Chapter 69: Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked

Dean would be lying if he said he got a proper night’s sleep. Brooke had proven remarkably more stubborn than he gave her credit for. And when he woke up the next day, he found her passed out, clinging tightly to his left arm.

Yuki was already awake and staring him directly in the eyes when he shifted his head to his right side. He damn near had a heart attack as the heat of her breath hit her ear.

“So… how did you sleep…. Husband?”

The words were laced with a type of warmth that was clearly venomous. Like a fine wine laced with poison. He knew if he answered anything remotely favorable, Yuki would jump on him then and there.

Luckily for him, there was nothing favorable to say as he tried and utterly failed to wipe his eyes due to both of his arms being held tightly by one of the two women.

“I got maybe three hours of sleep ,and even then it was interrupted.”

Whatever conflict Yuki was planning to start with him in the morning seemed to utterly fail when she saw how exhausted he was. Sighing heavily, she looked over at Brooke, who was clearly still deep in her sleep.

“She must have been exhausted. I bet this is the first real sleep she’s gotten in weeks… She will probably be out for another hour at least… So how about we…..”

She left the words hang so that Dean could fill in the blanks, he carefully lifted his arm out of Brooke’s clutches and took Yuki’s hand leading her to the shower, where they would be able to blow off some steam so to speak before Brooke finally awoke from her slumber.

—

By the time Brooke finally opened her eyes, it was past noon. She looked around and found that the bed was empty, immediately pouting as she realized Dean had run off with Yuki earlier in the morning.

She sighed heavily and shook her head, seemingly speaking to herself as she slapped her own cheeks.

“Get ahold of yourself… You fucking idiot, why did you have to double down twice!?!”

After taking a few moments to properly recover, Brooke launched herself out of bed, getting into a change of clothes she had brought with her from the foundry, before heading down the stairs where she found breakfast waiting for her in the refrigerator.

Ready to be warmed up at a moment’s notice. But nobody else was home. There was only a single message on the counter.

’Gone to work for the day. When your lazy ass finally wakes up and is ready to do some actual work for the day, get on the radio and let me know. – D”

There were no words that could reasonably describe just how angry Brooke was at the moment. Yet, she didn’t allow her rage to fester, she quickly finished her breakfast before grabbing the radio and activating it.

“Dean… This is Brooke, are you there?”

There was static for a few seconds, but nothing else. Prompting the woman to begin speaking again.

“Did you hear me, Dean?”

Finally, there was a response.

“I heard you, I was just waiting for you to finish your statement. You didn’t say over….”

The woman looked at her radio as if she were about to have an aneurysm from the sheer rage the man on the other side made her feel.

Really? Radio etiquette? Here and now? In the post-apocalyptic world? How the hell was she supposed to know that?”

She took a moment to calm herself, because after a brief flash of rage she instantly realized that yes, now more than ever proper radio communications were of extreme importance. Otherwise, one might have an M is for Mancy situation, but in real life….

With a heavy sigh, she finally pushed the thoughts that plagued her to the back of her mind and continued.

“Roger that. I saw your note, I’m up and ready to get to work. Over…”

The static persisted for a few more seconds, causing Brooke to grow impatient.

“Alright, I’m just about finished here anyway. ETA 15 minutes before arrival, Archon-Actual over and out.”

Then the line went dead, causing Brooke to slump back in her chair exhausted.

“Such an asshole….”

“You think so?” The words nearly caused Brooke to fall out of her chair as she turned around and saw Katherine standing there by the door.

She had a playful smirk on her face as she walked forward and grabbed a glass of fresh water. Sitting down at the table, she crossed one leg over the other and examined Brooke closely.

“You’re new here… And I can already tell that you and Dean are perfect mirrors of one another. I understand why he let you live here… You seem fairly intelligent and decently capable. And considering you’re a COO at your age that means either nepotism, or you worked your ass off to get there. But as much as you like to think it, you are not Dean’s equal, not even close…..”

Brooke narrowed her eyes at Katherine. The woman was clearly older than her, and she was slightly older than Dean. She had white overcoat and a stethoscope around her neck. This was a dead giveaway to her profession.

But for the life of her, she couldn’t find out what her relationship to Dean was. Even so, that’s not the thought that immediately crossed her mind. Specifically, because this woman had decided to antagonize her.

Even so, Brooke wasn’t going to let Katherine get under her skin, and forced herself to smile as she challenged Katherine’s taunts.

“Oh? You think so? And why is that?”

Katherine’s finger traced the tip of her glass. Her lips moved in just a way that hinted she was about to enjoy her next statement. And then the words went off like a bomb. Not because of the tone or the volume, but the explosive power they contained.

“It’s simple really… Dean was able to accurately predict the end of the world, prepare appropriately, and adjust properly when his domicile came under threat by outsiders. Whether that be the community we now call Elysium, or the raiders buried in the snow outside its walls. You, on the other hand, lost control of your family’s factory and were driven to our gates as a refugee. Even if you have something Dean desires for expansion, and can assist him, you will never be in charge here. So stop acting like it… It’s only cute for so long.”

Katherine said nothing else, she finished the water in her cup, got up from her seat and walked away. Leaving Brooke alone with her thoughts.

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