Martin, who was letting them enjoy the moment, stepped forward and asked, “Yes, Patrick, what information do you have for us?”
"The flame-tank is set to leave Sector 27 in two days. It's going to be escorted back to the reassignment sector. I was supposed to be part of that transport group," Patrick answered.
"We've got all of our materials ready. Explosives, weapons, and people. We're set to ambush them along the road a few miles from here." Martin led Patrick over to the map laid out on the table. "This is where we're planning the ambush," he said, pointing to one of the markings on the map, "It provides us with a perfect vantage point from on top of the small hills running along the road. Do you think the transport will make it that far by midday?"
"Definitely," Patrick replied, "They are going to be leaving Sector 27 at sunrise."
"Ok then people!" Martin shouted, "Let's get everything ready to go! We have a little while left today and the rest of the preparations will be done tomorrow." He looked back over at the captain and said, "Captain, fill Patrick in on our plans quickly!"
"Yes, sir," the captain replied. He took Patrick aside and began detailing their plan of attack to him.
Martin made his way to Caleb, through the crowd that was now rushing busily around the room. "Caleb. I have good news," he said.
"What is it Martin?" Caleb asked.
"We were able to make several EMP devices from the one that you brought to us."
Caleb smiled. "That's great!”
Martin continued, "We also have a serum that can be used to combat the effects of the drugs that are given to control the people inside the sectors."
Caleb nodded.
Martin's face became more serious as he said, "Caleb, you lived inside Sector 27 your whole life. You know the layout, schedules, everything. The only way we can get the serum to the people inside is through someone who knows their way around. Now, I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but how would you feel about getting back inside Sector 27 and figuring out a way to spread the serum throughout?"
Caleb thought for a moment. He knew Martin was right. He was the best person for the task. He knew how to get back in without being detected, and he knew where everything was. After a short while he said, "Yes, Martin. I think this is what I’m meant to do. I want to be able to help the people left inside in any way I can. This is my best chance to do that. What do you need me to do?"
Martin smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you Caleb. As far as what you're going to do with the serum once inside, that's going to be up to you to figure out. We were hoping you'd have some ideas. Patrick is going to head back in with you to deliver some of the EMP devices to a few of our spies we have there. Obviously, he can get back in without drawing any attention to himself. They trust him. You, on the other hand, will need to sneak back in."
"That won't be a problem," Caleb said, "I should be able to get back in the same way I got out."
"Very good." Martin said, "I'll go over the plan in more detail with you later today. Right after the assault on the flame-tank in two days’ time, you and Patrick will make your way back to Sector 27. We will send all the men we have to coordinate an attack on the sector once we get as many people out as we can." Martin stopped for a moment before saying, "The whole plan at this point rests entirely on your success. If you can't get the serum delivered somehow, there's no way we will be able to get the people out of there, and the attack would be senseless."
Caleb looked down at the ground, churning over ideas in his head about how he could distribute the serum. He looked back up at Martin and said, "I understand. Let's get ready for it."
4.3 (Confrontation)
Caleb walked down the long hallway toward the central command room. Alice was beside him, holding his hand. She seemed more nervous now that the day had finally arrived where they would be heading out to try to destroy the flame-tank. Behind them, Alex, Brian and Patrick walked at a steady pace discussing the plans that had been put forth for the day’s assault. “Patrick, I don’t know if you’ve been a part of one of these before I arrived here,” Alex said as they walked, “But the plan is pretty simple. We make sure to pick a location well ahead of where the flame tank currently is. The spot has to be narrow enough for us to be able to plant our pipe bombs along the sides of the road and be close enough to where the escort group will be moving through.”
Patrick was listening closely to what Alex had to say. “Got it so far,” he replied.
“Ok good,” Alex said, “Now, it’s important that we coordinate the attack precisely to be sure to catch them off guard. The captain has picked the most advantageous spot for us here,” he continued as he pointed to a circled area on the map he was carrying.
“That looks like it’s close to the Reassignment Sector,” Patrick said.
“It is. It’s about two miles away from the checkpoint just before the Sector,” Brian added.
