Chapter Two~ The Morning After
Andre had been a mess ever since Stu died. No one could console him, not even his own mother. Not that Miya could blame him. If it had been her significant other that had been treated so brutely, then was killed and just thrown out like yesterday's garbage, she'd probably be a mess, too. They had no idea what had happened to his body. Like as not, it had actually been thrown out into the toxic nuclear wasteland that was America.
"How could he be contaminated? Stu was with me most of the time." Andre started again as they sat down to dinner the next night.
"Well," Coco started, messing with her ever more interesting hairdo. "People do weird things when their stuck inside 24/7. I've started masturbating with my off hand." Gallant barked out a laugh. He was oh-so obviously up her ass that it was obnoxious.
Miya tried to stop herself from gagging out loud, barely managing to contain her disgust. "TMI, Coco."
"Are you saying he deserved this?" Dinah asked, venom evident in her voice.
"I'm saying Stu was boring, and using up our food, and lesions won't work with my complexion."
"Fuck you! I hope they come for you next."
"No one is coming for anyone." Mead said as she and Venable entered the room. "Not unless you break the rules."
"This is a difficult time for everyone." Venable said as she tap-tap-tapped into the room. A cart with a pot was wheeled in behind her. "As a small consolation, we have a special treat." Miya took to rubbing her temples to try to alleviate her headache. The strain of reading in dim lighting was taking a toll on her eyes, and therefore, her brain. She was sitting, elbows on the table, head in her hands, when something was placed in front of her. Something that wasn't a gelatin cube. The smell hit her, causing her to jump back. There was a bowl there with some sort of stew or pot roast. Everyone was in shock. "Enjoy the bonne bouche. Don't get used to it."
"You think bribing us with a hot meal is just gonna make everything ok?"
All around the table, spoons were clinking against bowls. "I think my mouth just had an orgasm!" Coco exclaimed, eyes closed with the sheer joy that was running through her at that moment.
TMI, Coco. Miya thought to herself.
"Andre," Venable started. "We're not trying to bribe anyone. But there is something we all need to understand. There is no us and them. We are in this together. No individual is greater than the group, we did what we had to do. This is, quite simply, a tragedy."
"Where have you been hiding the fresh meat?" Dinah exclaimed.
"We have resources, for...special occasions."
Miya was suspicious. Venable's words not sitting right with her. Looking around the table, she could see that she wasn't the only one. Timothy and Emily weren't eating either. The smell, which was swirling all around her, was making her nauseous. It was too sweet to be anything she'd ever smelt before. She picked up her spoon and poked at the meat experimentally.
"I've never tasted anything like it." Gallant said around a mouthful of food. He picked something out of his mouth.
"It's chicken." Mead told them, voice sharp.
Miya looked over, seeing the white bone sitting between his fingers. "That's not a chicken bone." Timothy said quietly.
Then Andre pulled something out of his own mouth. He stared at it in horror for a moment. "Tell me this doesn't look like a finger..." Everyone stopped eating...with the exception of Evie, who didn't seem to care. "Oh, Jesus Christ!" Andre shoved himself away from the table. "The stew is Stu!" his voice had climbed several octaves as it rose in volume, disbelieving of what he had just realized.
There were sounds of gagging all around the table. Gallant actually threw up back into his bowl. Coco was telling Mallory to make her puke. Miya's hand went over her nose. That's what the smell was...cooked human meat. She had heard stories from people who had worked in the law enforcement field, police, firefighters, and the like. The way they had described the smell of burning human flesh was just like what she was smelling now as she tried not to throw up, herself. No spices could cover up the sickly-sweet scent of human meat. Swallowing down the rising gorge, she turned to Venable, who was looking bored as she gathered up a spoonful of food.
"For heavens sakes, don't be ridiculous. There are some lines that can never be crossed. Not eating people is of the first rank." Miya almost lost her bile when she watched the woman take another bite.
"I don't care what it is," Evie said. "It's absolutely divine! And it's full of fiber! And I am going to finish every last drop."
Miya was doing her best not to heave, slowly backing away from the table. Her heels clicking on the stone floor brought Mead's attention to her. "Where are you going?"
"I..." she gulped. "I don't feel very well. I think I'm going to go lie down."
"Nonsense," Venable sneered at her. "After dinner socialization is mandatory. Keeping to one's self all the time is not good for the psyche."
Once dinner was over and they had retired to the library, Miya was once again by the fire with a book, this time one that she had found amongst the rows and rows that stretched all around them. But she found that Hawthorn's 'The New Adam and Eve' did not hold her focus. Her stomach was still churning as she listened to Andre and the others argue about the food. She vaguely heard Dinah say something about how Venable wouldn't have kept eating if it was Stu, considering he was irradiated. Andre's wailing about wanting to see Stu's body was grating to the ears, causing Miya's sensory issues kick up and making her cover them.
"Shut up." Emily said, then shouted, "Shut up! Just listen."
Everyone stopped, with the exception of Andre, who was still sobbing.
"I don't hear anything." Gallant drawled.
"Exactly..." Emily wasn't looking at anything in particular as she stated, "The song stopped."
For a moment, the all listened. Miya sat up, realizing she was right, just as the radio made a strange crackling sound. A different song intro from the one they'd been listening to forever started up.
