Read The Orphans (Book 4): White Lie for Free Online

there wasn’t anything they could do about it but put the Turned on their backs.
    Ellie said, “God guys, there’s more to talk about than those things out there. You’ve had him all night Greg, why don’t you meet us later for something to eat after he gets a chance to clean up?”
    “So what you are saying is that you want to get Shaun all to yourself?” Greg asked.
    Ellie smiled and said, “Hey Joey, why don’t you take Greg out for a walk, he needs to stretch his legs after getting to sit still all night long.” Then turning to Greg she replied, “Oh and yes, yes I do want him all for myself. If you can break your man crush for a few hours on my boyfriend here I am sure that we will see you after a bit.”
    Joey pulled on Greg’s coat. “Come on Greg, if we get to chow first we can get seconds.”
    Greg asked, “Are you sure that you want seconds of their cooking?”
    Joey nodded his head enthusiastically and said, “Yeah Greg, as long as I don’t have to make the seconds Aslin’s cooking.”
    Greg laughed while giving a quick wave to Shaun then the two headed for the mess hall. When they made their way through the line everyone around seemed to be in a pleasant mood. None of them looked worried or scared and they smiled at Greg, knowing that he’d been placed on watch overnight shift, regardless of if it had been punishment for screwing around, he still was appreciated. Anyone that traded comfort and sleep for others was recognized and not taken for granted. They knew that if there wasn’t a finger on the trigger while they slept, their nightmares very well would and could come true very easily. At the very least, getting any warning they could when those things broke in was a godsend in itself.
    Joey, who’d been in his bunk sleeping all night, made his way through the line holding his tray in one hand and handing out hugs like there was no tomorrow with his other. Greg smiled and shook his head, there was no shortage of love for his friend and when they made it up to the serving line Phillip and Shelman were giving out the food. Phillip said, “Hey Greg, hey Joey. Clary and Aslin wanna see you before you get your food.”
    Greg looked up with tired and hungry eyes. “Just give me my breakfast, I've been freezing parts of my body off all night that you don’t want to think about, trust me!”
    Shelman smiled and pulled his tray away from him. Greg said, “I’m sorry, but unless you want to spend your overnights in the fields all night long waiting for something that might come in single one by one or in the hundreds or thousands, then I suggest you seriously reconsider taking my breakfast. All I want to do is eat, and go take a nap. If you want to keep that tray then I think there’s a pretty good chance that I'm going to be stuck with overnight for a long time to come.”
    Shelman asked, “Yeah and what’s that going to be for?”
    “Because I'm going to launch myself across this counter and beat your ass old man, I can promise you that and that it is something I am capable of. Remember, you only need to follow orders when they make sense. If someone is telling you not to feed another, you need to think about it and realize if that is a smart idea or not, especially when the one you don’t want to feed is the one that was watching out all night so that you could sleep,” Greg said.
    Phillip said, “But they really did say that you couldn’t eat until after they spoke to you.”
    Greg said, “I’ll go eat my damn breakfast with them for God sakes. Fill up my plate and leave me alone. Good God, I could use a day away from here, call it a vacation.”
    They looked at each other and Shelman said, “You know, I'm not that old kid.”
    Joey, who had been sitting there looking nervous at the back and forth banter between the two of them, asked, “But I thought you were like eighty?”
    “Oh that just hurts kid,” said Shelman
    Greg laughed and took his tray then headed at a slow pace