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Seconds later, the big doors opened, and two women pushing a wheelchair walked out dressed in white pants and tops, with a blue scarf with stars on it tied to their necks and more stars down the sleeves of their tops.

It wasn’t until they saw her with Morlie dragged along against her evidence that Kai’s strength was the only thing keeping her up.

The women moved in sync as the men had exhibited. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” The second man moved away from them and headed back to his post. “Take the ill one.”

Shaking their heads, the women grasped Morlie by the arms in a firm grip and pulled her away.

Morlie crumbled into the chair. She slumped down so low she looked like a small child.

It didn’t help that Morlie was so thin. Her sister looked lost inside her clothing, like a child playing dress-up in her mother’s outfit.

The women turned the chair and began their march back to the thick doors.

“Wait. I want to go with my sister.” Kai’s feet slapped on the floor as she quick-stepped to keep up with the women.

The woman pushing the chair continued while the other woman turned and gave her a hard stare. “No. We will only treat one of you.”

Kai gasped. Through grit teeth, she informed the woman, “I am not unwell.”

The woman tipped her head to the side. The sneer on her face questioned Kai’s declaration of her physical status.

It was true. Dirty and ragged clothing and Kai’s unwashed body didn’t proclaim a fit and hardy appearance, but she wouldn’t let the woman make her feel contrite about her status.

A lot of others were struggling the same way or were worse off.

Maybe this woman lived her life with the other Consumers and didn’t remember that more people in the Dispatch were doing their best daily to survive.

After a simple shrug, the woman turned and walked away as if Kai wasn’t worth her time to respond.

Kai glanced at the men as the door closed; however, neither looked at her any longer. With her problem solved, they had no further interest in her. Realizing she could do nothing, she went to one of the seats that looked like it cost more than she made in two years at her collection job.

“Hey.”

Mid-squat, she stood and turned back to the men. Had they taken pity on her and decided to let her back with her sister?

“Yes?” she couldn’t keep the hope from her voice.

“It must go.” The man on the right gestured toward the front door.

She followed his movement and spotted the rusted, dented symbol of family parked on the other side of the glass doors. Glancing back at them, she said, “The parking needs I.D.”

Even though when Kai drove in, she never attempted to go to the parking section, opting to take the quickest route to get her sister some help. But the big signs, like signs in so many places outside of the Dispatch, announced PARKING FOR CONSUMERS ONLY.

A loud sigh filled the room, and Kai wasn’t sure which one it came from, Mutt or Jeff.

The man on the right reached into a small drawer and removed a green card. Holding it out to her, he said, “This will only work for this parking and only once.”

Don’t come back. His message was clear. If they made Morlie better, they would not see her face again. She crossed the space and took the card from him. It didn’t escape her notice that he held it at the farthest edge, guaranteeing she could take it from him without touching her.

After she swiped the card, she went out the door.

It took her two tries to get the car’s engine to catch and cough to life.

It rumbled behind her as she drove away.

She didn’t waste time in parking. Instead, she whipped into the first open space she came to inside the secure gated area and then jogged across the parking lot to hurry back to the waiting area.

She wanted to be there if they came out to report on her sister.

The room was silent except for the low murmur of the men talking and the rhythmic tapping on their tablets. Sitting there in silence, she tried to send healthy thoughts to her sister somewhere on the other side of the thick walls. Is she awake and looking for me?

Kai didn’t even know how aware Morlie was of the whole situation.

They’d lost their parents six years ago.

Their mother and father had not even made it above ground.

They could have seen their first hazy sunrise in twenty years if they had survived for two more years.

Her eyes started to burn, and her heart squeezed tight in her chest, robbing her of breath and filling her body with pain.

She inhaled and forced the sadness down.

She couldn’t afford to allow anything but positive thoughts in her mind right now.

Morlie needed everything she had to give. Her sister was worth that.

Morlie and the truck were all she had, and she wouldn’t lose either. Time ticked by slowly as she sat there, staring at the walls, the men, the floor, and her hands. Time ticked, ticked, ticked.

The monotony of time was broken only by the other ill people who came in through the door.

However, they were clean, well-groomed, and dressed in apparel she’d never seen up close and were received differently than she and her sister.

The twins smiled and aided them with quick courtesy and efficiency from a glimpse of their Consumer cards.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there until the gnawing in her stomach reminded her it had been days, maybe a week since she’d eaten.

She dug in her pocket, feeling the loose amount of change and bills that she’d bartered to get help for her sister.

Kai decided to look around and see if she could find something: a machine, cart, or some eatery where she could grab a coffee or anything to fill her stomach and idle away the time waiting for a report on her sister.

When they arrived, the sun had been sitting high in the eastern sky, but it had long since buried itself beneath the night sky.

Rising, she looked up at the two men and decided why bother.

She’d get more help wandering down the hall than from the two.

During the hours she’d sat in a worried fog, she noted that besides the doors that led to medical care, there was only a long hallway available to her—unguarded.

She headed in that direction, feeling anxious and wondering if, at any moment, the men would call out to her, stop her, and make her return to the lonely seat.