"It's been the same song for two straight weeks," the hairdresser shot to his feet. "Why would they suddenly change it?" He started singing along to the tune haltingly. Something about a morning after, holding on. "Don't you get it?! It's a message! Ah!" He moved his hands from his face, arms wide as he began to sing again. "Let's keep on looking for the liiiiight." He suddenly punched the air. "The Cooperative is trying to tell us something!"
Emily turned to the others. "They're saying, 'Hang on. We're coming for you'."
"We're gonna be rescued!" Mallory grinned.
There were exclamations of excitement and relief all around. "Yes! The Cooperative is coming for us! Halle-fucking-luja!"
)0(
Yes, the morning after...
Which was exactly like the previous one.
Every. Day.
For the first week or so, everyone was so excited, packing up what they thought they'd need. Miya had spent hour after hour repacking her suitcase, trying to make the books fit the way they had when she first came. She tried to figure out how she was going to take the clothes that had been provided for her, but she didn't have a bag big enough to contain the voluminous skirts and petticoats. Eventually, someone knocked on her door. Mead was standing there with the Fist (Miya had come to find her name was Anna), who was carrying an old steamer trunk.
"Ms. Mead, you are a lifesaver!" Miya told her, gesturing for them to come in. When the Fist set the trunk down, Miya was quick to throw her arms around her. She was still giddy at the idea of being rescued that her normal reservations were gone with the wind.
Anna chuckled and patted her back. "We found it in one of the storage rooms. It had some men's clothes in it. Nice ones, by the look of them. But we figured you would need it more than whoever originally used it."
"Thank you. I don't think that I'd be able to take any of the dresses. Even if I did leave all my books here." She rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably in the outfit she was wearing. "Not that it wouldn't be fan-fucking-tastic to leave them behind."
"Well, now," Mead chortled. "Can't leave all these precious treasures here, can we? You never know when you need to dress all spiffy."
"Pfft," Miya blew a raspberry. "If I never have to look at another purple dress again, it'll be too soon."
)0(
The second week, they started to get a little apprehensive. Maybe it was just taking a while because they were somewhere far away, across the country, even. And they knew that most vehicles had been rendered inert by the blast, so they were probably in carriages. The group filled the time with excited chatter about what they would do when they were around other people.
"I swear," Coco huffed, "The first available straight guy I see, I'm jumping his bones. I am so fucking horny!" Everyone else just chuckled at her antics. Even Miya joined in the revelry. At least, until Coco turned on her. "What about you, bookworm?"
"What about me what?"
"You were single before all of this started, right?"
"Yeees?" the brunette quirked an eyebrow at her. "Why is that important?"
"Well, none of us have had a good dicking in weeks, for a bunch of reasons."
"Chief among them being that it's against the rules," Miya rolled her eyes.
"And everyone is either taken, mourning, gay, or too old." Coco continued, ticking off reasons with her fingers. "Anyway, my point is, aren't you going to try and find some hottie to get down and dirty with?"
With a sigh, Miya closed her book, keeping the place with her finger. "I told Venable this when I first got here, and now I'm telling you. I have no interest in getting into bed with some rich snob, even if only for a bit of relief from sexual frustration."
"Aha!" the heiress waggled her eyebrows at her. "So, you are sexually frustrated. And here I thought you were asexual or something. I don't know, maybe there's a nice Grey for you to fool around with. Lord knows you probably couldn't hook another Purple anyway."
Miya gave her a bored look. "My sexuality and sex life are none of your business, Coco. Just like it's nobody else's how you masturbate. No one wants to know that. And, anyway, what makes you think I couldn't?"
"Well, I mean, with your attitude, first of all."
Evie piped up, "And then there's the fact of those unsightly inks you've marked your body with. No man of good breeding in their right mind would ever associate themselves with someone who had disfigured themselves so. Your body is a temple, darling. Act like it."
Oh, if looks could kill. Evie would have been dead a thousand times over. "My body is a temple," she repeated. "Yes. And I am the goddess to which it is dedicated. Do not presume to tell me how to decorate my alter." With that, she shoved herself to her feet and stalked out of the room, leaving everyone gaping at her.
)0(
Tensions ran even higher the longer they waited. Several times over the coming months, Coco and Miya had been at each other's throats. Barbed words were thrown back and forth, glares and even a slap at one point. On Miya's side. Coco had insinuated something about her family life from before The End, saying that she probably had a horrible relationship with her family because she was such a whore, which caused Miya's hand to connect with her cheek. The strike had echoed around the stone walls and floors. Miya had stepped forward, hissing to the young woman to never open her mouth about something she doesn't understand, before turning away and stomping up the circular stairs to the upper levels of the library.
)0(
Before they knew it, a year and a half had passed. Miya was sitting in her normal chair, open book in her laying limp in her lap, with her head lolling against the back of the chair. Her bleary eyes were staring, unfocused, into the fire beside her. Everyone was just sitting around the room, not talking, hardly able to think as 'The Morning After' continued to play over and over and over again. Her head was fuzzy from starvation. Yes, the cubes had enough nutrients to keep them alive, but they had next to no calories, meaning that they were all, essentially, wasting away. Miya, who had been a bit on the heavier side, thick, as some would say, was now a startling 117 lbs the last time she weighed herself. Way down from her original 185. She was a shadow of her former self. Her cheeks were hallowed, her eyes sunken with dark circles ringing them. Every day when she undressed for bed, she would run her fingers over her ribs, counting them. Eventually, her hands began to stray farther down towards her hips. There were hallows and dips where there had not been before. Her muffin top had slowly disappeared, giving way to sharp ridges where her bones poked through. The only light in their dark world was the fact that Timothy and Emily had taken up a relationship. In Miya's mind, it was good that at least someone was finding some happiness in this fucked up situation they called life.
