Page 18 of Savagely Yours
I started to motion for Tapley to get down, but she was already on the floor. Another “marry me” quip danced on the tip of my tongue, but after what had happened between us earlier, I didn’t want to reintroduce the possibility that we could be more than we currently were. Over time, she would see that, although my words hurt, I was right. Maybe she might also eventually see that she wasn’t the only one hurt by them.
[Unknown Soldier 1]: “Look, I’m thirsty. I’m gonna see if this place is open. You want anything?”
Larke crawled along the floor, in the opposite direction of the path from the main entrance, and slipped behind an “Employees Only” door. For a moment, I forgot everything I’d only justtold myself and imagined a different life where I didask her to dinner, she accepted, and things worked out between us. Every chance I got, I would have spent it inside her.
[Unknown Soldier 1]: “It’s open, Troy. You want anything?”
[Troy]: “No. Hell, no. That stuff’s probably poison by now.”
[Unknown Soldier 1]: “It was poison to begin with, but that poison’s the reason it’s probably still all right to eat.”
I hid behind an aisle row.
The door opened.
Before it shut, I heard a low thud, like a palm on glass.
[Troy]: Hey, Bartow. Changed my mind. Get me some Oreos.
[Bartow]: Roger that.
I didn’t want to have to open fire on “Troy” or “Bartow,” so I prayed that Bartow would grab whatever snacks he’d come to get and leave without incident.
Then I noticed what I was standing in front of.
A shelf of Oreos.
[Bartow]: “Now, where would Oreos be?”
I mentally blurted out a string of at least seven curse words, some of which I’d made up on the spot, and cleared my mind as best as I could. I needed to listen for the soldier’s footsteps to time my way around him.
The door opened again.
[Troy]: “Changed my mind again. I want Chips A’hoy.”
[Bartow]: “Do you know where they are? I can barely see anything in this dark as hell store.”
[Troy]: “Put on your headgear, then.”
[Bartow]: “For a snack? No, I’ll pass.”
Now, I had four feet to track. Hopefully, they were a pair who’d worked together for a while and were therefore more likely to move in sync.
[Troy]: “Oreos…Oreos… Shit, Chips A’hoy. Now you’ve got me thinking Oreos.”
[Bartow]: “It’s what you wanted first.”
[Troy]: “I might get both.”
[Bartow]: “Who’s going to stop you? The nutrition police?”
Troy laughed.
His footsteps sounded on my left, but I’d last tracked Bartow on my right. Although I didn’t hear anything to indicate that Bartow had moved, it wasn’t guaranteed that he hadn’t, and looking over the top of the aisle wasn’t an option.
Staying low, I made my way to the end of the row and slipped around the edge just as Troy rounded the opposite corner.
[Troy]: “Found ‘em! Haha…come to Papa.”
