Undone Read online

  Ugh, so many bodies crammed this close with questionable sanitation was not a good thing. I knew they were doing the best they could, but I hoped we wouldn’t have to stay here long. If any kind of infection hit, it could be catastrophic.

  As we moved past, we took turns glancing in at the four stalls and two wall urinals.

  “Damn,” Texas Harry muttered. “This is gonna fuck up my shitting routine.”

  Several of the guys laughed.

  “Y’all nasty,” Shavontae said.

  “Like you don’t shit, princess?” Tex joked.

  “That’s right, I don’t,” Shavontae shot back, and everyone laughed again.

  Colonel Latham glanced back at us with his eyebrows drawn, like he hadn’t heard laughter in a long time and wondered what could be going on to cause such a sound. We all hushed and shared nervous looks. Ry raised his eyebrows at me, and I knew how he felt. If we couldn’t laugh and joke, what was there worth living for? We squeezed hands at the same time.

  “This is the women’s quarters,” said Colonel Latham, stopping at the end of the hall. It was tiny. I saw some major snuggling in my future, and not with the person I wanted to snuggle. The Colonel cleared his throat, looking guilty. “To be honest, it was a storage room and we converted it when we heard that you had eleven women in your company.”

  “Only nine now,” Top said quietly. The reminder made me tense and shudder.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” the Colonel said. “We have four, and nearly double the number of men as you.” He scanned us for reactions, then cleared his throat again and marched back down the hall. Our group, which was considerably more somber now after the mention of Remy and Linette, followed in silence. I caught sight of Matt’s face, usually smiling and jovial, now downcast and pale. He’d had it bad for Remy.

  My heart ached, a physical pain in my chest. I equally hated the thought of her being dead and her being captured. Had my brother made it to her? Please, God, let them have had a moment together before whatever happened. Rylen gave my hand a slight pull and I looked to find him staring at where I rubbed my chest with my palm. I let my arm drop.

  “I’m okay,” I whispered. A rush of love and gratefulness pummeled me when I remembered how it felt to think that Rylen was dead too. I moved closer to him as we walked, and he seemed to understand.

  Before our group spilled back out into the common area, Top and the Colonel turned to us one last time.

  “It’s spring,” the Colonel said. “Snow will be starting to melt. We’ve got a plan that we’re going to debrief you about. If all goes well, we’ll be out of this hole by mid-summer, on the road to taking back our planet.”

  “Hooah!” we all shouted. Yes, that’s right, even me.

  Remy

  No matter how well things seemed to go with that Vahni alien lady, I refused to let my guard down. Normally I was an overly trusting person. Gullible even. But I couldn’t be like that anymore. So when the Bael soldier led me by the elbow out of the building, my hands still bound, I kept my eyes open, taking in all the details.

  Most of the Baelese walked funny. Clunky. Hard on their heels. Fast, abrupt movements. There were a few here and there who had more smoothness to their gaits. More grace. Those ones must have trained long and hard to be able to blend in as humans during the takeover, masquerading as the so-called Disaster Relief Initiative. I was still ashamed at how hard I’d fallen for it. Even when all my friends were skeptical, I believed the best.

  He led me to an open Jeep-style military vehicle, and told me to get in and wait. I looked around at all of the squat, plain government buildings. It was odd to have the massive, beautiful Bael structure among them. My bet was that they would demolish all of this and turn the area into their haven as soon as time and resources allowed.

  A scuffle of feet had me turning my head to see Baelese soldiers leading out Tater and Linette, their hands also bound. My heart leapt to see that they were okay. If they were being taken to the encampment—Primo Town—then they must have passed the test too! Linette still appeared meek, but I could see the unhappy set of Tater’s jaw. He was not liking this. I hoped the worst part was over. Now we could work and blend in, and then . . . I don’t know what. Spy? Just the thought sent a shiver through me. I wasn’t cut out for this.

  They put Linette in the back seat with me, and Tater on the back end with another guard, fully armed. No matter what pretty words Vahni had used, we were clearly not equals. We, humans, were not free. We were captives. Workers. Our usefulness would determine our value.