"Maybe it's time to start eating someone." Miya's spotty attention was pulled to Gallant's slumped form on the couch. None of them were fairing much better than she was. They were probably worse, in fact, considering they were all thinner than her to begin with.
"Or maybe just, like, an arm," Coco drawled in a dazed state. Miya, for her part, tried to chuckle. It came out more like a groan.
The next day, when the bell was rung for their meal, they all trudged into the dining room. They settled in, the plates set in front of them by Greys that were just as downtrodden as the Purples. Miya stared at the half a cube of gelatin sitting on the dish before her.
The sharp tap of Venable's cane on the stone floor gained their attention.
"I have an announcement. This will be our last breakfast together." Miya dared to let herself hope for the half second before the stern woman spoke again. "We're cutting back to one meal a day."
There were groans all around the table. "You've gotta be kidding!" Coco lamented.
"An effective dieting technique." Evie smirked. Miya had a sneaking suspicion that the old woman had been one of those to eat almost nothing, and then purge what little she did.
"Yeah, so is starving to death!"
Gallant put a hand over Coco's, trying to calm her. "How are we supposed to survive on half a cube?" The question was directed at their warden.
"It's not optimal...but also not impossible." Venable sighed. "Either way, we have no choice. Not if we want to keep eating at all."
There was silence for a long moment, everyone stuck in their own heads, wallowing in misery, until Gallant shouted, "I fucking can't do this anymore!"
"We don't know how strong we are," Dinah started, standing from her seat shakily, "until we have to face adversity. This could be a chance for all of us to grow-"
"You finish that bumper sticker shit you used to say on your show, and I'm strong enough to shove this fork in your neck!"
Miya couldn't take it. Her head was spinning, stomach churning. The ringing in her ears began to drown out everything. Someone threw a plate against a wall. Miya cried out in surprise and ducked her head, covering it with her arms to shield herself. Suddenly, she was ten years old again and cowering from her father. He had taken to destroying her mother's heirloom dishes during his drunken rages. If she tried to stop him at all, she would end up with another stripe or two along her back, so she was forced to watch and cry as some of the only things she had left of her mother were thrown one by one against a wall, or smashed against a table, or stepped on. Those were the dishes she was supposed to get when she moved out and started a family of her own. Her breath stuck in her throat, choking her as she tried in vain to breathe around the lump that had formed as tears leaked down her face.
An alarm blaring brought her out of the memory. Her head slowly lifted, taking in the scene that was bathed in a flickering red light. Gallant was halfway across the room, with Anna standing near him with a gun in her hand.
"Perimeter alert. There's been a breech." The Fist noted as she looked around.
All of them were shuffled off to their rooms. Mead had been the one to help Miya, seeing that she was not so steady on her legs. Once she had her in the room and set down on the bed, she told her to stay put and hurried to find the Fist so they could check the perimeter. She sat there, bleary eyed and confused. After a while, she managed to make herself move to her desk, pulling open the bottom drawer and taking out the notebook she had managed to bring along. It was a pretty book, varying shades of blue and gold with a tree on the front and back. The edges were gold and it had a ribbon that held its place. She pulled on said ribbon, opening it up to her page. She had taken to writing something down every day, even if it was just one sentence, so she could keep up with the days.
Day 568~
Something happened. I'm not sure what. Venable was telling us that we would only be getting half a cube a day now, then everyone started arguing. Suddenly, the alarm went off. Someone is here. But who? Is it a roving band of cannibals that Venable keeps telling us about? Is it finally someone from the Cooperative coming to help us? Hopefully I find out before I die.
She sighed heavily as she sat back, trying to clear her foggy brain. If it was someone from the Cooperative, surely, they would bring food with them. They had to know what was going on after so long. They had to know that the people they had kept alive were starving to death. But if it were cannibals...it wouldn't matter. Unless the guards were more well fed than the rest of them, they couldn't hold off a large number of marauders. Miya stifled a sob, hand going over her mouth to muffle the cry. Hot, fat tears began to leak from her eyes, streaking down her face in rivulets. They were all going to die. More than likely sooner rather than later. After a year and a half with no word whatsoever from the people responsible for them surviving , how could any of them have hope that someone was coming now? Choking back her tears, Miya forced herself to breathe. It was hard, considering her throat felt like it was in a vice grip.
In her misery, she almost didn't feel it.
The presence.
It was strong enough to nearly halt her sobs in their place, making her head shoot up and look around the room, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It was moving...through the Outpost. She heard voices in the hall, Mead, and someone else. Someone new. Maybe it was one of the male guards she hadn't met yet. Probably not. When you are in a confined area with people for so long, you tend to learn the company. Miya surged to her feet, stumbling into the nightstand. Once she managed to right herself, she realized the presence was getting farther and farther away. A few quick, unsteady steps to the door and she flung it open.
No one was there.
She couldn't hide the disappointment on her face, not that there was anyone around to see it. So, she just closed the door and sat down on her bed again. Some time later, after she had inevitably laid down but hadn't been able to sleep, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called, trying to sit up.
The door opened to reveal Mead standing in the doorway. When she saw Miya struggling to lift yourself, whatever she was about to say died on her lips and she rushed forward to help her. "Oh, my dear girl. Look at you. You're wasting away. Why is this affecting you so much more than anyone else?" She maneuvered Miya so that her feet were on the floor, keeping a hand on her shoulders. "The others at least have a little fight left in them."
