Page 30 of Savagely Yours
She grinned. “No, you’re a good boy. That’s why I take care of you so well. Now, and back when you used to have to look up at me.”
Mae didn’t heal, build, farm, or protect, but her cooking skills were renowned throughout D.C. She’d owned a diner that had some of the best apple pie in the nation, and she fed me, a homeless teen when we first met, for years until I enlisted. The only thing she ever asked for in return was that I kept myself out of trouble and never went hungry, knowing she would feed me. Had it not been for her, I probably would have died or resorted to something darker to survive.
“There’s another lawyer I heard they picked up,” she went on. “They marked her as NE, but then they found out she used to have a successful food blog. Plus, she was in shock when she arrived, but once it wore off, they learned her husband was in the military and stationed overseas. So, they’re starting her in the kitchen with me this week.”
I paused in the middle of lifting a spoonful of oatmeal to my mouth. “Where were they sending her before?”
“Sanitation.”
I dropped the spoon.
If they’d sent Larke to Sanitation, it made sense as to why I hadn’t found her yet. I didn’t know if it was guards in general or those at my level, but I never crossed paths with Sanitation. Then, Sanitation didn’t simply clean units, sweep floors, and launder clothing. They also disposed of human waste, scrapedmaggots and mold from ration barrels, hauled out the deceased, and cleaned up the areas where the infected were “neutralized.”
I shook my head. “She’s not there.”
“They have Sanitation like roaches, honey,” Mae said. “I don’t think any of us has ever seen them in the light. That might be why you can’t find her.”
A bell rang, and Mae tenderly patted my hand before leaving to serve the newest influx of guards. Assignments poured in over the intercom system, but I barely paid them any mind. If Larke was truly on sanitation duty, I didn’t care what I had to do.
Ihadto get her out.
This was all because of me.
Looking back, I was sure the Reaper had funneled us toward the trains, and like a dumbass, I didn’t pick up on it in time.
“Level P, Class One, Group A…perimeter patrol.”
If there were any silver linings amongst all of this bullshit, perimeter patrol was one. Being out in the open increased my chances of finding out where Larke was. I needed her to know that I hadn’t abandoned her and that, if she genuinely was where Mae said she might be, I would kill to get her back.
I took my empty containers to the dish return before heading out, eager to start my rounds.
After assignments, we briefly met with our head of command. Here, they were calledstrategoi,from the wordStrategos,Greek for “military general.” The underlying premise was that democracy was a Greek experiment, and regardless of what happened in the outside world, inside the walls, the experiment would continue.
The highest-ranking strategoi, Pete Cerner, gave my group a brief overview of camp updates since our last shift beforewe were dismissed. As I went to leave, he called out to me. I approached him, reminding myself of the importance of playing along, playing the game.
“How are you today, sir?” I asked.
He smiled. “Glad to be a Class One General.”
When he added nothing further, I clenched my jaw to control my irritation. The longer we stood around, the less time I had to survey the grounds and the longer Larke remained in the trenches.
“I’m going to share some classified information with you, Harding,” he said. “There’s talk of a bit of a ruffle amongst the Non-Essentials. Right now, it’s just that—talk. Chirps and buzzing. So, today, I’m going to change your route a little. Now, I trust you, Dez. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
I said nothing.
He went on, “Do you know Jeremy LaSalle?”
“Only a little,” I answered. “We enlisted together.”
I’d noticed Jeremy on the train, and I saw him around the complex, but that was the extent of our interaction. From what I could remember, he was a good soldier, but his weakness lay in his eagerness. His willingness to “do for” and his need to be recognized would always leave him just shy of rising to the rank of a leader.
“Do you fraternize with LaSalle?”
“I don’t fraternize with anyone, sir.”
I wasn’t looking for friends.
I was looking for Larke.
