Scraping shit off walls with an empty stomach was a sensation and a half on its own.
It was moments like this that made Luke and Leo feel like the myth that all humans were born equal was not true at all.
While the elite feasted and played Terra Nova all day without a care in the world, those at the bottom of society had to work hard and perform inhumane jobs just to fill their stomachs.
It was suffering unlike what the young adults had ever suffered before, however, they had no room to complain, no room for showing weakness.
With their third member Harry dead, their workload had increased as their supervisor did not assign any more members to their team, however, they were still expected to do a perfect job as if they did not, they were likely to not get lunch.
Both Luke and Leo worked as hard as they could as fast as they could.
Both brothers did not want to drag the other down and be the reason behind why the other missed a meal and by lunchtime they did indeed make the septic tank squeaky clean feeling slightly proud of their work.
" SHITMUNCHERS…. I'M HERE FOR THE INSPECTION" The supervisor Vini yelled from above, as Luke and Leo slowly climbed up the ladder and walked out of the tank.
Vinicus frowned looking at them, his eyes showing how repulsed he felt for having to deal with septic workers, however, he said nothing.
Flashing a torch at the tank below, he was surprised to see it to be squeaky clean as he almost felt appreciative of their hard work.
" Well, the job's done well, it seems my decision to not allocate both of you a third member was right.
You only need two" Vini muttered to himself as Leo could not help but grit his teeth at his shamelessness.
" We tried our best sir…. I hope you will allow us to have lunch today" Luke said in the most humble tone possible as Vini nodded his head.
"Well, if you complete your work like this at the end of the day, then yes I'll let you have dinner.
But for Lunch?
I won't allow it.
Consider it to be a punishment for being teammates with the guy who punched me.
Next time if someone attacks me, I expect you to defend me properly, only then will you earn my favour.
Chop chop" Vini said as Leo could almost not believe what his ears were listening to.
After all this hard work, that bastard was denying them lunch and that too for a bullshit reason, as Leo almost lost his cool and felt like lashing out.
Thankfully, a firm hand was planted on his shoulder before he could lash out as Leo stared straight into his eyes with anger as he warned Leo against doing anything stupid without uttering a word.
"We understand sir…. Thankyou" Luke said as Vini nodded and walked away leaving Luke and Leo to deal with their rumbling stomachs alone.
Once he was out of earshot, Leo began to curse " That MOTH-"
But before he could complete his sentence, Luke placed a hand over his mouth and prevented him from completing his sentence.
" The ankle bracelet hears everything Leo, I know how you feel, but think twice before saying something.
Don't you remember what happened to that guy during roll call today?
Do you wish to be electrocuted as well?" Luke said as tears began forming in Leo's eyes at this point.
He had the job of scraping shit off walls.
His supervisor was a dick
He felt hungry as a homeless beggar
He could not curse at anyone to vent out his emotions because a stupid bracelet was monitoring everything he said and to make it all worse, he still had to work for 3 more hours until his shift was over to earn the right to perhaps have dinner.
This was a new rock bottom in his life without a doubt and his helplessness to get out of this bullshit situation made him feel borderline depressed.
"Come on… chin up, we're in this together" Luke said as he gave his younger brother a hug and motivated him to keep pushing through.
Internally, even Luke felt like shit, even he was angry and wanted to curse at Vini, however, he knew that he did not have the luxury to behave that way, because if he went off the rails even a bit, Leo would follow him like a train wreck and ruin his own life.
Luke knew that he had to keep a cool head, despite everything and he successfully did so while also keeping Leo in check.
" Our time will come brother… I promise. Our time will come.
One day, we will be the one's laughing and feasting.
One day for sure" Leo said spitefully as he got back to his feet, changed his dirty pair of gloves and put on a fresh pair.
" Yep, one day for sure" Luke affirmed as he followed Leo's suit and changed his own.
Soon, the brothers descended into the septic pit once more ready to concentrate the scraped off shit at the centre and then flushing it out so that they could then focus on cleaning the base.
Their minds felt dizzy from the sheer hunger, yet their spirits felt strong.
Their anger towards their supervisor helped them make it to the end of the day's shift and come the end of the day inspection time, they received a perfect grade for their day's work and their supervisor allowed them the luxury to have dinner.
Warm bland mashed potatoes never tasted as good as they did that day for the brothers, as tears streamed down their cheeks with every bite that they took.
Although it was food that tasted blander than water, the joy of something warm and heavy entering their stomachs made the two forget all about the taste as they chowed down on it as if it were the most divine dish, even going as far as licking the plate when they were done.