After they had all showered, they were led to the dining to eat.
Three words. Messy and smelly.
Oakley grimaced at the sight. How were they supposed to eat at a place like this? Didn't they at least have cleaners to clean up after they were done eating?
Okay. Oakley had to admit that such thoughts sounded ridiculous. They were slaves. The lowest of the lowest. Of course the place wasn't clean.
She followed behind her cellmate as they stood in line waiting for their turn to take their food.
Now that she thought about it, she did not know the woman's name even after talking for some time now. Oakley would like to think that they were close enough to know each other's names.
"Hey." Oakley tapped the woman who turned slightly to look at her. "I just realized that I don't know your name."
"Is it necessary?" The woman cocked a brow. "When you leave here, we would never see each other again."
"Still..." Oakley frowned a bit. "I'd still like to know your name."
The woman was silent for a while. "It's Everleigh."
"Great! I'm Oakley." Oakley smiled at the woman. "You have a nice name."
"Thank you." The woman smiled a bit and then turned back, walking as the line moved.
....
When it was finally Oakley's turn to get her food, she stretched out her arm with her plate in her hand.
The server – who had a frown on his face – scooped up a spoon full of the 'food ' and practically dumped it on her plate.
Oakley scowled at the awful smell coming from it.
"Is this it?" She asked earning a frown from the scary looking server.
She quickly scrambled away from there, going to sit with Everleigh on the bench that looked like it was going to break soon.
She stared at the food, using her finger to poke it, cringing as it felt slimy on her finger.
She was confused. Was it supposed to be mashed potatoes, or oatmeal? It looked like vomit that had become aqueous overtime and was being served to them.
If she didn't die because of frostbite, then she would die from being poisoned.
"What's wrong?" Everleigh asked after swallowing a spoon of the food.
Was that even a question? Was she meant to answer that?
"What's wrong is they served us poison and we're expected to eat it." Oakley frowned. "I can't believe you're eating it."
Everleigh chuckled at her words. "When you've stayed here long enough, you get used to these things."
Right. Oakley had forgotten that little detail. But she was still not going to eat the so-called food .
"Well, I'd rather starve than eat this slop." Oakley commented, placing the plate on the floor and pushing it away from her view.
It didn't take long before a woman who looked to be in her forties approached them.
"Excuse me. Are you going to eat it?" The woman asked pointing at the food Oakley had pushed aside.
"No." Oakley responded, glaring at the food like it was an enemy. To be fair, it was. An enemy to her health.
The woman quickly took the food and left as if she was scared that Oakley would change her mind.
She scoffed. As if!