After only a couple of hours, and with Mia’s help, we fairly easily found this mysterious place. Being escorted down the main hallway to the intake area set warning bells off inside of me. Blindly going to an unknown place wasn’t the wisest way to survive in this world, but Lettie was right when she said we didn’t have much of a choice. At least ten other women were with us, revealing that word had spread throughout the infested city. The Church gave hope to the women who barely hung on.
There were no men. Maybe they were the wise ones. Lettie had said The Church only took women and that right there should have been the warning bell needed to run, and to run fast. But no, we just continued on.
The women, young and old, kept bumping into me as we made our way down the narrow hall. I did my best to control my irritation. I didn’t like crowds, especially when the fear of contamination lurked around every corner. If the scratchers found this place, it would be a blood bath with only one way in or out. Claustrophobia closed in around my ease of breathing.
As we reached the intake area, we were directed by a nun to a sign in at a table and then to an area with a sign hanging over a table that read ‘Nourishment’. My travel mates and I quickly walked to the table with our mouth watering for long overdue food.
I carried a shallow dish of slop in my hands and I carefully kept it close to me, trying not to spill. Each woman only got one bowl filled to the brim, and each drop spilled was a drop wasted. The food actually appeared to be a stew with meat and potatoes, but I still considered it slop due to the clumpy gray fluid. This thick, and most likely tasteless, meal wasn’t going to be the best in my life, but at this moment, I held heaven in my hands.
“Hurry up, ladies. Time to eat and take your baths in the holy water,” a nun shouted as she stood behind the table dishing out the bowls. “Father Dane will make the decision if you are appropriate for our church or if you must return to the street. I advise you all to clean yourselves to the best of your ability. He hates filth. Only the clean and the pure can cross over.”
I glanced in the direction of the large bath basins filled with water—holy water—and rolled my eyes. The murky water was a far cry from the running water Lettie bragged about. Trying to clean months’ worth of dirt off everyone’s body would be more than those inadequate tubs could handle.
I sat down in a pew with warm light shining down upon me from a huge stain glass window and gently sipped my slop from my bowl. It tasted like glue and chicken flavoring, but I ate all of it anyway, enjoying the feel of substance hit my stomach.
“There you are.”
I glanced up to see Lettie as she sat down next to me and leaned against the pew as if the back of the seat was the only thing keeping her from crumbling to the floor due to weakness.
“Where’s your slop? Did you eat yet?” I asked, worried about my friend.
Lettie smiled and nodded. “I was so hungry I could have ate three more bowls.”
I took the final sip of mine, wrinkling my nose at the awful taste.
“Do you think we will make the cut?” Lettie whispered as we watched all the women scurry around. There had to be at least twenty of them by now. The numbers of desperation grew.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I still can’t quite figure this place out.”
Lettie nodded. “All I know is they fed us.”
“We better take this chance to get as clean as we can,” I said, standing up. Even if we don’t get chosen to cross over, I wanted to get clean, or as close to clean as I could get.
“I hope they don’t separate us,” Lettie said. “I want to cross over to the other side with you. I’ve never had a friend like you.”
I shrugged off the kind and vulnerable confession. “We need to just focus on getting accepted inside.”
We both made our way to a water basin and washed layers of grime off of every exposed part of our bodies. I shamelessly lowered my pants and washed between my legs and over my ass as well. I nodded for Lettie to do so as well. Even if The Church did not grant us entrance, I would walk away feeling fresh and fed.
“I think we should take a look around,” Lettie whispered as we finished washing. Her face lit up with an undeniable grin. “People are still in line for food. We have plenty of time.”