Shopping for the new world order.

I hadn't considered some of the things Andrea had said, but she'd been right. I hadn't even stopped to consider a lot of implications of all this. For example, I had left two women in the school offices, all alone. They were probably safe there, all things considered, but I hadn't even thought about the teachers. My teachers, I reminded myself.

First stop was a hardware store. I found a lot of things I knew I would need, but limited myself to small quantities for now. I wanted to keep moving.

That would do. I loaded up and headed back to the school. It was dark out, and all but the security lights in the building were out. I let myself in and headed to the office.

Sure enough, two frightened women still hid in the principal's office. What was their plan, exactly?

I offered them some granola bars I'd found in a box behind the seat of my car, and they took them eagerly.

"Alright, ladies," I began. They both watched me warily, they had no idea what I had done with Andrea, and now I had a box of hardware. Their hesitation was warranted. "Let's chat."

"Carol. You are unmarried." I rooted through the box I'd brought with me and pulled out a handheld drill. "Correct?" I set the drill aside and returned to the contents of the box.

"Yes, sir." She said around a mouth full of granola. She was tense.

"No family in town?" I pulled a heavy piece of hardware from the box. It was a steel plate with two small holes for screws, and a little D shaped bend of steel protruding from it. I moved to the receptionist's desk and used the drill to secure the thing to a sturdy leg at one end of the desk.

I returned to the box.

"N-no. Just me." She stopped eating to watch me. "What are you doing?"

From the box, I collected a length of steel chain, maybe ten feet long, a lockable dog collar, and an assortment of keyed padlocks.

"I thought so. Come here, Carol."

I locked one end of the chain to the desk and the other end to the collar.

She shook her head.

"Now, woman." I said. I was in no mood for an argument. I dropped the collar onto the desk and walked towards her. "Since you are unattached and have no men around who might speak for you, I'm claiming you as school property. It's for your own good, I promise you. As such, you can't be allowed to wander about. You might get stolen."

She backed away from me. A token gesture, as she moved much more slowly than I did, and she knew she had nowhere to go.

I caught her wrist and dragged her back towards the desk.

"N-no! Please, Mr. Miller, you can't do this!" She struggled against me, but I doubted it was a sincere effort. Deep down she had to know I was helping her.

Nikki just stared, watching all of this unfold in silence. She at least seemed to have learned not to make so much noise.

I bent Carol over the desk and pinned her while I closed the collar around her throat, and then I locked it with a small lock. "There we go. There's plenty of space for you to sleep here under the desk. I even got you some blankets and a pillow."

I handed her the items and she took them quietly. She wouldn't look at me.

I sighed. I would teach her to respect the principal in time, but for now I was just tired and wanted to go to sleep with a clear conscience.

"Nikki." I said.

She snapped her eyes to me, but said nothing. She seemed to remember my preference. Good girl. I had something special in mind for this one.

I led her into my office and closed the door. "You are not going to be school property. You are going to be my personal property."

She shook her head slightly.

"Don't give me that. You don't work here, you're not married, and you have no father. I confiscated you during class. If no one comes to claim you by the end of the week, you belong to me and that's the end of it. And who is going to come for you? Can you answer me that?"

She just stood there, unable to answer.

I secured another heavy attachment point to the wall of my office, making sure to anchor it to a stud, and locked another length of chain to it. "Come here."

She obeyed. She didn't even cry this time, to her credit. She just went where I pointed. Very good. I handed her a heavy dog collar.

"Put this on."

She trembled, clearly distressed, but raised it to her throat and buckled it. She never even broke eye contact. Such a good girl already.

I placed a lock on her collar, and then attached the other end of the chain to it. She wasn't going anywhere. I combed my fingers through her hair a bit. "In the morning, you're going to need a shower. Nod your head."

She nodded.

"Good girl. You know, you may find you enjoy belonging to me. How long has it been since you had a man in your life to discipline you, to give you a purpose? Too long, I'd wager. But I'll sort you out. Now get some sleep." I tossed her a pair of pillows and a thick blanket, and she obediently set up a little bed for herself on the floor by my desk. "If I find you've gone through this desk, I will punish you. Nod your head."

She nodded.

"Good. See you in the morning."

As I exited the offices, the soft sound of a woman crying could be heard from under the receptionist desk. I really hoped they'd get that all out of their system soon. I was so tired of hearing them cry all the time.

"Oh, Carol. Give me your keys."

A set of keys crashed against the wall near me. We'd have to work on her manners, as well.