Chapter 32: The World Filled with Scum
Zara slammed the door to her room with a force that rattled its hinges, leaning heavily against the worn wood as she tried to steady her pounding heart. Greg’s smug expression, the oily gleam in his eyes, and the unspoken threats in his tone lingered in her mind like a bad taste.
She squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling deeply to calm herself.
Under her coat, Leo stirred slightly, his tiny hands brushing against her chest. She instinctively tightened her arms around him, shushing him softly. "It’s okay, baby. We’re safe," she murmured, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her own uncertainty.
Sliding down to the floor, Zara allowed herself a moment to think as she unwound Leo from her chest. He stretched cutely and then toddled to the corner of the room to play with his toys. Toys he pulled out of his space on instinct now. It was a good thing he spent most of his time outside the room strapped to her because it was still a bit hard for him to control himself.
They could work on it, but there hasn’t been time for that. Zara stood up with a sigh, smiling gently at Leo when he looked up questioningly at her.
"Dont worry about me, baby. Keep playing," she assured gently.
She pressed a hand to her forehead, pacing the small room. "I need that depot," she muttered to herself. The idea of sneaking into the tightly guarded stores seemed impossible at first.
But then, a face flashed in her mind.
Greg was cunning, manipulative, and unpredictable—qualities that made him dangerous. But he wasn’t invincible. She just needed to find a way to outmanoeuvre him. Her mind raced through fragments of conversations she had overheard around the base.
There had been murmurs of rations and supplies stored in separate depots—food, medicine, and weapons, each in different locations. She even recalled Greg once boasting during a drunken tirade about his "exclusive access" to the depots.
If she could exploit Greg’s oversized ego and his desire to dominate, she might gain access to one of those depots. It was a long shot, not one she was comfortable with, but it was her only shot.