  They took us to an area fenced with barbed wire and two locked gates with guards. My stomach turned as they opened a gate for the vehicle to pass through. How were we supposed to do any spying if we were trapped in this area? I glanced at Linette, but she stared straight forward, so I looked away. We’d talk later.

  Inside Primo Town were squat buildings and a barn. A barracks for women, and one for men. A long dining hall with a kitchen. The largest building was for indoor work. They called it The Factory. In front of the buildings was a cleared area of dirt, and then acres of farm land that looked freshly tilled with dirt mounds in straight rows. Human men and women were crouched in the rows, planting seeds of some sort. It would probably be enough to feed all of the humans and Baelese on this base. Along with the pinned pasture area with cows, pigs, and chickens that left an unpleasant smell lingering around “town.” I saw two women collecting eggs from a large coop, and three men squatting under cows, milking them into buckets.

  With spring under way, southern Nevada was much warmer than the Utah plains we’d just left behind. And dustier. It was home . . . but not.

  One of the soldiers tugged my arm, and I stumbled out of the vehicle, wincing when I landed too hard on my ankle. I walked gingerly next to Linette as they led us to the women’s barracks and unbound our hands. I let out a contented sigh and rolled my wrists, feeling the air sting where the rope had rubbed raw spots into my skin.

  The huge room was dim and full of rows of twin bunk beds. Each had a fitted sheet over the mattress, and a thin, off-white blanket. No pillows. Still, I could have curled up in one and passed out that very minute. The room was empty at the moment except for a middle-aged woman in the back, sweeping. She never stopped, but she looked up at us and stared while the soldier pointed to the upper and lower bunk Linette and I would take. Then he showed us to the bathroom with four door-less shower stalls, three toilet stalls, and three sinks. I felt like I was back in high school gym class, only dingier.

  Next we were shown the dining hall, where several women cleaned up after breakfast. It smelled like oats. The women all paused to look us over, but quickly got back to work wiping counters and taking out trash. I couldn’t wait to hear their stories and find out what all these humans thought about this situation. Were they rebels, like us? Would they be willing to fight when it was time? If it was ever time? I had to believe and hope that the others had made it away safely, and that they would save us. Somehow. Someday.

  Tater and his guard met back up with us as we came to the Factory. I noticed Tater glance at the guard’s high-powered rifle. I knew he was taking stock of what he was up against, and it made me nervous. The Baelese were fully armed and they had mind control capabilities. On our own, it was hopeless. I had no idea how long Tater would be able to last under these conditions, as a servant to the enemy. My neck felt tight with nerves.

  When we walked through the huge factory doors, I sucked in a surprised breath. It was like a gymnasium. There had to be a hundred people here, ranging from ten years old to fifty. There seemed to be work stations. Tons of sewing machines. It looked like they were working on red curtains or something. Probably special made dimensions for the Baelese palace. There were also two long tables with people working on some sort of metalwork. Weapons, maybe? I couldn’t tell. Linette and Tater were staring hard, so I knew they’d figure it out.

  The children, about ten of them, seemed to be in charge of carr
ying items between stations. So these would be my students? It warmed my heart to think of working with them. I wondered how many hours they’d be expected to work in this factory once lessons began?

  The guards ushered us outside the doors again into the sunshine.

  “You.” One of them pointed at Tater. “You will be a field worker.”

  Tater pursed his lips, but nodded. I was sure he wanted to be inside getting his hands on whatever the people were building.

  They looked to Linette next. “You will help with the livestock.”

  For a second her eyes widened and that fake smile stuck there, like a creepy mask. I nearly snorted with inappropriate laughter at the thought of Linette with farm animals before she nodded and thanked them.

  They turned to me. “You will help in the kitchens until it is time for schooling to begin.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, my throat feeling dry.

  “Go,” he told us. “Introduce yourselves to the others in your areas and get to work.”

  There would be no time to talk right now, so we didn’t linger. We went.

