by Eric Vall
A few minutes later, Jemma returned with the rest of the civilians, and Bailey finished up the coffee. I took my coffee and oatmeal and took a deep breath of the steam that still came off of both. The oatmeal really did smell delicious, I’d have to convince the girls to make more oatmeal. I’d forgotten what a fan I was of the mushy, but protein packed breakfast.
I took a bite of the oatmeal first, and my mouth exploded with the flavors of cinnamon, apple, and peach. It was some of the best oatmeal I’d ever had, and that included oatmeal before the EMP hit. Whatever Jemma did, I’d have to ask her to show me. Maybe if I knew how to prepare a good breakfast the girls would lay off about my inability to make coffee up to their standards.
After I finished off my bowl of oatmeal I took the first drink of my coffee, which was perfect drinking temperature at that point. It wasn’t quite as good as Rolly’s, but Bailey always did a good job, and there was a certain quality to hers that made it stand out. The flavor was always dark and bold, and I thought she brewed the grounds a bit longer than Rolly did, but it was delicious either way.
After breakfast was done Paige and Renee went to her office to work on the map of the fort, and Kimmy went along to set up the radio so we could get a hold of the people on campus. I checked with them to see what we could do to help, but they all agreed that it would go faster if they were able to just get in and get the job done. That left Anna, Tara, Bailey, and I with nothing to do, so I gathered the girls and we put together a new patrol route and schedule for Renee to implement.
We also spitballed more ways for us to get into the fort, since that hadn’t been fully decided yet. We needed to figure out our exact plan, but unfortunately that would be easier to do once Paige and Renee finished up with the map. After we had the full layout of the fort and the way we would enter, then everything would fall into place, I just hoped the kids could hang on that long.
I really didn’t think that Brody would kill them, that would hurt his bargaining power, and if he was going to kill them it’d be in front of me as some sort of torture. I wasn’t sure about anything else, though, Brody was a sick sonofabitch. He had to know I was coming for him, though, but I knew he wouldn’t expect an attack from the inside. He was too confident in his fort to think I could get in without him noticing, but that cockiness was exactly what I’d use against him. He’d underestimated me in the past, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to put the pieces of his little plan together, which meant he’d probably underestimate me again. He was a narcissist, that was how they worked. Nobody was better than they were.
After an hour or so Paige came running out of the building over to us.
“Tav!” she hollered. “The radio’s up.”
The girls and I sprung up and followed Paige back toward the refinery.
“Has anyone answered yet?” I asked.
“Not yet,” the brunette breathed.
We made our way into Renee’s office and crowded the small place again. Kimmy sat at the desk with the CB radio in front of her, her thumb on the button to speak.
“Kimmy to Rolly,” she said. “Come in, Rolly.”
“He’s not answering?” I asked.
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “This is the third time I’ve tried.”
My heart dropped when I heard that. I figured the old man would be right by the radio, ready to answer whenever a voice came through. Maybe they were having technical difficulties, or maybe somehow the connection hadn’t been made. I didn’t want to think about the alternative.
“Could it be something with the system?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said, but just then a crackle came through the radio, and we all whipped our heads around to stare at it.
“He… Hello,” Rolly’s voice came through. It was slightly broken up, but it was there, and I breathed a sigh of relief to hear the old man, even though it’d been less than a day since I’d seen him. His late response had me worried, but just the sound of his voice was enough to make me feel better.
“Rolly,” Kimmy said into the radio. “You there?”
“I’m here,” his voice crackled.
“What took you so long to respond?” I asked, and Kimmy repeated the question into the microphone.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “We were outside. We left the door open so we could hear the radio, but it seems I’m harder of hearing than I thought.”
I had to laugh at the thought of them having breakfast while I panicked over the idea that they had been attacked once more.
“May I?” I asked Kimmy as I pointed to the radio.
“Of course,” she said, and she stood up so I could take her seat.
“Rolly,” I said. “How’s things going over there?”
“All good here,” he said. “No signs of anyone. We’ve got a watch going at all times. I’ve even put two people up on the roof. One facing the forest, and one facing the road.”
“Good call,” I told him. “Stay vigilant. We can’t underestimate the enemy.”
“Roger that,” Rolly said.
I looked up to see Kimmy staring at the radio, and I realized then that I’d taken the device too soon.
“How’s Anthony?” I asked, then I handed the microphone to Kimmy and she smiled wide, though it looked like she was about to cry.
“He’s happy as a clam,” Rolly chuckled. “Ate some breakfast, and he slept through most of the night.”
“I hope he isn’t being too much trouble,” Kimmy said, and her voice cracked slightly.
“No trouble at all,” Rolly said. “He’s a sweetheart. You all just worry about getting Henry’s grandbabies back. He’s been hogging Anthony all morning, but I think it’s helping to distract him.”
“We’ll get them back,” I said as I leaned down next to Kimmy to speak into the microphone.
