Nexus [COMPLETE]

33. Winston

He followed me into the Storage room and shut the door behind us. I did a quick sweep of the room to make sure that it was empty, and when I came back, June Dog was waiting for me next to a dusty pile of VHS tapes, arms crossed.

"What's going on, Winston?"

I smiled grimly. "This prison is pretty fucked up. You notice?"

He nodded. "Hard not to, but even the vamps all keep quiet about it. Feels like we're prisoners as much as they are. And they call this a military operation? What a joke."

"No kidding," I said quietly. "So...how much do you know about the vampires?"

"Only what Elly will tell me, which ain't much."

"Elly?" I repeated, thinking that the named sounded familiar. "Elvis?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, she's a piece. Quiet, but sharp."

"Match percentage?"

"Fifty-two."

"So no mental bond then?" Huh, I guess Domare and I really raised the bar when it came to the Nexus stuff. No wonder the others weren't suffering under the mental stress - they simply didn't have it.

"Mental bond?" June Dog asked. "What do you mean?"

"Mind reading," I muttered, a bit embarrassed. "Thought sharing? Whatever you want to call it."

"No shit? You and your vamp can read each other's minds?"

I smirked. "It's a blessing and a curse - trust me."

"Right."

"So you trust Elvis?"

"She's a good sort, but I get the feeling that she hates this place, too. Wish I'd never agreed to join."

I thought of my bond with Domare and realized that I could no longer share that sentiment.

"If you had refused the contracts, they would have just thrown you in the brig. You'd be here anyway, just with less freedom."

"There ain't no brig," June Dog growled. "Elly told me. That was a bold-faced fucking lie."

I felt all the blood rush from my face. "Then where do the nay-sayers go?"

He shrugged, and I gulped, not really wanting to think about it. Later, I promised myself. I'd talk to Domare about it later.

"You tried calling home?" I asked.

"Besides that first phone call, they won't let me near a phone. I don't even know if there are any phones here below the first deck."

"There are radios in the elevator control room, but they're all on the same secure frequency." Another thought occurred to me, and I felt stupid for not realizing until now. "Hazel has a phone, or so I've heard."

"I've heard that," June Dog said, nodding. "But it ain't no open line. She gets listened to."

"It's something though," I said hopefully.

"Not something we can use. They track who she's calling to. You don't touch that phone if you're not her. The alarms go up and you go down."

I met his eyes in understanding. "So you're on board with this then? An escape?"

"Figured that's what you had in mind. I ain't staying here. That's for damn sure."

Good.