Sam was so lost in his thoughts in that moment, that he didn’t notice the man that sat directly across from him, until that man spoke.
“Well, well.” A harsh whisper. “Look who it is.”
Sam jerked, looked over the aisle.
It was the asshole. The one that Sam had threatened to cannibalize—Jesus, did I really say that shit?
The asshole leaned forward in his seat, his haughty eyes drifting down to the tag clipped to Sam’s collar. An expression of chagrin passed over the asshole’s face.
“Huh. Guess they hand those out to anyone.”
As the asshole said it, he fingered something hanging from his own collar.
An identical tag: SQUAD LEADER.
The soldier leaned back into the bus. “Hey. Lock it up back there.”
The asshole grinned at Sam, then settled back into his seat.
TWELVE
─▬▬▬─
NORTHWARD
By the time dawn broke over Triprock, Lee’s brain was operating on its last reserves. He knew he needed sleep, but there was too much to do.
All through the waning hours of the night he’d moved restlessly through Triprock, his brain slugging through the arithmetic of war. Beans, bullets, and bandages, as they used to say.
The people of Triprock were committed, which gave Lee hope for his ultimate plan. But some of the leaders of Triprock had their own ideas, which irritated him. Who were they to suddenly begin deciding on strategy? They’d sat under the thumb of a squad of Cornerstone operatives that they could’ve overthrown if they’d nutted up about it. Now that the threat had been dealt with, all of the sudden they wanted to leverage their opinion on how to proceed?
Which led Lee to this point, right now, rubbing his dirty palms across his face, trying to massage some life back into his head.
“It’s impressive what you’ve done so far,” one of the Triprock leaders was saying. His name was Aaron. And he was a think-for-yourselfer. “But you’re still talking about trying to invade an entire city with…what? Four hundred people?”
Lee blinked to clear his vision, trying to wrap his head around being diplomatic when all he really wanted to do was point a gun and tell people to get on board or else.
That was just the exhaustion talking. The well of his patience was a tad dry.
Abe responded on Lee’s behalf: “With everyone from Triprock, it will be about five hundred. And as we continue to move north, we’ll garner more support from other settlements.”
“But we’re not soldiers,” Aaron pressed. “Most of the people you have aren’t soldiers either. They’re just civilians with guns.”
Lee frowned at him, finding his eyes taking longer than normal to focus. “Civilians with guns created the United States of America. And they beat one of the most formidable world powers of the time.”
“I’m not arguing against fighting,” Aaron returned. “I’m arguing that one big massive horde of us trying to knock down the gates of Greeley isn’t the way to do it.”
Lee couldn’t help himself. “Oh? Is that what your vast experience in military strategy tells you?”
Aaron bristled, but Sally cut him off with a hand to his shoulder. “Aaron, you should listen. Lee knows what he’s talking about.”
“I have been listening,” Aaron snapped. “And I disagree. If I’m putting my life and the life of everyone in Triprock on the line, then I believe I should have the opportunity to speak my mind.”
Sally gave him a withering smile. “But you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Aaron rounded on her, glaring. “And you do?”
Angela cleared her throat loudly. “Alright. Thank you, Sally. And thank you, Aaron. Your perspective is valuable and appreciated. However, it doesn’t change the situation. We’ve built a certain strategy, and there’s a lot riding on things going a certain way. The fact of the matter is, an insurgency is not the way to get things done.”
Aaron shook his head. “Every war in recent memory says differently.”
“And how long did those insurgencies last?” Lee demanded, cutting to the core of the issue. “Decades. An insurgency is designed to slowly undermine a more powerful force. Death by a thousand cuts.” Lee stabbed a finger at the ground. “We don’t have that kind of time.”
“Why not?” Aaron demanded.
“Because Greeley is weak now. They’ve overextended themselves. The majority of their fighting force is on the east coast. They’ve left their heart unprotected and vulnerable. Now’s the time for a decisive blow. Not a slow insurgency that will give them time to bolster their defenses. If we give them too much time, we’ll lose momentum. We’ll lose everything.”
