Wayward State by A. R. Shaw

Author:A. R. Shaw [Shaw, A. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Keyboardmine

12

Dane

The rain…or rather the mist, covered her hair and clothing in a thin veil as she walked the few blocks toward the campus. By the time she and the other commuters on the same route entered the building’s parking lot, she was damp all over. A young woman passed her by that she recognized from the train, only she now had her hoodie lid pulled up over her head. That’s a true Seattleite, right there, Dane thought. Dressed in layers. No need for an umbrella because it rarely ever rained over the rate of a light spray, more like a constant vapor.

Though the girl stopped in her tracks suddenly, causing a sneaker to kick forward a few pebbles on the asphalt of the parking lot. Dane stopped too and when she looked up she realized there was fencing around the hospital entrance and a team of guards posted out front, some sitting at tables, and lines of at least twenty people or more forming in front of the tables.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the girl ahead of her murmured. She reached beneath the neck of her hoodie and pulled out a lanyard with what Dane supposed were her credentials attached beneath.

“Is this…new?” Dane ventured a guess.

The woman looked back at her. She only saw the side of her face. Dane thought she was more her own age, maybe even a little older than she first thought. She just dressed in jeans and sneakers, giving her a youthful appearance. She was petite and lean and probably a health-nut runner. That or she was starving to death like the rest of them.

“Yes. This wasn’t here yesterday.”

“I haven’t been here for a while. I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

The woman nodded and began walking again. “Are you…visiting someone?”

Dane nodded. Yes…yes, she was. Only he didn’t know it yet. “I am,” Dane said.

“There’ve been some threats but nothing warranting this kind of security. Don’t worry. I’m sure these measures are for an abundance of caution.” The woman sighed and whispered, “But it’s a big hassle for the rest of us. Hard enough to get here these days. Now we have to deal with this just to get in the door.”

Dane said what this woman might expect to hear. “I can see that’s true if you work here. But like you said, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

The woman said, “Huh,” as if she was questioning that logic, and kept walking.

Dane continued as well. Once they joined the crowds trying to get through the gate a man with a red face shouted with authority, “There are two lines, people. One for staff and one for visitors. Get. In. The. Right. Line. Let’s not hold up the staff more than we have to. Staff takes precedence over visitors. Don’t waste our time or theirs.”

The woman ahead of her stepped behind the last person in the shorter line for staff and Dane was left with a problem. They were asking questions to get through the gate up ahead.

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