High Pressure System: First Season Underground by K.D. Kinney Read Free Book Online Page A

Rachel and how I need to fix it.” He was so distressed. “Please help me fix this before I go crazy.”
    I really felt for him. But my own nightmares were too close to real life and were keeping me from leaving my apartment.
    “What do you expect me to say to everyone? I’m still terrified. I saw what’s out there, that the storms are searching for us. Since no one else has seen what you and I have seen, am I not supposed to say much?”
    “At this point it doesn’t matter. Maybe if you tell them what is out there, everyone will settle down. I don’t know. They don’t trust me even though I haven’t given them a reason not to.”
    “If I come out, you need to be a better friend. I’m not asking you to be my boyfriend or anything like that. Just try to be nicer to everyone so this isn’t so miserable. Your aloofness is what puts everyone off.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and examined a stain on the floor. That was a mistake. My face flushed from my slothful ways. I kicked a couple of used, crumpled-up tissues out of the way. I couldn’t remember if they were considered contraband. Something about reducing waste.
    “I’ll do what I can. I’ll try harder. I’ll even give you a job if you tell me what you want to do. Do you want to go to
Live Food Management
?”
    “No, no, no. I only like
my
animals. I don’t want to hang out at the farm. Why can’t you call it that?”
    “What?
The Farm
?”
    “Yes. That sounds more relatable to all of us than what those poor animals will eventually become.”
    “Are you a vegetarian?” Brandon was genuinely interested.
    “No, I just don’t want to go around calling the chickens dinner instead. Or the cows steak.”
    “I see.” He sighed. “We need to have some discussions, I suppose. I want to make this place nice for everyone, but I have a tendency to see things differently than anyone else. I’ve always been that way.”
    “Well, don’t judge anything by the way the Harpers see the world. They are off their rockers in a whole different way and expect special treatment. They totally don’t deserve it here.”
    “They
are
my biggest problem.” He nodded lost in thought.
    “So first we call
Live Food Management, The Farm
instead and I will come out of exile to calm everyone down. Is that where we start?”
    His shoulders relaxed. “Yes, that sounds like a good place to start.”
    “I really don’t have that much power.” I shook my head. How was I supposed to console over two hundred people by making an appearance? I wasn’t royalty or as important as Brandon seemed to think I was. Whatever, wallflower girl always kept her word and that was what I planned to do. Maybe I could blend back into barely existing again once I reappeared. They probably wouldn’t notice me anyhow. Besides, all they wanted to see were my dogs and Rocky.

7
Cafeteria or Pressure Cooker
    I wasn’t in a hurry for the meet and greet to save Brandon’s butt. Cleaning up was a much better idea. I didn’t look at myself before I got in the shower. I didn’t want to be mortified over what Brandon had just looked at. He was so distressed, he probably didn’t notice. Or maybe I looked so bad he couldn’t stand looking at me. Since my apartment needed some attention, I took care of that too. My dishes took the longest. I had to give up. Unfortunately, I was pretty certain I ruined all my pots and pans.
    After I had procrastinated all I could, I took my little trio to the cafeteria. My stomach told me how much it wanted some real food, growling louder and louder the closer we got. I tried to prepare myself for tons of attention, or a total absence of it, as I reached for the door in the stairway.
    The dogs made a spectacle of themselves as they romped, wrestled, and chased each other in the large open space of the community area. I held my breath as one by one people noticed the dogs and then discovered me. Stuffing my hands in my sweatshirt pockets, I walked slowly in search