“Sure,” said Neeko quickly. “No problem.” He turned to go and then paused, looking back at her. “He could have killed us, Dahlia. I mean easy. We were nothing to him.”

Dahlia said nothing, and Neeko left.

She indicated the other folding chair with an uptick of her chin, and Trash sat.

“What’s your read on this?” she asked.

The truth was that she could have predicted Trash’s exact words. He was useful but predictable. His strengths were all about his abilities as a fighter, as a leader during kill raids, as an enforcer, and as a strangely sensitive lover in the sack. But he was not a thinker or strategic planner. Emotions rather than careful thought. And almost no education at all. In another life, if Trash hadn’t grown up poor and in a nobody-gives-a-shit school district, he might have really been something. Now, she wasn’t sure if he could grow past where he was at the moment. The End did that, she knew. It kind of froze people into who they were at the moment. Like they were playing roles in a movie and that’s all they were allowed to do. Trash was tough-guy muscle. That was his role.

Trash, true to the script he lived, said, “Neeko’s a pussy. He and Andy should have been able to fuck that old guy up and then we’d have had all that stuff. Now the cocksucker’s been warned, he’s going to be expecting something. If he’s that tough, he could pop caps in some of our boys when we raid him. Mind you, if he does, I’m going to cut his balls off and make Neeko wear them as a necklace.”

Dahlia wanted very much to roll her eyes like a teenager and say “what-ev-errr.” Would have been funny to do that. She didn’t. Partly because Trash might actually do something that nasty, and partly because she might have to let him. Maintaining discipline in the Pack was accomplished partly through good leadership and partly through fear.

“Let’s think it through, Trash,” she said. “This guy could have killed our boys, but he didn’t, so he earns a couple of points.”

“You and your points,” grumbled Trash. “Why is it always points?”

“Because that gives us perspective. You know what a meritocracy is?”

“Sure.” He was lying, Dahlia knew, but that was okay. He always lied, and he was bad at it. Made thinks easy.