Elijah stood at a stand, that was about the same size as a witness stand in court.
All the workers had their own box-like stand around the conveyor belt.
"Morning bro"
"Morning Wally"
"Ohhh... here it comes, get ready!!"
Elijah looked at the
'Vrrrmmmmmm!!'
The recyclables were moving at a moderate speed towards them.
As the waste moved closer, Elijah's eyes were quickly scanning what he should leave or remove.
His job, as well as all the other 49 workers around him... was to make sure that only recyclable material passes this phase.
He would remove things like plastic bags and other non-recyclables... and throw them down a large hole on the right side of his 'stand'.
The hole was like a large laundry shoot, that dropped non-recyclables, from the second floor back to ground level.
Once at ground level, they would be sent to the non-recyclable sector within the plant.
All the workers had these large holes at their sides for this purpose.
Elijah's hands and eyes were attentive to the garbage that was quickly passing in front of him.
He quickly grabbed several plastic bags, and dumped them into the hole.
This job needed quick hands.
But of course the ones that he couldn't pick out, would eventually be taken care of by someone else along the conveyor belt.
As Elijah worked, he continued to converse with his friend Wally.
"Bro... will you still be working at this post after 2 weeks?" Asked Wally, who was working on the opposite side of the conveyor belt.
Since 70% of the work in the plant involved sorting out garbage, his majesty had decided that everyone could work at different sorting areas within the plant every after 2 weeks.
This way, they would learn how to work at different areas within the plant.
"No, not this post... my schedule says that I'll have to work at the glass section within the building."
"Ahhh!! Me too!!"
"We aren't sorting the glass right?"
"No no no!!... look up there.
When the recyclable waste leaves this section, it moves up to the next floor and finally passes through a different type of moving table (conveyor belt) that would filter the glass out.
I heard that on that floor, the workers will collect the broken glass pieces and store up several metal containers."
"Ohh... and from there, the Alchemy industry will buy these bottles or broken pieces for the glass making department right?"
"Yup! That's it!
Not just them, but all the other industries as well."
"You know what, I can't wait to work at the Bailing sector.
Ahh!! To drive those machines would be like a dream come true!!"
"Hehehe... Are you forgetting something? We need to take the driving test first before getting our driving liscense.
At least that's what senior Damon from the Baling sector said."
Truthfully, Elijah also wanted to drive those machines as well.
At the baling sector, all the cardboard, plastics and so on...are compressed into large bales and loaded onto a truck.
The truck then sends it to the storage warehouse.
From there, senior Damon and his team would drive their lifting machines and offload each bale from the truck and store in the warehouse.
And when the bales need to be sent out, they would still be the ones in charge of loading the trucks again.
Honestly, it looked like so much fun to Elijah, so he wanted to get his liscense immediately.
"Wally, Let's sign up for driving classes!"
"Look at you!!! I thought you'd never ask!!!
Let's sign up tomorrow after work."
They continued to talk as work progressed... and before Elijah knew it, it was already 5 P.M.
Closing Time.
.
As he and Wally walked back to District F, they began to talk about the current changes in their lives.
"Elijah... thank you for talking me and my family into following you all here!" Wally said, somewhat emotionally.
"Bro, there's nothing for you to thank me about... I too was taking a risk in coming here.
But thank heaven's that it turned out alright.
We have better food, amazing houses, clothes..and best of all, our pay is higher than what we used to make.
Coming here was definitely the best decision we have ever made."
"I know... but that's not why I was thanking you." Wally said.
Wally was Elijah's long time friend ever since they were 6.
They had been neighbors when they were in Deiferus, and they were still neighbours in Baymard.
Along the time they spent wandering, Wally's sister had been raped by 7 men... and all Wally could do was watch and cry.
He and his sister went out to the fields to work... and on their way, they met some ruffians.
They had beaten him up, and had made hi.watch the whole ordeal.
Ever since that day, his sister had stopped taking all together.
She had changed from her happy 16 year old girl, to a quiet shut in.. who would cry when she was all alone.
Wally and his family really didn't know how to comfort her.... his mother tried talking to her, but nothing went through.
The lucky thing was that his sister didn't get pregnant after that ordeal.... or else he was sure that she would have really killed herself.
With 7 men all taking turns, who could the father actually be?
The thought of having all those men on her, was enough to drive her insane as it is.
Wally didn't know if it was their ancestor who saved her from such a terrible faith... or her womb that was barren (**Wally, it's called a non-fertile window within her ovulation cycle.. bruhh)
Wally and his family were so worried about her... she hadn't spoken to anyone for heaven's sake!!
But when she came to Baymard, it was like a miracle.
She had started smiling at them.
His sister was currently working at the Textile Industry.
Since rape wasn't a strange thing in this continent, he explained her situation to Chief Sophia.
From there, he had heard that everyone at the workplace had been cracking jokes with her and making her smile here and there.
Although she hadn't spoken yet, there was as visible progress with her condition.
At home, she would smile at them, and even make hand gestures to show that she wanted to cook for them.
"I... I..I'm happy that we came here.
She looks really happy here.
And you, do you still want to marry her?" Wally asked, while struggling not to cry.
He was afraid of Elijah's rejection... he knew how much his sister cared about Elijah, so how could he not be afraid?
What man would like to be with a touched woman?
He wouldn't blame Elijah for breaking their engagement... but it would really hurt his heart if that were the case.
"What the hell are you talking about?
Do you know how much I love her?
Do you really think that I'll blame her for something that isn't her fault?
I won't change my mind about marrying her!!"
Wally looked at Elijah and nodded passionately.
"Good!!... I knew I could always count on you.
Bro, let's make the best out of our blessings.
Let's make Baymard our home."