The Expedition

by Chris Babu

“First Avenue smells like a swamp,” Charlie said.

  “There’s water out there. Let’s check it out.”

  For the first few steps they trudged through wet grass, which quickly became thicker and muddier. The marsh smelled rotten, and the reeds were nearly as tall as Drayden in some places. While the sun’s reflection off the river was visible in the distance, the tall reeds obstructed much of the view.

  “It’s not much further to the river.” Drayden checked behind him. “Everybody good?”

  Charlie pinched his nose shut. “Smells like a rectum.”

  Drayden faced forward and slipped. “Oh shkat!” It all happened so fast, he didn’t know what hit him. He found himself on his back and felt as if he were falling, sliding. His legs flailing, he desperately grasped at the reeds.

  Someone snagged his collar, choking him for a second. Hands braced him beneath his arms, and Charlie scooped him up. Cold, wet mud coated Drayden’s gray camo pants.

  He lumbered to his feet and straightened his clothes. “What the heck happened?”

  The others huddled around him. A deep pit, essentially a spacious muddy crevice in the ground, stood before them. It was invisible until you were on its precipice because of the tall wetland weeds. It stretched wide on both sides.

  “Jeez. I did not see that coming. Man, if I fell in there…” Drayden didn’t care to complete the thought. His brain started performing the mental gymnastics to solve his hypothetical rescue. Tie a rope out of the reeds and drop it down to him? It had to be fifteen feet deep, and slick with mud everywhere. “Thanks, as usual, you guys.”

  They navigated around the hole and slogged their way to the river. Unlike the crystal-clear streams they’d encountered, the Neponset River was mucky and green, full of organic matter.

  Charlie dipped his hand in the water. “Um, I know I’m not one of you smart guys, but we don’t have any bottles. Or that bowl.”

  Drayden smacked himself in the forehead with his palm. “I’m such an idiot. You’re right, Charlie. My bad. That water looks gross anyway; we shouldn’t drink it.”

  The water, boiling it, a fire…

  An idea was crystallizing in his mind about the battle with the Guardians. Though he couldn’t grasp it yet, something was there.

  Sidney rubbed her hands together. “I’m getting kind of nervous about this confrontation. How exactly are we going to kill the Guardians?”

  Eugene peered back at Granite Avenue. “Perched on top of that office building would be ideal. Good angle, right over the highway. We’ll see them coming half a mile away. Me, you, and Charlie are accurate enough shots.”

  “What if they don’t come up this highway?” Catrice asked.

  “They were headed up Route 3,” Drayden said. “Anything’s possible, but this is pretty much the only way they can go.”

  Eugene licked his lips. “We’ll be ready for them.”

  The privates, visibly uneasy about the idea, looked to Drayden.

  He put his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think we should kill them.”

  Eugene snapped his face away for a second, obscuring it. When he turned back, his piercing eyes dug into Drayden. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I am.”

  Eugene was incredulous, speechless for a moment. “And you want to do what, negotiate with them? Reason with them? Talk about their feelings?” He sneered.

  Eugene had never spoken to him like that before. He was condescending, obnoxious. “No.” Drayden’s face grew hot. “I think we shou—”

  “Do you realize they’ll kill you?” Eugene stepped closer to him. “Not only would they not hesitate, they’d enjoy it. Even if they didn’t need to kill you to beat us, they’d still do it.”

  Charlie draped a hand on Drayden’s shoulder. “I kinda agree with Euge. Dray, it’s not like we’re killing nice guys. These are wicked dudes.”

  Sidney shrugged. “I’ll follow your lead, Dray, but I wouldn’t have any problem killing them. They deserve it.”

  “I’m with you, Drayden,” Catrice said.

  Drayden twirled the paperclip and battery in his pocket with his right hand. His left hand touched something else. What was that?

  The gummy sap.

  The plan was forming in his head all on its own.

  It was hard to argue they didn’t deserve it. Killing them would guarantee the privates and Eugene could enter Boston alone. The Guardians would definitely slaughter him if given the chance.

