Silence again…then the handset crackled.
"Five, sorry. All's fine here."
The voice was groggy and Neil automatically handed the set to Adrian, knowing this was his chore.
"Area five, is my cat in the barn?"
The voice that answered was clearly embarrassed, "No sir! Nature call."
"Copy. Five is clear. Next?"
The check-in continued as Adrian handed the set back to the trooper.
"Think he fell asleep again?" Neil's voice was annoyed.
"Probably. Call in his relief when you get the extra men…and have him put lime dust around the johns before he can have a bottle. We shouldn't get into the habit of being careless."
Neil ran a hand through thick brown curls. "Most of the men said okay to the mountains, if we can't find anything better along the way."
Adrian understood their reluctance. He too wanted to rebuild on top of the earth, not inside it.
Neil wondered suddenly what the shadows thought of all the conversations they were overhearing, thinking of his own test, his own revelations about their supposedly altruistic leader.
"I should be doing more," the cop blurted, not planning to, and was surprised when Adrian only looked at him with knowing eyes.
"To help you, I mean," Neil clarified. "Is there something more I can do?"
Adrian studied Neil's narrow-face as the cold wind blew a light dusting of ashy flurries over their boots. "There's something else you feel you should be doing for me?"
Neil didn't drop his eyes, even though he wanted to. "I have some ideas - mostly about the guards…and security."
Adrian's face split into a grin, and he clapped the surprised man on the shoulder. "It took you long enough to ask. I've always thought to have you as my head of security when you're ready and things start rolling."
They were the words every man in camp wanted to hear. A position close to Adrian, one that commanded authority and proved to the camp (to the Boss) that you were useful.
"It'll probably be only ninth or tenth in the final chain of command, but for a while, it will be third or fourth and you'll always be in the loop. My word on that."
Neil met his eye with careful gratitude and a small flare of guilt. He was so much more now, than he had been before the War. In this awful new world, he was finally serving. "Is this the official offer?"