“I know you will,” he said seriously. “Be careful.”
“Stay on top of everything,” I told him. “And call us if you need anything.”
“Will do,” he assured me. “Over and out.”
“I was nervous there for a second,” Anna chuckled.
“I know,” Tara agreed. “I was sure that something had happened.”
“Of course it was just them being outside,” Bailey laughed.
The girls were clearly just as relieved as I was to hear Rolly’s voice, but when I looked down to Kimmy, who still sat in front of the radio, I realized that she was crying quietly.
“Hey,” I said softly, and I bent down and put my hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? Rolly said baby Anthony is fine.”
“I know,” she said and then took a deep breath as more tears ran down her cheeks. “I just miss him is all.”
“Of course, you do,” I said with a soft smile.
“Is everything alright?” Anna asked as the girls grew quiet.
“It’s fine,” Kimmy said as she spun the chair around to face them, and she wiped a tear from her eye.
“Are you sure?” Bailey asked. “You seem upset. Are you sad that you’re here? We have all day here… I’m sure someone could run you back to campus.”
Bailey looked at me as she said this, and I gave her a small nod to show that I would approve of that if it’s what Kimmy wanted. She had done what she came with us to do, after all, and if she wanted to go home I wouldn’t blame her one bit.
“No, no, that’s okay,” Kimmy said. “I just miss Anthony, is all. It’s silly, I’ve only been gone a day.”
“That doesn’t sound silly at all,” Paige said with a smile.
“I think it’s sweet,” Bailey added.
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “It doesn’t seem silly at all to miss your child. Don’t worry too much about him, though, Rolly and Betty would never let anything happen to him.”
“I know that,” Kimmy said. “Thanks.”
“That offer to take you home still stands, too,” I told her. I didn’t want her to leave, but it was for selfish reasons. There was technically
no longer any reason for her to be there, and if she wanted to go home I’d gladly have one of the girls take her back to campus to be with her son.
“I think I’m alright,” she said, and she smiled up at me.
“Okay,” I said.
“There is more good news, too,” Paige said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Renee and I finished the map,” she said with a gesture to the brown haired woman in the corner who I had basically forgotten was there.
“Oh, right,” I said. “That’s great, what have you figured out?”
“We’re going to Trojan horse it,” Paige said with a proud smile.
“Trojan?” Tara asked. “How’s a condom going to help us?”
Chapter 24
“Not like the condom,” Paige laughed. “Like the Trojan horse from the battle of Troy.”
“Wasn’t that, like, a Brad Pitt movie or something?” the platinum blonde asked.
“Oh, my god,” Paige said, and she looked up to the sky. “I can’t believe I even have to explain this right now.”
“Give her the cliff notes version,” Anna said. “We don’t have all day.”
“In the battle of Troy the Greeks used a giant wooden horse to enter the city of Troy and defeat them,” Paige said.
“We’re using a giant wooden horse?” Tara asked.
“Oh, my god, are you for real right now?” Anna groaned.
“What?” Tara snickered. “I never thought Brad Pitt was that hot. So sue me.”
“A Trojan horse refers to something that harbors something inside of it,” Kimmy chuckled. “It’s a term used in computer programming sometimes.”
“Right,” Paige agreed. “But it’s all based off of this one story.”
“So the horse is hiding people?” Tara asked.
“Yes,” Paige answered. “The Trojan horse was a giant wooden horse and the Greeks hid troops inside of it. They offered it to the people of Troy as a gift, and they accepted and brought the horse inside, effectively letting the other side’s soldiers into their fort.”
“So we’re sneaking into Brody’s fort in something,” Tara said in a monotone voice. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
“Why can’t you just understand my references?” Paige countered.
“Not everyone is a nerd,” Tara said, and she stuck her tongue out.
“More like not everyone paid attention in tenth grade English,” Anna muttered to Bailey, who snickered in response.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “So what exactly is our trojan horse?”
“The fuel,” Paige said.
“More specifically the fuel barrels,” Renee added.
“Smart,” I said. “But don’t the civilians typically offload them? They’ll notice if we’re in there instead of liquid.”
“That’s true,” Renee said, “but I know the ones who usually do the offloading. I’m going to talk to them first and get them on board.”
“Not a big fan of that,” I said, and I pursed my lips. “If they aren’t on board then we’re stuck in enemy territory at a huge disadvantage.”
“Don’t worry,” Renee said. “They’re going to be on board, trust me.”
“Okay,” I agreed with a nod. I really had no choice, and Renee had proven herself to be incredibly useful and trustworthy so far, so I had no reason to doubt her now.
“What time is the delivery?” I asked.
“Well, that’s a bit of an issue,” Paige said. “It’s at noon.”
“Noon?” I asked, surprised that it was so early in the day.
“We really need to go in at night,” I said.
“I know,” Renee said. “But I can’t disrupt the schedule.”
“You’re right,” I said. “We don’t want to give anybody a reason to think you’re up to anything suspicious. It should be business as usual.”
