Free Protect All Monsters by Alan Spencer Page B

not by the way the woman wedged her foot in the door and teased it open. The door closed, and the woman began talking. She stood in the same uniform as the rest of them, except the gold name tag over her left breast read Grace Moony .
    “My name’s Grace, and I know you’re Addey Ruanova.” She scribbled on a clipboard. “I’m going to level with you. This is no cakewalk. There’s no police. I receive complaints of misconduct on a daily basis, even on the hour. Rape, for one, perpetrated by male and females alike. This happens most often in the working yards and in living quarters. People plan, orchestrate and perpetrate sexual crimes. That’s why it’s my job to tell you any defense goes. You can’t get in trouble for defending yourself.”
    How about making people not rape at all? How about some fucking regulation?
    “Do people get punished for these offenses?”
    Grace’s smile shifted, and her eyes went small. “Yes, they do.” She moved on without providing the details. “Defense classes have taught us men hate their balls being punched, but I prefer to squeeze them and really grind them up. The next sexual thought on their mind will send a jolt of pain into their libidos. The eyes are another pressure point too. Poke them out. Shove your fingers into the back of their scandalous heads. Reports do little to prevent rapes, I’ll confess.”
    The woman removed her holster belt and handed it to Addey. “You now have a .28 caliber pistol, a spray can of Mace and a Ka-Bar knife. My best advice, and I’ve been doing this for the better part of six years, is to grow a spine. If anybody tries anything funny, shoot them without hesitation. It’s your decision if you shoot to kill, but know this: if your attacker gets up after a bullet to the arm or leg, you’re in deeper trouble than you were before. It’s best to finish them off. Nobody will hold it against you.”
    “Nobody will hold it against you.” I keep hearing that phrase.
    “What if somebody shoots me, and I didn’t do anything? Will there be a trial?”
    Grace’s eyes honed in on her; then, dodging the question, she moved on. “The first and only summons will be a knock on your door promptly at five thirty a.m. You will be expected to be waiting outside your door at six, ready to go. That will be all. Good night.”
    The woman closed her door; then Addey locked it.
    “What a consultation.”
    She clutched the holster, unsure of the protection it offered. Addey hadn’t fired a gun before. She laughed nervously, holding the Mace and teaching herself how to use it. The label of the mace read, Maximum Strength. Will Cause Temporary Blindness and Possible Loss of Faculties .
    Will somebody shit themselves if I use this?
    Now that might be helpful. Nobody wants to rape you if they just dookied their pants.
    She unsheathed the Ka-Bar knife. The blade was six inches long, the girth an inch. She’d seen a Ka-Bar knife before from her uncle, Eddie, an ex-Marine, and his was much larger. This was modified for the masses, like the kind you could buy at Walmart. She pictured jamming it in somebody’s stomach. The image repelled her as much as the idea of having to use it.
    Addey wasn’t fond of hiding a gun under the pillow, so she placed the holster on the floor and kept the knife in her clutches. It never hurts to be too careful.
    She turned off the lights and tried to sleep.

Chapter Eleven
    Dawn Regan clutched the metal box in her hands and walked forward down the gray cinder-block walkway. In the box, she kept treats designed to entertain the beasts. Harold Marcello was right behind her, carrying another box of similar items. Only a wall separated them from the wolf arena.
    Dawn asked her cohort, “You’re not going to throw me in there with the wolves, are you?”
    Harold scoffed at the notion. “You’re being paranoid. No, I’m not. Now drop it.”
    “I am paranoid, and I’m armed too, just so you know. Quick to the draw. Do you know I