AllFreeNovel
Share Us
9
The following day,more reinforcements arrive.
Cal and Rachel, who the others talked about yesterday, show up with a truckful of volunteers they collected along the way. Cal is exactly what I would have expected. His age could be anywhere between thirty and fifty, and he gives off rough, unfriendly mercenary vibes.
Rachel, however, is young and small and dark-haired and absolutely beautiful. I assume she’s his daughter since he treats her with dismissive entitlement, and she often looks annoyed by him. She’s not warm and friendly like Mack or confidently outgoing like Faith, but I kind of like her anyway. She’s interesting. Deep. Like there’s a lot going on beneath the surface.
In that, she reminds me of Grant.
By late afternoon, Jackson has sorted through the New Haven volunteers who will join us in taking back the bunker, and we all gather in one of the outbuildings to formulate a plan.
It’s clear almost immediately that Grant and Jackson have already worked out the details of a plan, and this meeting is primarily to review it and assign roles.
It makes sense. There are twenty-one of us. That’s way too many people for a productive brainstorming session, not to mention actual decision-making. But still… If Grant has known all this time what we’ll be doing, it would have been nice if he’d told me.
I’ve asked him more than once how we’re going to manage such a difficult feat, and he’s always brushed it off, saying we have to wait until everyone gets here to decide.
The realization that he’s known all this time and simply not told me hurts. Maybe it’s petty, but it does. I was standing next to him when we gathered, but he’s moved to the front with Jackson, and I gradually slip toward the back.
Rachel is standing alone, watching silently and probably thinking all kinds of things beneath her passive demeanor. That’s what I should do too. I’m not in charge of this. I wouldn’t have any idea how to formulate a strategy. This isn’t what I’m good at, and that’s fine. There are plenty of others here who are good at it. I’m happy to just do the job they tell me to do.
Even with this resolved in my mind, I still don’t like that Grant has been so clearly keeping me out of this.
“Sounds like this could work,” Rachel murmurs to me after the specifics of the plan have been laid out. “It’s smart.”
I think so too, although I’m not equipped to evaluate strategy effectively. Rachel looks like she might only be seventeen years old, and she still seems to know more about all this than I do. “Yeah,” is all I say.
“So he’s your man?” Rachel nods in the direction of Grant, who’s matter-of-factly answering someone’s question about weapons.
My cheeks warm slightly. I wish the perfectly natural question didn’t always make me feel so self-conscious. “I… uh, I’m… It’s kind of… complicated.”
Fuck. Is it possible for me to sound more immature and clueless?
Rachel gives a dry huff of amusement that makes me immediately elevate my estimation of her age. She sounds so sardonic. Almost jaded. Like she’s had far more experience with the world than I have. “You might want to figure it out pretty quick. Because that man is going to lose his shit if anyone questions who you are to him.”
I blink, trying to work out exactly what she means by that. Whatever it is, it makes me blush even hotter.
I don’t really know why I’m so embarrassed. Just last night, Grant and I were talking about my getting pregnant, him being the dad. Surely that means it’s understood that we’re together.
But even that discussion didn’t feel like things were settled. It just gave me more questions to stew about.
More conversation has been happening while I’ve been brooding about irrelevant relationship issues, so I force myself to pay attention. After all, people are volunteering for roles here, and I want to know what job I’m going to be doing.
It takes me a minute to catch up. When I do, Mack is saying, “I need two with me. Gail, you in?”
Gail is from New Haven. She’s pleasant and competent and not a big talker. She gives a thumbs-up as her answer.
Mack has been lounging against a hay bale as he eyes the group. His gaze lands on me and stays there. “What about you, Olivia? You’re coming on this mission too, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I say immediately, pleased that he’s picked me out as a good choice to be on his team.
At the exact same time, Grant announces gruffly, “No.”
I jerk and take a step forward. “I am coming. You expect me to stay here and do nothing?”
Grant meets my eyes soberly, evidently not bothered by the fact that everyone else is hearing this conversation. “We need twenty to make this work. You’re twenty-one.”
“What does that have to do with anything? I’m a part of this too, and I’m perfectly competent.”
