Unfortunately, the second floor was occupied.
Chapter 38 – Debriefing Dong
Even though his room had no windows, True awakened promptly at zero-five hundred, as he had for the past ten years. After getting himself cleaned up, he walked to the other end of the building and unlocked the door to Dong’s room. Dong sat up and rubbed his eyes before offering a hopeful grin.
“We eat?” he asked.
“Yeah, we eat,” True said. “Then you get to meet some people.”
True led Dong to the latrine where he got himself cleaned up and put on some clothing that True had rounded up for him. The shirt, a size small, fit well enough, but the pants legs were a little long. Dong had compensated by rolling them up a couple of inches. True thought he looked like an ugly kid wearing hand-me-downs.
There were some curious stares when they entered the cafeteria. True led Dong to the serving line and they sat at the Tennessee table. Sadly, it was empty.
“There’s usually more people who sit here,” True muttered to Dong, who nodded. The two of them ate in silence for several minutes. True was lost in his thoughts when someone began speaking to him.
“So, this is the Chink, huh?”
True looked up to see D-Day standing over him, staring with obvious disdain. He was casually resting a sawed-off shotgun on his shoulder and his long graying hair was still wet from showering and he had it pulled back in a ponytail. True noticed for the first time the man had a nervous tic in his left eye. Although the man appeared to be freshly bathed, the faded red thermal shirt and blue jeans looked like they had not been washed in weeks. He still had the remnants of two black eyes.
The man bent over slightly and gave Dong a cold, scrutinous stare before straightening, snorting, and rubbing his crooked nose.
“He sure doesn’t look like much.”
While True agreed with his assessment, he was not going to admit it. Not to this redneck anyway. “What do you want?”
“I’m just checking him out,” D-Day said. “You need to get him out of here though. The president will be here in ten minutes and we don’t need the likes of him in the same room as the president.”
“When does the president want to debrief him?” True asked.
D-Day gave an expression of confusion. “Are you joking with me?”
“Why would I be joking?” True said.
D-Day sneered. “Do you really think the president is going to waste his time with this slant-eyed mutt?”
True had one or two retorts in mind, but he let it go. “I’ll have him out of here in a couple of minutes,” he said.
“See that you do,” D-Day warned. He gave one last contemptuous stare at Dong before walking off.
Dong may not have been able to understand most of the conversation, but he understood body language easily enough. True saw the little man staring anxiously.
“Don’t worry about that knucklehead,” True said.
Dong stared and nodded, as if he understood, and shoveled in a mouthful of food. After breakfast, True led Dong over to Doctor Salisbury’s office. She greeted them both with a studied look, led them to an examination room, and spent the next thirty minutes giving him a physical.
“No signs of infection or bite marks,” she remarked. “He’s obviously malnourished. Has he exhibited diarrhea?” she asked.
“I believe so,” True said.
She frowned, and then nodded. “I suspect he has roundworms. Since you are now his guardian…”
“Hey, hold on, Doc. I ain’t nobody’s guardian,” True exclaimed.
“You rescued him. You have been feeding him, and you brought him here for his physical, right?” she asked.
“Well, yeah, but…”
“It sounds like you’re his guardian, Mister True. Now, as I was saying, for the next couple of days he will need to be restricted to certain foods. I’ll write a list. After three days, inspect his stools for worms. If there aren’t any, he can resume a normal diet. So, try to put some weight on him.”
True gave her a sidelong stare. “Doc, I ain’t inspecting nobody’s stools.”
“You owe it to your new friend,” the doctor said and gave Dong one last long look before walking out.
Dong peered at True with a hopeful grin. “We friends?” he asked.
True did not respond and instead motioned for Dong to follow. He walked down the hall with the intention of locking Dong back in his room when he was intercepted by Lydia.
“Mister True, I need your help,” she exclaimed in her usual tight, toneless voice.
True stopped walking and faced her. Lydia Creamer was a plain looking woman who, as far as True knew, had never been in a relationship. Her job had always been the work coordinator. She did not have many friends at Mount Weather, but she’d always treated True with courtesy and respect. He liked her for that if nothing more.
“What you need, Miss Lydia?” he asked.
“The TOC has called. They have advised that Flash was supposed to have been relieved from guard duty over two hours ago and his relief is nowhere to be found.”
“Say no more, Miss Lydia. I’ll go relieve him,” True said.
Lydia gave a grateful smile. “You’ve always been dependable, Mister True. I promise I’ll find someone to relieve you in no more than eight hours.”
“I would appreciate that,” True replied. He then looked at Dong, who was staring at Lydia in wide-eyed wonder. True did not know if he was ogling her or what. He thought a moment and decided. “Come on Dong. You get to join me.”
Dong grinned and began following him. True scowled. “I don’t know why you’re so happy. We gonna be stuck together all damn day.”
Chapter 39 – Wharton
Ringo spotted them first.
“Zeds!” he yelled before firing twice. The