"I don't know. Maybe because I was always bigger...my body isn't used to having some sort of nourishment for so long. The others all look like they didn't eat much in the first place."
"Be that as it may, that still doesn't explain why you seem to be fading so much faster than the others. Have you had your monthly yet?"
Miya snorted. Mead rolled her eyes. She knew that the younger woman's periods were harsh to say the least. They were unpredictable, sometimes coming twice a month, and sometimes not at all. And then there was the pain. Having polycystic ovarian syndrome was a bitch when there weren't any means to alleviate it. Before, she had been on birth control to help keep it in check, keep her periods on a schedule, but even that only helped so much. And now, with no access to hormonal birth control, Miya's periods would border on hemorrhaging with how much she bled. It was the only time that Venable would excuse her from socializing. To be fair, the only reason the warden did allow her to stay in her room was because Miya had literally bled through her tampon, underwear, and dress, which ended up staining the cushion of her chair by the fire. They hadn't been able to get the stain out, so they ended up just flipping the cushion to the other side so it wasn't visible. Now, to keep her from making any more messes, she was allowed to stay in her room, tampon and pad, as well as a towel to keep the bed clean while she lay there essentially dying. She was excused from having to wear any of the nice dresses when she did venture out, which wasn't often, usually just going to the library to find a book out of boredom.
"It started two days ago. I haven't had one in nearly two months, so this one is bad."
"That might be why, then. You're suffering from the blood loss." The older woman looked her over. "Hopefully we'll be able to find something to help with all that."
"Ms. Mead...it's been over a year. I think we would have found something by now." Mead's lips pursed, but Miya wasn't going to let her keep distracting her. "What happened? Was it a person this time? Multiple? Was it someone who survived the blast?"
"Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, there, missy." Once Miya had taken a breath, Mead grabbed the chair from her desk and brought it closer so that she could sit in front of the younger woman. "Someone made it through the perimeter." Miya perked up a little. "Someone from the Cooperative. Something Langdon. He's high up, if his security clearance is anything to go by."
"Well, why is he here?"
"Don't know. All I know, is that you need to be careful. He's with Ms. Venable right now, hopefully talking about how to get us out of this shithole." Miya swayed, which made Mead grab her shoulders to keep her from falling over, eyes softening. "And maybe he'll have something to help you feel better."
"Here's hoping."
)0(
Breakfast the next morning was strange. Timothy and Emily had told them all about the snakes that had shown up in the dark-skinned woman's room. As such, they were all tense with anticipation at the idea of actually knowing where their food was coming from this time. All except Miya. She was sitting in her seat, teeth clenched as she tried not to vomit at the idea of what was on the menu that night. As the dinner cart was wheeled in, Coco decided she had to speak up.
"I have a rule about eating things with no legs or too many legs."
"Oh, but you're fine eating something with two legs." Andre snarled at her.
"For the last time," Gallant came to his client's defense, "We did not eat your boyfriend." The other man simply flipped him the bird and turned away.
"Eat it or don't." Mead said darkly. "No one's gonna force it down you."
Dinah sighed. "Adversity makes strange bedfellows." She glanced at her son. "And worse dinner companions."
"God, what are you?" Miya finally snapped, slamming her hand on the table. "A fucking fortune cookie? Can you please stop with the stupid inspirational fucking quotes?! We get it, you're trying to find the light in a bad situation. But we are all tired of hearing that shit."
"All I'm saying," the ex-talkshow host glared daggers at her, "is that it's food, and we are starving. We should be grateful for the fruits of the earth."
"And I whole-heartedly agree with you," Miya spat. "But that doesn't mean any of us want to hear your New Agey, hoity toity bullshit. You could just say, 'thank god, food.' And be done with it."
"You know," Evie broke in, even though she was thoroughly enjoying the drama, "steamed snake soup is actually quite delicious. It was the centerpiece of a dinner that I attended at the Royal Court in Kuala Lumpur with Fina Lolabrigida."
While there were awkward chuckles around the table, Miya was completely unimpressed with Evie's preening. "No one cares where you ate it or who you ate it with." She rolled her eyes as the bowl was set before her. Her stomach churned at the thought of having real food for the first time in over a year and a half. She was equal parts excited that it was actually there, but was having to fight her brain as to what it actually was.
"So, who's in your office?" Emily finally broke in, turning to Venable.
The warden, who had been playing with one of her earrings, suddenly stopped, obviously not expecting the question. "I beg your pardon?"
"The alarms went off before." Emily refreshed their memory. "Someone came inside."
Miya saw the way that Venable and Mead shared a look. She knew the reason why. She knew generally who was in her office. She had the feeling that Venable felt threatened by this newcomer, if he was of a higher rank then her.
"Who else is here?" Timothy pressed.
"All questions will be answered in due course." She tapped her cane. "Eat." The order came out forced.
With trepidation, Miya, as well as everyone else, lifted the lids to their bowls. A scream ripped itself from her throat as she shoved herself back out of her chair, falling on her ass in her haste to get away from the hissing, slithering nope ropes that were suddenly very much alive. Her dress got caught on her heels as she scrambled backwards, trying in vain to get as far away from the snakes as she could. How was this possible? They were literally dead and chopped up when the Greys put them into the bowls. And there was no time or ability to swap the bowls as they were immediately placed in front of them once filled. Then there was the looks on Venable and Mead's faces. Venable had actually managed to get herself away from the table, while Mead just looked on in shock before she shot up into action. She, the Fist, and several of the Greys rushed to wrangle and kill as many of the snakes as they could find.
