Eldrin nodded, "I'll help you come up with some ways to get past that. Keep it up. Add things to it, too. You want it hard for them to eat, hard to sleep, hard to take even take a piss. Alright?"
Kevin nodded.
Erin spoke up next, "Well there was a boat with supplies that came in a few days ago. My group went through and destroyed it all while the soldiers slept. We heard them yelling about it the next morning."
"How'd you get past the sentries?" Eldrin asked, frowning, "There should have been three or four, at the last."
"We managed to capture a few of the wild dogs from the area. Then we took some chickens and set them all loose together," Erin admitted. She looked a little disgusted at the memory. "It was a blood bath. We didn't want to have to hurt anything but... whatever it takes, right?"
Everyone nodded and she went on, "Well, the dogs and chickens made a ton of noise. The sentries freaked out and ran out there to see what was going on. We weren't sure if it was actually going to work until it did."
"So as soon as they were gone, we quickly raided their supplies. There were a lot of men sleeping, so we had to move quietly. We thought for sure we were going to be caught by someone waking up. We were prepared to--"
Penny nodded before Erin finished the thought, "That's a good start."
"We've also got a sentry down there all the time so we know what's going and we're trying to make out some sort of schedule; find the pattern to when they men to and from here," Erin confided, "We take shifts. We even worked out a way to call the others if something is coming in."
"That's a lot of shifts for your people," Penny sounded surprised, "Do you have enough?"
Eldrin interjected, "They'll be fine. Just make sure whoever down there is getting enough rest, Erin. Last thing you want to do is fall asleep and get caught."
Erin nodded.
Penny turned to Joanna. She hesitated and then asked, "What do you have then?"
Joanna leaved forward, "We used beehives."
"Beehives?" Penny repeated.
"Beehives," Joanna confirmed. "One of the kids of another guy in our group found them while playing outside a few days ago. We went out there and took them down--"
"How do you take down a beehive?" Penny interrupted, skeptical.
Joanna sighed and then explained, "It was pretty tricky, actually. We dressed in full protective clothing. Didn't want to leave any skin exposed. We used paper masks to cover our faces but even then it was frightening because our eyes were exposed.
"You go in," she continued, "and smoke the bees first. See, they put out these pheromones that tell each other there's danger. But the smoke covers that. So there's no alarm. They just want to get out. Since they're not freaking out, they stop to gather honey first. They're full of honey, and a lot more passive. At that point, we went in with woven baskets--"
"What kind of woven baskets?" Penny asked.
Eldrin shot Penny a look, which she ignored.
"Well, they were large and woven," Joanna said with an eye roll, "The kind you use to hold water and ice at events. Anyway, we took these and we put them around the hives. There were four total.
"Once we had the hives, we went back to where the soldiers sleep and set them outside. No tags or anything; just woven baskets with lids. There was enough time that the smoke scent had worn off, and the bees were panicking. When the soldiers woke, they were stung repeatedly."
Eldrin laughed long and hard.
Everyone stared at him.
"What?" he asked, after he managed to stop. He wiped his eyes and looked between them.
"I think that's the first time anyone's seen you laugh," Penny said.
Erin shrugged, "There's not much to laugh about these days," she pointed out.
Penny rolled her eyes at Erin and then turned back to Joanna, "Anything else?"
"No," Joanna said, "but we have plans to move forward with a few different projects."
"Such as?"
This time, Joanna was the one to laugh though. "You'll have to see. It's going to be big. I won't say anymore now but just watch for it."
Eldrin nodded and spoke up before Penny had a chance, "I'll give my update now. My group has been busy following Lamonte soldiers and making notes about them; who they are, where they go, what they look like. This is going to help us decide who we want to target.
"Our first attack is going to be tomorrow afternoon. You'll hear the buzz about a Marcus Satter being killed. He's fairly unimportant but we want to start the talk. After that, we're going to focus on larger and larger fish until we're frying up their leader. At that point, we want to directly push them out of town."
Penny asked, "How long until that point, do you think?" She could feel herself growing exciting and nervous about the prospect.
"Not for a while," Eldrin said, "We need time to learn manipulation and train in combat before we can move forward with pushing them out. We want time to fuel their fear too -- as you said -- and we ant to scare their reinforcements from landing on the shore."
"Alright," Penny said, "Well, my group has been busy with fliers and slogans. I'm sure you've seen them around; Chrissa Stone was in charge of that. She's keeping herself pretty busy with it."
Everyone nodded. Erin offered a smile, "I liked it. It made me feel proud, because I'm part of it."
"That's the goal," Penny said, "Well that, and to make those who aren't involved feel guilty. We want to pressure them into joining us."
"They will," Ryan said assuredly, "Nobody wants this. Nobody wants to live in a city like this."
Penny nodded and then stood up, "Alright, well, I think it's time for us to disperse for the night. Keep up with the training and make sure you follow through with any plans, but be careful. It's too soon to get caught. Let's meet back here next week."
Everyone rose and goodbyes were exchanged. Ryan and Robert walked Erin out while Eldrin waited.
"Care for a walk?" he asked.