  Amber

  We were put to work right away. Rylen was whisked off into the secret places. At this point I couldn’t understand why there was any secretiveness, but whatever. There were so many sick soldiers that I didn’t have time to wonder too much.

  Most of the guys were suffering from malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, which began to lower their immune systems. First Sergeant had a box of multivitamins in his surplus of goods, so I gave each soldier one pill. They had to be rationed, so they could only have one every two days, and they had to get them from me. I had a list of names. After a couple of days, though, I started to wonder if some of the guys were coming for the vitamins, or to stare at my tits. It’s not like I had them on display. I was wearing a loose T-shirt. But these guys were seriously deprived. Even their flirtations were weak and desperate. I decided that as long as everyone kept their hands to themselves, I wouldn’t tell Rylen.

  To be honest, everyone seemed on edge. A constant state of tension loomed over the ranks. Not enough food. Not enough space. Not enough sleep. According to Texas Harry there was “a lot of monkey business” going on in the men’s room, and even the sleeping quarters. And by that, New York Josh helpfully clarified that he meant “a lot of monkey spanking business.”

  Gross.

  I’d always gotten along well with guys, so as much as I didn’t want to flirt or lead anyone on, it was hard not to be friendly to them when they were nice to me.

  “A Señorita, am I right?” asked a dark-haired guy when it was his turn in line. He appeared Hispanic, like me. Well, half of me.

  “Yep,” I said. “What’s your name, soldier?”

  “Corporal Luis Rodriguez, at your service.” His grin was cute, and his cockiness reminded me of my brother, which made my heart twinge.

  I found his name and checked it off, handing him a vitamin. He grabbed hold of my hand, and I gently pulled away.

  He tilted his head, not giving up. “Una muchacha hermosa com ousted necesita un amante latino.” A beautiful girl like you needs a Latin lover.

  I smirked and rested my palms on the table between us. “Lo siento, Cassanova, but I have a man.”

  “That gringo pilot I seen you with? What’s he got that I don’t?” He stood back and motioned down his body, making the guys behind him laugh.

  “My heart,” I said, giving him a wink. “Now, move along.”

  He grabbed his chest and the other guys pushed him out of the way. At least Luis Rodriguez took his rejection with grace. Not all of them did.

  I was happy to see J.D. show up to my designated medical table on the third day. I went around and hugged him, but his shoulders were stooped and he was frowning hard. I glanced around but didn’t see Sean.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  He gave a shrug. “You know they’ve made me the barber, right?”

  “Yeah. That’s good, right?”

  “I mean, that’s fine and great. I don’t mind. I want to be useful. But . . .” He looked away.

  My heart rate shot up. “Is someone giving you a hard time?” None of our group would put up with it if someone was pushing homophobic hate on him.

  “No,” he said. “It’s not that. It’s just weird.” He swallowed and I could see his hands shaking. “A lot them are . . . hitting on me.”

  My eyebrows hiked up. “Oh! That’s flattering, right? Have you told Sean?”

  “Hell, no. I don’t answer to him.” He put a hand on his hip, and I held back a smile. “And it’s not exactly flattering because they’re not gay.”

  “Wait, I’m confused.”

  “Men are vile creatures, Amber, surely you know that.”

  “Yeah, but I need some details here.” I crossed my arms.

  “They’re not gay, they’re just extremely horny. And they think since I’m queer, any dick will do.”

  “Oh.” I shriveled my nose. “What are you telling them?”

  “To fuck off. I’m not scared of these jarheads.”

  “I think only about ten of the guys here are Marines,” I told him.

  He gave me a funny look. “What?”

  “Jarheads are . . . never mind. Do you want me to talk to Top? He can assign someone to stay with you while you’re working. Or you can give me a list of names. You don’t have to put up with that.”

  “No.” He adamantly shook his head. “Everyone is too busy, and I can handle myself. I just needed to vent to a girlfriend, you know?”

  “I know. Guys can be such pigs.” I took his hand and we swung our arms between us until a small smile graced his smooth face.