Alex nodded his head in agreement and continued. “The road is bottlenecked here with small hills running along either side. We’re going to split up into two groups, one on the north hill, and the other on the south. If all goes according to plan, we will have been there and have our pipe bombs set up well before the flame-tank and escort group arrive.”
“Just to be sure,” Caleb said, his head turned halfway around toward Alex, “once we’re set up and the escort group arrives, we wait for the pipe bombs to go off, then start aiming for the Guardians that will be surrounding the flame-tank, right?”
Alex nodded his head. “You’ve got it. And remember, we have one person in each group that will be carrying a few small grenades.”
The group finally made their way into the central command room. A small group of other men were already there with the captain standing near the middle of the room talking. Martin was with the group as well and acknowledged the newcomers’ arrival as they entered. “Good morning everyone. Are you all ready for today?” he asked, as they approached where the rest of the men were gathered.
Martin looked more serious than usual today. Caleb didn’t know how many times the resistance group had done this sort of thing. Was this one of many times they had been down this road? Had they lost a lot of people doing this sort of thing? For now, he trusted the decisions being made by the people who were putting the plans together.
“Good morning Martin,” Patrick said, still dressed in his Guardian attire, “I believe we are. Alex was just going over the details with us one last time on the way here.”
“Good … good,” Martin said, “Now that everyone has arrived, I just want to let you all know how proud I am to be part of such a great bunch of people.” He began to pace slowly back and forth in front of the group standing at attention before him. “Not everyone who is living outside of the Sectors has the motivation that you all do for justice and freedom. Some are happy to live out their lives alone, not worrying about the other unfortunate people who are still left under the Inner Circle’s control. But you … you are all different. What they are doing sickens you to the point of willing to risk your own lives for the chance of seeing only a handful of people freed. It’s people like you that give me the hope that someday, maybe not in my lifetime, but in the years to come, the Inner Circle can be brought down and the people can be free to live life the way that it was meant to be, to regain their God-given rights. Thank you all for the task that you are about to undertake today. Thank you for your courage, your honor, and your dedication to the cause of justice.” Martin looked at the faces of the people standing in front of him, smiled and said, “Godspeed men.”
After Martin had finished speaking, the captain moved to the front of the group and began to direct them out. “Alright everyone, listen up. We’ve got everything ready to go. All that’s left to do now is to execute. If everyone sticks to the plan and stays calm, we will achieve a victory for freedom today.” He walked across the room to the metal table and picked up a bag full of the explosives. “Brian, here’s your bag,
” he said, as Brian moved forward and took the bag from the captain’s hands. The captain picked up a second bag and said, “Alex, here are your explosives.”
Alex moved toward the captain and took the bag of explosives from him. He stayed in front of the group standing beside Brian. “These two men here are going to be the ones in charge of the explosives for the two teams,” the captain continued. “Patrick, Caleb and Alice, you will be assigned to Alex’s team. The rest of you are with Brian and I. Brian’s group will take the north side, Alex’s the south.” He watched as the men broke off into their respective groups then said, “Alright. Let’s move out.”
Outside the resistance group’s building, the sun was shining brightly through the trees. It hadn’t reached noon yet, since it still hadn’t cleared the tops of the trees. The group headed deeper into the forest toward the spot that had been chosen for their assault. “Caleb …” Alice said as they walked. “Are you nervous?”
Caleb kept his head forward. He had been thinking about what was going to be taking place in the near future. “A little bit, yeah,” he replied, “How about you, are you doing okay?”
Alice took Caleb’s hand and remained silent for a moment. “I’m scared,” she replied.
Caleb gently squeezed her freezing hand, looked over at her, smiled and said, “Don’t worry Alice, I’m right here with you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Alex, who was walking just ahead of them, offered words of encouragement. “We’re going to be fine. All we need to do is stick with the plan and stay calm. We’ll all be celebrating this small victory back at the base tonight.”
