Rays of the sun trickled through the window heating my skin, my cheek was pressed against the barrier, trying to get closer to the woods. I peeled away from the glass wall, still staring at the large rock positioned outside. The rock was created from a meteorite chunk that landed near our base. It's edges barley chipped yet it sat in a crater of its own creation.
Base was the name we gave the underground prison we live in. For 95 years Base has been loaded with people escaping the acid fog that clouds the area outside. Population has grown since then, and with it the more we tunneled into the ground. Space can be hard to find in the narrow tunnels that crowds the base. I turned away from the glass and started to push my way through the throng of people. These people were normal everyday people, the only difference was that they found refuge in a high tech living facility. Although, that's where every healthy person went as a makeshift abode.
"ROGERS!! REPORT TO THE HUBS MECHANICAL WARD!" A group of men enthusiastically shouted above the roar of pedestrians.
These men were the bases guard system, always demanding something from you. I stood on the tips of my feet, I stand at 5'4 an average height if you ask me, but still not tall enough to see over the billowing mass of citizens. I find myself searching for a possible way to gain height. In the corner of my eye I can see two metal crates stacked on top of each other, the crates sit like they're an obstacle for commoners near a blank wall that towered a mere two feet above them.
I scooted myself close enough to one of the crates that I could wiggle my toe into a wire framed square, I got up and heaved my weight onto the box. It groaned against me as I pulled to the wall closest to me. The stack began to lean, and I jumped to the opposite side just in time for the whole thing to fall in perfect line with the wall. I clamber up the unsteady ramp and watch as a young man, most likely a teenager, with a head full of brown hair scramble to the hallway to my left. I turn my attention back to the window which now display an array of colors that melted into the perfect sunrise, although it would not last in the rush of the day. The bars beneath my legs were cold, but even so my eyes were glued to the glass pane. When the sun was well in the sky I focus on my shirt and start playing with the hem, waiting for work hours.
"Mickey get down from there." A female voice came from behind me, I rapidly turn and grin when I see the gleaming eyes of Quin Marlow. She bit her lip and clutched her jacket, suddenly she burst out laughing. " Ok we both know I can't be serious!" She said in between coughs from her fit of laughter.
I smile and pat the spot next to me near the rim of the crate, she nodded and skillfully slinked up to the top. "So, have you heard that the lab has been going haywire about something, not sure what though?" Quin asked as she watched people pass by.
"Yeah, more search parties have been sent out lately, or at least more than usual.", I state wrapping my fingers through the bars to prevent falling when someone shouldered the crates.
I take a good look at Quin, she was clad in black leggings and a gray tank top with a black jacket over it, even if the temperature was unbearable, and white tennis shoes, "Like the outfit". She giggled and thanked me, her high pony of dyed blonde hair swinging with her every move.
I on the other hand wore a oversized T-shirt that was tied up in a hair band along with converse and pale blue denim jeans. My dark brown hair laid on my shoulders, kept up with a few bobby-pins.
          Suddenly, my radio went of reminding me to meet back with my only family, Aunt Jennie. Aunt Jennie is a very calm and collected woman, although when somebody she considered family was hurt, she went mad.
           I snag a look at my digital watch that clung to my wrist, 8:59 am. I gently nudge Quin flashing my watch at her, she in turn smiled and started singing, "Hickory Dickory dock the mouse ran up the clock, the clock strikes nine the mouse ran down Hickory Dickory dock!" She sang with me in time for the hour hand to touch the nine, it was the Bases time of work. The crowd soon deflated, leaving us sitting there with a few stranglers standing around.
            Quin hopped down and beckoned me to follow, I crouch and did a slid-hop technique to find my way to the floor. Quin walked at a quick pace, I trailed behind her occasionally waving to familiar folks. I duck into an archway after Quin, the lab looked back at me, it had a frightening aura to it. The walls were lined with racks of files and samples of plants each with a tag on the pot, tubes with brightly colored liquids in them sat on tabletops that ran the length of the room. The walls were white and the floors were tiled with gray squares. Several men and woman sat at microscopes with lab coats and glasses covering their normal attire.
              One man in particular waved to us as we pass by the soundproof barrier, the man was named James Kissel, a friend of Quin's parents. I wave back and continue down the slim hall that housed the dorm sized living spaces.
547, 549, 551, and of course 553 Aunt Jennie's room. Quin slid the door open and peered inside, a blinding white light hit our eyes and I scrunch up my face in response. Once my eyes had adjusted I walk in the room and sit on the gray couches provided by the mayors of the base.
               Quin entered the room in suite, but instead of sitting on the couch she called out for Aunt Jennie before speed walking to the kitchenette to grab her and me a glass of water. Jenna Wrong strides into the room as Quin sits back on the couch with two waters in hand, "What have you girls been up to?" She asks in her normal teacher-talking-to-five-year-olds voice. She sat herself next to me on the couch and wrapped me in a bear hug, I stuck out my hand that held a glass filled to the brim with tap water.
                Water droplets had evaporated from the heat of the thermal fan that sat in the corner of the room, Aunt Jennie kept it on even when the temperature was a stabbing 90 degrees.
                  "Aunt Jennie can I please go turn off the fan, me and Mickey here have been on the verge of a breakdown because of the darn heat." Quin pleaded to Aunt Jennie, who even though not her aunt Quin found the name fitting, who smiled and nodded to the teen answering her beseeching.
                  I slowly finished off the mason jar of water, my face felt flushed due to the sudden change in temperature. Conversation went on normally, until suddenly the alarm sounded and screams rang in my ears from outside the thin walls of the room.
                    Jenna rushed to the door ushering me and Quin behind her, both of us being in a daze from shock. The door burst open and a officer stood in its place, "Ma'm I'm here to inform you and your children that a cloud of acid has engaged the base, please stay calm and wait until further instruction before taking action!" And with that the officer left slamming the door shut behind him.