Penny hesitated for a moment. It was so odd, that unfamiliar face of his. Now that she knew he was though, she couldn't really turn him down. "Why not?" she said, nodding towards the gardens.
"Let's hit the beach instead," Eldrin said.
Penny shrugged and set off after him as he went on his way.
"We used to come out here a lot," Penny said as they walked along the beach. Eldrin glanced at her but didn't say anything.
"Remember? It's where we could come with our friends. With Mattie," Penny went on, as though he'd responded. "Actual friends, I mean. Fellow priests..."
She expected some sort of reaction but Eldrin still kept his silence. He didn't even give the half-smirk that Penny had grown to expect. She sighed, and stopped talking. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and shivered lightly. It wasn't cold, but the wind was blowing.
A few minutes passed and Eldrin asked, "What's going on between you and Whitetree?"
"Joanna?" Penny asked, "What do you mean?"
"She's been in a right state lately," Eldrin pointed out, "and you don't seem all that happy with her either. But everyone in the resistance so far, you recruited. I know she was part of the original. So what gives?"
It was Penny's turn to be silent. Everything she thought of sounded so false, or wrong. Eventually she just shook her head, "She was in love with my husband, Kenneth. She actually lost him, but I get all the comfort for it. I inherited his things."
Eldrin frowned, and nodded, "You don't dislike her though?"
"I don't know how I feel about her," Penny said, "We weren't friends before and we certainly aren't friends now. I had to lie to even get her to be part of the resistance. I told her I dreamt it. She couldn't refuse then."
Eldrin laughed again. It was the second time in one night, and the second time since he'd returned to her life. Penny cleared her throat, staring at him.
"I'm sorry," Eldrin said, "I just find it great that there's so much set by dreams. I never really cared that much for the thought of them myself. If yo
u're going to dream, you're going to dream. Whatever's going to happen, it happens."
Penny smiled, "You always said that."
Eldrin shrugged and looked out at the sea. "Well, whatever your personal feelings about Joanna," he said returning to the subject at hand, "I don't want it to interfere with anything that's going on here."
"It's not going to," Penny said, surprised, "I told you, I don't know how I feel about her. I don't hate her or anything though."
"Good," Eldrin said, "But sometimes there are worse things to feel than hate. When I was in the Guard, I trained along Janice. You remember how she was. She didn't change much, not really. She was bossy, sure of herself, always the best, the brightest. I didn't hate her, but I made her life hell, and that caused more trouble than if we'd flat out hated each other."
"Why'd you do it then?" Penny asked. She shivered again and they sped up their walking.
"You know how I was," Eldrin said, "I used to have a problem taking anything seriously." He frowned an looked back out at sea again. It looked like he wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure how. Penny waited, hopeful, but he didn't say anything more.
"What was it like?" she finally asked, "Being part of the Guard?"
"I want to know what your strategies are," Eldrin said, ignoring the question.
Penny couldn't help but feel a surge of disappointment. "That's why we're out here?"
Eldrin blinked at her. The expression would have been comical under different circumstances. "Why else would we be taking a walk out here?"
Penny shook her head, "It's like I said. We used to come out here, just walk and talk. There were all the parties on the beach, but we'd always end up walking."
Eldrin sighed, "We all lost something."
"I guess so," Penny said, feeling embarrassed. She was coming to realize that she didn't know Eldrin that well anymore. He was like a stranger to her. She sighed and forced herself to continue talking, "So my strategies... well, so far we've printed posters. You've seen them. We're focused on recruiting people that can actually help. People like Mike and George."
"Alright," Eldrin said, "That's good. I don't mean that plan though. I meant the overall one. I know you asked me while we were with the others but I didn't want anything getting around yet. We should discuss when we want to move forward by."
"A month?" Penny said hesitantly.
"Did you just pick a random date?" Eldrin asked. He gave her an exasperated look.
"Well, I don't know how long it takes," Penny said with a frown. She didn't like the reprimand she heard in his voice.
"We don't want word getting back to the soldiers, so for now, let's keep it between us," Eldrin said. After she nodded, he went on, "We want to take out Satter tomorrow... after that, there are seven main people we want to go after. The first two should be fairly easy; they'll think the first one was a fluke, and won't put the pattern together after the second. After the third though..."
"Then they'll be looking out and keeping themselves guarded," Penny said, "Then it'll be harder."
Nodding, Eldrin said, "we can get the first three in two weeks. The other four are going to take around two weeks each to successfully take out. We have to watch them again for new patterns and come up with something that will allow us to get them in the most efficient way possible."
Penny nodded, counting in her head, "So it'll take another two and a half months to take them out."
"And another two to three weeks before we can successfully take out their head guy."
"So we're looking at another full three months?" Penny asked. She could feel herself becoming more discouraged at the thought alone.
"That's the idea," Eldrin said, "It takes a long time for something like this. That's another thing I learned in the Guard. I learned how to be patient. You have to wait stuff out sometimes."
'That's a very long wait," Penny pointed out.
Eldrin shook his head, "It won't seem that long at all."
"If you say so," Penny said after another minute of walking.
"I do," Eldrin said. He paused and then turned around, gesturing back down the beach, "Ready?"
