They Sawed Me Open, So I Stocked the End of the World novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: Same Deal
The Director set the sandwich box on the general's map table and began to unpack it.
She did it easily, with a word for each person, as she had in the lobby.
"Turkey for the captain, he looks like a turkey man. Jethro, I did two roast beefs for you. Joel, there's a vegetarian one somewhere, I asked."
Nobody reached for the box.
"You're not hungry," the Director said, and sat on the edge of the table. "That's fair. You tore up my forms."
"I did," Jessa said.
"I'm not angry. I'd have torn them up too."
"Then why are you here?"
"To give you a better offer than the general's." She smiled at him. "No offense."
"None taken," said the general, who had gone to the window.
The Director turned back to the squad.
"Jessa comes to Halcyon for a screening. Two weeks, comfortable, voluntary. In return, Ironhold takes in every one of you, the Fort Ashcombe squad, your wives, your parents, anyone you name, with the general's word."
"And if she says no?" Rhys said.
"Then the general's word is a little harder to give."
Rhys's jaw moved once.
"That's a threat," Jethro said.
"It's arithmetic, dear. There are ten thousand beds here and ten thousand more people outside the wall. Somebody is going to pick."
Jessa could feel her brothers looking at her.
She could feel the lightning too, blue and thin under her skin, and she kept it there.
"The answer's no," she said.
"I thought it might be. So I want to ask one more question, quietly."
The Director leaned in, still pleasant.
"Why would a girl like you, who could have a suite in this fortress tonight, want to stay out in the hills with a few guns and a soup pot?"
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