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That was why I’d requested her to be assigned to my bunker. She had a toughness to her that spoke of hard living in the Badlands. But she was sturdy and certainly had plenty of spirit that only begged for a little taming to be truly useful.
She struggled against the guards holding each arm until they tossed her to the ground. I didn’t move forward to help. It was safer that way. The boy, Mica, who’d been with me for the last week and a half, tried to come forward, but I grabbed him and pushed him behind me.
“Here’s your helper,” said Judas, placing scornful emphasis on the last word.
Judas wasn’t his real name, but it was what all the prisoners called him behind his back. He wanted us all to call him Captain, but we all found ways around it. He wasn’t a vampire, but one of the humans who’d betrayed their race to work for the Troika. Since vampires couldn’t function in the daylight, they relied on traitors like him to oversee the camp. Meanwhile, the traitors were under constant video surveillance from inside the vampires’ underground bunkers. If any of the humans betrayed the Troika during the day, it was a simple matter of unleashing the bat drones to take out and kill them and any other humans not following Troika rules.
“Is she healthy?”
He shrugged and laughed. “Healthy enough.”
I looked him in the eye. “We’ll need extra rations, and uniforms.” The uniform she’d been issued was already in tatters from toiling in the fields every night. The stench of her body odor filled the space between us like a green fog. A bath would be required immediately. Luckily, I had some lye soap I’d traded for from the laundry workers.
The captain laughed at my request. “You’ll have what you need. Just be sure your output increases. The doctor will be very disappointed if you do not meet quota.”
The threat was useless. I’d lived under constant knowledge that disappointing the good doctor would be very bad for my health as well as the health of the children I protected. “Understood. Now leave us so I can get her working. The children need to be ready to work at sundown.”
He watched me for moment with the look I suppose he considered threatening. But I’d survived in that camp too long to take the bait. “Good day, Captain.”
He and the other guards turned to go. As he passed the girl, he elbowed her in the ribs. She didn’t make a noise. She just curled into herself, like a fist.
I touched her shoulder. She jerked away, as if she expected me to harm her. I smiled. “Relax. You’re safe.”
Mica broke free and ran to her. She knelt to hug him hard. “Are you okay?” She pulled back to look him over.
“I’m okay. Matri’s really nice. She even gives me a candy after—”
“Mica,” I said, “please go wash up.”
“But, Bravo just—”
I shot him the look I’d perfected over the years. The one that even the naughtiest young couldn’t ignore.
Bravo hugged him again. “It’s okay. Do as she says. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”
He complied, skipping off to chatter with the other youngs as they went to the buckets at the rear of the bunker. I didn’t like that she’d been the one to convince him to follow orders. I’d need to reestablish the pecking order as soon as possible.
I approached her slowly, stopping at a distance that wouldn’t threaten. She needed time to adjust. “Welcome.”
She frowned and surveyed the two-dozen children gathered around behind me. “Why are you the one in charge of the youngs?”
“They have different work from the rest of the prisoners. The vamps needed an adult to oversee them.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What kind of work?”
I waved a hand. “We’ll get to all that as soon as you’re settled in.”
She ignored my implied order that the conversation was over. “Why am
I here?” She looked at the young faces surrounding us. “I don’t see anyone else my age here.”
“You, I will train to take over once my time is done.”
Her mouth fell open, but no words came out. Good. We’d have a talk soon enough about how I’d damned her, but for now I needed her to shut the hell up so we could get busy with the work of indoctrinating the youngs into the camp.
“Your new uniform should arrive soon. We have special ones with a patch that identifies us as prisoners with certain privileges.” Her brows rose in surprise. I soldiered ahead before more questions came. “In the meantime, I have a spare you may wear.”
“Thank you, Matri.”