However, she moved further away with each step, and they remained quiet.

She allowed a bit of the tension in her stomach to ease.

The shiny metal walls of the corridor were bare, void of a single piece of art.

Nothing could help a person focus on anything other than their sick loved one held in this place.

She passed a few doors along the hallway, but they were closed with blinking panels requiring swipe access.

There were very few cardholders in the Dispatch.

Those who did hold one, she doubted it would open any of these doors.

Continuing, she sighed. Joy made her mouth water when she came across an alcove with three brightly lit machines that appeared to take both swipe and cash.

Each one held food she hadn’t seen often in the Dispatch.

In the middle, one offered various sandwiches on different types of bread, and none appeared dried out or moldy.

She licked her lips—dry, cracked skin scraped her tongue.

She glanced to the right of it, and the other machine had small, wrapped snacks she assumed were the legendary candy—things she’d only seen in old movies or heard rumored about in the Dispatch by individuals fortunate enough to have employment in low-paying jobs in the Consumer sectors.

She’d heard it was all sweet, but some were crunchy, chewy, or hard.

Jingling the few coins in her pocket, she strongly considered checking to see if she had enough funds to buy two items: one for her and one for Morlie.

Simple, but a great surprise to give her sister when she was better, and Morlie’s stomach could take more than just dreg soup.

Seeing that the price of the candy was more than one sandwich, she glanced at the last machine and saw her choice of water, carbonated or not, or coffee.

She could smell the coffee through the machine—earthy and robust. Coffee wasn’t so hard to come by in their area.

It was usually weak, appearing more like dirty water from the pipes.

However, none smelled as good as the aroma around the machine.

Her stomach growled loudly. Pulling the money from her pocket, she stared at what she had.

It wouldn’t be wise of her to spend it all to eat even though the two men declared that transactions happened here by card, not cash, like in the Dispatch.

She figured there would be some cost they would demand for treating her sister.

Morlie getting better was worth more than putting prime choice food in her stomach.

She’d already gone without for so long to ensure her sister had broth and medicine.

Another few hours or days wouldn’t kill her.

The coffee was the cheapest, so she fed in all the coins in her pocket, leaving herself a few dirty, worn, crinkled bills.

The single cup of coffee cost her a week’s work at the collection plant.

She wouldn’t allow herself to feel guilty as she watched the mug slide out from the machine onto a tray and begin to fill.

Dark, rich, and piping hot, it poured out.

It was such a simple joy, but her hands shook, and her heart thumped in anticipation.

It made a soft ding sound once it was complete.

She gingerly removed the mug, not wanting to burn herself.

Kai had no desire to return to the waiting room, where the two men made her feel less than human, so she rested her back against the wall.

She pulled the hot mug against her chest and waited for it to become cool enough to sip.

The ceramic cup scalded her through her thin shirt, but she didn’t care.

It was the only bit of warmth that had touched her for so long, and the sensation made the back of her eyes burn.

She missed her parents. Usually, she didn’t allow herself to dwell on the memories of what she’d lost; it was too painful.

But in this hallway alone, she felt the tiny crack in the hard exterior she kept around herself.

One she’d had to erect so they could survive in the Dispatch sector.

As her thoughts steered back toward her sister, chills raced along her skin like ants ran over the ground in search of food—persistent.

What was happening with her? Was Morlie awake, hurting, needing her?

She didn’t know. Resting there with her eyes closed, she inhaled, filling her lungs with the acrid scent, and tried to control herself—her emotions.

“Miss.”

Get it together, Kai. She’s here. You have to believe that everything will be al—

“Excuse me.”

Kai jerked away from the wall as she opened her eyes. “Shit!” She drew her hand to her mouth and blew, trying to calm the burn to her fingers from the splash of the hot coffee as she stared at the woman standing two feet away from her. How long had she been there? Kai hadn’t heard her arrive.

“Are you talking to me?”

The woman looked left and then right.

Kai did the same. Is the woman looking for someone else? There hadn’t been anyone else here but her. Then again, she hadn’t heard this woman show up, either.

For a brief moment, the woman looked her up and down.

Preparing herself, Kai stuck out her chin and waited for some vulgar comment about her disheveled appearance. Had this lady been sent out to tell her to leave? Sorry for her if she had because she wasn’t going anywhere as long as they had Morlie.

“You’re with the girl just brought in, right?”

Frowning, Kai moved closer to the woman. As she took her in, her clothes were similar to those of the medical attendants who had come out to get Morlie. However, her face was shadowed and tight compared to the indifferent expressions of the others. “Morlie? Is something wrong with my sister?”

Stepping closer, the woman tapped a hand against the air, halting Kai’s questions. “The Dispatch one. You must get her out of here,” she whispered.

Kai shook her head. She tried not to be offended at the label the woman placed on her sister. “No. She needs help. I told the men upfront I can pay some—”

The attendant made a slicing motion with one of her hands. “It is not safe. You must take her. They’ve marked the girl for transport. There’s not much time.”