The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (20 page)

He was finally given a pack to hold the armor, the rifle,
ten magazines of ammunition, a sidearm that fired the same ammunition, five magazines
for the sidearm, a holster for the pistol, and some webbing that allowed him to
have it all stored neatly on his body and within easy reach. There was a strap
that allowed him to put his PDP on his wrist, and of course he could link the
display from it to the helmet as well. Also in the pack was two weeks’ worth of
field rations, a water bottle, a medical kit, and packets of water purifier. Chuck
showed him how he could fill the water bottle with the nastiest water he could
find, put the packet of purifier in, and within five minutes he had the purest
water you could imagine. The bad stuff that the purifying chemical took out of
the water was flushed out a valve in the bottom of the bottle.

Chuck looked at Jack and said, “Any questions?”

“Yeah, does it only come in black?”

Chuck grinned. “The nature of the material does not allow us
to paint it or stain it, so we are stuck with this color. While we can repair
the material, creating a full set of this armor is very difficult with the
resources we have. Our supply of armor came from the urban police force of an
EoS city. It would be nice to have it in camouflage, but I’m just happy we have
a good enough selection to outfit a couple hundred people.”

Jack didn’t have any more questions.

“You are all set. I will see you on level one at 0700.”

Jack’s eyebrows went up and he said, “You’re going with?” He
hadn’t been told who the two other people would be.

“Hell, I’m flying the boat,” he smiled and walked out of the
room.

Teague had been hanging back in the locker room the whole
time, letting Chuck do his thing. “Ready for some dinner?”

Oh crap! Dinner!
“Actually, I have a date. Is there
anything else you need from me tonight Teague?” By his internal clock, he was
at least an hour late and felt bad that he had lost track of time like this.

“Just one thing. Make me a list tonight of what kind of
talent you would need to get started with the project we were talking about
earlier. Just skill sets you would want on your planning team. We will use it
to determine who to harvest next.” Jack was disappointed, he wanted to spend
the whole evening with Wendy but now he had a ‘homework’ assignment.

“Will do. I’ll get to it after dinner. Seeya Teague!” He was
practically running toward the elevator, towing his pack, which despite being
filled with all his new toys, only weighed about fourteen pounds.

He found Wendy’s apartment and knocked. The door slid open
and he heard her in another room saying, “You’re late! Is that any way to start
a date?” Jack felt bad for being late and not calling to tell her.

He dropped the pack in the corner and said, “I’m sorry
Wendy, I was tied up with training and lost track of time.” The room was modest
in size, had a couch and a chair facing each other off to the side with a
coffee table between them. Two archways led into other parts of the apartment. It
was warmly lit, the walls painted in earth tones, and the floor was cushioned
like carpet although it looked like hardwood. As he finished surveilling the
room, she walked in through one of the archways. Her dress took his breath
away. It was a simple cut that rode on her shoulders and hugged her curves all
the way to her knees. The front was cut low and showed about three inches of
cleavage. She had on earrings and the slightest hint of makeup. She smiled,
stopped in the middle of the room, and turned around once to show off the dress.
He got just a glimpse of her incredible body before she closed the distance
between them. His knees went weak as her soft lips brushed his just before she pulled
back.

“Don’t sweat it, I figured you would be there longer than
you anticipated. I just had to give you a little crap first. I couldn’t let you
off the hook without making you feel a little guilty first.”

“My God Wendy, you look fantastic!” Then with a feigned look
of confusion, “What’s the occasion?” She punched him in the chest and they both
laughed.

“I wanted to do something special tonight. It
is
sort
of our first date. I pulled out all the stops. Are you hungry?” Jack was
ravenous, but he wouldn’t mind standing there for a few more minutes admiring
her.

He said, “Very, but for more than just food.” He put his
arms around her and kissed her deeply.

“Easy there buddy.” She said as she squirmed out of his
grasp. With a wink she said, “I’m not that easy on the first date,” and headed
back through the archway into the kitchen. Jack chuckled at the joke and
followed, admiring her backside as he went.

“So, lemme guess, jello with sawdust? What flavor tonight?” When
he saw the table his jaw dropped. There was a steaming stew in the middle of
the table, and next to that, a plate with what appeared to be vegetables
simmering in a sauce. There was a bottle of what could only be wine open and
sitting next to the food. There were two place settings with wine glasses in
front of them, and a candle burning right in the middle of it all. “Holy shit,
is that real food!”

Wendy giggled. “Of course it is, do you think we eat that jello
every day?” He moaned with pleasure as he inhaled the aroma of the stew.

“That smells fantastic! Where do you get the food? Is there
meat in there?” He had not had meat since before his surgery. Despite his
memory telling him that had only been two or three days, he truly felt like it
had been centuries since he had a decent meal.

