Chapter 36

The admin office was in a unit plastered with posters about events, rules and meal timings. She spotted one poster right on the door about the forum tonight, complete with a sketch of the stars and stripes. This had to be the place.

Inside were several people sitting at desks, scribbling in books or tapping away at typewriters. It looked like they were doing things the old-fashioned way, which made sense given how scarce modern working technology was these days.

Jess was standing close to the door, popping a folder into a filing cabinet, when she noticed Grace walk in.

"Hey," she said brightly. "How's the first day going?"

"Not good. Which is why I'm here. Where's that sergeant you were talking about?"

A little disappointed, Jess nodded. "Sorry to hear that. He has a desk at the back. Follow me."

Grace followed Jess to a space at the back that was separated by wall panels. This guy was obviously too important to share the room with the civilians, thought Grace with annoyance as they approached the sergeant's desk.

"Sergeant Wray," Jess announced as she peered around the divider. "Grace Mason is here to see you. She arrived with the Second Mass yesterday."

Grace peered around Jess to see a man in combat uniform sat at a desk, surrounded by maps and papers, with an array of posters and post-it notes stuck up around him. When she focused on the man himself, her whole demeanour softened. He wasn't what she expected.

Jess was right. He was easy on the eyes. A young man, in his early to mid twenties, with dark blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He had thick brows and a strong jaw with a tiny bit of blonde stubble coming through. He even had a good nose, smooth and well-defined, leading nicely to his pale lips, which formed small dimples when he smiled.

When he stood, he towered over Grace, and she couldn't help but notice the way his uniform wrapped around his athletic build.

"Miss Mason," he said, extending his hand and when she took it, his grip was strong. "Please, sit down. Thanks Jess."

Jess smiled sweetly at him, leaving Grace to sit down opposite the sergeant, trying to remember why she came here in the first place.

"Uh, hi…sergeant. Nice to meet you."

"Please. Call me Miles."

Her whole mouth suddenly went dry. The confidence she had before she came here had dissipated. She silently scolded herself.

"I hope you're settling in okay? I heard you folks haven't had an easy ride getting here." He smiled at her, showing off his perfectly white teeth.

She swallowed, trying to gather her thoughts. "Um, actually that's what I wanted to see you about. I think there's been some mistake with my assignment."

His thick brows furrowed together in confusion. "Mistake?" He opened his desk and whipped out a clipboard which he started leafing through. "Says here you were assigned to the kindergarten? Is that not correct?"

She cleared her throat. "I mean...it's correct but it's not where I should be. I've clearly been assigned kindergarten duties because I'm female and I find that degrading and sexist."

He leaned back in his chair, brows still knitted together, causing a small dimple to form in between them. "If I remember correctly, your profile indicated an interest in children and previous teaching roles?"

"As well as fighting on the front line with one of the toughest militias out there," she almost snapped. "I've killed skitters, I've looked their Overlords in the face and told them to go to hell on their own damn ship."

Realisation took over his handsome features. "Oh, so you're that Grace Mason. I heard about that. The girl who got abducted onto an alien ship with her dad?"

"There's more to it than that…"

"Look, I'll level with you." Miles leaned in across the desk, his blue eyes catching hers. "I can run this up the chain but I can't guarantee anything. We don't need any more scouts or soldiers. But we do need teachers, office workers, cleaners. It's not glamorous but it's what we need to keep society running. Otherwise what's the point in all this?"

Her cheeks felt hot. "I respectfully disagree, sergeant. You may have built a society here, but it won't be safe until this war is won - until every last alien has been kicked off this planet for good. My dad once told me that wars have been lost from idleness. I worry that's what Charleston is. Tell me I'm wrong."

There was a long pause. Miles sat back again, staring intently at her. "I think you're right."

"You…do?"

"Between you and me, Manchester is conservative. He won't risk what he's built here for anything, but sometimes I wonder if we should be doing something more." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Anyway, I've said too much." He got to his feet. "I'll see what I can do about your situation. Any more issues, I'm here during most office hours. If not, one of the clerks here can help you."

Grace followed him up, a little unsure. She wanted to argue more, but Miles was already leading her towards the door. "Uh. Thanks."

He gave her a little wave before closing the door on her, leaving her alone and confused. Had she resolved the situation or not?

Son of a bitch. He'd just brushed her off. He had been so charming, she didn't even notice. She thought about turning around and going back in there, but what good would it do? He clearly couldn't help her. What a waste of time, she huffed to herself before eventually making her way back to the classroom.

She genuinely considered ignoring the sergeant and going off to find Hal. Running drills had to be better than what she was doing. But she felt a little guilty about leaving the other teachers in the lurch. She could at least go back and explain that things weren't working out.

