Tested

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

“Not a chance,” Dace told my father in the canteen.

I held in the sigh of relief that threatened to breeze out of me.

“You can’t keep us here,” Dad said, his voice low and urgent.

“I can, and I will. Here’s the thing. The shit has already hit the fan, but it could get worse. We might need to repopulate the country.”

“This isn’t a joke,” Dad said.

“I’m not laughing.” Dace’s smirk said otherwise.

I felt uncomfortable, suddenly reminded of the attack at the B&B. My insides grew cold, but Dace glanced at me and smiled. The warmth in his expression chased away my doubts.

“Look, Adam,” Dace said, “Those in charge are thinking of the bigger picture. Survival is the core of every scenario. You’re not exactly buff. How are you going to protect your little girl here? Why would we let you go? Let you feed those monsters? Be safer to kill you now than to let you out.”

“We’re not your prisoners.”

“Nah, but we’re responsible for you. We saved you once, remember? Keep your head down, and you’ll be fine. We haven’t been attacked here. Not once." He glanced at the rosary beads on my wrist. "You could even call it a miracle. Now enjoy your food.” He got up and left.

“I don’t like him,” Dad said.

“You don’t like anyone.”

“There has to be a supervisor I can talk to.”

“Mae told me the ones in charge don’t stay in here with the civilians.”

“So what help would they be if something got in here?” He stabbed at his food. “There’s something very wrong with this place.”

“Yeah, your massive paranoia,” I muttered. I stood and picked up my plate. “I’m going to find Mae. See if Beth turned up.”

“Don’t get too fond of her,” he called after me as I left.

I put my plate away and left the room. In the hallway, I walked right into Dace.

“Oh, sorry,” I said, my hands on his chest.

He covered my hands with his, a strange half smile on his face. “Not a problem.”

I backed up.

“Do I make you nervous, Jessica?”

“No,” I lied. “I had a few questions for you, actually.”

“Really?” He stared so intensely at me that I couldn’t think straight.

I swallowed hard. “Um, yeah. Before we came here, we were staying with some people. We all worked together, but I’m thinking they would be safer here. Is there any chance of them being picked up?”

He bit on the corner of his lip, looking over my head. “Are there many?”

“A good few. There are some different groups scattered around. They could take care of themselves, but if they were all here…”

He nodded. “Could you mark their location on a map?”

My face grew hot. “I can try.”

“Good. I’ll get you one, and you can sort that out. I’ll see what I can do about picking them up. I’m not promising anything, though.”

“Great! Um, one other thing. Maybe don’t tell Dad. He’s kind of—”

“Paranoid? Yeah, I noticed. No worries. I’ll get Mae to bring you the maps.”