“It is. We trade with other communities and one called
Deering in North Dakota has cattle. I had salvaged some old equipment on a
patrol a few weeks back, and traded it for some steak and vegetables. I also
scored this bottle of wine, but don’t be too surprised if it doesn’t taste like
wine. It was made from some kind of fruit up in Washington at the Sunnyside
community. I had been saving it for a special meal, but until now I didn’t have
anyone to share it with me. I’m not that good of a cook, so I hope it isn’t too
bad.”

“Wow, I’m flattered. I can’t tell you how much it means to
me.” Thoughts of his other hunger were forgotten for the time being. “Can we
eat? I’m starving!”

* * *

After dinner, they sat on the couch nursing their full
stomachs and sipping at the wine. The food had been absolutely delicious, and
the wine wasn’t half bad either. Jack wanted to sit here for a while enjoying
Wendy’s company, but he had some work to do. “I need to make a list for Teague
tonight. I would rather stay here and do it, but if you want I will go back to
my room. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour.”

Wendy gazed into his eyes and smiled. “Of course you can
stay here... and afterwards...” She left the thought hanging, sending a little electricity
up Jack’s spine. He got out his big datapad, and sat back down on the couch. Bringing
up the notes screen, he saw that his questions from earlier were still there. He
read through what was left, and scratched out all but one. The remaining
question was, “tell me about the war”. It was irrelevant but he wanted to know
more, so it could wait until another day. He deleted the rest of the list and
started a new list. He titled it ‘Skills’. He then made a column titled ‘required’
and one titled ‘requested’. He concentrated for a few minutes, then under
required he wrote: Engineers, anyone from Army engineering corps, architects,
pilots, heavy machine operators – crane operators specifically, carpenters,
accountants, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, sheet metal workers, anyone with
concrete experience. Under requested he wrote: Human Resources specialist,
supply staff, interior designer, painters, cabinet makers, seamstress.

He looked over his list, wondering what else he would need
or want. He didn’t need a cook, just a machine to dispense the jello, and he
didn’t need any secretaries, since he had devices like the datapad he was
working on right now. He remembered what Wendy had said about bartering for the
meat and vegetables, so he added ‘recruiters’ to the list. A military recruiter
was a good salesman, and who better to barter for materials down the road?

He decided it was good enough for now, so he hit the button
to send it to Teague, then put the pad away and sat down next to Wendy. She’d
been playing a game of solitaire on her datapad, which would have been amazing
to him if he wasn’t already numb from the barrage of new technology. “So you’re
heading to the Freezer tomorrow?” She was flushing a little and her breathing
seemed to get shorter, as if she had just sprinted up a set of stairs. Jack
knew the only strenuous activity she had done in the last hour was clearing the
table, and was wondering why she appeared so out of breath.
Is it nerves?
She had been calm, even when undressing and climbing into bed minutes after
having met him the other night, so he found it hard to believe that she was
nervous about being intimate with him.

“Yeah, I report in at 0700. I should be back before the end
of the day though. Do you want me to come over to see you after I get back, or
are you tired of me yet?” He said it kind of like he was kidding but he was
also probing for a hint at how she felt about him. Wendy looked lost in
thought, and he misinterpreted the silence, thinking that maybe she was indeed
getting tired of him. “Look if I am being too... clingy, just tell me and I
will back off a little. I like you Wendy, and I was hoping you felt the same
way.”

She looked up at him as if hearing what he said for the
first time. “I’m sorry, I was sort of... not really there when you asked. I absolutely
want you to come over when you return. I do feel the same way, Jack, probably
even more so, and I wish I could spend the next month just being with you. But...”
Once again she was talking like she was out of breath.

But?
That was a bad word when having a serious talk
about feelings. Jack had heard that word a few times in his life in this manner
and it now left him suddenly short of breath. “But... what? Is something
wrong?” he tensed in anticipation of her next words, fearing it would be
something about just wanting to get pregnant or something.

“Jack, I have a confession to make, and I am afraid you will
hate me for it!” She suddenly looked like she was going to cry. A million thoughts
ran through his head trying to divine what she was going to say, and how he was
going to react. He pulled back from her a little, trying unsuccessfully to
steel himself against the words that would surely mark a change in their
relationship.

“A confession? Um, okay, let’s hear it.”

What she said came out in one long sentence, and was so far
from what he expected, it didn’t make sense right away. “I was the one who
found your body at the facility. I read your records, and your personal
documents, and you see, I never thought that you could be reborn because your
tube was so old, but I was lonely and depressed and reading your diary made me
feel so much better, and I didn’t know it at the time but I fell in love with
you before I even met you, and then when Teague said he was successful, I sort
of freaked out and decided to protect you from all the whores around here, and
then I saw you and just melted, and...” she paused to take a breath, “My God
Jack I am so sorry, can you please forgive me? I really do love you, and I feel
so bad about this.” Wendy finally stopped talking, and when he didn’t say
anything right away, she looked like she was about to die from agony.