She was approaching the school's play area - a mishmash of indoor and outdoor play equipment placed outside the school units - when she saw the older kids from Zoe's class crowded around in a circle. Zoe was in the middle of them, yelling at them to get back to class. As the kids began to disperse, Grace saw her holding onto a boy, his nose gushing red. Opposite was her little brother, and his wrist was cut and bleeding.

"Matty?" Her heart dropped as she ran over to him. "What the hell happened?"

"The kids heard some rumours about your family," Zoe sighed, still applying paper towels to the boy's face.

"What kind of rumours?"

"You're one of them," the boy spat at her, smudges of red all over his mouth. "You and your dad made some kind of deal with the aliens. You're gonna get us all killed! Freaks!"

A whirlwind raged through Grace's chest. Not this again. Her family had endured enough judgement, they didn't need it from complete strangers too, especially ones without fully developed prefrontal cortexes. They just couldn't escape it.

"These the kind of kids you're teaching?" she asked Zoe with disgust. "They just attack other kids out of nowhere?"

"They're just scared," Zoe insisted, her hand now full with bloodied tissues. "And it was Matt who took the first swing."

Grace looked over at Matt who was still panting, nursing his bloody hand. He avoided her gaze. She shook her head, disappointed, then turned back to Zoe.

"How could you let this happen?"

Zoe scoffed incredulously. "I turned my back for one minute!"

"It's never your fault, is it Zo? You're in charge of these kids, maybe take some responsibility."

"Hang on - I wasn't expecting Matt to go all Tyler Durden on another kid! It's not my fault."

"You were supposed to be taking care of them. So yeah it is your fault, and maybe it's mine too for thinking we'd fit in here. Let's go, Matt."

"Wait!" Zoe said before Grace could turn around. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to suspend Matt."

"Suspend him? He only just started here."

"It's school policy, sorry."

"Fine. He doesn't belong here anyway."

She grabbed Matt's non-grazed hand and dragged him towards the infirmary, where they found Anne on the way. She decided to take him back to her unit rather than medical. One of the nurses could deal with the other boy's nose there. Better to keep Matt on his own for now.

Grace could tell he was angry. She was too. She was tired of being seen as a freak. Matt didn't deserve that treatment. If she were in his shoes, she probably would have hit that kid too. But he had done exactly what she'd done to Lourdes. Lash out. She hoped to god he hadn't learned that from her.

Anne sat Matt down on the edge of the bed as she rifled through a first aid kit and began to clean the cuts on his fist. As Grace looked around, it was obvious Anne was sharing this room with her dad. Tom's pack was on an armchair in the corner and some of his clothes were draped on the bed. She wasn't sure why she felt surprised - they were a proper couple now and had shared rooms and beds before. But it was still a little strange to her, seeing them living together.

Just as Anne was finishing up, the door swung open and Tom appeared, his face showing obvious concern when he saw his son being cleaned up.

"What happened?"

"I hate school" the boy complained. "I hate it here! I wish we'd never come."

"He's all fixed up," Anne said, gently putting down Matt's sore hand and making way for Tom to examine the damage. "He'll be fine."

"He got into a fight at school," Grace explained, folding her arms.

"I thought you were enjoying school and making friends," Tom said, dismayed as he knelt opposite his son. "Come on. Talk to me, Matt. What happened?"

Matt bowed his head, embarrassed. "I was in class when one of the bigger kids started talking trash about us."

"I'm guessing it was nothing good?"

"He said he thinks the Second Mass never fought the aliens, that we're just cowards who came here to steal from them. He said that you made a deal with the aliens when they took you away...so that they'd leave us alone."

"Oh."

Grace tightened her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms. She was almost glad Matt had given the kid a bloody nose.

"Well... you know he's wrong," Tom said gently.

Matt pouted. "Then why'd the rest of them act like he was right?"

"I don't know."

"They're ignorant, all of them," Grace muttered. "They don't know what they're talking about, and they don't seem to give a damn about the resistance. Why aren't we all training to fight with the army? For God's sake, they made me a teacher."

"Hey, teaching isn't all bad," Tom said, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked back at Grace.

Right - she was complaining about teaching to the former professor. "Sure." She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Actually, I do. I'm working on it."

"Dad, I don't ever want to go back," Matt frowned.

"Me either," said Grace. "Sorry, Dad. I know you wanted us to try. But it doesn't feel right."

He was quiet for a second. "Well, it's probably better if you stay close to home for a while, anyway. Keep out of trouble."

He smiled reassuringly at them, but Grace sensed he was concerned. If they were going to stay here, there would have to be some major changes.

Whether Manchester was going to listen or not was another matter.