Page 72 of Savagely Yours
Emilio waved a hand. “Yvette, please. With your pale ass.”
“I’m one-sixteenth Cherokee,” she argued.
“Yeah.Jeep.”
I choked on a laugh.
Lyric did the same.
Accounting was in a different part of the building. However, the work was painfully easy because of Emilio’s expertise as a former partner at a large accounting firm. So, he killed time by, as he called it, “annoying everyone else.”
Lyric worked in Logistics.
Yvette worked in Oversight.
They’d placed me in the Civic Systems division. Totten had created an entire unit focused on internal policies, law, and legal communications. Still, they’d seen fit to throw me in Sanitation because I’d chosen to combat sperm with hormones and latex.
The peek I’d gotten at Totten’s personnel files this week—as a result of shamelessly fooling Yvette—brought a name front and center that I hadn’t seen in a while.
Matthew Neal.
If that Matthew Neal was the same one I was thinking of, he’d had a hand in my misery. I was sure of it. We shared a mutual loathing, as I’d regularly refused to imbibe on his bullshit liquor like much of our constituency. He’d been a target on my prosecutorial hit list, and while I never said so directly, it was possible he’d picked up on the “you’re going to jail, you ignorant motherfucker” in my eyes.
“Call a courier,” Emilio pressed. “You need to eat too, don’t you? If he doesn’t answer, I’ll cover for you. Pay me back with gossip.”
After spending time with these three, it became easier to see how comfort could breed complacency. They weren’t wealthy, but they could eat. They shared their homes withmaybeone or two other people, each with their own space. They shopped in Eden Square and weren’t suffering by any means. Then, none ofthem knew I’d come over from Sanitation. Yet, they would all find out what was truly happening over there in due time.
Cynthia Greer, the Operations manager, entered the office space. She glanced at Emilio, who looked at her as if daring her to ask him why he was there, but he technically had more seniority than she did.
“I heard you all talking about lunch,” she greeted. “Does anyone want to eat in the Woodhaven building?”
I nearly leaped from my seat.
I didn’t give a damn about the food. It could have been paper shreds, for all I cared. Being in Woodhaven meant I’d be closer to Dez. I’d been waiting all morning for him to call for me, but maybe our kiss hadn’t had the same effect on him as it did on me.
“Well, we just got word that Woodhaven is opening up its kitchen on a rotating basis,” she continued. “Today, Operations pulled the winning card. It’s not free, but I heard the food is amazing. Who wants to go?”
Emilio, Yvette, and Lyric jumped at the chance.
I pretended to contemplate. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, one hundred percent. I figured, let’s walk over, and we can take a long lunch. Get to know each other better.”
Emilio squeezed my shoulder. “Come on, Larke. Ask ifyou-know-whohas a tab or something. Plus, I’ve heard that the food at Woodhaven is like nothing we’ve ever tasted, even before all this shit started happening.”
The Mae Dez knew from D.C. turned out to be the same Mae in the kitchen most days, though the other cooks were talented themselves. Mae’s food simply had a certainje ne sais quoithat I was convinced had helped my recovery. Dez would bring me my favorite sweet bread as a treat, and when he told me it was Mae’srecipe, it made sense as to why I’d scarfed it down with a swollen throat.
At the thought of a swollen throat, the Dez clones returned.
“All right, then.” I stood. “Let’s go.”
I followed the group out the door.
On the way to the stairs, I spotted Tamra peeking around the wall at the end of the hallway. Our gazes connected. Then, very discreetly, she patted the pocket of her apron and sent me a thumbs-up.
The line wasn’t excessively long,but the people there indicated that Totten had grown considerably since Dez and I showed up.
I’d yet to find anything on when the “idea" of the Fort Totten survivor’s camp took shape, as it was too well put together to be a last-minute decision. To have made as many adjustments as they’d made so far meant a “safe zone” had been in the works for a while. Possibly, the government had been aware of the Infectionlongbefore it became known to the general public.
