Into Ruin

Chapter 19 Favors

Gunnar wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of Travis' fancy athletic shirt. Peter, the other recruit, patted him on the back and wished him a good evening. Gunnar put his taser back in the holster and left it on the table of weapons. They'd been practicing how to take down angry residents. He wasn't too big on the electric weapons, but he had to admit they worked all the time on the dummies. His physical tackles would only get Peter half the time.

"Good work today," Mr. Dugin, the older man from the trials said and placed a hand on his shoulder. Gunnar tensed. He still didn't like the guy. "You've almost completed your first week of training, Travis. Your father will be impressed. You really know your stuff."

"Thank you," Gunnar said. He threw his bag over his shoulder and left as quickly as he could.

Olivia was out for the night working on something she didn't want to share, so he planned to use her absence to his advantage.

"Quinton," he hissed into thin air. It was getting easier to talk without moving his mouth very much. He made sure to smile back at the people who passed him in the hall and wave. Travis was far more social and well liked than he was.

"What's up?"

"I need a favor." The line paused for a second. He hadn't earned a favor from Quinton, but Gunnar knew the guy's weak spot. "I'll talk to Mischa when we get back, tell her you're an alright guy and whatever."

A moment of silence passed. Quinton's voice came through with a touch of annoyance, "Tell me what you need first."

"I need you to find someone on the cameras and tell me where they are. You can't tell Olivia."

"Should I be worried?"

More people rushed past him chatting among themselves and giving him waves, so Gunnar tucked into an emptier hallway. "I just want to see how she's doing and make sure she's okay."

The pause on the other end led Gunnar to believe Quinton was going to bail. Gunnar stared up at the camera, uncertain if Quinton could see him.

"Okay, who am I looking for?"

Gunnar gave him as many details as he could remember about the people she hung around with, the classes Matt had asked her about, and her appearance, the one thing he knew well. The line went silent for a few minutes and Gunnar continued his walk toward the common area, hoping to get lucky there. He hadn't in the past nights and far too many people recognized and distracted him by wanting to hang out with Travis. Having a circle of friends was exhausting not to mention Melinda, whose sneaky actions he still hadn't figured out. He was looking forward to going back to being his unnoticed self.

The earbud crackled and Quinton spoke again. "I found her. You're not far; pass the lounging area and head toward the library. At least I think it's her. If you go straight to the middle then turn left you'll find a girl who looks a lot like you described."

"Thanks," Gunnar said. If anyone was going to be in the library it was Aida.

He'd never really liked libraries given that he could hardly read, but Aida used to drag him into a few so she could finish school projects. She figured out how they could use the internet for free and take out books, not that he ever bothered. He mostly watched videos without sound while she sat around all day with a pile of books and a notepad.

The smell in this library was the same, musty and old even though this place was pretty new. There were even fancier computers here with big colorful monitors. The bookshelves were set up like a big target, circle after circle. More people than he expected sat at desks with green lamps. He got to the center and turned like Quinton had instructed.