Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
I took a seat in one of the wooden chairs at the large, rectangular table in the middle of the eighth-floor conference room. Prior to its current use, the room was a resident lounge area, the walls dark green and decorated with gold-framed pictures of different types of foliage.
The windows overlooked the remains of D.C.
, though most of the view was obstructed by treetops and mid-rise buildings.
Yet, the feeling of emptiness couldn’t be obscured.
The Capital Dome was faintly visible, but even from this distance, there was a gut-deep sort of knowing that if there was life there, it didn’t look or sound like the life inside this room.
Or anywhere else in the camp.
Cerner usually sat at the head of the table, but he claimed the chair next to me. On the way in, I’d noticed round, linen-covered dining tables being set up in an adjacent room. Regardless of our current seating arrangement, I hoped Cerner knew things would remain the same as they had always been.
I ate alone.
I wasn’t a fan of vapid, purposeless, surface-level conversations.
That I was going to “work” and attempting to stick to schedules in the first place was insane in and of itself.
However, I did understand that people needed structure.
Most people needed a society that was primarily familiar, with slight adjustments.
Then, a Class Four named Wade Marshall told me that his wife was pregnant, which made me reevaluate my need to burn this place to the ground.
My plans could change.
I could kill Neal, Ronan, and Cerner.
After that, me and Larke could leave.
Totten didn’t have to fall if there were people who needed what it had to offer.
Inside the walls, Marshall’s wife had access to Dr. Lin’s care.
Still, I wanted to get my girl out of here as soon as possible.
Something about the place didn’t sit right with me, and I truly believed that our destiny was to leave Totten behind.
The meeting, complete with an agenda—I was officially in the Twilight Zone—started with lower-ranking officers providing their updates.
They briefed leadership on ongoing surveillance and workforce compliance among the guards.
They also provided us with information about the latest survivors, most of whom had come by train, though a few stragglers on foot had shown up in the last few days.
Next, Dr. Lin gave updates on infection mortality, and he confirmed that Totten had recorded fourteen deaths due to the Infection. Yet, from Larke’s research, I knew six of those bodies remained unaccounted for.
I updated them on the zero security breaches we’d had since Solana’s entry.
So far, I’d made little headway on the clean-cut lines in the barbed wire and the brand-new screws.
However, a quick trip back revealed that the slab of wood over the drain grate had disappeared.
I had a theory, but I had more investigating to do.
Should my mind ever decide to stray from Larke for more than a few minutes at a time, I would make that investigation a priority.
Lastly, a microbiologist named Dr. Okoro informed us that Solana’s vitals were surprisingly normal, except for a few elevated inflammatory markers. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the equipment to do an “RNA analysis” or an “ELISA test” to check her “interleukin levels.”
It was all gibberish to me.
Then, apparently, there was an expert named Tayler Diaz who would have been the perfect person to call on in a functioning society, but the lab would do its best with the resources it currently possessed.
“We could break the supply run teams up by designation and purpose,” I suggested. “What machine did you say you needed for the, uh, RNA analysis?”
“Well, we’ll need more primers, reagents, a thermal cycler…” Dr. Okoro explained. “We could check some of the labs in the area. Totten still has electricity. We could make it work. The biggest hurdle will be finding what we need and hoping they’re not degraded.”
Not many people, if any, outside of those in the Totten lab would be able to identify primers, reagents, and thermal cyclers.
Not only would the teams need experts, but they would also need adequate guns to protect those experts.
Losing people like Dr. Lin and Dr. Okoro would destabilize the camp.
It was funny how people like me were considered the lifeblood, but people like Lin and Okoro were the true beating heart.
Cerner wagged a finger in my direction. “You’re onto something, Harding. We could designate teams for medical supplies, food, recruitment, trade. Send an expert with a protective detail, so to speak. I mean, Totten’s growing. We definitely have the population now to do something like that.”
He smiled and patted my shoulder.
I inwardly cursed.
I didn’t want to appear invested in this place, but I’d been in enough authority roles that, at times, the inclination to lead slipped out.
Dr. Okoro returned to his seat as Neal walked up to the front of the room.
Ronan remained at the table.