  Trying to kill each other suggested going head-to-head with them at their greatest skill. The privates did have the advantage of surprise, and the time to set up for the clash. But a gunfight played to the Guardians’ strengths, not Drayden’s. Fighting was what they did. It was all they did. They’d call on their vast experience and physical skill. He would lose that battle.

  Yet it was more than that. Faced with the same choice as on the Route 3a overpass, his decision remained the same. Killing wasn’t what he was about, or who he was. He wasn’t a murderer. Just because the Guardians would kill him didn’t require him to kill them. He was better than that. He refused to accept a lowest-common-denominator world, in which the most evil among them made the rules and dictated the values. He could win this fight without betraying his identity.

  “I’m not saying they don’t deserve it,” Drayden said. “But what would that make us? No better than them. Killers. Barbarians like they are. There’s too much brutality in this world already. I think—”

  “It’s a brutal world, Dray.” Eugene cocked his head. “The only way to combat brutality is to match it.”

  Drayden’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not the only—”

  “What are you so afraid of?” Eugene stepped closer.

  “Let me finish, goddammit!” Drayden got right in Eugene’s face.

  “Don’t be a coward!” Eugene screamed, the tendons bulging in his neck.

  “I’m not a coward! I’m not afraid of them! I’m afraid of turning into them, like you.” His nose was inches from Eugene’s.

  Then it clicked. Drayden’s eyes widened. He looked past Eugene.

  I’ve got it. The plan.

  Everything fell into place. He knew how to defeat the Guardians without resorting to senseless murder, unless left with no other option.

  Eugene stepped back. The others observed them in silence.

  “I have a plan,” Drayden said. “We win. Our way. And if something goes wrong, we always have the option of killing them. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”

  His mind raced. They had things to set up. Suddenly, time was of the essence. What to do first?

  “What’s the plan?” Sidney asked.

  Drayden tugged on his left ear. “We need to start a fire.”

  “I think it’s too wet.” Catrice walked in place, her feet slopping the mud with each step.

  Drayden pulled the gummy sap out of his pocket. Thank God for Sam and everything she’d taught him. One of the uses of gummy sap was to start a fire in wet conditions. It was highly flammable. “This will light,” he said. “It’s sap. Once it’s burning, we can pile on some of these reeds and grasses.”

  Charlie scratched his head. “But the Guardians will see it. Gives away our advantage.”

  “I want them to see it,” Drayden said.

  He looked confused. “Oh. Okay, then.”

  “Uh,” Drayden said, struggling to put the pieces together in his mind, “Sid, Catrice…do you still have the Guardian baseball hats in your pockets?”

  They pulled them out.

  He held his hands in the air. “Can you…can you guys stand next to each other, and turn around?”

  Charlie smirked and crossed his arms. “Dray, if you wanna check out their butts, I really don’t think this is the time.”

  “Knock it off, Charlie. I’m not…never mi
nd.”

  The girls stood side by side with their backs to Drayden.

  Hmmm, could work.

  “Good. You can turn around. Sid, do you have that shower curtain liner from the Stop & Shop?”

  She dug through the myriad pockets on the Guardian uniform pants and pulled it out. “Yup.”

  Eugene shook his head. “I wish I knew where you were going with this, but I have no clue.”

  Drayden viewed the roof of the building. “You’re going to like this plan.”

  CHAPTER 30

  The beauty of the setting sun over the marsh caught Drayden by surprise. Despite the situation, he took a moment to catch his breath.

  From the roof of Two Granite Avenue, the sun was a giant, deep orange disk, the sky on fire around it. The bottoms of the purple clouds glowed red.

  The calm before the storm.

  Drayden faced the others. “Is everyone ready? Everybody know what they need to do?”

  “Booyah, Dray-man.” Charlie fist-bumped him.

  “It’s a smart idea, Dray.” Eugene sounded almost apologetic. He’d chewed his lip bloody again.

  “Let’s do this,” Sidney said.

  Catrice nodded, still refusing to directly acknowledge him.

