“Did you take an inventory of the weapons you brought back?” Leo asked.
“Right here.” Nonna held up a slip of binder paper. “Twenty-four machine guns and one crate of ammo clips.”
“Good haul,” Leo said. “We’re going to need every weapon.”
“What for?” Cassie asked.
“We can’t assume that was the only Soviet patrol sent out to infect citizens,” Leo said. “We need to warn people, and we need to be there to protect them.” His gaze shifted to Dal. “We need to get the radio antenna set up. The people need to know about this.”
Stephenson raised a tentative hand.
Leo raised a brow at him. “Yes?”
“That’s a bad idea,” Stephenson said. “The Russians can track a broadcast.”
“We’ll keep it short,” Dal said. “Under sixty seconds. That won’t give them enough time to track us.”
“Yeah, if you only make one broadcast,” Stephenson replied. “That tactic will only work for so long.” He chewed his bottom lip. “What if we hooked the antenna up to a car? You know, like a mobile news station. That way you never broadcast from the same place twice.”
A gap of silence followed this idea. Everyone looked at Stephenson as though just seeing him for the first time.
Anton let out a long whistle. “That’s a damn good idea. Can you set that up on our old pick-up?”
Stephenson flushed at the compliment. “Yeah, I can. Electronics are kind of my thing.”
“The chess club is taking the Snipers to the next level.” Jennifer beamed proudly at Cassie, even though she hadn’t done a thing.
“Snipers?” Amanda asked. “Who are the Snipers? I’m not a Sniper.”
“You are now,” Jennifer said. “We call ourselves the Snipers. We’re resistance fighters. We’re fighting the Russians.”
“What?” Cassie looked at Leo in confusion. She’d been on horseback with him for over two hours. He’d never said anything about them being a resistance fighter. “What do you mean, we’re fighting Russians?”
“She means we aren’t standing by with our thumbs up our asses while the fucking Soviets try to take over our country,” Jim Craig said. He didn’t even flinch when Nonna slapped him on the back of head.
Cassie let this sink in. Resistance fighters. The idea made her want to grab her chessboard.
“It’s settled,” Leo said. “Stephenson, tomorrow you and Dal will get the antenna set up on my dad’s truck. Cassie and Amanda, you help them. The people need to know about the round-up and possible nezhit mutation. The rest of us are going to the Craigs’.”
This statement made Tate and Jim straighten expectantly.
“You think my parents can help us?” Tate asked.
“We know for certain the invaders are rounding up citizens with the intent of infecting them,” Leo replied. “We need to figure out when and where the next attack is planned. Your parents might have information that could be useful. They might know something about the mutant zombies, too.”
“Tomorrow, Leo takes a team to the Craigs’ house,” Nonna said. “Let’s figure out what those Russian bastards are up to.”
The room dissolved into movement. Anton and the other football players went downstairs to get Russian machine guns. Nonna went into the kitchen to ladel up minestrone for everyone. Dal, Leo, and Lena grabbed Stephenson and took him to look at the antenna they had apparently acquired from Guy’s Electronic Superstore in Bastopol.
Cassie felt like she was being swept up in a tornado. She jumped when Jennifer put an arm around her.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Cas. You’ll be safe here at the cabin.”
Cassie didn’t reply. Jennifer had long ago taken it upon herself to look after Cassie, especially when their mom rode her about her tomboy looks.
Those sneakers look like boy shoes, Cassie. How are you ever going to get a boyfriend dressing like that?
You shouldn’t wear stripes, Cassie. You don’t need to look any taller.
You should get some highlights in your hair, Cassie. You’d look prettier that way.
Jennifer was always there to catch her in those awful moments.
Mom doesn’t know anything about fashion. Vans are totally in.
Supermodels are all tall, you know.
Hair dye just gives you split ends. Trust me, it’s overrated.
This situation really wasn’t any different. But Jennifer couldn’t protect Cassie from their materialistic mother anymore than she could protect her from a Russian bullet. Cassie loved her for trying, though.
Nope, if Cassie was part of a Russian resistance, she was going to have to step up. It didn’t matter if all she wanted to do was bury herself in a chessboard. She was going to have to contribute.
She was just going to have to figure out how.
Chapter 9
Chessboard
LEO HAD JUST FALLEN asleep on the sofa when someone switched the light on. He suppressed a groan, blinking gritty eyes. He’d been awake long after everyone else had fallen asleep, his mind awhirl with Soviet invaders and mutant zombies. The snoring didn’t help, either. A bunk room with five other guys wasn’t exactly a quiet place, which is why he’d moved to the living room couch.
He rolled over and found Cassie sitting on the brick hearth. In her hands was a small, rectangular box.
She hadn’t noticed him on the sofa. He watched her profile, tracing the line of her nose and cheekbone with his eyes. He admitted to himself that he felt drawn to her. There was something about her that ignited a spark inside him.
She opened the box and began pulling out small figurines. It took Leo a moment to realize she was setting up a miniature chessboard.
“Cassie?”