  “Ry-Ry was super sweet when I cut his hair today, though. That’s one guy I wouldn’t turn down.” He winked, and I snorted.

  I sure as hell wouldn’t turn him down either, but we’d barely shared a kiss since we got here.

  “What is it?” he asked. “No nookie time for you two?”

  I blushed, I couldn’t help it, and it made J.D. giggle.

  “Just wait your turn for the closet,” he said.

  “What closet?”

  His eyes bugged. “Hel-lo! The closet is where people go to get it on. Across the hall from the bathrooms? That’s where all the men keep asking me to meet them.”

  “Where they keep the brooms and mops?” I asked, and he nodded. “That room’s barely big enough for one person to stand!” Gah, all I could think about were the amount of STD germs that were ironically living with the cleaning supplies.

  “I’m never going back in the closet, if you know what I mean, but there’s nothing wrong with tight quarters,” he teased. “I’m sure Ry can make it work.”

  Now I blushed even harder. God, J.D.’s bantering made me miss Remy. Just the thought of her crushed my chest.

  “All right,” J.D. said with a sigh. “I better get back.”

  “Here,” I told him, holding out a vitamin. “And I think you should tell Sean about the other guys propositioning.”

  J.D. took the vitamin and crossed his arms. “Look, that man is stubborn, and he does not get jealous. He’s a freak of nature. Although, he did cuddle me a little in his sleep last night, and he boldfaced denied it when I told him. He makes me sleep against the wall, you know. Always Mr. So-Called Protector.” J.D. said it like he was annoyed, rolling his eyes, and I had to smile.

  J.D. had been angry at Sean ever since Sean forced him to leave his boyfriend’s cabin in the wilderness where he’d been living on ramen. J.D insisted that his boyfriend went into town and would be coming back, but Sean was not about to leave him. I’m pretty sure J.D. knew by then that there’s no way his boyfriend was really coming back, but the faux-anger game they played worked for them.

  “Go cut some hair,” I said. “I’m getting a line.”

  He blew a kiss at me and headed off, leaving me to deal with more lethargic soldiers. I was happy to see Tall Mark and Short Matt in line. I hugged the
m both when they got to the front. They’d been my jokesters and source of much laughter the past four months, but both of them were sobered lately. Their loss of mirth was direct proof of how much we’d changed.

  “I miss you guys,” I said as I gave them both vitamins. “I miss watch duty and playing cards.” We’d been waiting for a turn with the cards last night, but the other guys were all so serious that it ended in a fist fight. I wasn’t sure how long we could live like this.

  “There’s a lot I miss,” Matt said, and I wondered if he was thinking of Remy. I couldn’t look at his kind, rounded face without remembering how he gave her the M&M.

  “But things are going to happen pretty fast,” Mark promised me. I looked up at gaunt cheeks, interested in what he meant. He went on. “If things go as planned, we’ll only be here another two months.”

  I closed my eyes and let out a massive sigh. Two months? We could do that. I wanted to ask how he knew and what the latest intel was, but my line was not getting any shorter.

  After I said good-bye to the former goofballs, I cleaned and sealed a hand cut, gave out a dose of ibuprofen and three more vitamins before noticing Rylen, Tex, Josh, Devon, and Shavontae in line. I held back a squeal, but couldn’t stop the smile.

  I kissed Rylen smack on the lips when it was his turn, and his grin heated me from the ground up. “Your haircut looks good,” I said.

  “Your everything looks good,” he said low enough for only me to hear. The gravel in his voice made images of a dirty closet come to mind, heating my cheeks all over again.

  “Where’s my sugar?” Tex asked, pushing in beside Rylen with all his broad height.

  I eyed his fuzzy face and frowned when I saw his arm. “Excuse me, cowboy, but where is your sling?” It felt like a lifetime ago that he’d been shot on a goods run and lost a dangerous amount of blood, but in actuality it was only about a week.

  “Uh, yeah . . . well, it’s feeling a little better.” He had the decency to look guilty, and the others laughed as I crossed my arms.