Mildred looked surprised.
“Mildred,” Ryan said, “allow me to introduce Brody. He’s the mate of the woman you took to the nursery.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Mildred said, shaking the man’s hand.
“Jasmine?” Brody said.
“She’s fine,” Mildred answered. “It was tough going for a while, but she’s doing real well now.”
“And the baby?”
“A boy.”
Brody smiled.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Ryan said, “but you’re not supposed to have attachments to the children born here.”
“I have a son,” Brody said.
Mildred looked over at Ryan. “That’s right. The baby was taken from the mother and is now being taken care of by someone else in the nursery. I found out when the baby’s six months old he’ll be shipped off to a family down south.”
“No,” Brody said, obviously heartbroken.
“But you knew that would happen?” Ryan said.
“It doesn’t matter if I knew,” Brody answered. “That’s my boy, my flesh and blood. I told myself a thousand times that this would happen, that we’d lose him, and I tried to prepare for it, but nothing can prepare you for losing your child like that.”
Mildred reached over and held Brody’s hand.
Ryan looked at the man, understanding a little of what he was going through. Ryan himself had gone through life in the Deathlands never knowing of the son he had. But then, just days after meeting the ten-year-old child for the first time, there had been a bond between them that grew stronger every day. Brody’s bond with his newborn was being broken against his will and it hurt the man deeply.
“You may be reunited with your woman and your son yet,” Ryan said. “In a couple of days this whole place is going to be turned upside down.”
Brody shook his head in despair and gestured toward Ryan and Mildred. “Who’s going to do it? You two?”
“Mebbe us, mebbe help from outside, mebbe both.”
“You mean there were more out there with you?”
“Four more.”
Brody’s smile was wide and bright. “I’ll help you, then. Whatever you need, I’ll see that you get it.”
“I need you to stay strong,” Ryan said. “For your son.”
Mildred nodded in agreement.
“You got it.”
THERE WAS a knock at Krysty’s door.
“Yes?”
The door opened and a short, heavy bull of a sec man entered the room. “The baron wants you to join him in the cafeteria in twenty minutes.”
“All right.”
“And he wants you to wear this.” The sec man’s lips pulled back to reveal a smile full of black holes and broken teeth. In his grimy hand was what looked like a few slips of black fabric.
“What’s that?” Krysty asked.
“It’s what the baron wants you to wear.”
“But what is it?”
“Clothes for a gaudy slut.”
“And he wants me to wear them?”
“That’s right. He’s gonna parade you around to the slaves as his new prize.”
“And if I don’t put on the clothes?”
“He said I could have you myself,” the sec man said, his big beefy tongue slobbering over his bruised and swollen bottom lip. “So if you don’t want to put it on, I think mebbe we should stop wasting time and get right down to business.”
Krysty considered her options. There was no way she’d let this foul creature lay a finger on her, but even if she resisted all his advances there’d be three more sec men outside the door, all too eager to help him.
“Give them to me!” she snapped.
The sec man looked disappointed but handed over the clothes.
“Wait outside!” she said, pointing to the door.
Reluctantly, the sec man left the room.
THEY CLEARED their food trays and sat back down in their seats in anticipation for the entertainment portion of the evening. The lights in the cafeteria were turned down low, while the lights on the stage at one end of the room were turned up bright.
A middle-aged woman dressed in a black shift walked onstage, and the room slowly grew quiet. “We’re in for a special treat tonight. Instead of our usual show, Baron Fox himself has a special surprise for us.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and directed their focus onto the stage.