"Listen Maria, how many kids of his age could hold it all together with what he's been through. He really is a great kid. So he pranked you, you have ...o admit that was funny."Maria glares at me takes several steps back and counters, "I hate being made to look like a fool! But even more than that, I hate being told what to do - so back off bitch!"Present – Ben – At the cabinWe reach another one of my weapons caches while successfully avoiding the drone. I start digging down to reach the cover. I pointed at the area and looked at Cooper questioningly.“They’re setting up a compound to detain our prisoners and any future rebels we capture until we question them. Once you identify the dangerous ones, they’ll release the others. They’ll probably split it into two sections to keep the dangerous ones separate from the ones you haven’t checked,” he explained.Everyone was waiting impatiently for us when we got back. There was a buffet style lunch laid out for us, even though it was early. "That's fine," he said. "We won't be long."She snorted and stalked up the stairs. He reached now for my other arm,gently pulled me round to face him."You're looking nice," he said. "It's worth the wait." Have you been waiting?" Mmm," he said. "A little while. It's OK, I spend a lot of time justwaiting." It must get boring." Depends on who you're waiting for," he said.We let that hang there for a moment. So here we are again, I thought. Theempty street, the wall of dunes and sea beyond. The. You are a vampire.”He frowned at her and shook his head. “Is that what this is actually about? You’re ... missing that part?” It was a pretty old story, and an integral one to Kindred, far as Jack knew. Vampires had to fight against their Beastly nature, every night of their second lives, or they’d rot away and become nothing more than a draugr, a mindless husk only capable of hunting and killing.She looked away, and unless he was seeing things, that was shame on her face. “It has been a long.