Dwindle: Populations Crumble: Book 1

by K. A. Gandy

  He looks pleasantly surprised, and his eyes flit down my floor-length green gown. “Well I’ll be damned. I’d love that.” He meets my eyes again and slowly tips his hat before he makes room for yet another man. How many are there at this point?

  This man is suave, and I can tell he has no problem with the ladies. He’s buff, and with his dark hair and friendly demeanor, I know he’ll keep me on my toes. “Darlin’, nice to meet you. I’m Antonio.” He shocks me by going in straight for a hug. My cheek presses up against his silky patterned shirt, and I notice the top two buttons are undone. This close up, his cologne is nice, but far too strong.

  “Oh! Uhm, hello, Antonio, I’m Sadie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I awkwardly pat him on the back a few times before he releases me.

  He gives me an openly flirtatious look, not bothered in the least by the competition, “The pleasure is all mine, I promise you!” His eyes rake me slowly from my toes back up to my face, and I can feel myself turning red from his blatant perusal. I get that the end goal of this program is to start a family with one of these men, but I didn’t think they’d be coming on so strongly to a woman they don’t know from Eve.

  I’m just starting to feel trapped under his heated gaze when a strong hand grips his shoulder, causing him to look accusingly at the next man in line before stepping aside. My brain catches up and follows the hand to its owner, and I suck in a breath. “Patrick?”

  He gives me a warm smile, “In the flesh, Sadie. How are you holding up?” His other hand is in his pocket, giving him a casual but confident look.

  I note he’s still in his guard’s uniform. “I’m okay, I suppose. Are you still working, or are we matched, or, uhm . . .” I trail off, not wanting to offend him, but not sure what to make of his presence.

  “Turns out, we’re a match. Ninety-nine percent, or so they told me. Can I show you to our table?” He extends his hand towards me in a friendly gesture. I grab it, and his palm feels warm and solid against mine. He entwines our fingers, and I walk in a cloud of suitors towards table ten. We arrive at a round table with eight seats, and a ubiquitous cream table cloth. A quick glance towards the rest of the room shows me that each table is placed with the exact number of matches for the woman assigned to it.

  Patrick pauses and pulls out the chair in front of a little vellum card with my name on it in elegant script. I sweep my skirt to the side so I can sit, accidentally widening the thigh-high slit up the side as I do. “Oh, geez!” I quickly drop into the chair, and awkwardly try to wrestle the fabric back over my bare leg.

  “Hey,” Patrick stops me with a calm hand, and looks directly into my eyes, “It’s okay. Nobody is going to see that under the table.” Then he carefully tucks my chair in.

  I know my cheeks must be red as the clay that’s usually caked to my cowboy boots, but I force myself to look at him again, “Thank you, you’re right.” He’s seated to my left, and Asher is to my right. Everyone else has settled around the table, and they seem to have witnessed my embarrassment over showing so much skin to virtual strangers.

  Before I can drown in my own awkwardness, Asher smoothly draws my attention, “So, Sadie, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself? For instance, where did you grow up, and do you have any siblings?” He reaches for the water pitcher in the center of the table, and starts filling up a glass.

  “Yes, I’d love to.” I grasp onto the topic of home and family like a rat clutching a floating board off of a sinking ship, “Well, I’m from Jackson Flats, towards the middle-eastern edge of Georada. I have six brothers, one sister-in-law, and two nephews.”

  “Did you just say six brothers?” Pierce interjects, looking shocked.

  I nod, “Yes, I know it’s odd now-a-days. But there are seven of us. I’m the youngest. Actually, Teddy, my youngest brother is right over—” I search for him and Faith, and spot them a few tables over, talking animatedly over a bread basket, “there!” I point to the table. They are so engrossed in their conversation that neither looks up. I wonder what they’re discussing so intently?

  “What are the odds? That’s great that there’s a familiar face here with you,” Asher says as he hands me the cool glass of water.

  I smile at him gratefully, “Thank you,” and take a sip. As I look around the table, James has an almost predatory look in his eyes which gives me the creeps. I quickly skip past him and land on Matthew, who’s also looking at me, but with calculation instead.

