From what we had seen on the news, the WHO group seemed pretty small. But with free food and beer, most likely bought by Calvin Peet, the man Trevor had mentioned was supporting them back in the coffee shop, it was unlikely to stay that way.
“I think we are going to need to talk to our liaison,” I said. “I mean, what else do we do—wait for them to attack or kill us?” Our liaison, Margaret Redson, was a long-time government employee, an attractive woman who looked to be in her forties. We were told to contact her if we had any issues or problems assimilating back into our former lives as they were before Camp Vickers. I would have called her with concerns before, but she just didn’t seem all that interested in anything we had to say. It seemed she just wanted to collect an early pension and retire somewhere in Key West. But this time, I would have to force her to take an interest. Our lives could depend on it!
9
“Would you and Dave be interested in having pizza with me for dinner … on me, of course?” Todd asked.
I thought about it for a moment. I knew Dave would be up for it, but I had some work to do. “I don’t know, I have a sucky paper to write.”
“When’s it due?”
“Well … next week … I just don’t know what I’m going to write about.”
“Easy peasy,” Todd said. “We’ll discuss over pizza and Dave and I can help you decide.”
“That sounds good!” The idea of what to write my paper on had been bothering me—maybe they could help me with it.
“Let me order a couple pies and we’ll pick them up. Then we can go back to your place, call Margaret Redson, eat some pizza, and talk about your paper.”
Todd ordered the pies from Slice of the Pie and we drove over to pick them up. As I walked with him to the cash register, I looked around the restaurant. Thankfully, Jerry, the guy who had looked at my checkbook, was nowhere in sight. There were a few waitresses with ‘Slice of the Pie’ emblazoned across their chests, walking around and sticking their ta-tas out. Todd went behind the counter.
“We sell beer mostly, but we have wine also. Do you like wine?”
I nodded excitedly. I hadn’t had the money to buy wine in ages. Todd reached in the cooler and grabbed two bottles, one red and one white, and held them up. He cocked his brow at me.
“Red. It’ll go good with the pizza!” I smiled at him.
“How about both—I have a good discount here.” He paid for the food and drinks and we walked out the door. As we left, a tall, skinny blonde walked in. I recognized her from the coffee shop and on the news, where they had said her name was Karen. Thankfully, she was engrossed in conversation with another girl and didn’t notice us, but it made me nervous. The WHO members seemed to be everywhere.
I elbowed Todd.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“That girl back there. The tall, skinny one, have you seen her before?”
“Yeah, she’s been in here before. Why?”
“She’s in the WHO group.”
“Ugh.”
“She probably didn’t recognize you with the shorter hair and tats. You look different in the photo on the news.”
Todd shook his head but didn’t say anything. We didn’t speak much on the way back. This whole situation was getting freaky. What if she, or another one of them, recognized him or me in the future? What would they do to us?
When we returned to the apartment, Todd showed Dave the flyer. I could see the concern etched in Dave’s eyes. So far, the WHO group had seemed pretty harmless. But with talks of guns, weapons, and organizing even more students, the possibility of something way beyond harmless did not seem to be far off in the future.
Todd dialed Margaret Redson while Dave and I listened in on speakerphone. Even though we had a direct line to her, she wasn’t picking up, so Todd left her a message explaining everything.
“Look guys, we’ve done what we can. Let’s chow on some pizza and chill.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Dave said. “Let’s forget about the WHO group for now and try to relax.” Dave poured three glasses of red wine and handed each of us one. He took a glass for himself and sank down next to me on the sofa, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. It felt good to be in his arms, yet something inside me also wanted Todd, the man in the chair next to us. I tried to divert my thoughts by talking about my classes.
“So guys, as you know, I have been thinking about my paper for my writing class. I have been having a terrible time deciding what to write about.”
“Yeah, did you finally come up with something?” Todd asked.
“Well, it is supposed to be a non-fiction piece about anything that impacts the world. I figure most will be writing about the economy or environment. Normally, I would do a bio piece, but right now, I want to do something different.”
Dave gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “What do you have in mind?”
“I thought I’d sound you two out on this idea.”