He nodded. "Possibly. Never mind that though. I want to hear all about this Marco."
Bunny recounted the tale to him, beginning with flipping her car, her long run from the dead and eventual rescue by Marco. She told him about Rosa, as well as Peyton, leaving nothing out, even when she wanted to. She told him everything, all the way up to her departure from the clinic after Rosa's death, even letting him know how she’d dealt with Peyton. When she was done, she filled her glass again, downing it, the memories painful for her to share.
Williams leaned back in his chair, pondering all she’d told him for some time before he spoke. "You seem to have a knack for not getting killed."
"Is that what we're calling it?" she asked.
"It is," he said as he reached behind him, flipping through the files stacked behind his chair until he pulled one out and tossed it to her. "Interesting reading, that."
Bunny picked it up and opened it, staring at the contents in surprise. Slowly she flipped through the papers, already knowing what they all said, but more than a little surprised to find them here. "This is..."
"Your dossier, yes," Williams told her. "I make it a point to know everything there is to know about everyone around me."
She closed the file and put it back on his desk. "So, you think that means you know me?"
"I know you have a bigger knack for getting in trouble than you do for not dying. It's that first one that bothers me, though," he admitted. "The last thing I need is a troublemaker."
"A troublemaker," Bunny replied. "You sorry ass bastard. How the fuck dare you?"
"Watch it," he warned.
"I will not!" she snapped. "I busted my ass to get here, to bring every living soul I found along the way here. I risked everything, nearly died more times than I care to count, and spent four days living in that nightmare out there, and you have the balls to call me a troublemaker because of what you read in a file?"
"You're only proving my point," he shot back.
"I don't give a damn," she snarled. "I thought you were a decent guy, but now I see you're just playing God. Got yourself a private little world in here, where you can make all the little pawns move around the way you like, doing what you think they should, because you read their files!"
Bunny slapped the stack in front of her, sending it scattering across the floor. "But you don't have a damn clue what's really going on. You're so blinded by your own authority, you haven't even noticed winter's setting in, and everyone out there is going to freeze to death! If they're lucky, anyway. The unlucky ones will get eaten by the dead outside! And you're the one to blame for it!"
"Enough!" he bellowed, slamming his hands on the desk as he rose. "You haven't got any idea how hard I've been working to save these people. When I want a critique of my command style, I sure as hell won't go looking to get it from a goddamn stripper!"
Bunny leaned back in her seat, glaring at him darkly. Williams bowed his head, leaning heavily on the desk for a moment before easing back into his chair. Suddenly, he looked 10 years older, and terribly tired.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he said softly. "I didn't have any right."
"It's the truth," she said. "I'm not ashamed of that."
He nodded. "Still, this wasn't where I meant things to go when I showed you that. I apologize."
"Where did you intend it to go then?"
He sighed. "When I called you a troublemaker, and said I didn't need that, I meant it. It bothers me, and that's true, too. It's the other thing, however. Your particular knack for survival. That interests me a great deal, and it's something I have a feeling I'm going to need soon."
"I'm not sure what you mean. If I bother you so much..." Bunny said, but fell silent as he raised his hand.
"What I'm trying to say is, I need you to be on my side here. Out there, in the camp, many of the civilians look at you almost like some sort of hero. You survived four days with the Gaunts, and brought people back," he said.
"I'm not a hero," she told him plainly.
He shrugged. "I guess that depends on your definition of the word, doesn't it? Not that it matters what you think, or even what I think. They need someone to look up to, and right now, that's you."
"So, what, you want to help keep the chickens in line or something?" she asked.
He smiled. "Not exactly. At least, not the way you're thinking."
Bunny eyed him cautiously. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you mean?"
"Here's the truth, and it stays in this room," he told her as he leaned forward. "We lost contact with NORAD before a full 24 had passed from our initial drop in. The Vice President broadcast a television message to America the night things went south and that was the last I heard from him. Basically, I've had no contact with anyone above me for over 10 days now."
"Holy shit," Bunny said quietly, the ramifications of what he was telling her sinking in.
He nodded slowly. "It's all gone, Beckman. Everything. We're essentially alone out here. There's no backup coming, no cavalry riding in at the last minute. Nothing. This is it."
Bunny took a minute to let that soak in. "Surely there must be other military officers out there, like you."
“Yes," he said. "There were. Many. However, from the satellite images we're still able to receive, it looks as if they failed to establish the foothold that we did here. New York, Los Angeles, Seattle,
