Invasion (Best Laid Plans Book 3)

by Nathan Jones

  That part of himself he did listen to, although he didn't like it. It meant he'd be slowed down even more and lucky to manage the pace he'd set before, but if he wanted to get to Michigan in any condition to help his family he didn't have much choice.

  Determination was all well and good, but what he really needed was a car, any car, and a full tank of gas. And extra gas cans in the trunk. And gas stations where he could refill since even that wouldn't be enough to get him there. And while he was at it fast food restaurants so he could get a quick, tasty meal when he stopped to refuel.

  He kept pedaling.

  * * * * *

  It irked Lewis that to go to the town meeting at noon he and Jane had a choice of either staying up for hours and hours, or waking up about halfway through their daytime sleeping schedule. It wasn't exactly reasonable to be annoyed by it, but then again feelings often weren't. Especially when those feelings came while you were exhausted and looking to be even more exhausted soon.

  It would've been even more unreasonable to expect everyone else who was used to being up during the day to stay up for him so the meeting could be held at night, though. And since the meeting had been called in the first place to discuss his idea of attacking the raider camps that would've made it more unreasonable still.

  Lewis had decided to stay up for the meeting, going on the reasoning that with his irritating sleeping problems if he was forced to wake up halfway through a good day's rest he might not get to bed again at all. Better to hope the meeting was short and get what sleep he could afterwards before his nightly patrol shift.

  Jane thought he was crazy, and had decided to take what sleep she could when it was offered. Which in a way disappointed Lewis, since he was enjoying her company even more since they'd turned their friendship in a more serious direction and would've liked to spend more time with her.

  They'd kissed for the first time that morning before she went to bed, and in her usual blunt fashion Jane had admitted she really liked it and wanted to do it lots more. Lewis had agreed on all points, after which Jane dropped the bombshell on him that if both were sure of what they wanted then there was absolutely no logical reason they should take things slow.

  After all, they'd been taking things slow from the moment they first met, comfortably growing closer and becoming more familiar around each other, not to mention developing stronger and stronger feelings, with each passing day. Although neither of them had known the direction it was taking until recently. Her proposed solution was to just go ahead and get married as soon as possible, that day even.

  He knew Jane well enough that even though the suggestion was a surprise, the fact that she'd made it wasn't really. It was the pragmatic conclusion: they both wanted it, and choosing to do it that way they could avoid the sort of dithering around and jumping through hoops usual weddings required.

  In spite of the suddenness of going from friends to married in a matter of days, the idea did have a certain appeal for Lewis. More importantly it gave him another reason to stay awake, since sorting through his thoughts about whether his cautious nature could handle that sort of impulsive action would've probably kept him up anyway.

  Also he had to prepare his arguments for the meeting, where he'd be expected to convince his friends and their loved ones that going out and attacking a better trained and equipped enemy was a good idea.

  Which might be a tough sell under the circumstances. There had still only been those two attacks from the raiders in the eight days since Trev had left for Michigan. Since their attack with vehicles three days ago they'd even stopped driving around, although they'd taken to setting up positions and sniping at patrols as they left the town and sentries heading to their posts. Which in its own way was far worse.

  Only one townsperson had died to this new tactic, but in spite of that Mayor Tillman had called the patrols in to spend their shifts circling the perimeter, inside the fortifications. Meanwhile the sentries were set up in buildings just inside the fortifications as well, making sure they had a view of all approaches to the town but also quick escape routes in case those buildings were targeted by missiles.

  From Lewis's point of view trapping themselves in town with no ability to go out even to scout the area was a huge vulnerability, but the rest of the town didn't see it that way. With the raiders going days between major attacks the enemy was falling into a predictable pattern, and that took a lot of pressure off the townspeople.

  To the point that even though Matt was still on board with Lewis's idea, he'd reported back that the Mayor was staunchly against taking that sort of unnecessary risk. Calling a meeting to discuss it was the farthest she'd bend, and his friend warned that she'd probably be outspoken in her opposition.

  Lewis had surprised Matt by replying that he didn't mind. No position was so strong that it was above discussion or even criticism, and opposing viewpoints that were willing to be reasonable could expose flaws in his thinking that could save lives. He half hoped Catherine would be listening to his proposal like a hawk, ready to pounce on anything he'd overlooked that could put his friends in danger, even if it meant the attacks didn't happen at all.

  But they needed to happen. The raiders were taking their time feeling out the town's defenses, but everything they did closed the town in tighter around itself. In that position the defenders couldn't do anything new or even plan well for the unexpected, which meant that if Turner did manage to crack the nut that was Aspen Hill he'd shatter it to pieces.

  And with his equipment and vehicles the raider leader had plenty of nutcrackers at his disposal.

  Just before the meeting was set to begin Lewis descended from the roof of town hall, where he'd been sitting mulling things over, and made his way to the front doors. He was there to greet a few people as they arrived, and answer a few questions they had before the meeting. But as soon as he saw Jane coming from the direction of the Larsons' house he hurriedly excused himself to go over and greet her.

