Chapter 9. The Challenge

Miatta's POV

After our gardening task, it was already sundown. Elena led us back to the dark room, our hands on our shoulders on a straight file.

I caught myself occasionally looking out for the helpful stranger but he had indeed vanished. I thought of asking someone if they had seen him too to confirm that he hadn't been a ghost or a trick of the light but remembering how they had laughed instead of coming to my aid earlier, I kept my question to myself.

In the dark room, I was reunited with Addy and she received me warmly.

“So...how was your first day in the garden?”

She shuffled to the left, creating a seating space for me beside her. She was in Group White and they had been assigned to room sanitation. Ramona was in the same group as Addy and she sat close to us too, humming a tune lightly.

“It was a new experience but not as unpleasant as I had thought,” I admitted, leaning against the wall.

It had taken me some time to get used to