Patrick had remained silent since he had left the resistance base. Martin had given him the dozen or so EMP devices that his men were able to replicate from the one that Caleb had saved from the grid. The assault on the flame-tank was only the beginning for Patrick. He was going to smuggle the EMP devices back into Sector 27 after the assault had been finished. Caleb searched through his lab coat pocket with his free hand. Inside he felt the cool metal canister containing the serum that he was going to have to distribute throughout Sector 27. He hadn’t told Alice about that part of the plan yet. He didn’t want to give her any more to think about until after the attack on the flame-tank and the escort group was over.
They continued moving silently, closer to their destination. When they finally arrived, the sun had just about reached a point directly overhead, indicating it was some time around noon. Alex called ahead to Brian’s group, who had been about thirty yards in front of them. Brian was already crouching down at the top of the hill overlooking the narrow path of concrete below. Caleb and Alice stood together as Brian and Alex exchanged a few last words and Brian’s group headed down toward the street and across to the hill on the other side. “Ready Alice?” Caleb asked.
“Yeah, let’s go,” she replied, nervously following Caleb’s footsteps toward the edge of the hill.
Patrick was scaling the hill in the direction away from the Reassignment Sector. He was scouting ahead to see if he could locate the flame-tank’s position. Alex was down below on the roadside equally spacing out the pipe bombs. Brian was on the opposite side of the road doing the same thing. Caleb and Alice watched from on top of the hill. “Do you think they’re going to be here soon?” Alice asked him.
Caleb shrugged. “I’m not sure. We could be here for a while, or they could show up any moment now. Patrick hasn’t come back, so he must not have seen anything yet.”
Alice pulled herself up over the ledge of the hill and looked down at Alex and Brian as they finished setting up the last set of pipe bombs. “Do you think this will work?” she asked.
Caleb had been wondering the same thing during the long walk out to this spot. He couldn’t be sure, but the way that Alex, Martin and the captain had talked about it made it sound like they couldn’t fail. “Yeah, I do,” Caleb replied with a confident smile.
Alice returned the smile. “Well, I hope you’re right. If not, I’m going to let you have it later,” she said, playfully, trying to settle her nerves.
“Deal,” Caleb said, winking.
Alex had reappeared over the top of the hill and sat next to Caleb, breathing heavily. “Everything’s set,” he said, “Caleb, I need you to do something for me.”
“What is it?” Caleb asked.
“Here, take this,” Alex said, reaching into the bag where the explosives had been. He pulled out one grenade and a piece of yellow cloth and handed them to Caleb.
Caleb held up the piece of bright yellow material and asked, “What do I need to do with this?”
Alex wiped his forehead with his sleeve, as he just about fully caught his breath. “When I signal to you, I need you to wave that high up into the air for Brian and his group to see. That’s the signal to blow the pipe bombs.”
“Okay, I can do that,” Caleb replied, lowering the yellow material and lifting up the grenade. “And this?”
Alex looked serious. “That’s going to detonate shortly after you pull the pin and let go of this handle. I’m trusting you with it. I’ve got the rest of them here, but if I catch the escort group’s attention, I’ll need you to try and throw it as close as you can to them. Can you do that for me?”
Caleb nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
Alice squeezed Caleb’s hand tighter, proud that he had earned Alex’s trust. Caleb looked over toward Alice. “Look at you,” she said quietly so only Caleb could hear, “Still moving up the ranks.”
Just as she had said that, Patrick came barreling along the hilltop toward the group. He stopped just before them, taking deep, heavy breaths and said, “They’re just up the road. They’ll be here soon. Is everything ready, are the explosives in place, Alex?”
“We’re good to go. Let’s give it to them guys! Everyone get into position! Caleb, when I give you the signal, throw up the yellow flag. Alice and Patrick, once the detonations go off start firing at anything that moves, got it?”
Alice nodded, “Yes, sir!” she said and then nervously looked toward Caleb.
Patrick patted Alice on the shoulder and said, “You’ll do fine, Alice. Just stay calm. Remember, you’re good with that rifle. Stay low if they shoot at you. Duck behind the ridge if you need to.”
Caleb nodded in agreement and said, “You’re going to do great Alice. We believe in you.”
Patrick looked intently at Alice, then Caleb. He could see that both of them were tense. He patted both of them on the shoulder saying, “You are both going to be fine,” then made his way along the edge of the hilltop toward the direction the flame-tank was going to be appearing from.