Jack blinked and his brow furrowed. “You found a diary?” He
was still trying to make heads or tails of what she had just said.

“Jack, I swear I wouldn’t have read it if I had thought that
you would be brought back, but reading about your thoughts, emotions, and fear
of the unknown really helped me with my own situation here. You have NO idea
how much pressure they put on us to hook up with men, and it was just too much,
and... and...” She rambled on as if she didn’t know what to say. Jack was only
half listening as he still sorted out her first words.

“You found me? And got Teague to bring me back?” Between the
lethargy from the full meal, a couple glasses of wine, and a long day of
overwhelming learning, sorting through this was like trying to swim in cold
molasses. “And you’re saying you love me?”

“Yes, Jack, I know it sounds silly but after reading all
about your last year of life, I couldn’t help but fall in love, at least with
the idea of you, and when you were brought back, I just lost control. I made a
total fool of myself, coming to you that first night like a tramp, seducing you
like that. Oh my God I think I’m going to die of embarrassment! You must HATE
me!” She buried her face in her hands, missing the look of pure pleasure on his
face.

She actually flinched when he reached for her and exclaimed,
“That is NOT what I was expecting you to say! Wendy, why would you think I
would be mad about this? If anything, I’m flattered. You fell in love with me
without even meeting me, and after meeting me, you felt even
more
certain
of it? The last few days have been an incredible whirlwind of emotions, and you
have been like a rock that I could focus on to make sense of it all! You have
no idea how good that makes me feel! I thought my life was over a week ago, and
now I have a whole life ahead of me! I think we have something good going here,
and quite frankly I’m just happy that you don’t want to run off with the next
man that comes along.” The look of surprise on her face melted off when he
kissed her long and deep.

Before the passion could build, she broke off the kiss and
looked at him. “So, you aren’t mad that I stole your diary and kept it from
you? And you aren’t mad that I wasn’t honest and was pretending to not know
anything about you and just looking to take advantage of you?” She appeared
flabbergasted that he was reacting this way.

“I’m furious, actually, but I wanted to get laid tonight.” He
said it deadpan and she had to do a double take. She punched him in the chest
and he laughed. Then she kissed him passionately again.

When the kiss ended, Wendy looked into his eyes. “Jack,
please tell me that this thing between us is not just a mixture of loneliness
and raging hormones. I feel like this is all too good to be true. Too
convenient. I was so lonely when I found your diary, and in reading it I fell
in love with someone who didn’t exist. How can I be sure that you are the man I
fell in love with? How can I even trust my own feelings here? How do we know
this isn’t just a hot romance that will burn itself out in a few weeks?” She
had worked herself into tears again.

“Wendy, I don’t even remember writing in a diary, so I can’t
tell you much about the person that you read about. I’m a simple man. I was
never one to sleep around, and I feel that I’m a pretty good judge of
character. I have to be honest with you when I say that I haven’t felt this way
about anyone since my wife died, but at the same time, maybe I just forgot what
it was like to just be with a woman. I’ve enjoyed my time with you, and not
just the intimate time, the chemistry between us seems to extend way beyond
that. I want to spend time with you, get to know you, and you can be assured that
I won’t run around behind your back and have sex with every woman I meet. Besides,
I’m under the impression that there will be one more reason to be with you before
long.”

Wendy smiled. There was little doubt that a baby would be on
the way soon, if not already. She put her head on his chest and sighed. “Jack, I’m
sorry about being so emotional about this. I certainly don’t want to put any
pressure on you to have feelings for me. I appreciate your honesty, and I think
you’re right, we need to just spend some time and see where this is going. I’m
sorry if this ruined our date. I just didn’t want you to go all the way up to
Montana and discover an empty lock box. What can I do to make it up to you?” She
looked back up at him, this time with a mischievous grin on her face.

“This date was perfect. If I died tonight I would have to
say that I went out happy. As far as making it up...” He leaned in and kissed
her again.

Suddenly she broke off and said, “Oh, I almost forgot.” She
ran into the other room, then came walking back out. Music filled the room. He
couldn’t identify its source, but it sounded fantastic, as if just around the
corner there was a piano player. It was a classical piano piece, but not one he
recognized. His taste in music leaned toward orchestra and symphony. Country
Western was enjoyable if the mood is right, and when he was younger he loved rock
and roll from the likes of Elvis or Buddy Holly, but nothing beat a good piano
solo.