Sunset Rising

I watched the boy take the carts and make his way out of the laundry room. He cringed slightly when he walked by Supervisor Madi. Di made tut-tutting noises beside me.

“A sweet little boy like that and she just hauls off and punches him in the mouth. It’s not right, Autumn.” Di shook her head. “There are days when I’m happy that I’m not long for this world. I turned thirty-five this year. I’ll be on the next Cull, and I say good riddance to this place.”

I was getting the impression that life in the laundry room was more hellish than anything else. “How long have you worked here?”

“Most of my life. It wasn’t always a bad place, but the past few years the supervisors have been getting meaner. This one is the meanest. Like most people working here, I’d like to find a job somewhere else, but if Madi ever found out anyone was looking for a new job, she’d beat her to death. It makes a supervisor look bad to the higher ups when too many workers want to leave.”

“So you’re saying I better get comfortable here because I’m not going anywhere else.”

“Not unless you come up with an airtight plan to get out of here.” Di cocked an eyebrow at me, which made her statement more of a question. Why would she wonder if I had a plan to escape? Did she recognize me? No, she couldn’t have. She would’ve reported me right away.

“Then you better show me how to iron these pants because I have no other place to go.” I put the pants on the ironing board.

Di gave me a thoughtful look, then stepped forward and tested the iron. “The iron gets really hot if you set it too high, and it will burn the clothes. That’s why I like to iron when the clothes are still damp—less chance of damaging them.” She showed me how to lay the pants on the board and began to run the iron over the material quickly, never stopping in one place. A washing machine buzzed behind us. “That’ll be your second load. We need to get it out now because someone will be waiting for the machine.”

We left the pants and went back to the washing machine. Di told me to sort everything out myself, and she just watched to make sure I did it right. I made a few mistakes, but she corrected me, and I took note for the next time. I ended up with two more items to iron.

We went back to the ironing board, and she let me finish the pants. She was showing me how to iron a shirt when my third machine buzzed. I went and got the clothes and sorted them, finding a few more items to iron. When I finished that task, I went back to the ironing board. Di was still with me, showing me how to do everything. I still wasn’t finished with my ironing when the first dryer signalled the load was done.

“Now we go to the folding station. This will take a bit of time to learn,” Di said.

I was feeling uncomfortable with the amount of multitasking I had to do. I still had ironing waiting to be finished, two more loads in the dryer, and now a load to be folded. The carts were stacking up too. Di took out a small board from under the counter, placed it on the back of a t-shirt, and began to fold the shirt around the board. When she was finished, she slipped the board out of the folded t-shirt and flipped the t-shirt upright. It came out perfect. Then it was my turn to try. I wasn’t nearly as fast or as good. I tried again.

“You’ll need to master this quickly,” Di said, looking in the direction of Supervisor Madi.

I understood. I tried harder. “There. How’s that?” I presented my folded t-shirt.

“Not bad,” Di said after she made a few adjustments. “Try again with this one.” She handed me another shirt. I was feeling under pressure with all the work I had piling up. I was afraid of losing track and missing something. I folded the shirt as I’d been shown. “Better,” she said.

It took me approximately fifteen minutes to fold the entire load. I was still very aware I had ironing and another load in the dryer that was about to finish, but I went back to the ironing board and did what I could until the dryer signalled it was done. I left to go and fold it. Di was now at her station getting some of her own work done. I realized I had taken up quite a bit of her time.

I was halfway through folding my third load of laundry when the bong bongs sounded, indicating the end of the workday. With the lockdown this morning, we only had half a workday, although it felt like I’d put in a full day.

“You’ll need to finish up before you go because Kai is waiting to take the last of the carts upstairs. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow trying to catch up. Lockdowns might seem like a peaceful break while they’re happening, but the work keeps piling up, and we have to stay on top of it.” Di sighed.

I tried to hurry my folding, but it didn’t work. I just wasn’t that adept, so I made myself slow down. Working late wasn’t part of my plan for this evening. I was really anxious to find my father and Summer to make sure they were both okay. Jack would be waiting for me too, and most likely worried when I didn’t get back on time.

“Autumn, you need to concentrate or you’ll never finish,” Di said in a firm voice. She took the shirt from my hands and positioned the board in the center of the back. “Like this.” She showed me in slow motion. I tried again with the next shirt, pushing aside the panic rising up inside me.

Eventually the laundry was folded, and I could get back to the ironing. Again, I found it slow going, but I had to get it right. Di helped me every step of the way, even though I knew she was frustrated with me. I was truly grateful for her patience and kindness.

I noticed Kai standing beside the last of the carts. With a flush of guilt, I realized I had made him late. And he wasn’t even making any credits this afternoon.

“Done!” Di exclaimed when I finished the last of the ironing. “Now, put the clothes in the proper cart. I know Kai wants to get home and eat something.”

Di showed me how to stack the clothes into the cart while Kai stood by patiently. I couldn’t believe how complicated laundry was. I had a new appreciation for my old job in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, Kai. I’ll try to be faster tomorrow.”

“That’s okay, Miss Autumn. We always end up working late after a lockdown.” Kai took the remaining two carts and headed for the door.

“Now we can scan out. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Di said.

Supervisor Madi was waiting for us with the sca

“I expect tomorrow you’ll pick up the pace.” Madi glared at me. “I don’t like having to stay here late waiting for a couple of urchins to finish their work.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I waved my hand across the sca

It felt good to get out of the heat in the laundry room. I went in the direction of the stairs, pulling the visor of my hat lower. Few people were left in the hallways. I must have been over a half hour late getting off work. I quickened my stride and joined the few people on the stairs.

Then I saw Summer.

Chapter Fifteen

Summer looked directly at me, and I could tell by her expression that she recognized me right away. She looked terrified and dropped her gaze, refusing to look my way. I resisted the impulse to run down the stairs to meet her and instead waited for her to come up to me. Something must have been wrong because she had never ignored me before.

She gave me a sidelong glance when as she reached the fourth level and walked down the hall away from me. I waited a moment then walked after her. I tried not to get too close in case someone was watching. She ducked into the common bath, and I waited a moment before following her.

“Su

“Looking for you.” I went to her and wrapped my arms around her. “The whole reason I escaped was so I could see you, Dad, and Reyes.”