Page 42 of Savagely Yours
“Hence the reconsiderations. I mean, we have unmarried couples who come in. Instead of separating them, why not give them a chance to do right in the eyes of God?”
“And non-couples?”
Solana snarled.
Cerner took a half step backward. “We’re still discussing the changes,” he said. “Now, there will be limitations. To protect our Class Ones, I don’t see the purpose in allowing them anything more than physical relations with Sanitation, providedthe woman is clean. The last thing we need is venereal disease being spread amongst our elite. Or, even worse—an unintended pregnancy.”
Solana snarled again, and based on the way he reacted, I knew our conversation had come to an end.
“I want to discuss this more later,” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, yes. Of course. And don’t get me wrong, there are attractive options on the table. Back in the good ol’ days, it wasn’t shunned for a man to keep whores and mistresses. It was the norm.”
These people, who swore they did their research on those who were brought to Fort Totten, obviously didn’t do enough if they didn’t know what Larke meant to me. Suggesting that Larke was only good enough to be my mistress or whore had me folding my arms tighter to avoid reaching for my weapon.
Cerner pointed to Solana. “I wonder if she was pretty before? What do you think, Harding? Can’t make out much. And who knows? She might have been someone’s wife before all of this. Maybe even a mother. Sad, isn’t it?”
As much as I wished I could end Solana’s suffering, I wasn’t sure I would be able to go through with it. I’d personally worked with her to improve her combat and technical skills. As a former Marine, she was one of the most trainable recruits I’d ever encountered. If any of that was still inside this snarling shell of a human being, I didn’t want to take any chances at being judge, jury, or executioner.
“I’m going to do a quick perimeter sweep,” I said, ignoring Cerner’s questions. “Need anything else from me?”
He shook his head and patted me on the back. “No, not at the moment. Good work today.”
I’d done next to nothing.
He flicked a finger at Simmons. “Restrain her so that we can take her to the lab,” he said, walking away. “Let’s stay on theoutskirts. I’ll tell Kowalski he can leave his post, and I’ll have him round up some guys to ensure none of the citizens see us bringing her through. Wouldn’t want to cause a stir.”
Knowing I would have to wait for them to leave before returning to Larke, I inspected the area to see if I could find any clues as to how Solana had gotten inside.
The first thing I came upon were footprints.
There was an organized pair, Simmons’ prints, which were easily distinguishable from the disorganized, barefoot imprints Solana made. She’d had on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top and was covered in dirt. So, in all likelihood, she’d been on her own for a while. Like the rest of the team, she had no children, and she’d kept her private life away from work. Based on a few phone conversations I’d walked in on, it had appeared as if she’d had a lover of some sort, but that was as much as I’d learned. I didn’t ask, and I never urged the team to tell me.
They were a good group.
Still, they weren’t like the team I’d had with Gage at the helm. My security team and I grew close as coworkers, whereas Gage and the rest of our team were the closest thing I had to a family. We’d all stared death in the eyes and rescued each other from its claws, so knowing details about each other’s lives eventually became unavoidable.
I walked to the edge of the development, where the fence was about eighty percent finished. At first glance, everything looked on the up and up, but then I noticed that the hinges were different on one of the older gates, which wasn’t an immediate issue; supply chains were a thing of the past, and it wasn’t unusual to have to work with what the development had on hand. What I didn’t like was that the screws that secured the hinges looked brand new.
Next, I noticed clean, precise cuts in rolls of barbed wire on the ground.
Cuts that didn’t make sense.
Then, on the other side of the fence, I noticed a slab of wood that looked out of place, although it didn’t look out of place for an area undergoing construction. It looked out of place for an area I’d already surveyed, especially when there’d been a drain grate underneath where the slab lay.
Finally, the breach made no sense.
If the area was recently secured, why would it suddenly be hit by a single infected human unless someone had funneled Solana in this direction?
I squeezed the back of my neck.
If there was humanness inside Solana, she might have been drawn to the promise of other human life. If not, someone had purposefully led her to the camp. Whether it was to wreak havoc or test something small for a more significant intrusion later wasn’t clear. However, in times like these, the best person to bounce theories off of was Larke Tapley.
I headed back.
On the way, my radio went off:
Harding, it’s Cerner. Go to 4.
