“I will see you later, Jason. I need to get to work. ”
“Thanks, Nerit,” Jason answered. “You know,
for listening. ”
She nodded and walked on, her dog falling into step behind her.
Today she felt stiff and ungainly. Nothing seemed to work just right. It was hard for her to accept her age when most of the time she did not feel her years at all, but today she did. That she had sat down alone and not with the other seniors had been deliberate. This was not a time for her to give into time, but to fight it. With Mike gone, she had a role to play.
Approaching the front desk, she found Peggy typing away on a computer. People still remained on the Internet where there was still service. The Mayor had told her that several servers were up because the workers barricaded themselves into buildings and were trying hard to keep the Internet up and running-so information could be exchanged between the surviving scientists. There were forums to contact other survivors, Peggy often logged onto them to monitor other groups. It was stressful whenever another group vanished off the list. News was hard to come by. No one had any idea if there was any semblance of the government left. The Internet was rife with rumors.
“Do you have the duty roster?”
Peggy started, then laughed. “Gawd, you gave me a fright. Yeah, right there. I updated it like you asked. ”
Nerit checked it over and noted Jimmy was already on watch where she had assigned him. “Excellent. I’ll make sure to get the updated schedule for the next few days to you as soon as possible. ” With Mike and the others dead, the roster would look very different.
“I can go ahead and take you off kitchen duty, since you took over for Mike,” Peggy offered.
Nerit shook her head. “No, no. Cooking is relaxing. Keep me on it. ”
Peggy shrugged, then cocked her head. “Nerit, I was wondering.
Could you show me how to shoot?”
With a grin, Nerit answered, “Of course. I’m thinking about making lessons mandatory, not voluntary. ”
With a little sigh, Peggy bobbed her head in agreement. “I just don’t want to feel so useless or helpless. ”
“That seems to be the theme of the day,” Nerit answered and strolled away. She was halfway across the lobby when she saw Curtis.
“Curtis, I have something I need to attend to. Mind joining me?”
Curtis hesitated. “Sure. What are we dealing with?”
“Jimmy. ”
Curtis frowned. “Yeah. I talked to Travis and Juan about what he pulled yesterday. Juan wants him pulled from anymore excursions. ”
“We need all the people we can use. He just needs to learn a lesson,” Nerit answered coolly.
She entered the elevator and Curtis followed.
“I don’t know, Nerit. He’s always been twitchy. ”
“We’re all twitchy. ”
This brought guffaws from Curtis.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
“You’re the coldest of us, Nerit, a true killing machine. You’re never twitchy. ”
Nerit shook her head. “I’m just well-trained. ”
“We don’t need cowards,” Curtis said in a low voice. “We don’t need people who will sacrifice others to protect themselves. ”
“No, we need well-trained people,” Nerit answered in such a way Curtis fell into silence.