***
At two they met as planned, Jill, Python, Drake and five of his men. The convict leader’s bodyguards were just a formality to make him feel safe; she wasn’t planning to test them.
Nor did she believe they would do anything to her or Python. The risks to them – Plague contamination, being spotted by watching guards – were too high, especially in broad daylight.
“Follow us,” Jill said, and led the men casually into one of the communal male showers, one with an “Out Of Order” sign on it, guarded by four of her people to make sure everyone stayed away.
Inside, the hard cases looked around warily as Jill walked over to the small central drain grate, and lifted it.
“What, you gonna fit through there?” one of the cons scoffed, and the rest laughed. Except Drake. His eyes narrowed, and he watched.
Jill took out her multi-tool and used it to pry up an adjacent floor panel, about a foot across. Beneath it they could see two feet of space, and then a subfloor. “If we need to, we can pry some more of these up, cut our way through, and then have a reclosable hatch to access the ground under this building.”
“Another tunnel? They’ll be looking for that. Besides, we’re damn near in the center of the camp.” Drake had stated his doubts, but was still listening.
“Ah, but let me ask you. Where does the waste water go?” Jill tapped the shower drain.
“Sewers? There’s some kind of treatment plant off to the east about a mile.”
Jill nodded. “Yes. That’s one reason they constructed this place here, I believe. To take advantage of the new waste plant that serves Osceola. And like any lowest bidders, the building contractors cut as many corners as they could. I’m sure they were under tremendous time pressure, and digging costs money.”
“So?”
“So they didn’t dig.”
Drake growled, “Get to the point, Reaper.”
Jill held up a forestalling hand. “Okay, short version. Old three-foot concrete irrigation pipes run right under this camp. One of them goes almost straight to the plant. Instead of digging a mile-long trench, I’m pretty sure the contractors cracked the pipe and started shoving ten-inch PVC through it, then did the same at the other end to connect to the facility. Or, perhaps, just ran the raw sewage into the irrigation system, but if that were so, I think we’d smell it more than we do.”
Drake smiled. “So if we can get into the pipe, we can scuttle almost all the way to the plant, and dig out there.” He laughed. “Ready-made tunnels. How did you know?”
Jill made an over-there gesture. “I saw the standpipes out in the fields. Those ten-foot-high things sitting in the middle of nowhere? But if you look close, you can see they line up, following the irrigation pipes. They relieve pressure on the system, otherwise it would burst from time to time. All I had to do was figure out where they crossed.”
“Beneath us.”
“Within ten feet of here. We just have to dig, then break through, and after that, bust out the other end. For that I needed muscle; people like you guys who can work hard on short rations.”
Drake nodded slowly. “It could work. Okay, I’ll go along with you for now. We dig, we bust into this irrigation pipe, then we see what’s what. After that, we’ll decide.”
“Fair enough. My guys will secure this place and set lookouts, since it’s near our block. We’ll smuggle in improvised tools for you. We’ll figure out where to get rid of the soil. You just have to rotate your guys in to dig. They’ll undress and work in their underwear, then shower and put their clothes back on to make it all look normal. You can come by any time to check. We’ll put everything back together at night. Deal?”
“Deal.” Drake stuck out his hand. “Kinda wish you weren’t infected.” He held onto hers a moment when she clasped it. “You’d make a hell of a business partner.”
Jill squeezed his in return. “You never know,” she answered, “but let’s stick to the business at hand.”
Reaper's Run - Plague Wars Series Book 1 Page 24
