**Chapter Five**

  Efiok listened to the sound of water drops furiously hitting the metal wall, sweat dripping down his head. He took a sip from his pouch and glanced at the man crouching over the edge of the shaft, watching the water sliding down the rusted ladder and wall.

  "Hey, it seems like we'd be stuck here for a while." Reno called out over his shoulder, "what do we do now?" He turned to face Efiok. Efiok's face was lit red as he gazed at his Slab.

  "It's a level 4 so I'd not suggest braving the ladder."

  "This can't be happening." The man muttered as he buried his face in his hands. A few minutes passed in silence, only the dripping water keeping them company. Efiok exhaled as his Slab rang out with a chime, he stared at it for a moment before putting it back in his pocket.

  "What was that?" Reno asked as he looked up.

  "Nothing serious, just checking on someone."

  "Wife or...sibling? Did they find shelter?" The man crawled up to him, and sat against the wall. Efiok glanced at the man, "Sister. And yeah, she did." Silence fell over the shaft again as both men counted the drips. Efiok looked closely at the man, his smile never reached his eyes.

  "This is the exact reason I'm volunteering for the Harvest." He pointed towards the water dripping down the wall. "Well, mostly."

  "That's probably every Outter's reason for ever volunteering."

  "Maybe you're right but...I need to get in for more than myself." Efiok didn't respond, he just kept staring at the floor.

  "A level 4 before the Harvest. Crazy timing, right?" Reno asked. Efiok shrugged, "not the craziest thing that's happened here." Minutes passed in silence again.

  "I hope Ruby and Simon found shelter." The man said as he shifted on his butt. Efiok looked at him, "family?" The man turned to Efiok, as if just noticing him and nodded with a smile, "yeah, my wife and kid."

  Efiok looked back at his Slab, "I'm sure they're fine, I've never seen a thing get past the second layer." He paused as he tilted his head slightly, "have you even experienced one before this?"

  "Yeah. A lot in recent months but they were all below level 3."

  "Cascades on the ringside? That doesn't make sense."

  Reno shook his head slowly, his eyes drifting back to the wall, "I mean I've experienced them out here on the darkside."

  "Oh..."

  Efiok crawled past Reno over to the edge, trying to escape from the heat of the whirring filters. "Simon's been coughing up black for months." Reno said it flat and tired. "The meters on our side have been coughing up darker water than usual and we can't keep spending tokens on those Corporate pouches." His eyes drifted to the pouch in Efiok's hand, "and Corporate keeps sending patches instead of replacements." He glanced at Efiok, "sounds familiar?"

  Efiok shook his head, "Nope, I've never seen Whites delivering parts. All my life, we've had to recycle old used ones." He looked over at the man, Reno's smile was long gone, "Is that why you're out here working for tokens?"

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  "Yeah, but I'm not sure if it's all worth it." Reno chuckled, "I've been crossing over for months now, passing through here to B8."

  "Why not just move ringside over to another sector before crossing over to B8?" He passed Reno the pouch.

  Reno eyed it before reaching out, "thing is checkpoints between ringside sectors are crawling with Whites. Even if I have the clearance, I can spend up to a day getting out of B9 into B6, then go through a slightly easier procedure to get into B8. I'd rather cross over here first, then take a straight road to B8." He took a breath, "besides...I'm tired of listening to the life coughed out of him every night." He took a sip.

  Efiok watched a drop slide down the ladder. "That's why I need to get picked for this cycle."

  "Not everyone comes back. You'd be leaving him alone to..." Efiok looked down at his Slab, it was ever-red.

  Reno's lips widened into a smile, "it's the only option left, I can't just sit by and do nothing. It might be death out there but I have to take the leap...I need to but...I'm scared." He whispered. He clamped his hand around the pouch, "I feel this rush of relief when the timer reaches zero and I'm not picked, I've never said this out loud to a soul but...I'm a coward, aren't I?" He turned to Efiok with a smile.

  "I feel that way every year too, praying she doesn't get picked. Watching the timer hit zero." He looked up to face him, his hand massaging his knee, "I'm scared too...and yeah, you are." He muttered the last part.

  He returned his gaze to his Slab. The cascade increased in intensity as the water pounded the walls. The two men returned to silence, both lost in their thoughts.

  As the hours flew, the sound of water slowly faded until it was finally calm. Both men's Slabs switched from a blaring red to a flash of green.

  They exchanged a look and headed to the ladder. They went down the ladder slowly.

  Reaching the ground floor, residents were already spilling out from the stairwells. They crossed over to the exit and stepped out onto the street. A cool breeze swept across the street and the dome's blue was blurring into night-black. In the distance above the walls, it pushed back against the Blight. Reno turned to face Efiok with a smile.

  "I guess I'm going to bed with a dried throat, it was nice working with you. I should start heading back before the curfew kicks in." He stretched out a hand. Efiok stared at it for a moment, then took it in his, "likewise, I'm sorry this didn't work out." He squeezed gently. Reno moved towards the checkpoint, waving behind him.

  Efiok walked down the street back to his building. He navigated the job interface on his Slab and reported the issue. Putting it away, he stepped aside as Corporate officers brushed past him. They moved toward a woman with brown hair that was on all four in the middle of the street. He froze as he caught sight of her hair. Her wet hair obstructed her face and her back was arched, like she was shielding something from the downpour. Her chest rose and fell peacefully.

  "What do you think, Dan? Disposal?" An officer in immaculate white scanned the woman with a device, his voice distorted through the mask.

  "Wait, mark this one for assessment. Hey Jon, check what's underneath. We have an hour before transport gets here and B8 to check out..." Dan navigated a holo-feed. A third officer crouched beside the woman.

  "Can't wait for reassignment. I'm sick of all this, I need some fresh breath not all this Flux filtered air." Jon groaned as he reluctantly prodded and pushed.

  "You're still going on about that, Jon? You're wearing a literal mask kid, stop overreacting. You just got here a week ago and reassignment's still months away, you'd get used to it soon enough." The one with the scanner glanced at him. Jon muttered under his breath as he focused on the woman.

  "Uhh chief? There's a little one down here." Jon dragged out a bundle.

  "Ren, do your thing." Dan called out to the one with the scanner. He came over and scanned the baby,

  "It's not on record, what do we do?" Ren said.

  "Makes sense." He looked back the holo-feed. "Leave it, that's not our problem. Let the Registry nerds deal with it." Dan waved.

  As the officers stood over the woman and chattered amongst themselves , he slowly walked around her, like every other person on the street, not giving her a second glance.

  Getting to his building, the dome had completely blurred to night-black. He slowly walked up the stairs and pushed the door open.

  Walking in, Ayo sat just as he left her that morning. Her knees were tucked to her chest and her Slab was

  lying beside her. His heart raced as she looked up at him.

  "Effie, I'm volunteering."