“An insurgency is safer!” Aaron insisted. “Small operations. Small, surprise attacks and raids. And then we melt back into the populace. It’s worked before against world powers.”
Abe shook his head. “It’s worked against world powers that are concerned about human rights violations. That’s not what we’re dealing with here, Aaron, and you know it. Think through what you’re suggesting here: You and your people stay in Triprock and mount small raids, always returning to your home base. Well, what do you think happens when Greeley figures it out? Back in the day, we would know that there were insurgents in a village, and we’d have to try to route them out. President Briggs has no such restraints. When he learns about a settlement that might be harboring insurgents, he’ll just send in his troops and wipe everyone out wholesale. He doesn’t give a fuck about human rights, and you know it.”
Lee nodded along with Abe, and saw some of the logic getting through to Aaron. Sensing that they had their last detractor on the ropes, Lee pressed forward for the knockout. “The army that Briggs dispatched to the east coast? They’re not going to stay there forever, Aaron. They’re going to come this way, if they haven’t started already. And when they do, they won’t be pulling any punches. How confident are you that you’re going to be able to convince them that you’re not aligned with us? How are you going to explain the missing Cornerstone operatives?” Lee thrust his hand out. “One of them got a message out last night, Aaron. You know this. How long do you think you have before Cornerstone shows up again? Do you think they’re going to ask questions? Or do you think they’re just going to roll in and wipe everyone out?”
Aaron put his hands on his hips and avoided eye contact for a protracted moment. Staring out at the collection of buildings that surrounded them. This was his home. He didn’t want to leave it.
“Here’s the cold, harsh truth, Aaron,” Lee pressed his advantage. “Triprock isn’t valuable enough to Greeley. You and your people have survived here through pure, blind luck. The second Greeley learns about what happened last night—if they haven’t already—they’re not going to come back to ask questions and investigate. They’re going to come back and level this fucking place, and everyone in it.”
Angela slipped in to land the final punches. “What we’re doing is the only way to win. A grassroots movement. A wave of people that are willing to leave behind their current false sense of security, in order to secure their future survival. The window of opportunity is open to us. The time for an insurgency to be effective has passed us by. The only way to win now is open warfare. One massive blow while Greeley is unprotected. And every day—every minute—that we spend arguing and not moving towards our objective, is more time for Greeley to figure out what we’re doing and shore up their defenses.” Angela gave Aaron a sympathetic smile. “I know you don’t want to leave your home. I didn’t want to leave mine either. But if you want to survive, if you want to have a home sometime in the future, a normal life, then you have to be a part of what we’re doing. It’s the only way, Stephen. I wish it wasn’t, and I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you if there was another way. But there isn’t. This is it.”
Sally had the emotional intelligence not to be aggressive in that moment. She chose instead to lay a gentle hand on Aaron’s should
er. “You’re already willing to fight. We’re all willing to fight. It’s just the ‘how’ that we need to agree on. And Lee is right. Lee and Abe were right when they freed us from the cartel and told us to leave. We didn’t take their advice then, and look what happened. Think of the people that we’ve lost by staying here. Eric and Catalina and so many others. For what? This isn’t our home anymore, Aaron. It’s got too much death in it. We’re all willing to fight, so let’s fight. Let’s be a part of the solution. Let’s end this now.”
Aaron stood there, jaw muscles bunching as he continued to avoid eye contact with everyone in the circle. He was alone, and he knew it. He was the last holdout. There were others that shared Aaron’s opinion, but they would listen to him. If he changed, they would change with him.
Aaron let out an exhausted sigh. In that exhalation, Lee sensed victory. He still didn’t meet their gazes. He looked around him as Sally’s words settled on his soul, turning it.