Once everything had calmed down a bit, Mead was quick to sweep the evidence away, running the Greys out with the pot of now actually dead snakes to be taken away and disposed of properly. Miya was still on the ground, shaking so harshly that her teeth rattled in her head. Speaking of her head, it was more fuzzy than usual, the room spinning in front of her. Someone was in kneeling beside her, trying to get her to look at them through glazed, teary eyes. She only barely managed to make out pale white hair when her world went dark and she collapsed back onto the ground. Gallant was quick to catch her so she didn't hit her head.
"Hey! Can we get some help over here?!" he hollered, bringing everyone's attention to the woman that now lie still as death on the floor. Two of the male Greys rushed forward, only to stop and look to Venable when they got to the pair.
She was seething. "Get her out of here. Take her to her room." One Grey grabbed her under the armpits, while the other picked up her feet. Gallant made a point of glaring at their warden before following them out. "Everyone else out!" Venable spat, causing the remaining people to run out of the room.
)0(
Miya came to from the feeling of something cool on her face. Her breath hitched ever so slightly, letting the other people in the room know that she was finally waking up. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, then opened the slightest bit. The world around her was fuzzy. She couldn't see anything clearly. She moaned, moving away from the hand that was running a cloth over her face.
"What happened?"
"You passed out." Mallory's voice was directly to her left, where the sound of dripping water met her ears. The cloth was then set to her barely exposed neck. "How are you feeling?"
"Like hammered dog shit." She answered weakly. "Why the hell can't I see?!"
"Oh!" A male rushed forward. "Here. We took them off so they wouldn't break when you moved."
Miya took her glasses from Gallant and shoved them onto her face, sighing when everything finally came back into focus. "How long was I out?"
"Couple hours, not really sure." The hairdresser told her. "Are...are you afraid of snakes?"
The question startled both women, causing them to turn to him in surprise. "Yeah..." Miya answered honestly. "Deathly."
"Why? I mean, I know they're all slithery and creepy. But why are you so afraid that you passed out?"
"I don't think it was just the snakes." Another voice made them jump. Mead was standing in the open doorway. A soft look came over her face that the others had never seen. "Pretty sure the sudden spike in your heartrate and blood pressure from the fear is what caused it."
"Her heart was racing." Mallory agreed.
"That's what I thought." Mead took a couple steps across the room and sat on the edge of her bed. The older woman took her wrist between her fingers and they all waited while she counted the beats while looking at her watch. "Still pretty high. You need to rest up. Ms. Venable has called a meeting for tomorrow evening after dinner."
"Will we finally find out what the hell's been going on?" Gallant rolled his eyes.
"Like she said," Mead shot him a look, "All questions will be answered in time. For now, why don't you both let Miya have her rest." Her tone left no room for argument. As such, the other two left, Mallory giving her a hug before doing so. Once they had both left and the door was closed tightly, Miya turned to her elder friend.
"What the hell happened? We all saw the chopped-up pieces go into the bowls. How the fuck-"
"I don't know. All I know is that something weird is going on and we need to be vigilant. Keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. Here," Mead pulled something from her coat pocket, handing it to the younger woman. "It's not much, but it's something. You need to keep your strength up."
Miya smiled at the protein bar that had been placed in her hand. "Where'd you find this?"
"In the storage room when we were counting cubes. It seems someone was able to squirrel some away. There isn't many, but what there is will keep you from dying on me." Mead's lips quirked up at the edges, a motherly look in her eye. She leaned forward to cup Miya's cheek. "You're gonna get through this. I'll make sure of it."
"Thank you," Miya whispered, eyes brimming with tears.
)0(
No one said anything at dinner the next night. Whatever had happened in the time that she had dissociated, along with the events of the previous meal, had sent them into a quiet, contemplative silence. Miya picked at her half a cube, unable to really eat anything because of the stress causing her to be even more nauseous than usual. It seemed everyone else was in similar states of unease. Once they had all managed to choke down the little bit of nutrition they were able to get, they all made their way to the library. Miya had started to take up her usual spot by the fire, but the look Venable gave her as she stood before it sent her scurrying to find another seat. There were none, but Timothy was kind enough to vacate his seat so she could sit at one end of the couch, not having to stand on unsteady feet. Even the Greys were all in attendance, standing around the balcony and main floor like silent guardians.
Footsteps echoed on the stone floor, coming from the hallway. Everyone turned to face the newcomer. He was tall, at least, he seemed tall from where Miya was sitting. The black turtleneck and suit he wore was offset by the long, wavy blonde locks that hung to just past his shoulders. As he got closer and rounded the back of the couch she was sitting on, she could see his icy blue eyes accentuated by the slightest bit of red on the inside corners. Those glacial irises met hers and pinned her in place, breath catching in her throat. He passed her, finally breaking the contact which had left her confused. He came to stand beside Venable, watching her for a moment. Eventually, she turned to him, tight smile on her face. Until she read his expression, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Her smile vanished; her head bowed a bit as she ceded the spot to him, making her way to stand beside Mead.