  That greeting turned out to be a kiss, which he definitely approved of, but afterwards Jane didn't say anything and just fixed him with an expectant look.

  He bit back a sigh. “I've thought it over. If you're still on board we can talk to Catherine after the meeting.”

  Jane broke into a grin. “It's a rational decision, right?”

  Before Lewis could answer he heard a happy shout, and a moment later a petite, dark-haired bundle of joy threw her arms around him, then turned to hug Jane as well. Jane endured the embrace patiently, since she considered Sam a close friend, but Lewis could tell it made her feel awkward.

  Matt was only a few steps behind to shake Lewis's hand and give Jane a nod in greeting, but Sam didn't give him time to speak.

  “How are you two doing? I haven't seen you for days, other than as bundles of blankets I have to tiptoe around. I know you've been up nights but it still feels like you've vanished off the face of the earth.” Sam gently rested a hand on Jane's stomach, which definitely made the taller redheaded woman uncomfortable. “I didn't even get a chance to make sure you were doing okay after you got shot, since you were already sleeping.”

  “Thanks, but the throwing up was just a reflexive action,” Jane said, politely disentangling herself from the smaller woman. “It didn't even keep me from patrolling the next night.”

  That wasn't exactly true. Jane had gone with Lewis on patrol, but she'd been even paler than usual and tottering every third step the entire time. It was a good thing the Mayor had pulled the patrols inside the perimeter by that point, giving them an opportunity to rest frequently, or he would've had to send her home.

  “It still makes me feel bad. I tried to cook you some soup but it ended up all getting eaten by the time you woke up, and anyway you guys disappeared after that. One second I was looking at Lewis in his cot, the next it was empty and so was yours when I checked.” Sam gave them both a frown. “It was hard not to feel like you're avoiding me.”

  “Just busy,” Jane said. She glanced at Lewis.
“I'm going to go check your whiteboard drawings and see what you came up with.”

  Lewis nodded. When he hadn't been up on the roof he'd been down in the auditorium drawing a crude but accurate map of the camps and the routes between them and the town in between, and marking a few notes. The information on the camps wasn't current, which meant they'd probably want to go do some scouting the night before the attack, but at least the routes themselves weren't about to change without some major bulldozing.

  After his fiancee left, leaving Lewis dumbfounded at the thought for a moment, he turned to Sam. “How are you doing?”

  She grinned and patted her stomach. “You mean how's the little Sam or Matt in here doing? It feels like I've been asked that question more in the last month than in the rest of my life combined.” The dark-haired woman's patting slowed until she was gently resting her hand there. “Just fine, I think. This early in sometimes it's easy to forget I'm even pregnant.” She abruptly made a face. “And sometimes it's impossible to forget and I have complete sympathy for Jane getting gut shot. Also I really, really want strawberries. Like I'd tackle a bear to get at a patch of them.”

  Sam fell silent, and Lewis shifted uncomfortably. Here his friends were, sharing the most important things in their life with him. He really felt like he should tell them he was about to get married, at least assuming Jane was still up for it in a few hours.

  But at the same time he knew how Jane hated receiving any attention, let alone being at the center of it. Seeing how she'd reacted to Sam, who she thought of as a friend, reminded Lewis that his relationship with his wife-to-be was special, if not unique, and came with its own considerations.

  It was as much her decision as his when to let their friends know, although obviously they couldn't postpone it too long.

  He must've let the silence drag on a bit too long. “Hey, how are you doing?” Matt abruptly asked. He sounded sincerely worried. “I haven't seen much more of you than Sam has.”

  Lewis grinned. “Other than staying up for a noon meeting and walking around in the dark waiting for the other shoe to drop?” He patted his friend on the shoulder. “Tired, same as everyone else. Let's worry about this attack on the camps.”

  Sam abruptly frowned, putting a protective hand on Matt's arm, and Lewis realized Mayor Tillman might not be the only one against his suggestion. He felt a pang of guilt for pushing for something that put his friends in danger, even if he thought it was necessary. But that wasn't enough to change his mind. It couldn't be.

  Matt nodded and put a reassuring arm around his wife. “All right. Let's go see what the town thinks.”

  * * * * *

  The Mayor had limited the meeting to defenders and influential people in the town, but that still meant almost two hundred people were packed into the town hall auditorium.

  Lewis wasn't a fan of the format. He would've preferred if it was just him, Jane, Matt, Catherine, Carl and Tam, Chauncey and his sons, Ben, Gutierrez, and a few of the other people the town had really come to rely on. A smaller, more serious meeting where they could make real progress discussing the idea of an attack on the camps.

  With this many people it could turn into a circus at any point, and after that he might not be able to relay any more useful information. It could end up being a complete waste of time where nothing was decided, or things were decided against him with the first dissenting voice shouting at him anonymously from the back of the crowd.

  Then again the people who might be involved in this attack had a right to know about it, to hear it directly from him. Maybe it was better to include as many people as possible in the decision; he trusted them to defend him and those he cared about, so it wasn't a stretch to trust them to seriously consider his suggestion.

