The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (87 page)

             
“Do we have choices?” I asked Don.

             
“Of course.” He smiled and leaned against one of the porch’s posts, “Well,
you
do, Brynna. But James, you’ll like what I’m offering you. I know that this job is right up your al
ley.”

             
“How nice.” James replied irritably.

             
“Stop it.” I scolded him.

             
“You’re too intimidating to be put on yard work or in the garden or in the kitchen. You definitely belong with our security detail. Being a guard is perhaps the most important job
here, given the circumstances. We’ve been doing the best we can with who we have, but you’re perfect for the job.”

             
“You really think so?” James feigned awe at Don’s vast faith in him.

             
I glared at James, prompting him to hold his hands up in surrender.

             
“
I’m done.”

             
“Forgive him. He has forgotten his manners. He is also very grateful to be staying here. He has said so himself. Why he is not making his gratitude known is beyond me but I intend to find out.”

             
“It’s alright. You all have had a rough time out
there. I know. It took us two days to get here. We had to fight our way through natives and creatures, too. I know how hard it is. It changes a person, doesn’t it?”

             
I nodded. James glared at him.

             
“Now, don’t get me wrong, we have many men and women
working in security that are very good at what they do. The men have evolved into exactly what you’re evolving into.”

             
“And what is that, Don?” James asked.

             
“I don’t know exactly what to call it. The term around here is ‘Strong-Arm.’ I don’t know where it
got started, really. But they were regular people, just like you were. Once they got here, they bulked up. They took hold of their animal nature proudly, just like you. You all have been gifted with unthinkable strength.”

             
James stared at him, so irritate
d by his presence that I had to bite my lip in order to suppress a laugh. His glare turned to me; he was even more aggravated by how amused I was by his bad attitude.

             
“Well, I’ll do the job because I know I don’t have a choice.” He ignored me as I buried
my face in his neck so I could laugh quietly. He didn't shake me off, despite how angry he was; in fact, his arm tightened around my shoulders.

             
“Alright. Fantastic.” Don smiled genuinely again, “And you, Brynna,” I looked up at him, “I thought about putti
ng you on the same job.”

             
“I would do it but I assume that one who works security has to spend a lot of time out of the house. Am I correct in that assumption?”

             
“Indeed.”

             
“Well, I have my sisters to look after. If it is possible, I would prefer something
where I can be close to them. I do not assume that anyone will try to hurt them…”

             
“You don’t need to explain.” Don held up his hand in an attempt to pacify my belief that I was somehow offending him. “I understand completely.”

             
“Okay, then.” I frowned in
uncertainty at his show of empathy. “I can do just about anything. So, you name it, I will do it,” I paused, realizing that I had given him far too much freedom to choose my occupation, “Just not bathrooms. I do not do bathrooms.”

             
Don laughed.

             
“How abou
t helping out in the kitchen? Do you do that?”

             
I laughed, too, in utter relief.

             
“Sure. Why not? I am not the best cook in the world but I will help out as best I can.”

             
“Great. How would your sisters like that job?”

             
“They would positively adore it, I am
sure. They have always liked toiling about in the kitchen. They used to bake something every weekend together. I am not saying that all of their attempts were successful…”

             
“That doesn’t matter. There will be plenty of help for all of you. I am just a fir
m believer in the fact that people need to work. If we are going to all live here together, everyone should be doing something to help out. What we grow in the garden or cook in the kitchen can certainly be kept individually but some has to go to everyone.
I need your honest opinion. Do you feel that I’m right in that?”

             
I was not going to lie, certainly not for his sake.

             
“Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.”

             
“Good. I know that you’re very bright. People who can think like you should definitely lend their opinio
n because it always seems to be useful.”

             
Oh, flattery. The man was trying to win my approval as though the entire existence of his little colony depended on it.

             
“What if I had said no?” I asked in a challenge that was perhaps unfairly.

             
He was taken
aback for a moment but he quickly shrugged off my question with his soft, easy-going smile.

             
“Well, I would have had to rethink a few things.”

             
Now, I was not foolish enough to believe that if I had disagreed with him, he would have changed his entire oper
ation based on my opinion. When he said he would have “to rethink a few things”, he meant only that he would be shortening the duration of our stay in his home. Don believed that from his response, I would be tickled that he valued my opinion but instead,
I saw only the clear
message he was trying to convey: He was in control.

             
Because of his smile and his stature, one would not have been able to decipher that aggressive meaning behind his humdrum words easily, if one even could at all. But his ruse was not
fooling James and me in the slightest.

