Silo 49: Deep Dark

Chapter Twenty-Five

Marina banged on the wall that separated their quarters from Sela’s room with her boot. If the girl didn’t hurry she would be late for her shift. Their new quarters were small and inconvenient compared to their old ones but it was more than inconvenient not to have a door directly to their daughter’s room.

Alas, there were only a few compartments with more than one bedroom on the Memoriam level and they were all taken. They’d had to settle for a one bedroom compartment next to a studio for Sela. It was a trial. She banged again and thought she heard a faint noise that might have been acknowledgement from the other side.

Even after a year, Marina was having trouble getting Sela to keep her room clean and show up for meals on time. She had taken up with a nice young man from Supply and Marina thought there might be a match soon. Sela would leave and then Marina would miss this so she tried to keep it all in perspective.

Joseph liked the distance, which surprised Marina until she realized that his ardor for her was at a higher point than it had been since Sela was old enough to wander into their room if she woke. It was a very nice change, indeed.

Her daughter came in while she was banging again and laughed when she saw what her mother was doing.

“Mom. I’m right here! You can stop cracking the walls now,” Sela said and snatched up a flat of bread for her breakfast.

Marina dropped her boot and scowled while she tried to pull it on without sitting down. “You’re going to be late.”

Sela gave an unconcerned shrug and said, “No, I won’t. I only have to go two levels. I can make it in a flash.” She finished with a snap of her fingers and shoved the rest of the bread into her mouth. She followed it with a swig of tea from the cup at her place and waggled her fingers in farewell. She was gone just that quick.

Her boot finally on her foot, Marina looked for her kerchief and made ready to go for the day. It was nice to live this close to her job but she was still too new at it for her to feel comfortable popping in at home throughout the day. There was always so much to do but it was exciting in a way that being a Fabber hadn’t been.

She stepped out of their compartment and made her way toward the public parts of the Memoriam to check in. Before she opened the door, she smoothed down the multicolored patchwork of her coveralls and gave her kerchief a tug.

As the door opened, the shadow Florine saw her and said brightly, “Good Morning, Archivist Patrick!”

Marina smiled.