“I have a plan, though,” Renee said.
“Let’s hear it,” I told her.
“If you’re up for it,” she started, “we can sneak you in the barrels and one of my friends who helps me offload, I’ll have her find a spot to keep you all during the day. You’ll have to be quiet so none of Brody’s men find out you’re there, but I think it could work.”
“You’re absolutely sure that your sources are trustworthy?” I asked.
“Positive,” Renee said. “They want Brody gone just as much as the rest of us. Probably more now since they have to see him every damn day.”
“Okay,” I said. “That’s a long time to conceal five people, though.”
“I know,” Renee said. “But as long as you guys stay quiet it should work out.”
I didn’t want to say the words that would come out of my mouth next, but I needed to.
“I think five is too many,” I said, and I looked around at the girls.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked.
“There’s only one delivery tomorrow,” Paige said. “We only have one chance to get in, the rest of the group wouldn’t be able to meet up inside if we don’t all go at once.”
“I know,” I said.
“You want us to split up?” Tara asked. “Seriously? Now?”
“This is a stealth operation,” I said. “The fewer people that are involved the less risk of us being spotted.”
“We can’t split up,” Bailey protested.
“I think Tav is right,” Anna said. “We can’t all go in, it’s too much.”
“Is it really?” Tara asked. “How many of Brody’s guys are we going to have to take out?”
“Four or five of them,” Renee said. “But there’s not more than that.”
“That’s fine for two people,” Anna said. “I think Tav and Tara should go in.”
“Wait, what?” Tara asked as she looked at Anna.
“You’re the stealthiest of all of us,” Anna pointed out. “It only makes sense that you would be the one to go.”
“Anna and Tav are right,” Bailey said. “I don’t like it, but since it’s a stealth mission, I get it.”
“What are the rest of us going to do, then?” Paige asked.
“We can be outside keeping watch,” Anna suggested. “That way if anything does go wrong we can try to get in or make a distraction or something.”
“I don’t like it,” Paige sighed. “But I understand.”
“It sucks to split up,” Anna said. “But we need to do this carefully.”
“She’s right,” I agreed. “Not only are there civilians in there, but there are children now. We can’t cause a large fight, this needs to be done as quickly and as quietly as possible, and the less people that are inside the easier that is to accomplish.”
“So you and me, then, huh?” Tara asked.
“I think that makes the most sense,” I said. “But Anna, I want you to stay here with Kimmy and Paige.”
“What about me?” Bailey asked.
“And us?” Paige added.
“Bailey, you’ll ride with Tara and I,” I said. “I want you over at the king’s garden. Remember the place we snuck to before?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Bailey said.
“I want you set up over there,” I told her. “If you see Brody on that wall at all you take the shot. The sooner we can take that asshole down, the better.”
“Okay,” the blonde agreed.
“Shouldn’t we be outside the fort like Anna suggested?” Paige asked.
“I think it could cause a problem,” I said softly. “If you all were to get spotted, then we’d be in danger. I have confidence in your abilities, but if we’re going in stealthily, then we need to be stealthy from beginning to end.”
“It’s going to be terrible just waiting to see what happens,” Paige said.
“We’ll be alright,” Anna told her.
“I want you guys to be at the fort in the morning,” I said. “We’ll have everything taken care of by then.”
“We’re on it,” Anna said.
“I want everyon
e at the fort to know that all we wanted to do was help,” I said, “and I think it’s better to do that with members of their own community.”
“Good idea,” Renee said.
“So what’s our plan once we’re in?” Tara asked.
“Paige, Renee,” I said, “can you show us the map?”
“Here,” Paige said as she carefully laid the paper down on the desk.
“There are four guards that I’m sure of,” Renee said. “Brody won’t be in his regular room since that’s too obvious.”
“He has another room?” I asked.
“Yup,” the brown haired woman said, and she pointed to a place on the map. “This is his normal room.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve been there.”
“His other rooms are on the opposite side of the fort,” Renee said as she dragged her finger from one side of the page to the other. “This is a weird portion of the fort, there’s rooms that lead into other rooms. I’m sure that’s where he’ll be.”
“That sounds right,” I agreed. “How many rooms are there exactly?”
“Four,” Renee said. “Including the innermost one. I had to get electricity going over there and it was weird. My bet is that each room will have a guard.”
“So we should be able to take them out one by one,” I said.
“I think so,” Renee said with a nod. “I’m going to double check with my girl tomorrow, though, and if there’s any changes she’ll inform you as quickly as possible so you’ll be able to adapt the plan.”
“Thanks,” I said. I really appreciated what Renee was doing. I knew she wasn’t doing it just for us, but she was helping us immensely, and I wanted her to know just how grateful we were. This operation wouldn’t be successful without her sneaking us in, and the plan posed just as great a risk to her as it did to any of us. If Brody found out about what she did there was no doubt that she would be dead in an instant.
