Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

The Pantry

After meeting with her mother, Hadley could have gone on to the Cafeteria, but she chose not to. Like most days, she walked over to the Compound Pantry.

"Morning, Hadley!"

"Hey Aunt Zee!"

The pantry was one of Hadley's favourite buildings in the whole Compound, filled with all sorts of delicious foods. It was also one of the most secure. You couldn't just walk in. But there were perks to being the niece of the Head Harvester and Horticulture Senior Officer, who also happened to be an Elder.

Though they were sisters, Aunt Zenobia was as different from Hadley's mother as two people could ever be. To be honest, Aunt Zee was unlike anyone else in the Compound. Her hair was braided into locs that swept the ground, though she usually had them tied up with colourful, handcrafted head bands, beads, and jewellery, some of which Hadley had carved for her. She wasn't very tall, but she was built bigger and wider than most Compound women, purely made of muscle. Aunt Zee was the head Harvester and Horticulturist, her life frequently defined by hauling dozens of kilograms of fruit and veggies from the food forests and grain fields. She embodied power. Wore it proudly.

Her round face was always on the verge of breaking into laughter, which she did quite often. Her eyes held a sparkle and she'd look at you with a warmth that belied any hardship she'd ever experienced. It wasn't usual to have siblings in the Compound. All women here had one child. However, Aadya and Zenobia weren't usual Compound members. They were born as Wildlings, but they were brought to the Compound twenty years ago to replace two women who had unexpectedly fallen gravely ill and were taken away by the vampires.

Usually, Wildlings had their tongues cut out on arrival to keep them from speaking about the world beyond the wall, but, for whatever reason, Hadley's mother and aunt had been allowed to keep theirs, trusted to stay silent by nothing more than the bond of their word. This special consideration by the vampires had made their lives a living hell at the start.

Those born in the Compound held a special type of hatred for Wildlings that stemmed back generations, although the original 'why' was lost in the centuries between. These days, those born outside the walls were hated because they were considered without discipline, uncivilised, diseased, and impure, but Hadley hadn't seen any proof of that from the Wildlings she knew, her mother and Aunt Zee. For years, no one treated her mother and aunt with any respect, but they had both risen in the ranks, chosen as Elders in their own right, three years apart.

You couldn't read any of that difficult history from looking at Aunt Zee.

Unlike Aadya's startingly blue eyes, Zenobia's seemingly unassuming coffee brown eyes didn't reach out to grab you; you went to them gladly. Everything about Aunt Zee was warm and welcoming. Her tender and knowing eyes, her laughter, her smile, the way she looked at you, her constant need for bear hugs and the scent of cinnamon that hang around her from her favourite shampoo bar, which she handmade herself every month with Hadley's help. You knew from gossip and rumours that she was a woman who'd seen a great deal, but there was not a trace of cynicism about her.

As always, Aunt Zee was dressed in a t-shirt and buggy dungarees, folded several times at the ankle, and a simple pair of trainers. Hadley looked at her own overalls and smiled at how similar she was to her aunt. Aunt Zee was a big influence on Hadley, a fact that irked her sister to no end. If only Aadya knew just how big of an inspiration her little sister had been to Hadley these last few years.

"Today is the day, isn't it?" said her aunt as Hadley walked deeper into the Compound Pantry.

Hadley nodded.

"Come give your aunt a little sugar, will you?"

Hadley smiled and walked into the bear hug, taking a lungful of the deep, warm, rich, cinnamon laced scent that was her aunt. She was going to miss this. Aunt Zee held her at arm's length and studied her for a moment. She took a few steps back.