by Eric Vall
“I think maybe Brody just runs things differently,” Bailey said with a small shrug. “We’re used to how we do things, but that doesn’t mean his way is wrong.”
“You’re right,” I told the blonde hippie. “A different way of doing things isn’t wrong.”
“I don’t think we should pass judgement until we find out more information,” Bailey said.
“I think you’re right again,” I agreed. “We need more information.”
“We do,” Anna said. “But I still don’t like the guy.”
“Me either,” Paige said. “Something about him gives me the willies.”
“I think he’s nice,” Bailey said. “A bit weird, but still nice.”
“And we know Tara likes him,” I chuckled.
“Tara likes anyone who offers her hundred proof liquor,” Anna laughed.
“She probably won’t like them too much first thing in the morning,” Paige added.
“I’m sure you’re right about that,” I said and I brushed the platinum blonde’s hair over her ear.
“So this mission,” Anna said. “Are we going to take it?”
“That depends on what it is,” I said. “But we do need to agree to not give out too much information.”
“Yeah, Bailey,” Anna teased.
“Sorry!” the blonde exclaimed, and she blushed and looked down.
“It’s alright,” I said and I put my hand on her shoulder.
“I was just teasing,” Anna said. “Tav cut you off before you could give too much away.”
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “I’ll be more careful next time, though.”
“Thank you,” I told the blonde, and I looked around at the girls. “We all need to be careful.”
I stared out the window for a moment and thought about my trip down the hallway. None of my questions had been answered, instead more had arisen. I had agreed to stay for breakfast, but I thought we might just stay a bit longer. There was something strange going on here, and I was determined to find out what it was.
Chapter 3
The next morning the sun shone through the window, and I realized I had overslept. I had wanted to get up before sunrise, but that was gone now.
“Girls,” I said, and I shook the ladies that surrounded me on the bed. “Get up, we overslept.”
“Shit,” Anna said as she lifted her red head up and looked around in a panic.
“What time is it?” Paige asked, and she stretched and reached for her glasses.
“I’m up,” Bailey said, and she shot out of bed and pulled her pants on.
“No, no, no,” Tara whispered to herself.
“Tara,” I said as I stood up with the other girls and got dressed. “We have to get up. We already overslept.”
“I’m so tired,” the platinum blonde groaned. “And so thirsty.”
“Here’s some water,” Bailey said, and she passed the platinum blonde her water bottle.
“Thanks,” Tara said, and she downed the whole bottle in less than ten seconds.
“Jesus,” Paige said with wide eyes.
“A bit hungover, are we?” Anna asked with a wry smile.
“Fuck off,” the platinum blonde said.
“Ouch,” the redhead retorted, and then she threw Tara’s pants at her. “Let’s get going.”
“Ugh,” Tara groaned, but she began to pull her pants on slowly.
“Do you think we missed breakfast?” Paige asked. “That’s when Brody wanted to talk to us, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’m sure we can find him and see what the mission is, regardless.”
“Mission?” Tara asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Bailey said with a frown as she slipped her sneakers on. “You were asleep by the time Tav got back last night.”
“Tav left?” she asked.
“You are so far behind,” Anna tsked.
“Oh, shut up and fill me in,” Tara said with narrowed eyes.
“Well, which is it?” the redhead laughed. “Do you want me to shut up, or fill you in?”
“You know exactly what I meant,” Tara said, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
I had planned to give Tara a stern talk about drinking too much, but I figured with Anna’s teasing I might tone down the sternness later. She was getting enough grief, funny as it might be. Plus I knew that headache had to be killer, I could feel a small pulse in my own temples just from the two drinks I had consumed.
“Brody called me to his room last night,” I said. “He told me he has a mission for us, and he wanted to discuss it over breakfast.”
“Okay,” Tara said. “Breakfast sounds good.” It seemed food was the only thing on the hungover girl’s mind at the moment.
“We overslept,” I said. “We may have missed it.”
A knock sounded on the door as I pulled my shirt over my head.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“It’s Brody!” he yelled through the door. “Breakfast is ready, meet me in the dining hall. Do you remember where it’s at?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll be right there.”
“I guess we didn’t miss it,” Anna whispered.
“That makes sense,” Paige said. “Brody seemed pretty drunk last night, too.”
“He was,” I agreed.
“Well, we have a minute now,” Bailey said. “At least we don’t have to rush.”
“Thank God,” Tara breathed.
“You still have to rush,” I laughed.
“What?” the platinum blonde squealed. “Why?”
“Because everyone else is already dressed,” I said with a gesture at myself and the other girls.
“Fine,” Tara sighed, and she stood up to pull her pants the rest of the way on.
Tara finished getting ready, and I made everyone grab their supplies. I didn’t want to leave our things unattended. There was no telling who might come and look through our bags, though after what Brody had said last night about getting more civilians for labor, I figured most of the people around would be preoccupied.