She jumped in surprise, turning around as he sat up. Her eyes widened as she realized he’d been asleep on the sofa.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was out here. I’ll turn the light off.” She reached for the switch.
“No, it’s okay.” Leo ran a hand through his shaggy hair, pushing it out of his eyes. “I came out here to get away from the snoring.”
“Me, too.”
Amusement creased his brow. “There’s snoring in your room? Who?”
She stared at him, momentarily thrown off balance. “Not sure.”
She was lying. This also amused him. Whoever was snoring, Cassie wasn’t going to rat them out. It was most likely his grandmother.
“I thought about going outside,” Cassie said. “You know, to play chess under the stars. But there are, like, bears and stuff out there. You know. Mountain lions and coyotes and other things. Probably zombies. I saw at least fifty-six places where predators could hide around the cabin. I’ve heard raccoons can have rabies.” She rubbed at her arms.
It took all his willpower not to chuckle, making a mental notes that Cassie wasn’t an outdoors type. That was okay. He could understand how the woods could be intimidating to someone who hadn’t grown up with them.
She was staring at him and absently running her hands through her hair. It was a lighter shade than Jennifer’s, but no less pretty.
“I got fifty percent of my mom’s hair,” Cassie said. “That’s the curly part. The other half—the straight half—is from my dad. That’s why it always looks like this. You know, not quite straight but not quite curly, either.” Her hands got tangled in the long strands that fell past her shoulders.
Leo thought her hair looked nice. He almost said so, but stopped himself. No matter what he thought about Cassie’s hair, she was still Jennifer’s little sister.
“I could really use a rubber band. And some Aquanet.”
Well, he couldn’t help her out on the Aquanet, but he was pretty sure there were rubber bands in the kitchen. He got up and rifled through the draws until he found one. Cassie blinked at him in surprise when he handed her one.
“Thank you.”
“Sure.”
She wadded her
hair into a bun and secured it with the rubber band. Stray wisps framed her face.
He really should try to get some sleep—they had a big day ahead of them with their mission to the Craig farm—but he found himself wanting to hang out with Cassie. Leo racked his brain for something to say.
“Is that your chessboard?” He gestured to the small playing board on the hearth.
“Yeah. I brought it with me from Amanda’s.”
“You remembered to pack a chessboard while you were running for your life from zombies?”
“I like chess.”
“Obviously. Were you planning to play?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I play a game with you?”
She blinked and looked away, arranging the pieces on the boards. “Russians invaded America and deployed a zombie virus,” she muttered. “That’s not any weirder than the varsity football captain hanging out with the chess nerd, is it?”
He wasn’t sure she’d realized she’d spoken aloud until he saw the flush crawl up her cheeks.
“I’m just an apple farmer, Cassie.”
She snorted. “Sure you are. Have you ever played chess before?”
“My dad used to play with us sometimes when we were kids. What do you call the castle pieces again?”
“Rooks.”
“Right. And the horses?”
Cassie drew in a long breath, her eyes locked on his face. “This just might be the weirdest moment of my life. And that’s saying something, because less than twenty-four hours ago I plotted out an obstacle course for zombies.”
He was beginning to understand she talked a lot when she was nervous. He made her nervous, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“You did what?” he asked.
“I made an obstacle course for zombies. It’s the only reason I made it alive out of Amanda’s house.”
“What did you use for the obstacle course?”
“Furniture and stuff. The door chain.” She shook herself, returning her attention to the chessboard. Her finger stabbed at the various pieces. “Knight. Bishop. Pawn. Rook. King. Queen.”
“Remind me what they all do.” It had probably been a decade since Leo had touched a chessboard, but Cassie didn’t need to know that.
She tapped the different pieces as she gave him a quick rundown of what each piece could do. “The rooks can only move horizontally or vertically. The bishops can only move diagonally.”
“It’s coming back to me now,” he said when she finished.
She stared at him. “You know I’m going to cream you?”
He raised a brow. He’d designed some pretty damn good football moves in his time. How different could this be? “You think so?”
“Positive. Are you sure you want to play? Jennifer always said you had a competitive streak.”
She had him there. He leaned forward. “Give it all you got, Cassie Miola.”
She beat him in less than five minutes on the first game.
“You won? Already?” He frowned at the board.
“Mmm-hmm.” The triumphant grin she gave him was mesmerizing. It was clear she liked winning.
Leo liked to win, too. Although he didn’t particularly mind losing to Cassie. He realized he was staring and shifted his gaze back to the chessboard.
She swept up the pieces and restored the board. “Do you want to play again?”
Did she think he was going to slink away with his tail between his legs? “Yes.”
It took her only a handful of moves to clobber him a second time.
“I didn’t know it was possible to lose a game in eight moves,” Leo said.
“It was four, actually,” Cassie said. “A move is considered two plays, one from each side. So I actually beat you in four moves.”
He liked that she didn’t pull any punches with him. “I think you just told me I’m a really shitty player.”
“Just at chess.” Cassie’s eyes were bright with amusement. “What I just did is a sequence called Scholar’s Mate. Don’t worry, if we were on the football field, you’d probably give me a concussion. You’re getting off easy in comparison.”
