Chapter 23 - Eleanor

Listen when you're given instructions.

I woke up alone, in my own bed, to Callahan barking at me.

"Are you going to get up, or do you plan to sleep the day away? We have our mission today."

I bolted up and looked around, confused. My eyes found him and narrowed into slits. Was he really yelling at me? I bit down on my tongue. It wouldn't take more than a quick visit to Dorothy to get his ass kicked out of the program. But what would that mean for me? Fear of the unknown brought my irritation down and I climbed out of bed and stalked to the bathroom without a word to him.

I found my thighs dry and sticky where he'd spilled on me last night, confirming that it wasn't just some wild dream. I showered quickly and put on my mission clothes. They were still dresses, similar to what we always wore, but the material was tougher, made for the harsh weather and plant life. The fabric didn't tear as easily, nor did it get as wet. And when I did spill things on it, it either slid right off or dried quickly. Why we couldn't wear suits like the Daddies, I'd never know, but regardless, I put on my mission dress, socks, and shoes. I put my hair in the pony-tails I favored, took my morning pill, and returned to my bedroom, where Callahan was going through my dresser.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Our mission will take three days on the surface. You didn't pack for that."

"Since when?" I blinked. This was news to me. I'd never been above overnight before. "How are you going to survive three days with your mask on?"

Callahan paused in digging through my things and looked back. "I won't be. We're going underground."

"I don't understand. Why are all these changes happening? What's underground that we need to gather?" I threw him question after question, and he ignored them all, in lieu of packing my bag. "Cal-- Daddy." He shot me a glare and I swallowed his name, glad I was able to catch it and correct it. I'd gotten too relaxed.

"I gave you all the information I know, Eleanor. Once we finish packing, we can go see the warden and get filled in. Let's go."

I snatched my bag from him and pushed him away from my drawer. He'd been packing my underwear. I blushed. How mortifying. I put enough clothes in my bag for the three days, and turned to my desk. I grabbed my newest notebook and pencils, and now I was ready so I looked up at him where he was leaning against the door, arms folded, tapping impatiently.

"Ready, Daddy."

We walked down the hall together silently and I let my imagination run wild with possibilities. What place could we be going to? We went to the warden's office, and instead of grabbing the manila envelope outside his door, like we usually would, Callahan knocked. The warden opened quickly and nodded to us.

"Eleanor, Callahan, come in."

We followed him, taking seats across from him, side by side. The warden took his time sitting down. Once he did, he offered us two folders.

"This needs more than just a paper brief. As this is a special mission, your utmost discretion is expected. It's very important that the general public, nor any of your fellow Young Ladies or Daddies know about this."

I opened my folder, curious.

"Why us?" I felt silly asking but I wanted to know.

"Because you both ranked the highest in your classes. This was exactly why Callahan was chosen to be your Daddy. He was the only one good enough."

"Milton was ranked one," I blurted.

Both men exchanged looks. The warden cleared his throat. "Actually, Milton had advantages that made him rank as high as he did. Callahan was the true Rank One."

What? Why would they do that? They stacked the odds.

"Because he's your grandson?" I asked.

The warden's face grew red and flustered. "Well, I wouldn't say--"

"Can we move on?" Callahan interrupted.

"Yes. Let's focus on the mission today. Eleanor, Callahan, what I am going to tell you is something very few people in this bunker know. There were reasons behind this that even I am not sure of, but I trust that the people who made that call had reasons for it."

I was getting antsy. Just tell us! I wanted to scream, but I was silently scanning the paperwork in my lap, trying to make heads or tails of it. It was all a bunch of big words I didn't quite understand. I focused so hard on the papers that I'd completely forgotten about the warden speaking.

"Eleanor?"

My head shot up and I blinked. "Huh?"

"Do you understand?"

I pressed my lips together tightly and turned to look to Callahan for help. He glared at me, knowing full well what had happened. What did they expect? It was 20 minutes of him telling us not to tell the secret.

"Yes," I said, hesitantly. "I understand."

"No she doesn't," Callahan shot back. "She wasn't listening."

I reached out and pinched his arm. He winced but did nothing. The warden looked from us and shook his head.

"On paper you two are the best fit for this job, but jeez if I don't worry that I'm going to regret sending you on this mission. You fight like cats and dogs! I didn't even fight with my sister this bad."

Ha! I wish he was my brother. Maybe then things wouldn't be so tense. I could just go tattle to our parents and they'd do something about his constant bullying.

"Can you explain it again, sir?" Callahan asked. "She'll listen this time." The words came out as a warning. I closed my folder and straightened my posture.

"I will."

"Fine. I can't let you leave this bunker until you fully understand the situation anyways. If I can get this out in two tries I'll be lucky. Everything you know about your life is a lie. This isn't the one and only bunker in the world."

What ?

"Why lie?" I asked, after a long moment of blubbering.

"Because we didn't want anyone trying to leave, to look for the other bunkers or to test the air. This is why we created the Young Lady program. You aren't only looking for plant life for our team of scientists to use in their search for a cure. We are testing other things..."

"The pink pills," I gasped.

"The pink pills," he nodded. "Yes. They do many things. Keep you healthy, hairless, beautiful, but also, they've changed your blood, made your lungs and the rest of you stronger. You aren't special because you can breathe above and not be damaged by the air. It's the pills you've been given for the last ten years."

"What happens if I stop them?"

"Every Young Lady stops taking them within six months of graduating the program," he answered, but it wasn't really an answer. Would I stop being able to breathe above?

I had so many questions, but I was being rushed. I wanted to know why, if we had the medicine, did the Daddies still have to wear PARA suits. Why didn't we give this medicine to everyone, if clearly it worked? And why were they still keeping us in the dark?

"Once you have returned from this mission and it's been determined it was a success, we will be more inclined to answer more questions." He stopped me short.

"Where are we going, then?" I reopened my folder. "I don't understand most of this."

"We have discovered a bunker that was abandoned. We want you two to explore it."

An overwhelming sense of dread flooded me. Another bunker? Abandoned?

"Why?"

"Why do we want you to explore it? For resources. We would like to see what their scientists had been working on."

"No," I shook my head. "Why was it abandoned?" I looked at Callahan. His face relaxed and he turned to the warden, waiting for answers. I'd never had a mission that I wasn't ready for. I loved going to the surface. I was good at what I did. But this one? None of it felt right. I didn't want to go. I wasn't sure if I'd come back.

The warden's smile slid off his face and he grew serious.

"We don't know exactly the reason for the bunker's evacuation. But... while we were testing on children, they were testing on aquatic life, and their entire bunker is one large aquarium."

"What's that even mean?" Callahan spoke up.

"The walls are made of glass. The bunker is in the ocean," I answered grimly. I was wrong about being confused; I had understood the paperwork.