In theory, this whole area was common ground and safe for everyone. In reality, each of the other four divisions had staked their claim to the corner of Reception by the entrance to their wing of the building, while the Resistance had an area in the centre of the room.
At this time in the morning, the members of each division should either be in the long queue for food, or sitting at the tables in their own areas and eating breakfast. Instead, half of them were on their feet and laughing. The target of that laughter was standing right in front of us, with two Manhattan men on one side of him and two Queens Island men on the other.
Luther usually had an air of calm self-confidence, but now his expression verged on panic. I could understand why. One of the Manhattan men taunting him was Cage, and I knew from personal experience how dangerous Cage could be.
“I’ve told you twice now to go back to your own areas,” said Luther. “I’m an alliance officer, so you have to obey my orders.”
“I’d no idea you were an officer, Luther,” said Cage, in a voice of maliciously exaggerated innocence. “I must have missed hearing that wonderful news.”
“I remember Donnell announcing Luther’s officer appointment months ago,” said the other Manhattan man, Shark, “but I assumed it was a joke. What has Luther ever done to earn an officer position?”
Luther ran his fingers through his black hair, obviously uncertain how to respond. I’d had a crush on Luther’s good looks for a while back when I was fifteen. My feelings had survived a few months of his unrelenting indifference towards me, before being annihilated by a two-second encounter on the stairs. I was walking upwards, when Luther came dashing down past me, pushing me aside with a casual command that the traitor’s sister should get out of his way. I’d heard that sort of remark plenty of times before and since, but it had been especially painful coming from him.
I didn’t have a crush on Luther any longer, but I couldn’t help sympathizing with him at this moment. I knew exactly what was happening here. Luther had become an officer five months ago. The other divisions had given him a relatively easy time back then, because his father, Kasim, had been Donnell’s deputy and the only other person with an Armed Agent weapon. Now that Kasim had died from the winter fever, the worst of the division men had decided his son would be vulnerable prey, so they were circling him like wolves.
Luther finally opened his mouth to speak, but one of the Queens Island men called out from behind him.
“Of course Donnell wasn’t joking. Kasim’s son just has to whine for whatever he wants and he’s handed it on a silver platter. It’s the same thing that happened six years ago with …”
Donnell shouted from where he was standing next to me. “That’s enough!”
The laughter round the room abruptly stopped. Shark and the two Queens Island division men turned and walked rapidly back to their own areas, but Cage lingered to give another mocking laugh at Luther before sauntering off with insolent slowness. As he approached the Manhattan corner, the bulky figure of Wall, leader of Manhattan division, strode forward to meet him. The glower of displeasure on Wall’s dark face would have made any other Manhattan member tremble, but Cage’s smile didn’t falter.
I frowned. Cage had challenged Wall’s leadership of Manhattan years ago. That challenge had failed because Wall was a strong, well-liked leader, but Cage’s self-assured smile made me worry that he was planning a new leadership bid.
Donnell turned to me for a split second. “It seems we’ll need to leave our talk until later, Blaze.”
I didn’t have time to reply before he and Machico hurried off to talk to Luther. I was left worrying about my own situation again, mentally replaying my conversation with Donnell about the aircraft, and cursing my stupidity for arguing with him. Donnell had remembered my birthday and was planning to discuss my future with me. My behaviour could be the last straw that made him discard me from the Resistance.
The cooking smells were tormenting my empty stomach, so I headed for the back of the room, automatically making the necessary detours to avoid trespassing on any other division’s territory. Nobody would consider a girl like me a genuine threat, but going too close to their area would still bring retribution down on my head.
I joined the line of people queuing at the food table, and now I wasn’t just worrying about Donnell’s words, but uncomfortably aware of the leaping flames of the cooking fire as well. As the line slowly moved, I shuffled forward in turn, getting even closer to the makeshift hearth and chimney that had been built against the wall. I felt my hands begin to tremble and clenched them into fists. It was over six years since I’d escaped the London firestorm and come to New York as a refugee, but the sight and sound of flames still triggered bad memories.
The queue moved forward again. There were only three people ahead of me now, then two, then one, and finally I reached the table with its steaming cauldrons. I waited as my ration of soup was carefully ladled into a bowl and handed to me, then turned, eager to escape from the cooking fire, but found someone blocking my path.
“Hello, Blaze,” said Cage.
Scavenger Alliance, the first book in the Scavenger Exodus series, is available now in both ebook and paperback editions. You can find full details here.
Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4) Page 50