After we were ready and packed up, we headed to the dining room. It was in the next wing over, but I led us there confidently. As we passed the outside wall of the fort, we saw two men on guard. I nodded at them but received nothing in response.
The doors to the dining room were already open, and inside Brody sat at the head of the table while civilians unloaded carts full of eggs, meat, potatoes, and even pastries onto the table. The breakfast was just as extravagant as the dinner we had the night before, but I noticed once more that there were only enough place settings for us and Brody, and once the carts were offloaded all the women retreated back into the hallway. Why were the civilians not eating with us?
“Tav!” Brody laughed. “Come, sit. Let’s eat.”
“Thank you,” I said and I led the girls to the table and set my things down next to my chair.
“You didn’t have to pack up just yet,” the dark haired man said. “You haven’t even heard my proposal.”
“I’m sure we will soon enough,” I said with a small smile.
“Yes, you will,” Brody laughed. “But for now let’s fix our plates. It’s no good to do business on an empty stomach.”
“Oh, God, yes,” Tara said, and she reached for the roasted potatoes in front of her.
“That vodka must have given you the hunger this morning, eh?” Brody chuckled.
“Maybe a bit,” Tara admitted as she dished up her plate. “Worth it, though.”
“That’s what I always say,” the dark haired man agreed.
We dished up our plates and began to eat. Everything was fantastic, but I didn’t take much of anything. It felt wrong to eat without the civilians who had obviously made the meal, and I was antsy to hear Brody’s proposal.
“Oh. My. God,” Tara moaned. “This croissant is amazing.”
“One of the civilians is a great cook,” Brody said with a grin.
“Where are they?
” Anna asked. “I’d love to thank them for a lovely breakfast.”
I knew the redhead was trying to gain information, and I smiled inwardly at her attempt.
“Oh, that’s already been done,” Brody said with a wave of his hand. “Eat, enjoy. My people are hard at work. They eat much earlier than I do.”
“You think I could get the recipe for this?” Tara asked through bites, and part of me was surprised that she didn’t seem as concerned about the civilians not eating with us as the other girls.
“I don’t see why not,” Brody laughed. “Are you a good cook yourself?”
“I’ve been known to whip up a dish or two,” Tara said with a grin.
As much as I wanted to shake Tara and tell her to pay attention, her lighthearted attitude was a great way to put Brody at ease amongst my suspicion, so I figured I would let it slide and sneak in a question or two wherever I could.
“So, Brody,” I said after a moment. “What about that proposal?”
“Alright, alright,” the dark haired man laughed. “Tav is always so down to business, isn’t he, ladies?”
“Hell, yeah, he is,” Tara said with a wink, and Brody laughed even harder.
“I’d just like to know what this mission is,” I said dryly.
“Well,” Brody began. “Let me ask you a question first. How’s your fuel supply?”
“It’s not great,” I said after a pause, and I looked to Tara who had opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when she saw my face.
“That’s better than mine,” Brody said. “I’m totally out.”
“What’s this got to do with the mission?” Anna asked.
“I see why you’re his second in command,” the dark haired man chuckled. “You’re almost as serious as he is.”
“Are you saying you know where to get fuel?” Paige asked. “If it’s old fuel, it won’t do anyone any good.”
“It’s not old,” Brody said with a grin. “But yes, I know how to get fuel.”
“How?” I asked.
“Well,” the dark haired man said. “There’s an oil refinery down at the end of Lake George.”
“The end of Lake George?” Paige asked. “That’s a several day trip at least.”
“It is,” Brody agreed.
“And even if we got there,” I said. “I don’t know how to run an oil refinery, do you? It might take us months to figure out the right process.”
“That’s the best part,” the large man said, and he leaned down close and spoke in a low voice. “Some civilians here used to work there. They know how to operate the equipment. We could have fresh fuel in a few days.”
“That sounds great,” Bailey said with a smile.
“Wow,” Tara said, and her jaw dropped with excitement. “We could use our trucks again.”
I ignored Tara’s comment as I thought about why Brody needed us for this mission in the first place since he was more than capable of going down there himself. What was the catch?
“Who’s there?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
“Smart man,” Brody chuckled. “The refinery has been taken over by National Guard assholes.”
“Why don’t you take them out yourselves?” Anna asked with a shrug and a shake of her head.
“She’s right,” I said. “Why do you need us for this? You have men, and weapons.”
“I don’t have anybody as skilled as you and your team,” Brody said, and he looked at each of us pointedly.
I knew Brody had men that he trusted, they had to be the ones with the weapons, but the same thought I had earlier crossed my mind again: why hadn’t he trained them? I knew he was more than capable. He was a Ranger, after all. There was no excuse for having a piss poor team when you had all the skills to turn them into warriors.
“How do you know it’s National Guard guys?” Bailey asked.
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “Have you been over there?”
“I tried to set up a trade with them.” Brody nodded. “They refused. And they’re killing innocent civilians who tried to trade just like I did. The only reason they didn’t shoot me was because I was strapped.”
