Page 4 of Bait (After the End #2)

Chapter Two

My wariness of Brenda A was unfounded in the end.

The exchange went on without issues. Even though there were only around fourteen hundred dwellers left in the bunker, weeks, sometimes months could pass without seeing certain people.

Especially if you were a few floors apart.

I was on a higher floor and Brenda A was on the service staff level.

But it was still a surprise to see how young she looked.

“This should last you six months or so,” I told her, pressing the envelope into her hand.

She sucked in a breath before sliding it into her pocket.

For a second, I felt another one of those little frissons of fear, even though no one could see us.

We were in one of the walk-in refrigerators.

I’d claimed to need a tour since I’d never actually been in one.

It was true I hadn’t been down here much and probably would’ve never come if I didn’t need an excuse to hand off the envelope discreetly.

“I don’t have enough for everyone.” In fact, my supplies were pretty low.

I’d even considered stopping taking them myself, in order to give them to women who were not given a choice to delay breeding.

But I couldn’t bring myself to stop when Cord kept making his interest so obvious.

“This won’t help you avoid being bred forever, but it will give you a reprieve.

” I didn’t like that women were being matched so young and were not even given a small window of time to get to know their partners.

“Okay.” She sounded so spooked. I would’ve hugged her, but touch was hard for me.

Brenda A was very thin, and she had that same bluish cast on her skin that most of the lighter skinned dwellers had.

She was sweet. Her mother Benita had been the head of the morning meal crew ever since I could remember.

She retired last year and became ill shortly after.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t heard the news if she passed.

“Do you not like your match?” It was not uncommon for young women to be paired with much older men. The logic being that we could not be too picky if we were going to keep the bunker from dying out. But to my surprise, Brenda A shook her head in denial.

“I like him fine,” she said, making her pale face blush prettily.

“I want to apply for a job in the greenhouses. I’m focusing on that right now.

” The greenhouse staff lived on an upper floor and got more water and food rations.

Sometimes it felt like in the bunker your fate was sealed from the moment you were born.

Everyone had their place and their duty.

It was nice seeing someone with some ambitions.

“That’s great, Brenda.” I gave her shoulder a light squeeze before we left the frigid walk-in. “I hope your match is good to you,” I whispered before stepping out, feeling slightly better after that talk with Leo and the ugly memories it brought up.

After leaving Brenda A back in the kitchen, I made my way to the elevator.

But when I went to press the button, one of the guards told me it was out of service.

I looked around for Leonel, but he must have gone back to his rooms for his break, since he had nothing to do until the mechanics came.

I left the empty magazine cart with the guard, promising to come back for it when the elevator was working again, and made my way up the stairs.

It was good exercise and since I’d used my gym time to come down to the kitchen, I took it in stride.

Thinking back, I should’ve known something was wrong the moment I arrived at the library level.

There was usually no one around our corridor in the middle of the day.

Especially not when the council was in a meeting.

But there were three guards outside of the library.

Something about the alert way they were standing, hands on their batons, told me they were on the lookout for someone.

Then I saw Becker by the circulation desk talking to Danika.

That definitely should’ve given me some clue.

But I walked in without suspecting it was a trap. What a dummy.

“Chairman what an honor to have you visit us.” I made an effort to sound sincere, despite the fact that the man only visited when he came up with even more books to keep from the hands of people in the bunkers. I was glad I’d left the cart down in the kitchen—less to explain.

Becker was facing away from me, actually. Both he and Danika seemed to be huddled over something on the table. My heart started pounding as I approached them, very aware the guards who had been outside were now at my back.

“Alma,” Becker greeted me with that benevolent smile that as a kid I’d thought of as fatherly but lately couldn’t help but see as a little calculated.

Right now, it chilled my blood. He was a tall man, with a face that had been handsome in his youth but grew sterner with age.

The grooved line between his eyes was more like a furrow these days.

He was still imposing and very fit for his close to sixty years.

Becker was the kind of man who could never quite conceal the fact that he thought himself better than others, and in that moment, as he took me in, he was having a very hard time hiding his disdain. “We were waiting for you.”

He moved away from the circulation desk, and I caught a glimpse of my box on top of it.

Not in the place where I kept it, and it was open.

I also saw that Danika had the notebook where I kept notes of who I’d given the suppressant to in her hands, as if she’d been showing it to him.

I wrote the names in a code. It would take work for him to figure out exactly who each person was.

But this was not good, fucking Danika. When I stared at her, she cast her eyes down, almost as if she was spooked.

And that’s when I knew I was screwed beyond measure.

“How can I serve you, Chairman?” I croaked out, trying very hard to keep my voice from shaking.

My head started to swim, and my limbs felt weak, but I needed to keep my wits.

I knew there wasn’t a huge amount in there.

There was not much in there at all. I never stored everything in one spot.

The list would not allow me to claim it was just mine, and they would want to know who and what I was using these herbs for.

Becker watched me for a moment, his eyes hard, angry.

Even as that smile stayed fixed on his face.

He was wearing his usual blue coveralls, the same ones his father wore.

I assumed he’d inherited them from the old man, since he’d worn the tunic and pants like everyone else until the man died.

He took a step toward me, and I instinctively retreated, but the guards didn’t let me get away.

The slap, when it came, was so surprising, I cried out. The pain was intense, so searing, my teeth throbbed.

“Shut up,” he snarled, his face distorted into an ugly sneer. “You think you can bypass the rules like your mother and your traitor of a brother? The only reason you’re not dead is because I had at least some respect for your father.”

I was so stunned I couldn’t even defend myself. I just stared at him numbly with my palm to my cheek.

Despite my activities, I was not a rule breaker by nature.

I really did try to obey, do my job and stay out of the way.

But I did not like the way the council controlled everything.

How we were given less and less information and were expected to offer up our bodies, our lives to increase the population of this bunker.

We couldn’t choose our mates. We couldn’t take contraception.

It was inhumane, and I could do something about it, so I did.

I knew it would catch up with me eventually.

“How many have you given this to?” he asked me as one of the guards wrenched my arms back hard enough to make me cry out.

I could feel the tears stinging my eyes.

Becker was furious, he looked like he wanted to kill me.

He probably could, and who would care? Who would ask for me if I went missing?

My mind whirled as I thought of the past few years, all the dwellers who had been put in the “hold.” Torch had been taken there after he tried to kidnap me.

My friend Valeria Candelario and her dad were taken after she and I were caught kissing and my father turned her into the council.

Because intimate contact between dwellers was only allowed for the purpose of revitalizing the population of the bunker.

What had really happened to my brother?

“I’ve only used it for myself,” I lied, my voice shaking. I couldn’t help it.

This time he backhanded me, and the impact of it made me stumble back. I crashed into the desk. I bit my tongue and could taste the blood in my mouth. Behind Becker, I saw Danika gasp. She actually looked surprised, like she didn’t think turning me in would end up like this.

“Tell me who you gave it to, and we’ll forget all about it.

I know you meant well.” His voice was conciliatory.

Like he knew I was just a misguided kid.

In my gut I knew that no matter what I said, I was going to wherever everyone else that went against the rules of the council ended up.

I was starting to think “hold” was code for something quite unpleasant.

But I was damned if I’d make anyone else bear the brunt of this for me.

“Fuck you,” I spat out, then turned to Danika. “And fuck you too, you snitch.” She had the gall to look contrite, like she hadn’t fucked me over.

“They’re going to help my mom get better.” Her eyes were brimming with tears and despite what she’d done, I pitied her. The clinics barely had any medicines left and what they did have they reserved for the upper levels. We still had good doctors and nurses, but things were bad down here.