He wasn’t sure about that. His pride felt thoroughly concussed, although at the moment he wasn’t bothered by this at all.
He noticed a black knight pendant resting just above her heart. “Is that your favorite piece?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed the pendant between her fingers, smiling. “Jennifer gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday.”
“Why do you like the knight so much?”
“Because a knight never moves in straight lines. It’s not predictable, you know? A good game is never predictable.”
“If I’d known how good you are at strategy, I’d have convinced Coach Brown to let you design plays for the football team.”
Her eyes widened. Another flush crawled up her cheeks. Damn, she was pretty. And smart. He wasn’t sure what he liked more about her.
Cassie busied herself resetting the board. “Again, Jock Face?”
“Sure, Squirt.” He hunched over the board to study it. He was determined to last more than twelve—no, six—moves. He absorbed the different pieces, assigning them football positions.
Pawns were like the lineman. They were the first line of defense and were more powerful as a unit than as individuals. The queen was like the running backs—versatile and useful in a variety of ways. The rooks were the tight ends. The bishops were the wide receivers. The king was like the quarterback, to be protected at all costs. Really, it wasn’t that different.
Or maybe it was vastly different. Cassie creamed him in less than ten minutes on the next game. Leo smacked his knee in annoyance when she said, “Checkmate.”
“Damn. Explain to me how you did that.”
“I just used something called the Ruy Lopez opening on you.”
Both his eyebrows shot up. “There’s a name for what you just did?”
“Yeah. It’s also known as the Spanish Torture.”
She was messing with him. She had to be. “Explain it to me.”
“To get out of it, you needed to put the question to my bishop.”
“I needed to what?”
Cassie launched into a long-winded explanation which had Leo frowning at her. Not only had she not been messing with him, but now she was talking circles around him.
He attempted to focus on the lesson, but he eyes kept straying to the wisps of hair around her face and the graceful line of her neck. By the time she finished, he realized he hadn’t heard the last fifty percent of whatever she’d said.
“I’m glad I rescued you, Cassie.”
“Really? Even though I’m not very useful?” A shadow crossed her face that had nothing to do with fatigue. Her shoulders slumped and she looked away. “That’s the real reason I couldn’t sleep. I was trying to figure out how I could make myself useful to a guerrilla army.”
“Are you kidding me? Look at you.” He gestured to her and the chessboard. “You’re a strategist, Cassie. I’m officially putting you in charge of strategy. We’re going to need strategy to stay ahead of the Russians and defeat them.”
She stared at him without speaking. She was silent for so long that Leo felt the skin between his shoulder blades itch.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
She frowned. “You said defeat the Russians.”
“So?”
“You didn’t say pester the Russians. You didn’t say annoy the Russians. You said defeat the Russians.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You want ...” She counted on her fingers. “You want eleven adolescents and one grandma to defeat the Russians?”
“We’re not adolescents, Cassie.”
“That’s the part you’re sticking on?”
Leo huffed in annoyance. “Someone has to defend our country.”
“You realize we’re going to war with, like, half a board of players?”
“But we’re unexpected. That has to co
unt for something.”
“A little, I guess.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “Okay. I can work with that.”
“Okay meaning ... you’ll help?”
“Of course. Did you know Napoleon played chess?”
“No. Was he good?”
She frowned at him. “He conquered most of Europe.”
Leo supposed that made Napoleon a damn good chess player. Well, he didn’t need to conquer all of Europe. He just wanted to protect West County. Maybe learning chess would help him do that.
“Want to play another game?” He’d never beat her if they didn’t keep playing.
“Sure, okay. But I’m not going to go easy on you.” The smile she gave him was dazzling.
It went through his body like a current of electricity. He found himself grinning back. “I wouldn’t like it if you went easy on me.”
“Cassie? Leo?”
They turned as Jennifer padded into the room. She was dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, ready for the day’s mission. She had volunteered to go to the Craig house this morning. Leo had been so absorbed with Cassie that he hadn’t even noticed the windows lightening with the dawn.
“What are you guys doing?” Jennifer asked. She sat down beside Cassie and put an arm around her shoulders. By the way the two girls leaned into one another, it was clear just how close they were.
Leo was suddenly very conscious of how much he’d been enjoying himself with Cassie. He tried to hide it beneath an easy, casual smile.
“Neither of us could sleep,” he said. “Cassie just handed me my ass in chess. Three times. And then she tried to explain exactly how she obliterated me.”
Jennifer grinned, but he did not miss the way her eyes sharpened on him. “Let me guess. Did you hear about the Bird Defense? Or the Steinitz Defense?”
“No.” Leo met her eye, refusing to look guilty. He hadn’t done anything inappropriate. “There was something about a guy named Murphy and another guy named Ruy.”
“My sister is a genius,” Jennifer said. “Did you know she made it to the state chess championship tournament for the last three years?” She beamed proudly at Cassie.
Zommunist Invasion | Book 2 | Snipers Page 6