  “What are the odds . . .” he repeats thoughtfully. “How often does a woman get matched with,” he glances around the table, “seven bachelors at once? Aren’t matches usually a little more one-on-one?”

  Grant answers in a slow drawl, “Sadie here is clearly an exceptional woman, to have been a strong genetic match to all of us.”

  Matthew’s eyebrows lower as he addresses Grant, “How strong of a match did they give you? I was told she wouldn’t be matched with anyone under a ninety percent ranking.”

  Grant nods, “Ninety-nine percent.”

  Antonio pipes up, “Same, ninety-nine percent”

  One by one, each man around the table agrees.

  Holy fudge. There’s no way I can be a ninety-nine percent match to all of them, is there? There has to be a mistake. How in the world am I supposed to choose if they’re all the same ranking? I’ve got to change the subject. Patrick offers me the bread basket from the center of the table, and I choose the fluffiest roll I can see.

  “So, can you all tell me a bit more about yourselves?” I ask before taking a large bite out of my roll. Mama forgive me, but I need to put something in my mouth besides my foot this evening.

  They go around the table and each tells me their job, where they’re from, and if they have any siblings or living family. I would kill for a notepad right about now. I’m desperately trying to remember all the facts they’re telling me, when Patrick leans in close to my ear and whispers, “Relax, this is all in the Bachelor Book— you can catch up on the details later.” Thank God. Politician, Actor, Businessman, Pro Soccer Team owner . . . I need a chart. Or, I don’t know, a tape recorder.

  Food is brought to the table by well-dressed waiters, and we all tuck in with different levels of gusto. Just as I’m going in for a second mouthful of my pasta, an odd staticky sound comes from my left, and I hear a voice that’s not Patrick’s.

  “There has been a breach! I repeat, code four-one-oh, breach in progress. Return dolls to the dollhouse for lock-down protocol immediately.”

  The Dollhouse

  The voice stops, and before I have time to process what I just heard, Patrick grabs my hand and hauls me to my feet as uniformed guards start pouring into the dining room. People around the room are all scrambling to jump to their feet, but he doesn’t wait as he starts pulling me to a side door, out of the fray. The rush of noise and people running dims slightly as the door shuts behind us. We’re in a side hallway that I’ve never been in before.

  Patrick hasn’t let go of my hand, “Come on Sadie, hurry!” he urges me.

  I use my free hand to grab at the heavy bottom of my skirt and haul it upwards to try to keep moving faster, “Patrick, where are we going? I didn’t think there was anything back this way except the stables?” Stables I haven’t even had a free moment to visit yet I think wryly. Not the time, Sadie, not the time.

  We reach the end of the hall just as I hear a door slamming shut behind us, we both spin to see who’s come through the door, and I sigh in relief to see that it’s Teddy hauling a confused Faith behind him, straight towards us. “I hope you know where you’re going, man. Everyone else was running the opposite direction!” Teddy whisper-shouts to Patrick.

  “I do! Follow me, stay low, and try to be as quiet as possible just in case.” He pulls open the door to the outside, and cautiously looks left and right before stepping out and waving for us to follow. Teddy and Faith catch up to us and follow hot on my heels. We tumble out into the dark night, and I’m surprised to see that this side
of the building is completely unlit. Other than trimmed grass where we’re standing, I see that we are a few hundred feet away from a stone-lined walking path. Beyond that is all forest as far as the eye can see.

  Patrick raises his wrist to his mouth, and speaks quietly into what appears to be a smart watch, “Glitch, you copy?”

  It’s silent for a beat before I hear a man’s voice quietly sprout from his watch, “What’s up Rick-raff? You out in this madness?”

  “Yes, and I could use some eyes on the security cams for safe routing. I’m escorting two dolls and a boy toy.” Patrick is searching the ground for something, but I can’t tell what.

  Dolls? Boy toy? What in the ever-loving heck is he saying?

  “I’ve got your back, where are you and where are you headed?” the voice responds immediately.

  “I’m behind the EH, facing the west wood quadrant. We were instructed to return to the dollhouse if the path is clear,” he responds in a low voice. He bends down, and pulls a large metal pole that had been hidden against the side of the building. He spins and quickly shoves it through the door handle, and it clears both sides of the door frame.