Neal was the only one who walked around wearing suits.
The remaining generals wore charcoal-black uniforms with silver accents; the charcoal helped to distinguish them from the Class One Elites’ matte black uniforms with black accents.
Their uniforms also had black and silver epaulets and tailored collars, carrying the air of those who never actually served in combat roles.
Neal cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, I have for you six names today,” he announced. “Please listen closely, as these names carry great significance: Sasha Brenly, Thorn Carrow, Imani Vos, Ross Mercer, Devon Brentley, and Leigh Narayan.”
My ears perked up.
If that Leigh was LaSalle’s Leigh from Sanitation, that could spell trouble for LaSalle’s loyalty to Larke.
I doubted the Totten generals would have to resort to a significant level of torture to get him to flip.
However, if I got a whiff that LaSalle intended to betray Larke, he would be better off if Cerner, Neal, and Ronan got to him first.
“These are the names of six people my team and I have tied to an unsanctioned underground rebellion here at Fort Totten.”
“Unsanctioned rebellion?” I asked. “Aren’t rebellions usually unsanctioned?”
He shot me a glare.
I smirked.
“It’s a valid question,” Cerner said, surprisingly coming to my defense. “For the sake of time, and because lunch smells heavenly, keep the pomp and circumstance out of it, Neal. Stick to the cold, hard facts.”
Neal nodded. “All right, then. The cold, hard facts are that we’ve been overhearing whispers of a rebellion, but the details were murky.
Totten is only so big, but we couldn’t pinpoint where the meetups were happening, or if they were happening at all.
Thorn Carrow was already on my radar because his scouting route didn’t align with what he reported. He regularly went off the beaten path.”
Neal glanced at me.
I knew mine didn’t match up.
And I didn’t care.
“So, I decided to start with him,” he continued.
“Now, I believe that the heart of the rebellion is tied to Sanitation. Because of that, I had someone monitor whenever Thorn and Sanitation crossed paths. By the way, Harding, in case you’ve never been there, Sanitation is where your whore used to be housed. ”
I didn’t flinch.
I barely blinked.
Neal’s power trip had gone straight to his head, but I would solve that problem for him.
With a bullet.
“What I found was that he often crossed paths with Leigh Narayan. Whenever they did, one of them would leave behind a burnt match in an ashtray. There were no cigarettes, cigars, or anything of that nature, just that lone match. We placed a tail on them, which eventually led us to their six-person meetup. When Ronan and I showed up, they were getting ready to scramble as if someone had tipped them off, but we caught them all in time.”
“And where are they now?” Cerner asked.
“In holding, waiting for the go-ahead to execute.”
“Good. I’ll go down once we’re done and give the order.”
“I could give the order.”
“Don’t overstep,” Cerner warned. “I haven’t delegated any of my power to you.”
For a while, it looked like Neal would continue the argument. But then, with a sigh and shake of his head, he returned to his seat.
It was my first time picking up on any tension between him and Cerner, but I’d paid little attention to Neal before I caught him outside Larke’s place.
At five in the morning, there was no way he didn’t know that she would have likely been asleep.
Then, there was the fact that I’d caught him looking for a key or another unauthorized entry method.
That behavior pointed to a potential violation of my woman’s privacy.
Or worse, her body.
Cerner turned to me. “Any of those names sound familiar to you, Harding?” he asked. “That last one, Leigh? Would your attorney have more information on this Leigh woman?”
“Possibly, if I choose to ask her,” I said.
“If you do, let me know.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
“Even if her life depended on it?”
“It won’t.”
I regularly disregarded hierarchies and consistently disrespected this man, yet there were never any repercussions. He treated me as if he believed upsetting me would cause an explosion. However, Larke was healthy and safe, so my revenge had become more focused. If that changed, so would I.
A server duo announced that lunch was ready. Cerner adjourned the meeting, and the group headed for the dining room.
I made my way to an empty table.
No one followed.
Lunch was only for those among the upper ranks, a total of fourteen men who didn’t include Dr. Lin or Dr. Okoro. The fourteen men had created cliques like a group of high schoolers, but they all remained perceptive enough to know to leave me the fuck alone.