Hard to Hate You // Michael Langdon

Part II - Outpost 3

As we finally arrive at our bedrooms, Ms. Venable finishes her explanation of the outpost rules.  "Finally, there will be no unauthorized copulation of any kind, under any circumstances," Venable states, staring each one of us down. "No exceptions."

"You're joking," Coco scoffs. "You can't lock us away in this bunker and tell us we can't have sex. What are we supposed to do, just stare at each other?" 

 I roll my eyes at Coco's complaints. I doubt I'll be looking to hook up with anybody anytime soon considering the slightly traumatizing experience I just had.

Venable glares at Coco. "Go ahead and test me. You'll find out that it is not a joke."

She turns down the hallway and shows Coco, Gallant, and Evie their rooms, while the shorter woman that took us through decontamination walks over to us.

"What is it, Ms. Mead?" Ms. Venable asks the woman.

"The Cooperative decided that Mallory will be a Gray," Ms. Mead states.

Ms. Venable sends her a questioning glance while Coco scoffs. "She can't be a Gray," Coco protests. "She's using my brother's ticket, which was for a Purple."

"The Cooperative's decision will not be reversed," Ms. Mead says firmly, taking Mallory's arm.

"Wait!" Mallory yells, shocking even herself by her little outburst. "Why did they decide that I'm a Gray?"

"That's classified," Ms. Mead says forcefully. Coco and Gallant send her an apologetic look as she is whisked away.

Ms. Venable turns on her heel and leads me down the hallway, pretending as if Mallory hadn't just been stripped of her ranking. "Ms. Callistra, your room will be here," she says as she stops in front of a door.

"Is that your office?" I ask, pointing to the room next to mine. It has a grander entrance than any other room, and I can see marks from her cane at the doorway.

"It is," she says skeptically. "This is a short hallway, so it's only your bedroom and my office. I would suggest that you keep it quiet at night unless you would like to end up on my bad side."

"I wouldn't dream of it," I say semi-jokingly. I don't know if she has a good side, but if she does I need to be on it. 

I look around the dining table skeptically, wondering where the hell I should sit.  I don't know any of these people well yet, so I have no clue who will tolerate my personality.

"God, these dresses are horrible!" Coco yells from down the hallway. We all turn to see her entering the dining room, noticeably later than everyone else.

"Tell me about it," Gallant complains. "These suits make me feel like I'm some fucking medieval person."

"This corset is killing my ribs," Coco grumbles. "Mallory, come loosen my corset!"

Mallory quickly jumps up and fixes Coco's corset for her.  "God, that Gray's outfit is horrible," I say sympathetically to Mallory. She looks down sadly.

Coco walks over and takes a seat without even thinking about it, but she soon notices that Evie is sitting only one seat away from her.  "Valentina, please sit between me and this old bat," Coco calls out as she takes her seat, motioning to the chair between her and Evie. "I cannot stand her constant nagging."

"I can't believe that you two haven't even been together for a few hours and you already hate her guts," I scoff as I take the seat between the two of them. "And don't you dare nag at me," I threaten, pointing to Evie. Evie Gallant always seemed conceited in her interviews, so I'm sure she's even worse in real life.