“How do you know they’re killing civilians?” I asked seriously, my interest piqued with that comment.
“I saw it,” he said. “I watched them for a while after they refused to trade with me, and I saw a couple civilians come with bags of potatoes they had grown. They wanted fuel to get down south, but the Guard guys just shot them and took the bags.”
“Jesus,” Tara breathed. “That’s fucked up.”
“I was alone then,” Brody said. “And there were far too many of them for me to take out on my own. I would need a team, and unfortunately none of my men are skilled enough for the job.”
“How many men are there?” I asked.
“At least twenty,” the dark haired man said with a nod. “It won’t be easy.”
“If it was easy, you would have done it yourself,” I said with a smile.
“Damn right,” Brody laughed. “But your team has the skills to get the job done.”
“Yeah, we do,” Tara said with a grin.
“So what do you say?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Mission accepted?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ll need to discuss it privately with my team.”
“By all means,” Brody said with a wave of his hand.
“Hold on,” Anna said. “Say we do take this mission. What do we get out of it?”
“Another reason you’re second in command, I’m sure,” the dark haired man said with a grin. “Fuel, of course.”
“How much?” I asked.
“How about half of whatever the Guard is hoarding right now?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“And about how much do you think that is?” Paige asked.
“They have to have at least twenty drums full,” Brody said.
“So ten drums,” I said.
“Ten drums,” Brody agreed. “At least. They might have more. That’s over five-hundred gallons. You’ll be set for a few months at least.”
“Alright,” I said. “We’ll consider it.”
“How about you take your time,” the dark haired man said with a smile. “Relax here for the day, you can wander around the grounds and see the fort, and let me know by dinnertime. Does that sound fair?”
“Deal,” I agreed and I held out my hand for the man.
“Great,” Brody chuckled, ignoring my attempted handshake. “Now let’s finish eating. I’m still famished.”
“Me, too,” Tara said, and she shoveled a large bite of eggs into her mouth.
Once breakfast was over, I thanked Brody and then called the girls back to our room to discuss his proposition.
“What’s there to even talk about?” Tara asked as she took a seat on the bed. “We should definitely do it.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Fuel, duh,” the platinum blonde said. “We can use our trucks again.”
“It would be nice to have fuel for the farm equipment,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips. “If we could get the tractors working, no one would have to work as hard, and then we wouldn’t need as much food.”
“That, too,” Tara said, but it was obviously an afterthought for her.
“It’s dangerous,” I said. “And we have no proof that what he said is true.”
“We don’t have any reason to believe it’s not though, either,” Bailey pointed out.
“That’s true,” Anna sighed. “Brody is kind of a dick, but he hasn’t lied to us. Not that I can say for sure, anyway.”
“Exactly,” Tara said. “We don’t have any reason not to trust him.”
“And if what he said is true, then those Guard guys need to be stopped,” Bailey added with a frown.
“You’re right about that,” I sighed. “But I don’t think we have enough information yet to make a decision.”
“Reconnaissance?” Anna asked with a knowing smile.
“Reconnaissance,” I agreed with a grin.
“How are we doing reconnaissance?” Tara asked. “We’re already here.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But we’re trying to figure out the inner workings of this place.”
“Alright,” the platinum blonde agreed. “What do you want us to do?”
“Everyone should scout the area today,” I said. “Walk around the fort, and talk to the civilians if you can.”
“What do you want us to say?” Tara asked.
“Ask about their life here,” I said. “And all of you, I need you to go into this with an open mind. Bailey and Tara, I know you like Brody.”
“He seems nice,” Bailey said.
“Totally,” Tara said. “Also, he likes you a bunch, and I like anyone who likes my man.”
“I need you to be open to anything,” I said. “Don’t overlook things because you like him.”
“I get it,” Bailey said with a nod.
“Alright,” Tara agreed.
“And Anna and Paige,” I said. “Same goes for you, but opposite. Don’t look for negative things just because you don’t like him.”
“Right,” Paige said.
“Got it.” Anna nodded.
“I want you all to split up,” I said. “Bailey and Anna, Tara and Paige.”
“Anywhere in particular you want us to go?” Paige asked.
“Why don’t you and Tara try to talk to the civilians,” I suggested.
“We can do that,” the brunette agreed.
“And us?” Anna asked.
“Let’s see if we can get a feel for how things move around here,” I said. “Who’s on guard duty for how long, and what everyone is doing throughout the day.”
“You got it,” the redhead said.
“What are you going to do?” Bailey asked.
“I’m going to skulk around the rooms,” I said. “I want to see if I can find anything.”
“Like what?” Tara asked.
“You think maybe Brody got different orders than the ones we saw from D.C.?” Paige asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
“He did seem totally convinced that North Korea had nothing to do with the EMP,” Anna said with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
“Right,” I agreed. “I’ll see what I can find out. I need you girls to keep an eye on everything else.”