             
“James, a group is heading out for the campsite tomorrow. Would you like to accompany them?”

             
There was another question to which there was one set answer.

             
“What are they after?”

             
“Just as much as they can carry fr
om the underbelly of the ship. As many supplies as possible. We try to go every couple of days.”

             
“It takes two days to get there, you said?” I asked, and my eyes widened slightly. I did not want him to go if he would be gone for so long. I was far too use
d to his constant presence. We did not spend every waking moment latched together but I was comforted by knowing that he was near at all times. I could not imagine adjusting to our first days in Don’s camp without him.

             
“No, that was just with stopping to
rest, rerouting, you know. If he leaves by sunup, he’ll be back by sundown.”

             
“Oh.” I sat back again and pulled James’s arm onto my shoulder where it had been before I had moved.

             
“That’s fine with me.” James told Don.

             
“Great. Adam has provided us with so
me knives and spears to use. However,” Don leaned forward conspiratorially, “I will tell you that I am after the guns that were brought.”

             
“My father’s guards have the guns. If he has joined with the Bachums, who knows where they are?” I informed him disma
lly.

             
“The Bachums and their people are in the north. We don’t know exactly where. But if any of those guns were left behind, especially since your father’s guards have a few of them, we need to have the rest. Do you know what I’m saying?”

             
“That certainly
wasn’t hard to understand, so yes.” James replied sourly.

             
I rolled my eyes and swore to myself that I would beat him later for being so incredibly rude.

             
“You shouldn’t run into any trouble since they’re so far north. But if you do…”

             
“I can handle it. I
’m sure your other security dogs can, too.”

             
“I have full faith in you. Anyway, we don’t have any rules around here, so wander about for as long as you want.”

             
“Well, I am so glad to hear that I don’t have a curfew, Don. Thanks.”

             
I scowled back at him alm
ost evilly.

             
“Generally I am the one accused of possessing a snarky streak but my lovely boyfriend seems to be trying to give me a run for my money. You have my apologies for that.”

             
“It’s quite alright. Like I said, we spent two days out there. I can’t im
agine spending a week. Have a good evening, you two.”

             
He was gone as quickly as he had come.

             
“Well, you seem to really like him.” James's irritation was evident when he stood up and started to pace. “Were you just agreeing with me to agree with me when y
ou said you didn’t trust him?”

             
“I don’t trust him, James. But that does not mean I am going to be openly hostile towards him when he has kindly let us into this home…”

             
“Everyone needs to work…” James muttered, “Like we really have a choice!”

             
“We do not
have a choice, not if we want to stay here. It is not unfair of him to ask for everyone to contribute. I will give him that.”

             
“You’ll give him a lot of credit when he doesn’t deserve it. You’re falling for that little act of his. You are just like the oth
er people here! You’re so desperate to believe that we’re safe…”

             
“Do not even accuse me of pulling the wool over my eyes! I am constantly on the alert for anything even remotely shady, be it here or in the woods, or…”

             
“You were the one that said there wa
s no reason for them to kick my ass like they did.”

             
“Is that what this is about?” I asked him incredulously, “James, I told you that in a fair fight, you would have killed them. Nobody sees you as being any less for what happened…”

             
“I am well aware that
I would have killed them in a fair fight. I certainly don’t need your reassurance on that.”

             
“Then I will stop reassuring you! It is all very simple, James; if we want to stay here, we need to tow the line, listen to what he says, within reason…”

             
“See, th
at!” He snapped and pointed his finger at me, “‘
Within reason
.' That
is where the problem is going to come in. We don’t know exactly what is 'within reason' for him. I know that there is more to him than that little charade that he puts on! What was the pu
rpose of drugging us?!”

             
“I suppose he needed to know where our allegiance was or…”

             
“No! It was a power-play, Brynna! You are not stupid! Stop acting like you are! You need to see all of this for what it is! He was showing us exactly how much control he h
as over the situation. He was showing us that he’s willing to resort to assaulting people in order to find out what he wants to know!”
             
“He is not even that smart!” I snapped at him. Every last one of those notions presented in his tirade were completely h
yperbolic, to the say the least. I almost laughed at how ludicrous they were.

             
“Goddamn it, don't even grin like that, like I'm being an idiot and you're up on a cloud of knowledge looking down on me!”

             
“Relatively good simile, if I may...”

             
He punched one
of the smaller pillars on the porch, sending pieces of wood and tiny projectiles of white paint flying. I frowned; we had been conscious in Don's house for less than three hours and already, we had dented a wall (when I slapped Elijah) and broken a part o
f his lovely, picturesque porch.