  “Negative, route is not clear to the dollhouse. I’ve got three free agents in my line of sight. May I propose a backup location?” He asks before continuing.

  “Shoot fast, Glitch. We’re in the shadows but not secure here.” Patrick confirms, reaching for my hand again. He looks down at my heavy gown, and sighs. “What kind of shoes are you wearing under that thing?”

  “I’m wearing sandals, nothing crazy.” I respond, and lift my hem so he can see the sparkly silver, but mercifully flat, shoe.

  He nods, “What about you?” he turns to Faith. She wordlessly raises her hem enough for us to see that she is strapped into deep crimson heels that match her A-line gown. “Take them off quickly, and hand them to Teddy.”

  Faith squats down to remove the shoes as Glitch’s voice comes back, snapping through the quiet of the barn, “Rick-Raff, I see two clear routes. One to the stable and then from there on to home base. I’ll keep eyes on the security footage and notify you of any changes.”

  “Copy that, thanks Glitch.” He’s all business. “Ok ladies, hold your skirts, stay low, and don’t stop running until we’re inside the barn, understand? No matter what, you hit the side door running and don’t stop, clear?”

  I can feel the blood drain from my face, but I nod and crouch into a low stance. He gestures something to Teddy over my shoulder, and then he takes off in what I can only assume is the direction of the barn. I follow, and over the blood rushing in my ears I can hear two sets of feet running behind me. What feels like an eternity but was probably only two minutes later, I see a large, gorgeous barn come into view. It is white-painted wide wooden planks with a green metal roof, and surrounded by flood lights and well-manicured shrubs.

  Patrick wordlessly points to the right side of the building, where I see a single door. We run straight to it, and he holds it open as I run through. I stop, and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath as a beat later Faith is hauled through the door with Teddy’s arm around her waist. Patrick quickly slips in and yanks the door shut with a small snap. We all pause and listen for a tense moment, but I don’t hear anything except the soft sounds of horses in a night barn and our labored breaths.

  Patrick motions for us to stay where we are, and silently walks off down the barn aisle, peering into stalls and checking to see if we’re alone. A minute later he returns, “We’re fine for the time being, I want to clear it with Glitch before we try to make another run for it. Catch your breaths, because it’s about twice the distance.” He raises his wrist to his face, “Glitch, you copy?”

  It’s only a heartbeat before his watch speaks back, “Copy, Rick-Raff. Nice night for a jog?”

  Ha-ha dude, ha-freaking-ha. Thankfully my breathing is already going back to normal. Poor Faith is still heaving against Teddy’s side. My eyes narrow in his direction.

  Patrick is all business and ignores the jab. “We’re going to take a beat before making the run to home base. Keep an eye on the cameras and I’ll give you a thirty-second warning before we go.”

  “Teddy, of all the places you could be, why on GOD’S GREEN EARTH ARE YOU HERE?” I am whisper-shouting at him by the end, trying not to startle the horses.

  He startles slightly, eyes wide as he answers, “Did you really think we were going to let you come here alone? We all did rock, paper, scissors, and I lost on round four, so here I am.” He tries to make light of the situation, “Well, I mean, not Phil because Tess would castrate him if he even looked at another woman.”

  I mean, it’s sweet of them to try to protect me and all, but signing up for this mess seems like going overboard. If I hadn’t been glaring at him so hard, I might not have noticed Faith deflate slightly in his grip. I dart my eyes pointedly at her, and back to him twice before he realizes what he just said. No woman should feel like a consolation prize, regardless of the circumstances.

  “I’m not sure if that’s sweet or just stupid, big brother. But I am glad to see your stupid face regardless.” I lean over to hug him, and he lets go of Faith to return the gesture. Quietly I whisper, “Ix-nay on the osing-lay!” You dummy, I add in my head. He looks confused as he pulls back until I kick him in the shin.

  “Ow, what the heck, Sad-ist!” He complains, but I give one last pointed glance to Faith and I see it dawn on him. He blushes slightly, “Oh, uh, Faith, I hope you don’t take it personally—I hadn’t even met you yet and you’re lovely, I just didn’t plan on getting married quite so soon, is all.”

