Dark Days

Getting Dirty

©JRF2016

Darrick and Reid jumped out of the car first.  Rachel sat in the back seat for a minute scoping the scene.  An older woman carrying a baby walked up to Reid and handed her to him as a young boy was closing the gate.  He walked past the car staring at her.

"Who's she?" He asked as he walked up to Reid.  "Rachel," Reid answers the boy gruffly, "We found her alone on our run. But she is part of our group now."  Rachel couldn't help but notice how angry this boy seemed.  He was so young to be so angry, she found herself wondering what made him like this.

Rachel smiled at the two men responsible for saving her life.  Reid made the rounds introducing her to everyone. She couldn't believe that they had made a home out of a prison, this prison.  It was the one Conner had worked at.  She hunched over in the backseat of the car as she thought about her lost boyfriend.  "Hey," she looks up at the voice to see Reid staring at her, "You coming in to meet the rest of the group or you going to stay out here?"  She nods as she reaches for the door handle but he has already pulled the door open for her.  They walk inside and Reid introduces her to the rest of the group as he bounces his baby girl in his arms.  After all the introductions have been made he tells her, "There are plenty of empty cells upstairs. You can take your pick."  She started up the stairs when she heard Darrick whisper to Reid, "We still don't know nothin' about this girl."   Reid holds up his hand to silence Darrick.  "She's alone. She's not a threat."   Reid didn't say much but what he said he said with authority.

"Fine," Darrick said, "But if she tries anything it's on you."  Reid turns to Darrick.

"She's not gonna try anything."  Darrick walks away and he lets out a sigh before heading up the stairs to see where she is going to be staying.   "You gettin' settled?" Reid asked from the door of her cell.  She nods.

"If this is gonna cause trouble in the group I could go back.  I've made it this long I'm sure I'll be fine."  Reid looked confused at first until he remembered Darrick's words, she must have overheard.  He shook his head.  "You're not gonna cause any problems. We've just had some bad luck with strangers. Everybody will get used to it and we're all gonna get along fine, just as long as you're not prone to doin' anything stupid."

Rachel laughed, "Not usually."

Reid turned to walk away, "Come and eat when you're ready."  She didn't wait until he had left the cell completely before she follows him out.  "I'm so ready.  I'm starving right now."  She walks beside him down to the cafeteria.  She glances around at the facility, she had never been inside this place but she remembers descriptions from her conversations with Conner. 

"What did you do before all this?"  Reid asks as he hand her a plate.  She shrugs. 

"Nothing much, I was actually going to school.  Worked at a gun store to pay for college."

"Really?"  He seems really interested now, "Where was this gun store?  Did you have anything left we could use?" 

"No we were pretty much cleaned out the night it all started," she put her head down, "People around here, that's the first place they headed when it started going down."  Reid nodded and she flipped the question back to him, "What did you do?"

"Was a cop," he said as he sat down at a table beside the young boy from earlier.  "This is Charlie, my son."  She smiles at the boy but he doesn't look up at her. 

"Where's his mom?"  She asked innocently enough and Charlie dropped his fork and jumped up from the table.  He looks at her and there is sadness in his face as he runs out of the room.  She realizes right away why, what had happened to his mother.  "I'm sorry, I just thought she was here somewhere, I didn't think."  Reid holds up a hand to stop her.