Base is a cluster of two story bunkers surrounded by four layers of barbed wire around the perimeter. It looks like a prison on the outside but inside isn't so bad. The first floor is the reading room, the kitchen and shower. I write my name in the empty 3 o'clock slot for a shower. Tuesday's are shower days. Upstairs are the bedrooms. Victoria gets her own room. The rest of us share the other room. Luna is on the top bunk and Sulli is below her. On the right side near the dusty window, Krystal is on top and I'm on the bottom bunk. Luna put up the official city calender on the wall. Other than that, the walls are bare. None of us are expected to be here for more than a few months so we didn't bring anything sentimental. I didn't even unpack.

"I wonder what a caterpillar looks like." Sulli says, collapsing on her bottom bunk. 

"Its supposed to be a bug, right? Kind like a furry worm with legs." Luna says. 

"Gross." Krystal mumbles. 

"Why do we call the beasts caterpillar's then?" Sulli asks. 

"Well there are two kinds of beasts that we know of: cats and caterpillars." Krystal says, pushing Sulli over to make room for herself. "Cats are just giant, zombie like lions that feed on human flesh. They're easier to kill because once shot in the brain, they die. A caterpillar is a whole nother monster. They are more like cat centipedes with heads on both ends. These things have been so contaminated by the chemical spills and radiation from the destruction that almost nothing can kill them." 

"Almost." Luna says. 

"Nothing but fire can kill these ers." Sulli says, making guns with her hands. 

"And you want to go out in that?" I ask. Krystal smiles again. 

"I want to kill one." 

"You're insane." Luna says, heading into the hallway. "I'm going to shower." Once she's gone, sulli props herself up on her elbows. 

"What do you guys think Victoria was talking about earlier in the safe house?" Krystal gnaws on her lower lip. 

"I don't know. I don't know anything."

"You know a lot more than us." Sulli says. Krystal winks and climbs up to her bed. I'm still unsure how I feel about all of us being so vocal now. The first few days were so quiet, I forgot that other humans were there working beside me. Now that we've become this unit, I'm not sure where I fit in. 

"Hey," Sulli says. "Wanna go for a walk?" 

It's hasn't cooled down outside but Sulli got the vending machine to work by kicking it. One of the only factories that didn't get completely demolished during the destruction was one of the Pepsi factories. Somehow we keep making them. We have plenty of aluminium and water. Once the ice caps melted, we learned to harness all that extra water. We must be okay on sugar too. The government doesn't tell us these things. It's amazing what can survive total destruction. Soda companies, like cockroaches, can still live without it's head for years. The old people, the ones that are still alive that have lived in the old earth say it doesn't taste like soda but we can't tell the difference. It's just a nice change from water from time to time. 

"I miss my mom." Sulli says. She crushes her empty can in her hands and sticks the rounded metal into her pocket. 

"Me too. How long are you here for?" 

"3 months. I have two left. You?" 

"Three weeks. I have two left." She laughs. 

"What did you do? Steal a pencil?" I laugh too but not because it's funny. 

"Do you think it's too late to use the phone?" She asks. 

"I'm not sure. I've never used the phone here." 

"You haven't called your parents?" She looks shocked. 

"All I'll get is a bunch of static. My family aren't really phone people." 

"Yeah. Most second generations aren't. My grandma used to go on and on about these things called cellphones before she died. They sounded pretty cool." 

"Yeah my grand parents sold theirs to the Museum of Old Earth a long time ago." Sulli nods, biting down her already short nails. 

"I'm glad you joined us." She smiles at me before turning away shyly. "Because Krystal is ing crazy, right? And Luna only wants to be accepted by Victoria and Victoria is like, a grandma trapped in a hot body." 

"Yeah." I agree. "I guess I'm glad I joined too. I didn't have any friends at school or anything so....its lonely sometimes." 

"How far did you get in school?" 

"Eighth grade." 

"Me too. I hear people go higher. Like, if you want to be a government official or a doctor or something."

"Yeah. My dad did that." Her eyes grow two sizes.

"Your dads a doctor?" I nod. Was. He was a doctor. 

"Aren't all doctor's children supposed to be like, model citizens?"

"Yes?" 

"You're such an embarrassment." She says laughing. I punch her arm playfully. 

"Hey, Amber!" I turn around and Luna's standing at the door of our bunker.

"Are you still going to shower?" She shouts. I glance down at my watch. It's 3:15. A loud blaring sound echoes through the flat, nearly deserted base. A red light is beaming in the sky. 

"What the hell? Again?" Sulli and I run back to our bunker. Victoria is on the phone inside and her superior, BoA Kwon, is pacing the reading room. She tries to smile when she sees me and Sulli come in but we know something is definitely wrong. Its no use trying to sugar coat anything. 

"Go ahead and shower, Liu." She says, kindly. Undressing while all this is happening is unsettling but showers are too precious to be skipped. The water is lukewarm but it feels nice on my over heated skin. The soap is red and smells like pomegranate. It's Krystal's but I use it anyways. I'm sure she stole it as well. Fruity soaps always cost a fortune. 

After dressing, I meet up with everyone in The Star. It's an old, abandoned Starbucks. I guess they used to serve coffee.  The old people could go on forever about coffee. We third generations have never tasted it. Victoria has given everyone a piece of paper. She asks me to share with someone because they were short one. Sulli makes room for me on the old, sunk in leather couch. 

"Alright, now that we're all here, I want to discuss something very important with you all." Sergeant Kwon says. She has our full attention. "Do any of you know anything about airplanes?"