Chapter 10 - Callahan

Don't rat on your fellow DITs.

" W hat happened, soldiers?" Cecil, the DITs' warden, barked when the door to the rec hall slammed closed.

When we stayed silent, Cecil growled, "Someone better fucking speak. We have a Daddy dead and a DIT missing. What the fuck happened out there?"

Silence.

"Well, then. If no one cares to explain, we'll just have to deal with the consequences. There'll be no more alcohol, cigarettes, and no excursions until we get some answers."

Lewis bolted up. "Sir, we had nothing to do with the crawlie attack. We did our best out there. I need my smokes."

Cecil clicked his tongue. "I see, now we know something. It was a crawlie attack?"

"Yes, sir," Lewis lied. My jaw tightened, and I fought back the urge to kick the back of his calf and knock him to his knees. Fucking rat bastard.

"And where were all of you?" Cecil paced as he interrogated us. The warden was one of the first children in the bunker. He still remembered what it was like before the bombs, and he never let us forget it. "Because it looks like you just let Dale get murdered in cold blood by one of those pumped-up, radiation-filled monsters, and our best and brightest DIT was taken. How many were there?"

"Too many for us to fight off. We barely got the girls back to the bus," Russel said. "I don't know where they came from. I've never seen that many in one place."

"Did you deviate from the approved plans?" Cecil demanded. All of us tightened our lips. If the warden found out that we'd found a way to turn the power back on, he'd whip our bare asses until one of us closed our eyes for good. I kicked Lewis, still standing.

"No, sir. Everything was going just as planned," he answered.

"And no one knows where Milton went?" Cecil shook his head. It was suspected that Milton and Cecil were related. Not only was he undeservedly at the top of our class, but the many physical resemblances were not just a coincidence. Any of us could have died and it wouldn't have been a big deal, but it wasn't just anyone. It was Milton.

"What's going to happen now?" Russell asked. "We're sorry, sir."

"Sorry doesn't bring back Dale or Milton," Cecil barked. "Sorry doesn't fix the fact that we now have a Young Lady without a Daddy, and there's none left from that group to replace him. Eleanor is the best collector, you fucking idiots!" Spit flew out of his mouth and his face grew red with fury.

He went on for hours, screaming and demanding that we go through everything we did tonight, starting with me and Milton going up first to get the bus and securing the park.

"We did everything by the book, sir," I said. "There wasn't a creepie in sight."

It wasn't until Dorothy, the den mother for the Young Ladies, came in, that Cecil finally let us go. He didn't even ask why I hadn't been on the bus with everyone else. It seemed as if no one had noticed I was missing.

"Back to your rooms, soldiers. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we start search-and-rescue missions. We're not stopping until we have a body. Alive or dead." The room was silent until Cecil and Dorothy left, then, the room erupted.

"Search and rescue? He wants us to go into a creepie den? Or worse, a crawlie cave?" Harold shuddered. "I can't do it, man. I vowed to serve, but I'm not going to get myself killed."

"Milton might as well be dead if he ain't already," Carl added. "A search-and-rescue mission is ridiculous at this point."

"Can't we just tell them the truth?" Sam asked. All of us turned to him and he shrunk into his seat.

"No," I said firmly. "We are all going to do exactly as we'd discussed on the way back. We're going to keep our fucking mouths shut, go about our business, and move on. It'll pass, and they'll figure things out. This isn't the first Daddy to get lost above."

"And Eleanor, what are they going to do with her? What about Milton's Young Lady-in-Training? Now, she has no one when she comes of age," Russell said.

"She just won't be picked. Sorry about her luck." I shrugged. The little tyke, whoever it may be, was better off being put in Gen Pop anyway. Being picked to be a Young Lady or a Daddy wasn't all it cracked up to be. My last conversation with Eleanor before the gunshots echoed in my mind.

She didn't want to be a Young Lady anymore. Now, she was free.

My mind drifted to the one time we'd gone down to Gen Pop as a field trip. It was the only one because of Eleanor's shenanigans. I was the one who found her. Maybe now that she had no Daddy, she could go back and learn the art of tattooing. I could put in a good word for her.

I looked back at the men whom I'd known since childhood. All of us were just indoctrinated bodies to be thrown against the wars waging above. Despite being told we were the elite, the best of the best, we weren't shit to them. Cecil, Dorothy, and all the other leaders were just as brainwashed as everyone else. I refused to let myself be one of them.

The small bag of pills in my pocket was a heavy reminder of this.

"Come on, let's go to bed. It's been a long fucking night," I told my fellow DITs.

With our shoulders slumped and eyes heavy, we marched back to our rooms.

I showered and went to bed, and as much as I tried to sleep, my mind kept drifting back to Eleanor, the birthday girl.

I'd been reluctant to put all this shit on tonight. In fact, I was downright against it all. I should have trusted my gut. I had been opposed mostly because of how bratty Eleanor was, but even she didn't deserve a death by gang rape.

Milton was my best friend. I thought I knew him, but for him to have agreed to go along with gang rape and murder? Eleanor, of all girls. He said he loved her. I was always jealous of the relationship they had. It didn't make it better that Eleanor and I were always fighting. But now, how would she feel if she knew what he was planning for tonight?

I was suddenly second-guessing everything I'd considered fact up until now. Milton wasn't the person I thought he was. He was stupid, and cocky, and evil. So was Eleanor's Daddy, Dale. All those men, lining up, so excited to get it started. How could he agree to sacrifice her to that group? I wanted to vomit.

Sam slapped my foot on the way to his bed, and snickered.

"Well, now that Milton's gone, you can get your shot with Eleanor."

"Fuck off," I spat.

He cackled but didn't try to fight. We were all exhausted.

I considered his words. My heart was in anguish, fighting over the urge to slap Eleanor or hug her. I wanted to kiss her, but I also wanted to wipe the smirk off her face. She annoyed me and yet...

As I began to finally drift off to sleep, my last thoughts were of her, and how angry I was that she was madly in love with a man who wanted to rape and kill her. While here I was, the one she hated with all her might, protecting her from the bastard.