Penny shrugged and turned around as well. Together, they started to make their way back together. "When you do want to start training?"
"Weaponry?" he asked. When Penny nodded, he shrugged. "The day after tomorrow. I think you'll learn fast enough. I've never taught anyone before though."
"Yet you want to start now."
"I have to start now."
Knowing she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise, Penny only sighed. She followed Eldrin back down the beach towards her house, both looking forward to and dreading their departure.
After a while of silence, Penny asked, "How are you going to do it?"
"Do what?" Eldrin asked, glancing over at her.
"Kill him. How are you going to kill Satter?"
"Do you really want to know?" Eldrin asked. He shoved his hands into his pockets and start up at the sky.
Penny nodded.
Eldrin nodded and then let out a sigh. When he spoke, his voice was completely flat and devoid of any emotion. "We found that he spends nearly all of his time with his fellow soldiers. He's not married, and he doesn't have kids. The only time that he is not with his soldiers, religiously, is for thirty minutes every day. Fifteen of that is spent filling out his daily paperwork. We can't touch him there.
"The other fifteen minutes is spent in the bathroom. Without fail, he spends fifteen minutes in the bathroom after lunch, every day. We're going to attack him there."
Penny knew it wasn't funny but she couldn't help it. She started giggling, "You... you're going to kill him while he's..."
Eldrin cut her off swiftly, that icy tone still drilling on, "We plan on putting a bag over his head and dragging him off so he can't scream. Once we have him separated, we will first inform him of his crimes. Then we will slit his throat and let him bleed out. Once he has finally died, we will take a knife and cut out his eyes--"
"That's enough," Penny said, her laughter abruptly cut off.
"Then we'll cut out his tongue, maybe his genitals. We plan on throwing these away but bringing his body to put in the main square of the street," Eldrin finished.
Penny looked rather sick.
Eldrin glanced at her and then looked down at the ground, "You asked."
"Why would you need to do all of that? You could just kill him," Penny said weakly.
"No, we can't," Eldrin said. He was suddenly angry, "We can't just kill him. We have to make a statement. We have to make them afraid of us."
Penny said nothing and they walked along in silence.
After a bit, Eldrin sighed, "I seem to be saying it a lot lately, but I'm sorry. You didn't need to hear all of that."
"Yes, I did," Penny said, "I need to know what we're doing here. I keep thinking I've thought of all the hard parts and then something else comes up and catches me by surprise."
"It takes some getting used to," Eldrin said with a sigh, "I am sorry."
"Forget it," Penny said, "it's just something I never expected. Come on, let's go back to the house. I'll see you the day after tomorrow, Eldrin."
Eldrin nodded as Penny hurried away from him, still looking sick. He hesitated, watching her, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked away.
TWENTY-NINE
A Second TIme I Kill
ELDRIN WOKE THE NEXT MORNING BRIGHT AND early. He was staying in his and Matilyn's old house. His room had been mostly burnt down so he'd been sleeping in Matilyn's. The house was a wreck; not only had it hurt by the spreading fires but it had been looted.
Still, it was better than a lot of the accommodations he'd had over the last couple years. There was a bed, and a kitchen. He made good use of the wood stove, finally enjoying meals that weren't cooked on a campfire.
He'd never been particularly neat, but Eldrin had taken the time to clean up the place a bit.
That was something he'd learned from his time in the service. It was best to keep things orderly. He wondered what his mother would have thought of this newly learned skill.
Often times he found himself wondering what his mother, or father, or sisters would think of something. He missed them terribly. Penny had tried to convince him they'd be happy to have him back, but Eldrin was still too scared to contact them.
He thought he'd learned to conquer fear. With the special ops group he'd trained with, he'd had to do so many things that required courage. He hadn't realized how much he still blamed himself for leaving Matilyn's troops though.
At least now, he had something to occupy his mind. The resistance was weak, he knew that. The people didn't know what they were doing. They thought they could drive the soldiers out by simply scaring them. If Eldrin had learned anything, it was that you couldn't rely on scaring a Lamonte soldier.
The resistance might be weak, but he thought he could make them strong. It was his group that would have to really do the hard work. He'd known that from the start. It didn't bother him. He was used to the hard work, and it would save Penny from having to do it herself.
Penny.
Every time he thought about her, he felt himself grow concerned. Soon, he'd have to start teaching her how to use weaponry. When he'd been masquerading as Craig Dalton, she hadn't understood why. He didn't know if she understood now, but he couldn't let her learn from someone else. Someone weaker. He couldn't stand losing her too.
Today was a big day though, and he couldn't get sidetracked thinking about his childhood friend. He had to get up and get ready.
Eldrin let out a groan as he rolled out of bed. He pulled on his shirt, which was folded neatly beside the bed, and then yanked his boots on. As he laced them, he considered the people he'd be taking with him today.
Alison Treen. She was a primary schoolteacher -- or rather, she had been, before the attacks. He thought she'd do well. She had a hard streak in her. It might never have come out if not for the attacks, but he planned on using it to his advantage.
Revolution (Cartharia Book 2) Page 30
