Page 11 of Calico Descending

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but we were hoping we could join your hive.”

“That’s not my decision. We’ve got resources and food rationed for our group’s size.”

“I know how to cook. And Bryani knows how to read and sew. We could be useful.”

She exhales a sigh and looks around. “How ‘bout you get some sleep, and I’ll pop the question tomorrow in a meeting with everyone. See what they think.”

Sounds better than roaming the desert all night with Ragers on our trail. “Okay.”

Dina leads us to a tent that appears to be lived in, going off the crinkled blankets and personal items thrown about. “Sorry ‘bout the mess. Wasn’t expecting any visitors.”

The tent is only big enough for Bryani and me, unless we pack in tight together.

“Remember Asshole from the cave? We’re sorta together.” The disappointment on her face suggests maybe it’s not entirely by choice. “I’ll sleep in his tent tonight. You two can sleep in mine.”

For a split second, I wonder if the two of them have been together like that in here, on these blankets, but then I remember the scorpion that scampered across my leg two nights ago while camped out under the stars. I’ll take these blankets over that any day. “Thank you for everything, Dina.”

“You’re welcome, kid.”

Chapter 6

Present day

Small, blue, green and silver beads slide over my arm, as I spin the bracelet Bryani made for me. Took a lot of crap for it from the other girls at first, since jewelry isn’t allowed, but Medusa gave me the okay, and, eventually, the others forgot about it. Medusa has her moments, I guess, but I wouldn’t call the woman nice by any stretch. After all, I’ve seen her beat a girl to death for mouthing back.

The thin mattress of my bunk hardly dips, as Roz sits down beside me. Second floor of A Wing is made up of about thirty hospital-sized rooms, and each room somehow manages to fit a dozen bunks, which means there’s no such thing as alone time, or privacy. I’ve been lucky to bunk with Roz since my first year, seeing how frequently girls come and go. She’s a year older than I am and works transport, wheeling subjects from one place to the next, so she sees and hears a lot. Unlike mine, her head is shaved down to a buzz of black that’ll be shaved again in another week. Females in Alpha Project are permitted to forego the shavings. Probably to give the beastly males something to pull when they’re dragging them around their cells. If not for the fact that most of the girls would sooner work the incinerators than be sent off to Alpha Project, I’m certain my long hair would be a source of contention.

“How’d it go?” she asks, tugging a cigarette from the pocket of her uniform. We’re not supposed to smoke, at all, in here, but Roz has something going with one of the engineers, Kenny, who gives her cigarettes in exchange for favors. He basically knows the ins and outs of the computer system throughout the hospital. As much as I’m inclined to warn her off from him, I find their relationship valuable, and in this place, valuable relationships are what keep a person alive.

“Horrible.” Tucking an arm under my head, I sigh. “He hates me.”

Her eye squints as she draws in a lungful of smoke. It’s odd that Medusa doesn’t smell it when she comes in for bed check. Maybe she can’t smell anything. Maybe her nose is as stoney as her heart. “I worried about you all fucking day. Thought I was going to have to suffer a new bunkbitch.”

“Thanks for the confidence. I’m glad to know our friendship means so much.”

A shove to my legs, and she smiles. “Just messing with you.” Twisting around, she folds her legs, forcing mine to the corner of my bed. “’S he huge?”

“I don’t know what they’re feeding them, but he’s the biggest male I’ve seen here.”

Used to be women weren’t permitted at Calico. During the raids on hives, women were seen as useless, breeders of the diseased, and killed off. Now, they’re brought here as subjects, to study third generation breeding in controlled experiments.

The fear was, the presence of females would tempt not only the guards, but the beastly males used in experiments, like Valdys. Funny how it’s evolved into something to study, like everything else here. Starvation. Sleep deprivation. Reactions to hot, cold, pain, and pleasure. Everything is tested and observed, and I have no doubt those muscles are the results of experimentation, too.

Eyes wide, she bites her lip and flicks her ash into the palm of her hand. “You see his dick?”

With a grimace, I cross my arms. “No! It was just a meeting.”

“I had to wheel Neela to surgery after she was with one of the Alphas first day. From the sound of it? He nearly tore her in half.”

I remember Neela, now, from my first year. Didn’t have the greatest start with her, but we eventually grew on each other, and became friends, even. Until she was dragged off for Alpha Project, and I never saw her again after that.

That could’ve easily been me, sent to that Alpha’s room.

“Yeah, thanks for telling me that beforehand, by the way. Might’ve been useful to know what happens when you say their name.”

“That’s why he went at her like that?”

Apparently, Roz doesn’t know everything that goes on in this place. “Yeah. I made the same mistake today.”

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