Read Parasite; The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse Page 30
I awoke to an empty bed, my husband leaving earlier a distant, hazy memory from my slumber. The sun shone uncomfortably in my eyes as I rolled over, luxuriating in the soft bed. The thin mattress wasn't the nicest I had ever slept in, but it seemed so wonderful after how I had slept over the last few weeks.
After a few more minutes of sogging, I pried myself from the bed’s softness and rummaged for my shower supplies. A commotion in the hallway made me start. Loud, familiar voices shattered the early morning silence.
"I don't care what you say! I'm not going to any training!"
The sounds of a struggle ensued as I hurriedly dressed. As I pulled my crisp, clean t-shirt over my head, letting it drop to my denim waistband, I poked my head out of the doorway.
Ben and Frank were both on the ground. Armed military men were everywhere, surrounding the other civilians.
"ALL civilian males will report for training detail," a massive officer announced emphatically. "There will be no exceptions!"
I saw Amber at her door, looking fearfully at Drew as he left along with the others down the hall. Frank and Ben were literally thrown to their feet and prodded in line with the others.
"What's going on?" I asked Amber as she hurried across the hall into my room.
"The men are being forced to join the army," she said hurriedly. "This isn't right!"
"Something stinks here," I said, mimicking Dean's earlier statement. "We need to speak with Colonel O'Neill.”
"We have to stop this," she agreed, eyes still wide, pleading. "Drew isn't cut out for this sort of thing."
I had to agree. The guys from the comic shop were ill-equipped to become part of a fighting force. They were pretty much unfit for anything physical.
Even Henry was. "Hank!" I said loudly, reality setting in. "You don't suppose..."
"I doubt it," Amber countered. "He is too important."
Her words stung. Laced in her reply was the assumption that the others were of less value, so they would have to go off to fight, but because my husband was a scientist, he would be safe.
I had no retort. She was right. He would be safe; at least, as safe as he could be.
At that moment, I was saved from an awkward moment by a gruff woman's voice calling from the end of the hall.
"All female civilians will immediately report to breakfast. There you will be given your duties for the day."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Amber said loudly. A chorus of grumbling from the others in the hall joined her protest. Amber stepped back outside to join them.
The woman who had issued the announcement ran toward my friend. "What did you say!"
Amber immediately backed down. "Nothing."
"Did you think you were gonna lay your pretty butt around here like it was some kinda fancy hotel," she questioned putting her nose squarely against Amber's.
"Hey!" I said pushing her back. "There's no need to-"
Both of her hands shot forward and up, catching me under my shoulders. Off guard, I hurtled backward and down, unceremoniously onto my bottom.
Amber grabbed my attacker’s shirt from the back and started to pull her away, but the military-trained female lifted her arm while spinning around. With this maneuver, she snared one of Amber's arms and twisted it roughly behind her back.
The soldier challenged, "Anyone else want to issue a formal protest?"
I climbed to my feet and joined the others in compliance.
Many of the women in the group openly cried as we left out of the dorm and entered the dining hall. We ate in near silence. A few of our number continued to weep but most simply shoveled food into their mouths robotically.
"What are we going to do?" asked Amber in hushed tones, not looking at me.
I continued to stare ahead at my plate as I replied, "We have to bide our time. Wait for tonight to see if we can all get together and make a plan."
"Why do you think this is happening?"
I couldn't answer. Although it was reasonable that we would have to pull our own weight and share in some of the duties, this treatment was out of hand. And the forced military service had some terrible implications.
"I don't know," I replied, keeping my thoughts to myself. I didn't want to alarm anyone with my wild theories, but I felt like we were in some serious trouble here.
After being fed, we were all given specific duties. They deliberately separated woman who either had arrived together or had become friends here. My guess was that they didn't want women, who were familiar with each other, hatching any kind of rebellion.
They assigned Amber to the cleaning crew. In her case, she was to clean the bathrooms. I couldn't help but think it was a payback for putting her hands on the soldier earlier.
I was given laundry duty. Little did I know what I was in store for! While being ushered out in guarded groups to do our given tasks, I saw Henry in the distance walking my way.