"My name is Langdon, and I represent the Cooperative." He spoke finally. The man's voice rang in Miya's ears. Something about it, something about him was so familiar. But...she knew there was no way she'd ever met him before. Surely, she would remember meeting someone so domineering. His very presence was enough to make her shiver. "I won't sugarcoat the situation." He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each and every one of them as he spoke. "Humanity is on the brink of failure." Miya wasn't surprised. She didn't think any of the others were either. They had known how the world had gone to hell in a handbasket thanks to Venable constantly using the outside world as a threat to keep them from misbehaving. "My arrival here was crucial to the survival of civilized life on Earth. The three other compounds in Syracuse, New York, Beckley, West Virginia, and San Angelo, Texas have been overrun and destroyed. We've had no contact from the six international outposts, but we are assuming that they, too, have been eliminated."
"What happened to the people inside?" Timothy's question was the same that was on all their minds.
It took half a second for Langdon to answer as he turned to the young man. "Massacred." He told them simply. "The same fate that will befall almost all of you."
"Almost all?" Mallory spoke up, earning her a glare from Venable. Greys were supposed to be quiet. They did all their work in near silence, and were not supposed to speak to anyone above them without being spoken to first.
A small smile broke over Langdon's face. "In the knowledge that this very moment might occur, we built a failsafe...The Sanctuary."
"The Sanctuary?" Coco scoffed.
Sanctuary. Please give us sanctuary. The old scene from the animated Hunchback of Notre Dame played in her head, unbidden. They were all gypsies at this point, begging for safety in this cruel new world.
"The Sanctuary is unique." Langdon told them. "It has certain security measures that will prevent overrun."
That statement didn't sit right with Miya. And apparently it didn't with someone else, either.
"Excuse me, sir," Mead took a small step forward to gain his attention. "What measures? Why weren't we given them?"
"That's classified." He waved her off. Those two words sent bile into Miya's mouth. Something was off here. "All that matters is that the Sanctuary will...survive. So, the people populating it will survive. So, humanity will survive."
"Who are the people populating it?" There was something in Andre's voice that made Miya's skin crawl. It was breathy, like he wasn't getting enough air. Oh, God...Andre was trying to flirt with Langdon.
"Also classified." Langdon answered sharply, causing Andre to rear back a bit. Miya tried hard not to snicker at the rebuff. Once again, his eyes met each of theirs in turn. "However, I have been sent to determine if any of you are worthy and fit to join us."
Miya perked up, as did everyone else. The others started whispering among themselves, even the Greys. Though, even in her fuzzy head, she realized that he had said 'if'. Meaning there was a chance that someone might not be. "The Cooperative has developed a particular and rigorous questioning technique we like to call... 'Cooperating'." Miya rolled her eyes, something that it seemed was not missed by the man before them. He held her eyes as he continued. "I will then use the information gained to determine if you belong."
"What is this?" Coco spoke. Honestly, Miya was surprised it had taken her this long. "The Hunger Games? This is bullshit. I paid my way in here and that is the only cooperating I plan on doing."
Langdon's eyes finally drifted from hers, landing on the heiress. "You don't have to sit for questioning." He told her softly.
"What happens if we choose not to?" Andre asked hesitantly.
"Then you stay here and die." The man's voice rose slightly, threateningly.
There was a silence for a beat, before Gallant raised his hand. "I volunteer to go first."
"And so you shall." Langdon sounded bored. "The process should only take me a couple of days, so you won't be kept waiting in suspense forever. For those of you who don't make the cut, all is not lost." He pulled something from his inner coat pocket. "If the worst should happen and feral cannibals come knocking," he raised a vial with little white capsules in it, "down one of these. One minute later, you fall asleep and never wake up." A sinister smile broke across his face, as if the idea of them dying amused him. "I look forward to meeting each and every one of you."
With that, the man turned to the side and made his way out of the room. Miya's eyes followed him, but he didn't look back at any of them as he continued on his way. There was something about him... The tap of Venable's cane brought her out of her thoughts. At the sound, all of the Greys turned and left, going back to their work. Venable, Mead, and the Fist moved to leave, too. Mead stopped beside her.
"You ok?" Miya nodded. "Ok. I'll come check on you later." She patted the young woman's shoulder and followed her boss.
"Well," Coco sneered at Gallant as he put his glasses back on. "Smooth move, asking to go first."
"There's an old actor's adage. Either go first...or go last." Evie told them all, Dinah nodding along.
"You're not going anywhere." Miya was getting extremely tired of Coco's voice, moving to lift herself from the seat and go back to her chair by the fire. She was suddenly freezing for some reason.
"Are you suggesting he's going to pass me up?" Evie flicked her fan.
"Evie, don't even get her started," Miya said as she settled back in her usual chair.
"You're ancient!" The statement made the old woman blanch. "He's looking for people to repopulate the Earth, not fill a bingo hall."
"You know, for someone with the mental capacity of a three-year-old, I suppose fifty-two might seem ancient."
"There is no way in hell you are only fifty-two!" Miya snorted at the absurdity of the statement.
"She's right," Coco's words startled her. "Shut up, I know. Don't get used to it. Anyway..." she turned back to Gallant's grandmother. "You were fifty-two when Elvis took his last shit."
"Come on, enough," Gallant finally tried to end the argument.
"Oh, let her spout. I remember a wonderful lunch that I had at Dan Tana's with Natalie Wood. Natalie turned to me and she said, 'Evie, you are a survivor. You are going to outlive us all.' And dear Natalie...she turned out to be right." The snap of her fan was sharp on Miya's ears.
