“I guess that’s it for today,” Forrest said, looking grim.
“Come on, Captain,” Kane said. “I could slip in there and cut that dude’s throat so easy it wouldn’t even be a trick.”
“No,” Forrest said, “and I’ll show you why. Oscar, run it back to where they were feeding the women. Linus, call West in here.”
When Dr. West showed up, Forrest asked him to watch the woman seated on the end of the couch. “She how she’s hacking her ass off?”
West stood nodding. “She’s sicker than a dog. That could very easily be tuberculosis, which I would expect to see up there by now among so much starvation and deprivation, breathing all that crap in the air.”
“But the NBC suits would protect us from—”
“No,” Forrest said with finality. “We soldier up and soldier on. Hooah?”
“Hooah!”
A bit later Forrest found Veronica sitting with Erin and Taylor in the cafeteria. There were some children about and a couple of other women, but everybody was growing accustomed to the close quarters, learning to block out conversations that didn’t involve them in order to allow one another a sense of privacy.
“That sure took a while,” Veronica said. “Are they gone?”
He shook his head. “One of the cannibals killed the other and took the women for himself. Now they’re sleeping and it’s too dark to see anything. It’s total darkness up there at night now.”
“What if they don’t leave?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, shrugging. “They’re no threat to us.”
“Can we still see the tape?” Erin wanted to know.
“If you really want to, Erin, but it’s nothing but raw brutality from start to finish. I don’t think it’s anything you want in your dreams.”
“Believe me,” Veronica said. “I wish I’d never gone in there.”
“But we are allowed to see if we want to, right?” Erin was making sure.
“Yes, the Freedom of Information Act still applies. Should I go and have Oscar cue it up for you?”
“No,” she said with a pleasant smile. “I was merely making sure.”
“Christ, I’ve got the ACLU up my ass,” he said with a chuckle, glancing toward the counter to see that the coffeepot was empty once again. “I wonder who I have to fuck in this place to get a cup of coffee.”
“Is that your manly way of asking for someone to make you some coffee, King Jack?” Taylor asked.
“No,” he said affably. “It’s my way of finding out who I have to fuck in this place to get a cup of coffee.”
Taylor rolled her eyes and got up from the table.
“Taylor, he can make his own goddamn coffee,” Veronica said. “Sit back down.”
“No, I’ve indulged him all these years… it wouldn’t be fair to turn on him now.”
Forrest stuck his tongue out at Veronica.
“Keep it up,” she said, less than entirely pleased that Forrest held so much sway with these two women.
“Oooooh,” he kidded.
She got up and walked out of the cafeteria.
“Uh-oh,” Erin said.
“She’ll be fine,” he said with a wave. “She’s just upset about those maniacs upstairs—that, and I won’t kiss her ass in front of everyone.”
Erin shook her head. “You’ll never change.”
“What makes me such a bad guy?”
“You’re not a bad guy, but would it hurt for you to pretend to be a little vulnerable for her?”
“That’s what she’s pissed about? My lack of vulnerability? E, me walking around down here all weepy-eyed won’t exactly instill confidence.”
Taylor retook her seat. “Well, I don’t think that’s the issue, Jackie pie. The issue is that Veronica doesn’t know how completely full of shit you are when you do things like manipulate people into making your coffee. I do, so it doesn’t bother me. But she thinks that guy’s real, and she doesn’t know how to reconcile him with the one she cares for.”
“And,” Erin added, “I don’t think it helps that Michael so openly dotes on Karen now. Women like to be doted on, you do remember?”
“So does she want Mike back or what?”
Taylor looked at Erin. “I think his brain is made of clay.”
Erin laughed. “He’s playing the dullard.”
“Forget it,” he said. “How soon until that coffee’s ready?”
“I’ll give you some goddamn coffee,” Taylor said. “Go find that girl right now and tell her how much you need her.”
He sat looking at her.
“Go and tell her. Now.”
“Damn!” he said, getting up. “You two always think you can order me around.”
“I’ll keep the pot warm, honey.”
Forrest found Veronica sitting with Melissa, who was helping a couple of the children with their math homework. Laddie was playing ball with the kids and came over to sniff at his pants pocket, pawing at his leg. Andie had managed to establish a genuine curriculum, and she’d done it with the complete support of the other mothers, which made it a joy for her as a teacher. And giving the children homework to complete outside of class kept them from playing the video games nonstop, allowing the video games to evolve into a kind of reward system.
“You’ve done an excellent job,” Forrest had said to her weeks earlier. “I was worried it might be tough to keep them occupied once they’d played every video game a thousand times.”
“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” Andie had replied with a smile.
Forrest stepped up behind Veronica where she sat at the table, taking a dog treat from his pocket and giving it to Laddie. “Talk to you a minute?”
“I’m busy.”
“Taylor won’t give me any coffee.”
“I don’t blame her.”
“Are you guys in a fight?” Melissa asked, noting the tension.
“I think so,” Forrest said. “I’m not sure.”
“My mommy and daddy fight a lot too,” one of the children said. “That’s why mommy had to get a court order.”
Forrest laughed. “You gonna get a court order, V?”
“How would I do that? You’re the king.”
“Well, that’s what I’d like to talk to you about.”
She looked up at him over her shoulder. “What’s that mean?”
“We can talk about it later, I guess. Sorry I bothered you.”
She watched him leave the room, then went back to helping the kids with the puzzle.
“Why do you do that?” Melissa asked.
“Do what, honey?”
“Sit there when you really want to go after him.”
“One day you’ll know.”
“Seems like a waste of time to me. I’d just go see what he wanted.”
Veronica looked at her, then got up and followed after Forrest, catching him outside blast tunnel number two. “Step into my office?”
“Sure,” he said.
They stepped into the tunnel and shut the door.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Look, I’m sorry if I come off as not needing you. I need you very much. It’s just that I can’t walk around down here acting like Mr. Softy. Nice guys don’t instill any confidence. These people need to see me acting like nothing fazes me.”
“Nothing does faze you.”
“Well, so what, Veronica? I’ve seen untold amounts of heinous shit in my life. What fazes me is you. You faze me. I think about you all goddamn day. I’m so fucking grateful that Karen and Mike hit it off that I don’t even know how to tell you. I can’t even imagine being trapped down here without you now. But I can’t walk around down here like I’ve got Cupid’s dick stuck up my ass either.”