Caleb looked down at Alice. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“I am,” she said, “Be careful, Caleb.”
Caleb knelt down and grabbed her hand. “I will, I promise. You too,” he replied.
Alice nodded, then directed her gaze forward, mentally preparing herself for what was about to transpire.
Caleb stood up and made his way off in the same direction Patrick had gone, about halfway between him and Alice. He laid down on the ground with his back resting against the ridge of the hilltop. He looked back down toward Alex who was making some hand signals across the road to Brian’s group. There arose a distant sound of clanking metal gears, and hisses of steam. Caleb’s heartbeat began to quicken and he started counting backwards from ten. Breathing, counting, breathing, counting. He closed his eyes as the sound grew louder and louder. He pushed himself over the top of the ledge and peeked down the road. He could see the large Humvee-looking vehicle heading toward them. He counted twelve Guardians walking all around the massive armored machine. Then he looked back over toward Alex as the escort group moved closer to the pipe bombs lining the road. Once the group moving down below had reached a point within the blast radius of the bombs, Alex raised his hand to Caleb and dropped it down, signaling Caleb to hold the flag up over the ledge.
Caleb held the flag up into the air as high as he could. After se
veral moments of silence the explosives went off. The ground shook violently, then smoke and dust lifted up into the air over the road below. A piece of cement landed at Caleb’s feet as he sat with his back up against the ridge, gripping his rifle tightly. He looked further down toward Patrick, who was sitting calmly in place. Then he looked over at Alice who had her hands over her ears, but otherwise looked calm. The few seconds that passed after the explosion felt like an eternity. From the other side of the road Caleb could hear gunfire from Brian’s group. Down below, some of the Guardians were screaming out in pain. The bombs must have gotten some of them, Caleb thought. He pushed himself up over the ridge and looked down below. Several of the Guardians were lying motionless on the ground. It looked as if they had been tossed like ragdolls off the street, into the grass at the bottom of the hills. Some of them were squirming on the ground, one in particular was grabbing his leg, which looked like it had been torn to ribbons. Caleb’s stomach churned at the site.
“Caleb now!” Patrick yelled from his position on the hill, snapping Caleb back to his senses.
Caleb lifted his rifle into his hand and started firing down at the Guardians below. He could see sparks flying from the impact of bullets against the steel flame-tank in the center. He kept calm, focused on his sights and continued firing. Bullets hit the ground in front of him, throwing dirt back into his face. He ducked back behind the ridge and crawled a little ways from where he originally was.
Alice was about twenty yards away, peering over the ledge shooting down at the road. Her hands were shaky, but she concentrated on taking deep breaths in and exhaling, pulling the trigger. Caleb popped back up over the ridge and started firing again. This time he hit one of the Guardians directly below their goggles, sending him flopping backwards to the ground. There were only two left. Both taking cover from behind the flame-tank, which at this point was blowing a large trail of fire up the hillside towards Brian’s group. The other two Guardians were both firing in the same direction. Caleb stood up. He saw Patrick hit one of the two that were remaining, and then Alex took out the other. Caleb looked down at the flame-tank which was still spraying fire up at Brian’s group and noticed a small hatch with a handle on its side. He picked up the grenade that Alex had given him earlier and left his gun on the ridge. He quickly made his way down the hill. The flame-tank was still focused on the hill opposite the one Caleb had been on. “Almost there, come on, a few more feet,” Caleb said to himself. He reached the bottom of the hill and ran as fast as he could to the side of the flame-tank. The sound was deafening, an obnoxious, loud hissing, and the heat was almost unbearable. Finally, he reached the handle and pulled hard on it. A small opening appeared on the other side and he saw two small men sitting within. Neither one of them seemed to notice that he had pulled open the tiny door. He took the grenade in his hand, pulled the pin and gently placed it inside. Once he took his hand off of the lever on the grenade, it sprung forward and hit one of the men in the back. He turned and looked over at Caleb, but it was too late. He had already slammed the door shut and took off sprinting in the other direction.
Sector 27- Assignment Page 16