  She gives him a small grimace, “No, not personal at all. If I didn’t have to, I wouldn’t be getting married so soon either.” Her voice shakes slightly, but she tries to hide it.

  My big, confident, bone-headed brother is stammering like a pre-teen. I would love it if it weren’t for the fact that we were currently hiding out in the fanciest barn I’ve ever seen, hoping unknown people weren’t here to do God-knows-what with us if they find us. I turn and look at Patrick, who’s standing at alert off to the side, watching our interaction. He’s got a miniscule grin but is trying to look unaffected. He quickly looks away as I make eye contact.

  “Faith, have you got your breathing back to normal so we can go again? It’s about twice as far this time, but there’s more tree coverage so we can take it a hair slower.” He sounds completely calm, as if this is nothing out of the ordinary.

  She nods, “Yes, I’m ready,” she says with forced confidence.

  Patrick raises his arm and signals Glitch, “Thirty seconds to go time, hold the door for us.”

  “Heard; you’re still clear,” is all he says in return. Patrick spins and grabs hold of the door, and we all silently await his signal. A few seconds later he eases himself just far enough past the door to visually sweep the grounds, and then he takes off into the night. I follow right after him, and we bolt out into the well-lit grounds and towards the edge of the woods. When we are inside the tree line, he slows just enough for Faith and Teddy to catch us before following the edge of the woods around the clearing. It’s dark here, so we are all jogging as quickly as we can without tripping and breaking something.

  After what feels like an hour, the tree line curves sharply, and a squat building comes into view ahead of us. We are probably only a minute out at our current pace when I hear a hushed sound from Patrick’s watch.

  “Four-one-oh, 3 o’clock.” Glitch states. Patrick halts instantly and throws a fist up over his right shoulder. He crouches down, and we all mimic the position. His eyes are locked on a spot just past the corner of the building, and he’s pulling something from his boot.

  “You keep a pistol in your shoe?” I ask, surprised by the sudden appearance of the weapon.

  He shoots me a sharp look to keep quiet, and slowly advances to the edge of the open field. Right when I start to wonder what he’s doing, I spot a black-clad figure walking past the corner of the buil
ding we’d been about to run to. He’s wearing a mask, but by his build it’s definitely a man. His gaze sweeps over where we’re hiding without stopping, and he continues around the building towards the side door closest to us.

  He lifts his arm as if to speak to the inside of his wrist, presumably into a device similar to Patrick’s. At that second, I hear a large thud behind me, as if someone’s fallen hard to the ground.

  I spin to look and make sure Teddy and Faith are both okay, as the masked man shouts into his com, “Possible package sighting, North qua—” his voice cuts off as Patrick’s pistol lets out a single, loud crack beside me. I turn back around and fling my hand over my left ear to try to stifle the ringing from the gunshot.

  Before I can process the black figure crumpled on the ground, Patrick is yelling. “Move! Move! Move! Straight to the door! Glitch, we’re inbound!”

  My instinct is to check on Teddy and Faith again to see what made that sound, but Patrick doesn’t give me the opportunity—he grabs my wrist and runs like the devil himself is after us. We approach the door, and it swings open seemingly on its own, and we don’t slow down until we’re past it and well inside a tan hallway. A thin, uniformed man is at the doorway. I turn as soon as Patrick drops my wrist and I am so grateful to see Teddy with Faith in tow, right behind us. The door slams shut, and the thin man slides a lock into place.

  “Well, you sure know how to make an entrance,” he quips lightly, as if there isn’t possibly a dead body outside that door.

  “Can you call for clean up, and I’ll get the girls settled into a spare room?” Patrick is still all business, but this time reaches out and offers his hand for me to take. I can see hesitation in his eyes, but I don’t feel any myself as I grab his hand and follow him down the ugly hallway.

  ✽✽✽

  A few minutes later, the men have deposited us into a room with bunk beds on one wall, and a bathroom. We immediately raided the closet and found some standard looking guard uniforms, which we quickly changed into from our torn up gowns. The patch on my chest says Guff, and Faith’s says Sweet.