Throwing a fit will get you nowhere.
"Eleanor, we have news."
I bolted up from my bed.
"You found Milton?" My chest swelled with hope. With the Daddies being back with their Young Ladies, I knew the announcement was coming.
"No." Dorothy sniffed the air in my bedroom and made a sour face. "I want you to shower, take care of whatever is making this room smell awful, and get everything picture-perfect clean. You've been reassigned."
"Reassigned? What does that mean?"
"You have a new Daddy. He is on his way up now. Thankfully, his room does not smell like this one does."
She nodded to the door on the right wall. On the other side was my Daddy's room. They'd cleaned it out the day after my birthday, leaving no trace of the Daddy that had been killed in action.
My Daddy. His name was Dale.
"How can I just get a new one? That doesn't make sense!" I leaped out of bed. "I don't want a new Daddy."
I wanted to be dismissed from my duties.
"Yes, well, we didn't want your original one to be pulled into a cave and torn in half by crawlies either, did we?" She retorted. "Shower, clean, and prepare. Your new Daddy will be here by dinner."
I shuddered at the image in my head of the crawlies. They were the same as creepies, just that they dwelled in caves, and could climb on the walls and ceilings. I shook the idea out of my head and went to bathe.
Begrudgingly, I scrubbed my body, and washed my hair, and when I got out, I stared in the mirror. I looked like a shell of the Young Lady I was just a month ago. My eyes were tired, my smile gone, and despite having Hispanic genes that made my skin tan, I was pale.
I needed to go above to get some non-bunker air. Even the chemically stained air was better than the stale stuff down here. A small chime rang in the bathroom, reminding me to take my pills. We weren't allowed to know what the pills were, but they did a multitude of things for us. Kept our bodies hairless, except for the hair on our heads and eyebrows, and helped us maintain a healthy weight in the event we couldn't get enough nutrition from our food. It kept our cycles regular with only a light flow. The pills made our muscles strong, our lungs and hearts strong, and most importantly, our minds. They made us perfect Young Ladies.
I recited the little commercial that played on the TV regularly in my head and then took the pill. It was the least I could do for myself as I'd neglected everything else.
I cleaned my room and waited patiently for my new Daddy to arrive. Would I be given a retired one? One of the older Daddies who'd already had a Young Lady and done their time above? I tried to rack my brain, remembering each one. There weren't many, though.
I wrung my hands and tapped my feet until there was a knock, right before dinner time, and the door slid open, revealing Dorothy.
"Eleanor, your new Daddy is here. Please stand."
When I stood, Dorothy stepped aside and everything around me started to spin. No. No, it couldn't be! Never in a million years would I have thought that it would be Callahan. I let out a small shriek as my vision blurred and the room went dark, and then black altogether.
A cold rag on my forehead brought me back to consciousness.
"Huh?" I asked, blinking rapidly. "What happened?"
Dorothy and one of the bunker medics stood beside the bed, staring at me with concern. "You fainted. Are you okay?" Dorothy asked.
I sat up slowly and looked around. My room was clean. And it smelled of fresh soap.
"Why did I faint? Did something happen? Did you find Milton?" I looked around hopefully, and then my mood plummeted when I saw someone sitting in a chair to the side. It felt like I’d run into a brick wall made of my most recent memories. Callahan, my worst enemy, had been assigned to be my Daddy.
"No. You can't do this," I protested. “Please, just send me back down to Gen Pop. Anything but this.”
"Sshh..." Dorothy petted my hair and urged me to lay back down. "We can, and we have. The decision has been made. Your new Daddy has already moved into his room alongside yours and will begin accompanying you on missions above. We knowthis is untraditional, but considering the circumstances, we had little choice but to move one of our DITs up."
I closed my eyes but continued to argue, "Please, no."
"Rest. It's time to start the healing process, sweetie. Callahan is your new Daddy, and you will need to treat him with just as much respect as you did your previous one."
"Why? I hate him." I knew I sounded like a child, but I didn't care. They had no idea what it felt like. What I was going through. I lost the only person who maybe loved me, and the only boy who maybe liked me. All in one night. I had to grieve over the loss of my Daddy and my someday-boyfriend at the same time. It wasn't fair to add more fuel to this raging fire pit of despair!
