Chapter 28 #2
“Definitely,” Dette said, her face sad. “It’s gotten even better since our last visit, it seems.” She sighed.
“I wish we’d thought of doing something more like this at the Armory.
I mean, we’ve been through this rigmarole so often, you know?
It’s not like we didn’t know what to do to make sure everyone was safe. ”
“We all made that mistake.”
“We were too lazy, Key and I. Too certain everything was okay when we got you and Cam back.” The words held a world of regret.
Allie took the older woman’s hand. “We’ll do better in the future.”
“We damned well will.” Dette squeezed her hand in return.
Allie carried her clothes into another room, where a girl in purple-rimmed glasses with short, curly brown hair and pale, freckled skin sat at a table with a clipboard, another guard in riot gear behind her. When she stood and smiled, Allie realized the “girl” had to be around her own age.
The woman was wearing a Ranma ⒈／⒉ T-shirt and khaki shorts as well as two visible knives, but her friendliness was palpable even before she said, “Hi, I’m Frankie, and I’ll be embarrassing you today!”
Allie laughed. “Well, I’m Allie, and I’m already embarrassed. So good work.”
“Ahead of the game!” Frankie flashed a quick, mischievous grin before her expression turned more serious.
“I promise I’ll keep it as quick and painless as possible.
Also, I understand boundaries, so I won’t be cracking jokes while we’re in the process.
If you’re ever overwhelmed by anything, let me know, and we can take a break. ”
Allie let out a relieved breath. She hoped Frankie would have this effect on Ginger too. “Just to let you know, we have a new member of our group, Ginger, who’s gender-fluid and very body shy. Doesn’t like to disrobe in public. They’ll be very ill at ease.”
Frankie nodded, her curls bouncing a bit with the movement. “Are they younger?”
“Late teens, I think? I don’t know for sure. They’ll be with their mom.”
“That’s good—and thank you so much for the heads-up. I’ll adjust accordingly.” Frankie tilted her head. “Allie.” The hazel eyes behind those glasses turned knowing. “It’s good to meet you.”
Allie cocked her own head, mirroring Frankie. “Has my reputation preceded me or something?”
“Something like that.” Frankie’s expression shifted again, friendly and earnest. “I’d love to talk to you about something after you get settled, if you don’t mind.”
Allie unconsciously shifted into Morrigan Vision—sure, when I’m not trying?
Come on—and saw that Frankie’s aura was mostly yellow, like her own, and it felt nearly as soothing as Cam’s.
“Sure,” Allie said with all sincerity. Her instincts clamored to get to know this person. “Find me whenever you have a chance.”
Frankie nodded and pulled out a small flashlight. “Great. Now, down to business. I’m sorry, but I will have to check every single crevice. Including that one.”
Allie nodded. Luckily, Frankie was quick, and she got Allie through the process with a minimum of discomfort, even when the awful time came for the spread-cheek experience.
At the end, Frankie gave Allie a big smile that crinkled her eyes. “You’re good.”
“Thank you so much,” Allie said, meaning it.
She walked to the door to the outside, wondering what kind of conversation she’d be having with Frankie later—and whether Frankie might be a member of the Goddesses-Talk-to-Me Club.
Cam
The tepid-to-warm shower felt good, although not nearly as good as the deliciously hot ones he’d had in the bunker. When he’d last been to the Plant months ago, they hadn’t had any warm water at all in the outer buildings, so they were apparently making progress with their plumbing.
He only hoped Mal, Key, and Odie weren’t in some kind of emotional standoff right now.
He’d have preferred the chance to coach his stubborn little brother on how to deal with their irritable and equally strong mama.
And Mal and Key? The two of them couldn’t resist picking at each other whenever they were in the same room.
You’d think surviving an apocalypse scenario would mean less dysfunction, but not for the Williams family.
As he rinsed himself, he wondered how Allie was doing. Hoping the search hadn’t freaked her out.
That made him glance over at Zachary, who was toweling himself off, but he looked away again. He couldn’t worry about that, not when so much else was up in the air with his family.
If Zachary was interested in Allie, well, Cam could understand that, even if he hated it. The real issue would be if Allie was interested in Zachary.
Would it be fair for Cam to try to hold onto her? Just in case it really had been proximity that’d drawn her to him in the bunker? They were in a whole settlement of people now, in a region that held other settlements. Even if Allie wasn’t attracted to Zachary, she might meet someone else.
The thought sent an arrow of emotional dread through his insides.
Hale! Man up! Sergeant Lee was back. Let the woman live her life!
Cam grimaced. Sir, yes, sir.
He picked clothes quickly, surprised to see not just the basic tees he remembered but a variety of pop-culture ones.
Zachary came up beside him. “Wow. And yoink.” He grabbed a black tee with a colorful logo.
Oh, you bastard. Don’t make me like you. “Gwar fan?”
“Yup, and I never got to see them live. Fucking Zs.”
Cam looked over the rest of the XLs and picked a Nirvana tee.
Zachary nodded and scrunched up his face, singing the opening lines of “Come as You Are.”
Against every rational part of himself but helpless to resist, Cam joined in.
