G.U.A.R.D. Book #3: Recusant

-6-

    As the elevator began slowing, I heard muffled sounds of people chatting inaudibly. Jackie grinned, and the doors opened. The noise hit me like an ocean wave. Everywhere, there were tables full of people ranging from my age to the late twenties, all of them talking, yelling, and some even chanting something. The room, unsurprisingly, was incredibly big. Bright lights attached to the ceiling. On the right wall, there was a line of people getting food. Women and men alike, all wearing gloves and hairnets, served them the meal, and beyond them, I could just make out the doors to the kitchen.

"Nat, welcome to the cafeteria," Jackie said with a satisfied smile, looking around.

I winced against all the noise. "Is it always like this?"

"Yee-up. Loud, isn't it? Come on, let's get in line."

She once again latched onto me, pulling me to the row of people. The line moved quickly, and before I knew, I was holding a tray with a plate and fork on it. I ended up with green beans, flavored rice, season chicken, a roll of bread, and a fruit salad. There was an option of fish, but I hated seafood. I had come to realize this in the infirmary.

Jackie called for me to follow, and I hurried to catch up. We wove between the tables, dodging people and random bits of flying food.

"I thought all agents were serious and disciplined," I yelled over the noise, thinking about Leslie and Daniel.

Jackie laughed. "Welcome to the younger generation, Nat! All the older adults go to the other cafeteria. So we're free to do whatever we want."

The girl picked a table and sat in a seat under it. I joined her, at the very corner of the table. One other person was eating with us, straight across from me. The guy was gobbling down his food so intensely I nearly didn't recognize him.

"Daniel?" I asked.

He looked up, mouth swollen with chicken and rice. I hadn't seen him in weeks, but for some reason, the strange view made me laugh a little. He smiled as best he could with the huge gulp of food he had, then chewed, and swallowed.

"You're out of the infirmary," he said.

I snorted. "No, really?"

"Hey, Daniel," Jackie said. She motioned towards the right side of her lip. "Got a little mush right here."

I noticed he had a single piece of rice right where Jackie pointed. But he ignored her words and instead pointed towards his nose. "Oh, hey, Jackie, got a little mush right here."

Her brows furrowed, and she touched her nose. "I don't feel anything."

"Well..." he began, then suddenly stood up, grabbed hold of her head, and smacked it down into her plate. He sat down with a grin. Jackie slowly raised head again, bits of food falling from it. "Do you feel it now?"

I watched with wide eyes, confusion slowly seeping into them. Daniel never acted like that in the infirmary. My interest piqued.

"Oh, it is on," Jackie said. Before Daniel could react, the girl reached over, grabbed his cup of water, and splashed it onto his pants. Despite myself, I snorted out a laugh at the end result. It looked like he had wetted himself.

Daniel's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. "Man, that thing had ice in it!"

Jackie just laughed. Daniel focused on her and jumped from his seat, grabbing a roll of bread—covered in butter—from the table next to us.

"Hey!" the person who owned it exclaimed.

Daniel ignored him and instead threw the bread at Jackie, where it hit its mark on her forehead. It fell, but left a buttery oval on her skin. She raised a black eyebrow at him. Grabbing her own cup, she slowly got to her feet.