But just for a second.
When she came to, she felt like she’d been flash-fried. She was lying on the floor. Staring up at the glare of the klieg lights in the ceiling. She blinked her eyes. It was about all she could manage. Eventually she was able to lick her lips.
A boot prodded her in the rib cage. She tried to roll over and get away from it, but that just took too much energy.
Harelip squatted down next to her. “Don’t try to get up,” she said.
“Okay,” Caxton squeaked.
The CO rubbed at her face. “Listen. I guess I owe you for your help. I guess we saved the unit, together. And I’m not going to forget that. But there are rules, and they’re good rules, and they’re there for a reason.”
“Ah,” Caxton said.
“It ain’t easy, being a CO. I know you cons think we’re all sadistic assholes. That’s only, see, it’s just because you can’t see our side of it, you know? You used to be a cop. You know what it’s like when you’re looking at somebody who would kill you if they could. Who would take any chance to fuck with you, just because of who you are.”
Caxton had to admit that was true. Every vampire she’d ever dealt with had felt that way, as well as a few human criminals she’d encountered.
“Imagine you were surrounded by that kind of aggro every single day of your life. Imagine if the second you came on the floor of a unit, a hundred eyeballs was watching your every move, looking for you to make one little mistake. To forget one little thing, so they could take advantage. It’s possible—-just possible—in that kind of a situation, to keep your head above the shit. But you got to be a serious hard case to make it work.”
Caxton lifted her left hand a fraction of an inch. Her muscles felt sore and rubbery and they didn’t want to obey her commands, but they were starting to listen on a provisional basis.
“Don’t,” Harelip said, and pressed her hand back against the cement floor with the tip of her baton. “Just chill.”
“You got it,” Caxton said.
“We get plenty of training before they set us loose in here. They make us take all kinds of courses. One of the things they teach is what’s called CTS. Contain the Situation. That means no matter what happens, when you’re a CO, you’re in charge. No matter how bad things get you have to be on top of it. And if you gotta be a little mean, you do it. If you gotta call people names that aren’t so nice, or even if you gotta stun somebody when their back is turned, you have no damned choice but to do just that. There are no exceptions to CTS. There is no way I can let you walk around outside your cell, ever. So I’m going to have to put you back in. I’m going to have to lock you in. I will protect you, I promise. I will get you out of this situation. I’ll evacuate you and all the other prisoners once the warden sends an all-clear signal. Okay?”