“It’s ugly,” Aaron murmured. A strained smile flitted across his lips. “I want to see it as home, but all I see is all we’ve lost. It’s just…ugly.” He dipped his head and regarded his feet. “We’ll go. We’ll be a part of this movement. You’re right. There’s not another way.”
The tension in Lee’s chest abated. But the irritation somehow remained. God, but would he have to have this conversation every damn time? People. They were just so fucking blind. Scrubbing the scales of their own denial from their eyes was a constant battle. For once, Lee would love to just say something, and not have to argue a ten-point thesis to get what he wanted.
Lee turned away from Aaron, not trusting himself to keep the irritation from his voice. He traded a glance with Abe and gave a small nod.
“Sally,” Abe said. “Aaron. We need to get on the road. Go get your people loaded up and ready to roll. We’d like to be on the move in thirty minutes.”
Aaron nodded and turned away from them. Sally hung back just long enough to give them a fierce smile. Then she spun and followed.
The second that they were out of earshot, Lee, Angela, and Abe all let out a pent up breath sewn with a few expletives.
“Every damn time,” Lee muttered, turning to the others. “Thanks for the backup.”
Angela gave him a sardonic eyebrow. “You seemed tired.”
Abe smirked at Lee. “What she means to say, is that she was concerned your filter might be a tad porous this morning.”
Lee grouched out an irritable noise. “I can only speak the truth. Can’t make these fuckers believe it.”
Angela eyed him. “You might start by not thinking of them as ‘fuckers.’”
“When they stop acting like fuckers, I’ll stop seeing them that way. It’s like herding cats. Always has been.” Lee lifted a finger. “This is why I don’t trust anyone.”
“Except us,” Abe put in.
Lee allowed it with a nod. “Except you guys.” He settled himself, smoothing the raised hackles of his brain. “Abe, you got everything you need? Your people ready to roll?”
“We are. Got the route west to New Mexico planned out. We’ll check in via satphone at regular intervals, and when we make contact with settlements out there.”
Angela stood between Lee and Abe, and didn’t look at either of them. Lee watched her for a moment, and realized she was holding back. Probably in an effort not to irritate him further. Which meant she had yet another dissenting opinion.
Lee briefly considered letting her just hang onto whatever she had to say. But that wouldn’t do them any good. They needed to be a united front. And he didn’t mind dissenting opinions from the people he actually trusted. Angela had been around the block a few times. Her perspective was valuable.
“Go ahead, Angela. Spit it out.”
Angela grimaced. “Nothing to spit out. I’ve already said my piece about it.”
“We’re only splitting our forces for a short time,” Lee said. “Oklahoma and New Mexico are ripe for the picking, but we can’t be two places at once. Fastest way to a grassroots movement is to hit them both at the same time and link up in Colorado.”
Angela nodded. “I know. Your logic is sound. I just have concerns.”
Lee shrugged. “Don’t we all? Wish there was a guarantee I could give you, but that’s not how these things work. Yes, it’s a risk to split up. But it’s a risk we have to take. Even moreso now that Greeley might’ve caught word that we’re on the move. We still don’t know how much that has shrunk our timeline.”
Angela gave him a weary smile. “I know. You’ve got us this far. I trust you.”
***
Thirty minutes later, the long convoy of vehicles snaked their way out of Triprock. What they left behind was only dust and bullet-riddled buildings and bodies. The convoy stayed whole until they met the highway.
Lee, Angela, Brinly and his Marines, and the vast majority of their guerilla fighters, headed north. The people of Triprock went with them.
Abe, along with Breck and Menendez and all of the old soldiers that had served under Terrance “Tex” Lehy, turned west, heading for New Mexico.
THIRTEEN
─▬▬▬─
PURSUIT
“Why in the fuck did you wait until now to tell me this shit?” Briggs clutched the mug of coffee in his hands so hard he thought he might shatter the porcelain. The contents were now forgotten. The news from Javier was doing a better job of getting his heart pumping than caffeine ever could.
