His thoughts were interrupted by shouting. It was Cole's wife screaming at him from their room.
"Why didn't you tell me you were bringing a guest?" she demanded.
"Because I knew you were going to react like this," he said timidly. "Jessie, please, calm down."
"Well, excuse me for being a little pissed about you bringing in freeloaders to our home!"
"He's not a freeloader Jessie. He's a kid who has amnesia, he doesn't remember anything from his past. He could really use the help."
"No, Cole, we are the ones who need help," she screamed. Michael could tell she was crying now and he brought the blanket closer to his body, as if it would squeeze out all the guilt from inside him. "We have two children who we are struggling to bring up. We are barely surviving with the rent. We need help, Cole. He can get help from someone else!"
"But Jessie…"
Michael tried his best to blot out the argument and let out a sigh of relief after it had finished. He made up his mind to start searching for a cabin from tomorrow. Even if he failed to find a cheap one, he would rather sleep down in Destroyed Denver than trouble Cole who had been so kind with him. While figuring out how he would be able to live in the destroyed city, he fell asleep.
March 12, 2032
Michael was extremely nervous on the first day of the job but Cole had been very supportive with him.
"No need to be so tense, Michael. No one's going to bite you here. The work ain't that hard either, especially for someone with a strong body like you. You're just going to feel a bit sore for the first week or two but you'll get used to it."
On the way to the mines, Michael saw a large crowd gathered in front of a small stage. There were two shirtless men with their arms tied above their heads. A scary-looking Nazi soldier with a hard face had a whip in his hand and paced behind them saying stuff that Michael could not hear properly. As he got closer, the Nazi began to whip the men while screaming all sorts of obscenities in German that Michael could not understand. Michael had heard that a lot of whippings had occurred two weeks ago in order kill the talk about the blue lightning and that a respawner was on the loose inside the city.
"What did they do?" he asked Cole with a glum expression, his eyes fixated on the sight. He felt sorry for the men being whipped although they could be criminals. It looked painful and Michael cringed at the thought of getting whipped.
"Because they're gay," he answered in a quiet voice. "Come on, let's go. We're getting late."
They reached the mines where Michael was part of Cole's group who showed him how to work in the mines. He led him to a cavern that was full of people with helmets already at work picking away at the rocks while standing on the ground or standing on wooden platforms while being tied to safety beams. The sounds of the drilling filled the whole cavern. Cole showed him the various equipment that they used such as the pneumatic drills and picks while explaining to him the various safety procedures and so on. He showed him how to use the pick to cut off at the rocks in the mines and the way to pick up the coal and put it into the pile inside mine carts which were driven out when they were full. Michael was surprised by how heavy the pickaxe was and had an awful time in the beginning as he picked away at the rock. The coal dust that hung in the air was making breathing difficult and the way it stuck to his sweat was making him feel uncomfortable. By the end of the day, Michael was feeling very sore and tired.