Free Warlord: Dervish by Tony Monchinski Page B

walked for what seemed several minutes, but Jason wasn’t certain. He looked down at his wrist. His watch was gone. That’s right. Kaku had smashed it in front of him. Cocksucker. That, Jason grudgingly gave the man, had been a nice touch, psychologically. Kaku knew what he was doing. However, Jason admitted to himself, he felt at a loss, because he had no idea what Kaku had been up to.
    He followed the corridor to another uniform set of double doors where another green light blinked on another camera.
    Jason pushed through the doors, entering a mess hall several times larger than the barracks he’d come from. Looking around, He took in his surroundings. The room was immense, capable of seating and feeding thousands. Row upon row of steel picnic-style tables with benches attached blurred together. Fifty-five gallon plastic garbage containers were placed between every four tables.
    Though the room could conceivably house thousands, there were only a handful of other men and women in it. These were seated in the same general area, but within this space they were spread out, each seated alone except for a group of four. Some looked up as Jason walked in, and most who did so quickly glanced away. One of the men in the group of four made a comment that only his friends could hear, and a couple of them laughed. Jason hadn’t caught the remark, but judging by the look of the men, he figured it hadn’t been kind.
    Whatever . He chose to ignore them, walking over to a buffet-style serving station. White plates were stacked and steam rose from trays of food. Jason hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He took a plate and worked his way down the buffet, loading up on bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes. When he couldn’t fit any more food on his plate, he filled a coffee cup from a stainless steel urn and started to look for a suitable place to consume his meal.
    The woman closest to him didn’t look friendly. Nor did she look like she wanted someone sitting next to her. But Jason remembered the female voice from the cell next to his, and he wondered if this could possibly be that woman. She was big and rough looking, with tightly curled hair that looked in need of a shower and comb through. As Jason approached, the woman looked down at her plate. It wasn’t like she was intimidated. More, he considered, like maybe she hoped by ignoring him he wouldn’t say a word to her, that he would just walk past.
    “Hi.” Jason stopped when he was still a couple yards away. “Are you…?”
    A muscle in the forearm of her hand gripping the fork contracted.
    “Were you in the cell next to me?”
    The woman looked up long enough to cast Jason a withering glance, gripping the fork in her balled fist. “Get the fuck away from me.” As soon as she opened her mouth to hiss at him and Jason heard her voice, he knew she wasn’t who he’d thought she might be.
    He raised a hand, palm out, apologetically, as he backed away, circling the table, turning and walking away from her.
    The wise ass at the table of four who’d made his crack earlier leveled another comment, causing two of his companions to laugh. The fourth guy at the table was smoking a cigarette and watching Jason lazily.
    Sitting at a table where he could face the four men, Jason kept his eye on them. At the opposite end of a table across from him, a lean woman gave him a barely perceptible nod before returning her attention to her food.
    Jason tore into his meal. Damn, it was good. As he ate, he wondered where he was. Why were there no windows? Was this a military base? If so, where? And who were these people? He was a little surprised to see women. He knew he shouldn’t be. Women served among the front line troops in today’s military. There’d been a woman in the cell next to his…unless, that is, Jason had to concede, his mind had played tricks on him. He didn’t know. He remembered the injections. The hell was that? He banished the train of thought, swallowing a