I winced, not really agreeing with her. While she found excitement at the prospect of getting to use a weapon, I was more of the mindset that if Ididn’thave to use a weapon, it was a good day.
“Before you go, just allow me to show you one more thing.”
“Claire, it won’t change my mind.”
“Please,” she begged, folding her hands together as she gave me a pouty look.
Rolling my eyes, I gave in. It wouldn’t make me think any differently, but at least Claire would be happy.
“Alright. What is it?”
Grabbing my hand, she tugged me from the house, hopped into a golf cart, and together, we took off back to the main building. I didn’t really have any fond memories of the gigantic monstrosity with weapons mounted on top, but I guess to people like this, it was a fortress to be reckoned with.
“I know you’re worried about being attacked, but you have to see this.”
She dragged me into the building, pressed her hand to the sensor, went through all the procedures to enter, then hit a button to take us lower. I hadn’t realized the elevator went below ground, and now that I knew, I was even more grateful for mydecision. I had the feeling that this wasn’t going to go the way she thought.
She smirked at me as we went down several levels. Yeah, she really didn’t know how to read the room. When the doors opened, we walked down a long, dimly lit tunnel, stopping in front of a large metal door.
“This is the panic room!” She held her hands wide, the grin on her face making it impossible not to find her adorable.
Wow, she really didn’t get that a panic room would not excite me.
“So, at one time, we all lost our homes or gave them up to funnel money into the company. But luckily, we had this huge panic room filled with all the luxuries anyone could want.”
She opened the door and stepped in, grinning like a fool. It was massive. Alcoves spread in either direction, with family living spaces and televisions as far as the eye could see. She showed me the enormous kitchen with all the fancy appliances, the separate living quarters with the giant beds and hypoallergenic pillows…
Yep, it was fancy.
And didn’t do a thing for me. There were no windows. No light. No fresh air. And despite her excitement over the filtered air and the amazing cook they kept on staff, not a single ounce of it got me riled up.
“It’s nice,” I said, trying not to show my absolute horror over the place. I couldn’t get over the fact that they all lived here at one point. I guess they all saw themselves as family, and family stuck together.
It just wasn’t anything that would ever thrill me.
“Okay, I can see this isn’t exactly your cup of tea. But this is really just a desperate measure sort of thing. The real WOW factor is back upstairs.”
Oh, good. If she thought she was going to persuade me to stay with a panic room, she was talking to the wrong girl. We headed back upstairs, crossed through a building, over to another building that was brimming with screams and sounds of torture.
Yep, I could see this going really well.
“Alright, now before you say no, think of this. You and Rob get married. You have kids and you start to wonder, where do they go to school? Surely, your kids can’t go to a regular school.”
“Of course not,” I huffed. “They don’t allow weapons on the premises.”
“Precisely my point!” she grinned, totally missing my sarcasm. “But we have that covered!”
My jaw dropped at her words. “You have?—”
She shoved the double doors open and guided me into some kind of massive gym. Kids ran all over the place, some of them fighting, some of them working out. But overall, it was absolute chaos.
“See? Brilliant, isn’t it?”
I stood there gaping, trying to think of the words that wouldn’t scream she was batshit crazy.
“Um…”
“We have teachers who train all the kids both in studies and in combat. Your children will never be defenseless.”