"Look, can we please just not do this?" she asked, a slight whine to her voice. "Something tells me he's just trying to pit us against each other. Like this is some sick game to him."
"That's rich, coming from you, bookworm." Coco snarked. "Didn't you say yourself that you wouldn't be shacking up with any snobs? Well, guess what, girlfriend. That's pretty much all you're gonna be surrounded by if you even get to the Sanctuary. I highly doubt Langdon's gonna pass up someone who actually deserves to be here if it means some lowlife bitch is the only other choice."
"Yes, Coco, someone who actually deserves to be here. Not some stuck up, bratty daddy's girl who makes other people do her dirty work because she can't be bothered to mess up her pretty little manicure. I'm not saying that I do deserve to be here, but I deserve it a lot more that you. At least I read."
"Who the hell needs a book when you've got a phone?"
"Coco...do you see any phones around here? Even if you did, do you really think they'd work right now? There's no infrastructure to keep the internet up, and no one to post anything to keep you busy. Besides, you'd be surprised what books can teach you."
"Right, like that book you loaned Gallant?" the heiress snorted. "Unless you're trying to get into BDSM, there's no point in it. And besides, Fifty Shades of Grey would have been a waaay better choice for that."
Miya gave her a deadpan look. "Thinking that Fifty Shades of Grey is an accurate representation of the BDSM community is like saying you're a witch because you watched Hocus Pocus once." Putting an air of Shakespearian acting to her voice, she gestured with her hand, "Dost thou comprehend?"
"Don't speak fucking Latin at me!"
"It's not Latin, you uneducated swine. It's English. Old English, granted, but still. You'd know that if you ever actually paid attention in school. And no, studying boys does not count as extra credit."
Coco surged to her feet, taking a few steps toward her, only to be stopped by Timothy. "Alright, alright, that's enough. Look, we're all nervous, we're all worried. But that doesn't mean we can just throw insults back and forth and think we're going to get anywhere. We need to figure out a way to survive, that's it. The more the better. It doesn't matter if we like each other."
Coco huffed, spun around on her heel and stomped away. Miya was grinning for the first time in a while when Timothy turned to her. "What?"
"You didn't have to rile her up like that."
"She didn't have to be a bitch, but here we are. I'm tired of her shit." Shakily standing, Miya made her way to her room, hoping that some more rest would make her feel a little better. She had snagged a glass of mineral water on her way, drinking it down in an effort to fill her belly even just a little.
)0(
"So," Langdon jumped to his feet from the chair by the fireplace in Venable's office. "Who deserves a chance at salvation?!" He crossed the room in a few long strides, picking up a file from his pile. "How about..." he threw it back down on the desk, "Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt?"
Venable sighed. "The Vanderbilt girl is a vacuous abomination of inbreeding. She'd be my last choice to propagate the human race." Langdon's chin rose a bit, contemplating what she was saying. "The hairdresser is a cowardly homosexual. His grandmother is a festering pustule who just will. Not. Die." Each word was punctuated with a tap of her cane. "The talk show host...well, actually, I don't know much about that one. As for her son," she huffed out a wry laugh, "if he were any more of an emotional wreck, he'd be a ten-car pile-up on the freeway with semi hauling gasoline at the center of it. The only ones that I would have any faith in are the two that were sent here because of their DNA. They are relatively smart, fit and attractive. They would make strong candidates for procreation." She hesitated. "If they could keep themselves out of trouble long enough for the girl to carry to term."
"What about the other one? The other girl I saw in the room. The one who looked like she was about to pass out." There was a strange edge to his voice.
"That would be Miya Johnston. She came to us via a sponsor. Someone in the Cooperative made sure she got here in time to survive. Why? I have no idea. She's intelligent enough, I suppose, but she never went to college and her grades in school her average at best. Her family is of no regard, being lower class, under the poverty level for their area of living. She was barely scraping by as a waitress from what I have come to understand. How she could have possibly come across a member of the Cooperative, I couldn't tell you."
"Besides all that, what can you tell me about her health?"
Venable narrowed her eyes. "Why is that relevant?"
"Humor me." Langdon's face gave no room for argument.
"She was overweight when she first came here. For her height and build she should have been about 145 pounds, give or take. And yet, she was creeping up on 200. Her asthma has made it difficult for her to do much more than simply walking from her room to the library, where she spends all her time reading. Granted, I do approve of her studious nature. However, in her time here, she has lost so much weight in comparison to the others that it is staggering."
"Why has she lost so much weight? The poor girl looked like a strong wind would blow her away."
"That I cannot tell you. With the exception of heavy periods, there is nothing wrong with the girl."
"What of her PCOS? I've heard it can be quite painful. What have you done to ease it?"
"Ease it? Why in the world would we do that? It's not life threatening. The only thing I can think that it would affect is her ability to reproduce, therefore she, too, would be an ill candidate for the Sanctuary."
"At this rate, it sounds like you and I would have the Sanctuary all to ourselves." Venable perked up at those words. He watched her face, a smile breaking across his. "Come," he got to his feet again, moving toward her. "There is no need for us to be adversaries, Ms. Venable." They were face to face, so close they could almost feel the heat from the other. "Take off your dress."
The words shocked Venable to near speechlessness. "I will not!" She laughed in his face at the absurdity of his request.
He just tilted his head. "Part of your cooperation includes a physical examination."
"You can read my file!" she protested.
