Into Ruin

Chapter 10 Observations

Reggie, Gunnar and Mischa's dad took the second shift hunting and came back with a good-sized elk. Life was much easier when Gunnar wasn't stuck with a prick who felt like he'd lost some imaginary battle over Mischa. Matt wasn't great either and it was probably because of what Vita had told him before about some kind of crush on her. Lady drama had always been Rob's thing. Gunnar would just sneak back home to take care of Aida. Now he was stuck in the thick of it.

He took Officer Olivia up immediately on the offer to help with slicing up their catch. He was still getting the hang of bigger game, bit different than the rabbits he was used to. Plus she kept a real steady hand with a knife and was the easiest person to be around in the group. She was just straight with him and told him exactly what she wanted.

"Ya think it's a good idea to go back there?"

Olivia dug the knife into the animal's exposed thigh. "I'd rather wait until Vegas to start risking anything. But we are also closer if something were to go wrong. I don't want you down in those mines."

"Then you want us inside? Isn't that harder to escape with the guards and the fence?"

Olivia sliced away at the arteries and muscles. "They're using children to mine copper. Since we know that already, there's nothing to gain from exploring that area."

"What if they got secret labs or something? Maybe they're living underground." He'd seen it on a movie once or twice. People did some crazy shit.

"They wouldn't leave the mines if they were living there."

Gunnar frowned and carved into the deer's shoulder. "Okay, but secret labs?"

"I'd rather understand what the whole structure is about and how it's operated, which would likely be done from the inside. If we can gain that knowledge from the outside, even better. We need to know what sort of resources they have, power, water, a communication network. Also their defence --"

"Rookies with rifles and others shooting from higher up."

Olivia nodded in approval and placed another slab of meat on the oozing slab of wood. "Good of you to notice."

"If I don't, I get shot."

Olivia almost smiled. "You don't blend well, but I still want you undercover. You have a very keen eye."

Gunnar set down his knife. "Blend?"

"You're awkward and couldn't talk your way out of a paper bag."

Gunnar rubbed the handle of the knife with his thumb, feeling all the little bumps. His fingers were red from all the butchering.

"It's fine. I don't have much social know-how either," she added.

For some reason, he felt driven to defend himself. He couldn't just up and leave because the group was all bound together by the mission. "They're just... not worth the time and effort."

Officer Olivia laughed. "You'll find a few who are."

Gunnar raised an eyebrow. Olivia pointed out the next cut he needed to make. "Life was easier when all I had was Hunter to keep me company."

"What made you leave?"

Gunnar shrugged. "People. I liked being useful, I guess. Plus I thought they were better off than they said. I used to have a real bed."

"I had electricity, running water, three meals I just showed up for."

Gunnar shook his head and wiped his hair out of his eyes, probably painting on some bloody war paint in the process. "And you left 'cause of?"