Javier managed to keep his cool, though his dark complexion seemed to have paled. “I was notified of it very early this morning. I decided to pursue as much information as possible prior to bothering you with it. The communication we received was vague.”
“Vague? What the fuck do you mean by ‘vague’?”
Javier lifted yet another one of his pieces of paper. This guy was obsessed with papers and notes and facts and figures. That was his little accountant’s brain at work. It pissed Briggs off to no end. Why exactly had he chosen this beady eyed mole to be his COO?
Javier read aloud: “ ‘We’ve been hit. I repeat, we’ve been hit. Unknown hostiles. Unknown numbers. Requesting immediate QRF.’” Javier cleared his throat and looked up from the page. “Then there were some expletives, a lot of heavy breathing, and a series of gunshots.”
Briggs slapped the coffee mug down. Brown liquid sloshed out onto the table top.
Well, Javier hadn’t been exaggerating. That was vague.
Briggs took a long, steadying breath, bulldozing his anger so he could speak and think levelly. “And what else were you able to find out?”
Javier placed the paper on the table. He blinked a few times. “Nothing, sir.”
Briggs stuffed his hands into the pockets of his bathrobe. He still hadn’t had time to dress, for chrissake. He pressed down on those pockets until he heard the terrycloth begin to strain, threads snapping. “Nothing, huh?”
“Which is why I came to you.”
“It took you three hours to come to me with nothing?”
Javier didn’t answer.
“Did you dispatch the QRF?”
“I did, but the nearest element we have was three hours away. They should be at Triprock shortly and be able to provide a report about what has happened.” Javier swallowed. Reached up and scratched at his temple. “It’s possible that it was the people of Triprock. They may have risen up—”
“It wasn’t them,” Briggs snapped. “Bunch of fucking sheeple. If they had the balls to do that, they wouldn’t have waited until now. Someone came in and took out a full squad of our operatives, and they did it fast enough that only one of them was able to make a half-assed report. That’s not civilians with farm implements. That’s military precision.”
“It could have also been a pack of infected, sir.”
Briggs briefly considered hurling the coffee cup at Javier. “It wasn’t a pack of infected, Javier. Think before you speak next time. Our boys would have handled a pack of infected, and even if they did get o
verrun, they would have specified that in the transmission.” Briggs thrust his hand in the direction of the paper on the table. “He said ‘unknown hostiles’! Not ‘infected’! And then there were gunshots, Javier. Gunshots!” Briggs planted his hands on the table and leaned in, the veins in his neck distending. “Does that sound like fucking infected to you?”
Javier dropped his gaze. “No, sir. It doesn’t.”
“No, it fucking doesn’t! It sounds like a military force.”
“Yes, sir. I agree with that assessment. I simply wanted to explore all the possibilities.”
“I don’t want all the possibilities, Javier. It’s possible that fucking space aliens came down and invaded last night! Don’t give me fucking possibilities, give me probabilities!”
For once, Javier let a flash of annoyance cross his features. This only served to anger Briggs even more. He preferred that Javier remain supplicant. There’s nothing worse than someone who randomly decides to grow a spine in the middle of a conversation.
“Probabilities?” Javier returned. “It’s probable that it could be the remainders of Terrence Lehy’s militia from Texas. It’s also probable that it could have been Nuevas Fronteras, trying to make a comeback and send a message. It’s also probable that it could be any number of former military from New Mexico and Oklahoma that were loyal to the two rogue Coordinators that we killed during the operation at the power plant several weeks ago. Those are the probabilities.”
Briggs stared at his COO, his mouth a thin line gradually and inexorably turning down at the corners. “No.”
Javier’s left eye twitched. “No?”
Briggs smashed his palm across his mouth, feeling the stubble that he had yet to shave. “I’ll tell you who the fuck it was.”
“Yes, sir?” Javier spoke tightly.
Lee Harden Series | Book 5 | Unbowed Page 12