  “All right,” Catherine said briskly, ending the chatter as she stood up from her seat on stage. “I've called you here because there's a growing consensus among the defenders that we're giving the enemy too much of an advantage by remaining in town behind all the defenses we've set up, and if we want to survive we need to take the fight to the raiders.”

  She glanced down at the front row to give Lewis and Jane a level look. “I'll state outright that I'm opposed to the idea because of the risk, but I've come to trust the people who push for it so I'm willing to hear you out. I'm ready to entertain the possibility that I'm wrong in this matter, and ultimately this attack will be volunteer only, so I can't fairly order anyone to either go or not go.” She stepped aside from the podium, motioning towards Lewis and Jane.

  Jane nodded at him, since they'd already agreed he'd do the talking, so Lewis stood and climbed up to the stage as Catherine sat back down. As he made his way to the podium he glanced around the auditorium at the people filling it. All friends, people he'd talked to, patrolled or sat sentry beside. The people who'd come with Matt and Gutierrez to save him and Jane at the truck were in that crowd.

  But he still hated getting up to talk like this.

  “Thank you, Mayor Tillman. I've already talked about this with several of you, and you might have mentioned it to others. But in the interest of clarity I'll start from the beginning and explain not just our reasoning for why this attack needs to happen, tomorrow morning if we can manage it or otherwise as soon as possible, but also the tentative plan we've put together.”

  He started with his observations of how the townspeople were being run ragged while the raiders attacked at their leisure. He also mentioned how with every attack the defenders were drawing in closer and closer around the town, until they'd reached this point where they couldn't really withdraw anymore and their backs were to the wall. He detailed the critical situation the town was in when it came to food, and how they couldn't afford to keep going like that for long.

  Then he outlined his simple plan, of having him and Jane attack the southern camp just before dawn to draw the trucks from the other camps to them. They'd have the element of surprise, and once they'd hit the camp enough to draw notice they'd bolt for safety.

  In the meantime Matt would have a group of a dozen or so waiting at the northern camp, and as soon as the trucks there roared off to deal with the attack at the southern camp his group would attack and try to inflict as much damage as possible, then break away and retreat back to town before the trucks could return.

  “Think of it like a giant game of whack-a-mole,” he said with an attempt at a smile. “We can't fight the hammer when it drops on us, but we can be safely home when it lands.”

  The effort to lighten the mood had no noticeable result, and Lewis felt a bit of himself shrivel up as he hurried to continue. He mentioned his analogy of sports he'd made while talking to Jane, about how forcing the enemy to worry about their own targets and fight defensively would make them less effective on offense.

  He also did his best to drive home the point that by attacking the camps the raiders would finally be forced to have their own sleepless nights as they worried about when the next attack would come. From the murmurs among the listening crowd he had a feeling some people, at least, liked that idea.

  Last of all he urged everyone to look past what was happening right now in the fight to the overall position they were in, and the trouble they'd soon be facing in the future. Trapped in town they couldn't go on with many of the vital tasks of living, didn't know what the enemy was doing, and could only hope their defenses were good enough as they waited for an attack that might come at any time.

  “I think fortune favors the bold,” he said to finish up. “If we do this right we can get a lot closer to winning this fight, and maybe give the raiders a reason to leave for good.”

  There, that was his arguments laid out the best way he knew how. He hopped back down off the stage to sit beside Jane, who turned and nodded at him.

  Matt made his way over to the podium, looking to the Mayor as he went and only continuing when he received her nod. Once in front of the crowd he soberly looked over those assembled, and Lewis couldn't help but think that his friend h
ad a lot of the leadership qualities he himself was lacking. Which was pretty clear by how the room quieted down into an anticipatory hush as Matt prepared to speak.

  The leader of the town's defenses made only a short speech, to the point. “This attack will endanger the lives of over a dozen people,” he said. “It could do a lot of good or it could be a disaster, but that's not really the point. The point is whether anyone would be willing to do it in the first place. Lewis and Jane have volunteered to attack the southern camp, and I've volunteered to lead the attack on the northern camp. Before we make any decisions I'd like to see, with a show of hands, who here would be willing to volunteer to join me. If it's more than a dozen people I'm not sure what else we have to talk about.”

  Behind Matt Lewis saw resignation on the Mayor's face. She'd abdicated her control over the decision with her opening words, and here was where they saw whether the attack happened or not regardless of her opinion. Lewis was grateful for her reasonableness and it raised his estimation of her leadership even more, he just wished it felt less like he was taking the decision entirely out of her hands.

  As Mayor that was rightly where it belonged, but at the same time since the raider attack she'd been focusing more and more on managing the noncombatants while leaving it to Matt to best decide how to defend the town. So maybe instead of seeing it as going over her head he could see it as her delegating the decision to his friend and the other defenders and giving them her trust, even when she didn't agree.

  After Matt's call for volunteers a hush settled over the auditorium. Jane turned in her seat to look behind them and Lewis followed suit, leaning his shoulder against hers. Together they watched as hands started popping up in the crowd, then people began standing to make it even more clear they were in.