They were interrupted when the guard, Jace, stepped forward with his hands raised, shaking his head and laughing. “Hey, karaoke on your own time, fellas. We’re burning daylight here.”
When Cam walked into the next room, a chipper white woman greeted him with, “Hello! I’m Frankie, and I’m the one who’ll be embarrassing you today.”
He smiled. “I don’t think we’ve met—I’m Cam. Odie’s brother, Keyshawna and Odette’s oldest.”
“Hey, cool. I’m Frankie. Nice to meet you.”
They chatted for a bit about his family and about Malcolm.
Cam always felt a little uneasy about saying Malcolm was his uncle.
The guy had never been Cam’s “Uncle Mal,” mostly because he’d never invited Cam to address him that way.
On the rare occasions they’d had family visits in San Fran or KC, Malcolm had been nice enough to Cam—when he wasn’t giving him shit—but Mal had always made it clear that he didn’t feel a family connection to the white boy his bleeding-heart sister had adopted.
And that was fine with Cam.
“Anyway,” Cam finished, “we’re glad to be back.”
“Good deal.” She clicked on her flashlight and gave him a sympathetic smile. “Ready for business?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Cool medal,” she said, motioning to his neck. “I always liked St. Christopher.”
He looked down at the medallion, a little shocked to see it there, somehow. “Ah. Thanks.” He hadn’t noticed it or thought about it for days, even during his shower. Not since his conversation with Odette while they were cleaning guns.
Should I feel guilty about that?
Frankie conducted the search—Cam was impressed by her speed and thoroughness—and then pronounced him good to go.
“Thank you.” He turned away and pulled on his fresh underwear and sweatpants.
“My pleasure,” she said. “Well, you know what I mean. It was nice to meet you and Allie.”
Cam turned back to her once his shirt was on, and she waved.
Cam paused, wondering if she mentioned Allie and him as a unit because she’d just recently talked to Allie, or because they were part of the same group, or if she somehow had some sort of gift that tipped her off that they were. .. entangled.
It could be that you’ve grown paranoid and are more than a little sleep-deprived.
But he smiled. In no way did he get any negative or weird vibes from Frankie—just the opposite, actually. “Thanks. Again.”
He walked over to the door, but before he put on his shirt and went out, he paused, reached behind him, and lifted the chain of Laurel’s medallion over his head.
Odd, how light it felt in his hands now.
How small the whole thing looked in the palm of his hand.
After a moment, he shoved the necklace into the pocket of his sweatpants and headed out into the sunshine once again.
When he located Allie’s familiar reddish-brown wet head and locked eyes with her, he basked for a moment in how she smiled at him as he walked over. Then they both began laughing.
“You, too, huh?” He pointed at her shirt.
“Nope.” A pregnant pause. “Nirvana.” She proceeded to roar with laughter over her own joke.
Odette, near enough to hear, gave Allie an incredulous, bemused look, and Cam suddenly got it. U2. Terrible yet adorable.
“Har har,” Cam said, trying for sarcasm, but he couldn’t stop grinning.
“Dios mio,” Dette groaned. “Puns? I thought you were better than that, Allie.”
“Never,” Allie declared. Cam hadn’t seen her this happy since... well, since they were alone together in the bunker.
Ginger was pale but smiling in their oversized Bart Simpson shirt, and a relieved-looking Jen, wearing a Sesame Street shirt, asked Cam, “Is Zachary coming out soon?”
“He was right behind me,” he assured her. “And he’s outed himself as a Gwar fan.”
She chuckled.
As if on cue, Zachary emerged, pink-faced but smiling. “Can we give Frankie, like, stars for her performance? Because that was the most pleasant strip search I can imagine.”
James laughed. He stood with a tall copper-skinned woman who wore a lanyard with an ID badge labeled Nicole.
“Glad you’re feeling okay about it,” Nicole said. Her long, stick-straight brown ponytail danced in the faint breeze. “Frankie’s only been here a few months, but everyone loves her, even the temperamental ones.”
They waited, making small talk and asking questions. James and Nicole answered them patiently while time passed as first Ripper then Gray emerged, dressed in new clothes.
Cam smiled when he saw Ripper wearing a pastel-blue Care Bears T-shirt, incongruous on the kid’s wiry, muscled frame. Ginger outright laughed, making a beeline for Ripper and exclaiming over it with delight before gesturing toward their own Rainbow Brite tee.
Ripper’s slight flush and quirked lip as he nodded at Ginger made Cam grin. Well, well. You picked Care Bears because you thought it would make Ginger smile, didn’t you? Somebody’s got a new friend.
“Is that everybody?” James asked. “Awesome. First of all, we’re so glad you’re all here.
You’re welcome to explore as you wish, but first we’d like to get you to the cafeteria and show you your rooms. You’ll be in the tech building dorms for now with a few other recent arrivals, so I hope you don’t mind doubling and maybe tripling up. ”
Cam’s eyes met Allie’s. The thought of them getting time alone together in a real bed—naked in a real bed, his helpful libido added—was enough to make his stomach clench. He cleared his throat and shifted his feet.
It had been far too long.
“But now,” James continued, smiling broadly, “let’s get you some grub. Welcome to the Plant!”