though they were both adults, Benny was still a few years younger than Seda and just as annoying as when they were kids.
“Why did you give him a key again?” complained Cahir from his side of the room. He slowly rolled over and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “The guy has no sense of time. Why are you here so damn early?”
“Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that, butmostly I was awake and wanted to show you guys this,” Benny said while holding a newspaper. “It’s actually a little concerning.”
As the haunting prayer began to resonate through the apartment walls, they stayed silent, waiting for the song to end.
“Welp, it’s six AM,” said Benny when it finished. “I almost got this to you before the morning call.”
“Let me see,” Cahir said as he reached out to take the paper from Benny, his hair a messy tangle on top of his head. He shifted on the bed and looked at the paper, his eyebrows furrowing.
“This isn’t what I saw yesterday,” he said, biting his lower lip.
“What does it say?” Seda asked as she sat up, her interest now sparked. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.
Cahir paused for a few extra seconds to reread it and bit his lip. “It says that because of recent Jotnar attacks, our food supply is now limited. Which roughly matches what I saw yesterday. But…”
“Why would Jotnar attacks affect our food supply?” Seda interrupted. “They’re outside the dome.”
“It doesn’t, and it also doesn’t say. But it does say that a couple of people were taken to the Camp yesterday for misbehavior in the food lines. They’re encouraging everyone to stay calm and remember to follow the rules, especially the curfew. It mentions they collected a few people, but I clearly saw thirty people loaded into cells. Even the kids. The paper doesn’t mention anything about the kids.” Cahir bit his lip again, and Seda noticed how his hand reached over his shirt pocket, possibly fiddling with the piece of paper beneath it that he had brushed off from the night before.
“You saw kids taken, Cahir?” Benny asked as his leg began to jump up and down, a nervous tic he’d had since childhood, his Gardvord uniform pants rustling with the movement. “I came here wanting to tell you about the food. I had no idea you were there yesterday, and I’m glad you’re okay. Seda, were you there too?”
She shook her head. “I came home right after the Wyrd. Cahirwent to grab the food with the tokens before too many others arrived. Seems everyone had the same idea.” She rubbed her shoulder, expecting there to be pain. When she looked down, the scratches were gone; no pain, no sign that the bird had scratched her yesterday at all.
Interesting…
“I want to understand why the Jotnar attacks are impacting our food supply. We’ve been making significant progress lately in the Gardvord. I knew we had limits on how much we could distribute, but I didn’t realize that the Jotnar attacks were related to it,” said Benny.
Both Cahir and Seda nodded their heads. There was no logical explanation why the Jotnar’s attacking the dome had any impact on the food.
“Do you think Dad might know more?” Seda asked Benny. “Has he said anything to you recently?”
Jason was the top scientist at Gardvord. He worked his way up from the Barrio as a child who had scored well and then moved to Orience, where he met Sara. They started a family, and Jason chose to stay in Orience, despite his career taking off, so he could be close to the office. He was the reason Seda always worked hard in her studies her entire life.
Benny shook his head. “No, and he isn’t in Orience for the next few days either. He has meetings in Cascade. Maybe it’s to discuss this? We can ask Mom if we see her today.”
Sara worked in the Gardvord as an orchardist, one of the lower levels within Orience. She found solace in getting her hands dirty and watching the trees grow, even though her test scores suggested she was more suited for a higher-paying career.
“You two, get ready so we can walk over together,” Benny said. “I’ll be waiting outside.”
As Benny left the room, Cahir got out of bed and looked over atSeda. “I’m concerned, Sed. What I saw last night isn’t what they said in the paper. I fear things are changing.” He paused and then continued, “We can find a new life together out there. Just consider it for me, please?”
This was the second time Cahir had mentioned leaving Joro in the past few hours. Where would they go? Outside the dome, dangers and miles of emptiness awaited.
Seda was speechless. She gazed at Cahir as her mind spun.
Cahir grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to get dressed.
“Hey, Cahir?” Seda asked as he was passing the doorway. He paused with his back to her. “The Wyrd was a close call with us potentially being called. If I can get pregnant, then we wouldn’t have to talk or think about leaving. I want to go twice a week now for insemination, if that’s okay with you?”
He didn’t turn back to look at her and said in a muted voice, “Yes, we can go again tomorrow.” He stepped out of the room, and the door shut gently behind him.
After they dressed and said their prayers, they met Benny downstairs and began their walk to the Gardvord. They passed multiple apartment buildings on the way out, alongside others also heading to work. They walked by a couple of people with confused looks who were quietly arguing while looking at the morning’s paper. Cahir watched them as they walked by, but Seda looked away.