"Your file won't show me what I need to see. Your shame." The words themselves were like knives, even with the honeyed tone he spoke with. He began to circle her, bringing one hand from her wrist to her shoulder. "I want to see that part of you that humiliates you the most." Her hand shot up, nails digging into the skin of his where it had come to rest. His other hand laid on her opposite shoulder as he came closer to her ear. "You won't get a second chance." Venable met his gaze and, seeing that he was serious, released his hand as she turned her face forward as to not see his. She could hear the zipper of her dress being pulled down, breaths coming more and more shakily. Once her back was exposed to the chilled air of the room, she shuddered. His warm, almost too hot, fingers ran along her crooked spine. "Does it hurt?" he asked as he followed the abnormal curve.
"No," she said stiffly, eyes brimming with tears.
He came back to her side, breath warm on her cheek. "But does it bring you great pain?"
Venable managed to suppress her gasping breaths. "Yes." Slowly, she turned, noticing that he was much closer than before. "Is this part of my test?"
His brows scrunched. "Isn't everything?"
"So, then," her eyes drifted over his face, landing on his lips as he drew ever nearer. "Do I pass?" her voice came out as no more than a whisper.
He was a hair's breath away from her lips when he cocked his head. "No." Her breath hitched, eyes going wide as he pulled away with a smirk on his face. A booming knock startled the woman who now had tears running down her face in single tracts. "Yes?" Langdon called.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to-" Mead opened the door wide, stopping when she saw the position they were in, "interrupt. I need Ms. Venable."
The woman in question inhaled shakily, steeling herself. "Good evening, Mr. Langdon." And with that, she tap, tap, tapped her way out of the room.
"I'm finished with interviews for today. Send in Miss Vanderbilt first tomorrow." He called after her.
She stopped only momentarily, long enough to turn her head and nod once, before continuing.
Mead stood there a moment longer, glaring at him. "Sir." And then she, too, was gone.
Langdon couldn't help the grin that spread over his face. Oh, yes. Everything was going swimmingly.
)0(
A knock at her door two days later brought her out of her doodling. Miya had been writing down the goings on of the last few days, and ended up absentmindedly drawing five-pointed stars on the page. "Come in," she called, closing the book with her pen in between the pages.
"Hey, girly." Mead entered the room. "How ya feeling?"
"Been better, been worse. Can't really complain." She shrugged.
Mead's chuckle made her smile. "Sure, you can. You're probably the only one who doesn't complain on a regular basis. Here," she handed Miya another protein bar.
"Ms. Mead, I can't keep taking these. The other need them, too."
"Oh, hush and just eat the damn thing. The others are fine. They aren't the ones wasting away to nothing. Besides, you need as much of your strength as you can get. Langdon says it's your turn for an interview."
Miya's breathing hitched. "Who else is left?"
Mead shook her head. "Just you. He's already talked to Gallant twice, and everyone else once." The older woman looked her over. "Do you want me to bring Gallant in to do something with your hair real quick? You look a mess. What did you do, just now get up?"
"Middle of my period, remember? So, basically, yeah." Miya sighed in resignation. "I guess I could let Gallant mess with my hair this once." That was a bit of a fib, Gallant had come in and played with her mahogany locks a couple of different times when they had nothing else to do. There was only so much he could do with Coco's before he killed it from over brushing or something. With a nod, Mead stepped out. A few minutes later, she returned with the hairdresser.
"Alright, sweetie!" He clapped and spun a pair of scissors around his fingers. He was pretty upbeat for someone who's grandmother had just kicked the bucket. "What are we thinking? Up? Down? Curled? Straight?"
"How 'bout something quick?" Mead told him sharply. "Don't need to keep Mr. Langdon waiting any more than we already have."
Gallant rolled his eyes. "Fine. How about...a nice little French braid, hm? Maybe add a bun? Get your hair off your neck to keep you from sweating, but frame your face with a couple little strands here and there? Do we have time for that?" he asked Mead with sarcasm in his tone.
"If you can do it quickly." Mead went to sit on the young woman's bed, keeping watch and waiting for them to be done.
Gallant made a face at her, but went right to work easing the knots out of Miya's hair. "Gah, how does your hair get so messed up?"
"I toss and turn a lot when I'm in pain," she said bluntly.
"Mm." He hummed noncommittally as he began parting her hair.
It was nice, having someone play with her hair, even if it was for something as stressful as an interview for her life. Miya's eyes slid shut at the feeling of his fingers working through the strands. Every little pull on her locks as he braided them into place pulled her deeper and deeper into a memory. Someone else playing with her hair, someone dear to her. They would run their fingers through it, and then pull it playfully. Or not so playfully... The thought made her inhale sharply, which caused both of them stop talking and look at her. She hadn't even heard them. She shook her head as much as possible without messing up Gallant's progress and settled back into her chair, letting him finish. Once he had, he patted her shoulder so that she could open her eyes again and look. The person looking back at her in the mirror was a stranger. Not in a good way. Not in a 'Oh, my god, look how beautiful' way. But in an 'Oh, God, who the hell dug up a mummy?' way. Her face was slimmer than it had ever been, cheekbones sharp against her skin, eyes sunken with dark circles marring the once vibrant green of her irises.
"Ok..." she muttered to herself. "Time to enter the lion's den."
)0(
A/N: Hello, my dears! I'm back again. This one is ever so slightly shorter than the others, by like 600 words. I would love for some feedback. So, Read and Review, my lovelies.
Ta-ta
AcaciaDawn