  The expansive roof provided an unobstructed view of both I-93 and the marsh. They would need both views, both lines of sight, both firing lines if necessary. A security station, like a miniature house or shack, sat near the marsh side of the roof. It provided access to the roof from the inside stairwell. Otherwise, the roof was a vast, open space.

  Sidney and Catrice both donned their military caps, with the flat tops, as instructed. They tucked their hair up, hiding it under the caps. That detail was critical, since Sidney was a brunette and Catrice a blonde. It didn’t make them look exactly alike, because they had different body types. Sidney was taller and thicker, much more athletically built. Catrice, on the other hand, was stick skinny, and the opposite of athletic. But it was the best they could do. Hopefully from a distance, they would appear similar enough.

  Deep into the marsh, right by the Neponset River, their small fire raged, thanks to the gummy sap. It unleashed a steady stream of smoke into the sky, likely visible from quite a distance away. The Guardians couldn’t miss it.

  The other setups had been arranged in the marsh as well. Now it was time to wait for the Guardians, whose arrival could be imminent if Drayden’s calculations were correct. The privates and Eugene needed to take their positions ASAP.

  “We need to get going,” Drayden said with authority. “Don’t misinterpret my attempt to spare the Guardians’ lives for a softness toward them. They’re despicable human beings. They murdered twenty people in cold blood. They’re savages. Sparing their lives is about preserving our identity,” he said, jabbing his finger into his chest, “and has nothing to do with them. If it comes down to it, if it’s a question of us or them, we take them out. Shoot to kill.” He paused, scanning their faces, to ensure his message was clear. “Let’s do this. Everyone get into place.”

  Drayden felt the urge to comfort Catrice, but decided against it. He reminded himself that she’d dumped him without a word.

  Eugene likewise offered her nothing, either unaware of, or indifferent to, her fear.

  As per the plan, Eugene and Charlie remained on the roof. They headed over to the highway side to watch for the Guardians. Catrice, Sidney, and Drayden climbed downstairs and exited through the front door. Catrice strode silently out into the marsh.

  Drayden touched Sidney’s arm. “Sid, I’ll meet you at the bottom of the highway exit ramp. I want to check something.”

  She drew her head back. “What?”

  “It’s nothing; I’ll be right back. I’ll meet you out there.” Without giving her a chance to pry further, he jogged around the building, hugging the walls, heading to its rear. He located the back door and tried the knob.

  Locked.

  He picked up a rock and smashed a hole in the glass, hoping Charlie and Eugene didn’t hear, then stepped back a few feet and waited.

  Neither boy peered down to investigate.

  Phew. He reached through, unlocked the door, and entered. A short walk down a corridor revealed the staircase that led up to the roof. Check. Now he knew how to access the roof through the back door without being noticed. He left through the rear door and jogged up Granite Avenue.

  Sidney was waiting for him at the bottom of the curved ramp that led up to the highway. “What was that all about?”

  Drayden doubled over, out of breath. “I…I wanted to make sure the back door was open, in case everything goes wrong and we’re running from the Guardians, searching for a place to hide.” That wasn’t totally a lie. It was one of the reasons, just not the primary one.

  She eyed him suspiciously.

  “You got the head of lettuce?” he asked, changing the subject.

  She pulled it out of the plastic bag and handed it to him.

  Professor Worth’s vegetables were vastly superior to the lettuce from the slaughtered village, so they hadn’t eaten it. Drayden set it atop the metal guardrail and waved at the roof of the office building.

  The bottom of the ramp offered a clear view to the building. Further up, heavy tree cover blocked the view between the ramp and the building.

  Eugene waved back from the roof, followed by a thumbs-up.

  Drayden plunked down on the guardrail, a stone’s throw up the ramp from the lettuce. He and Sid carried their pistols, having left their rifles on the roof. Charlie and Eugene held their rifles, ready to act. Everything was in place.

  “Soooo, now we wait.” He tried to relax and enjoy these few moments of peace.

  Sidney offered a sly smile. “Whatcha want to do?” She draped her arms over his shoulders and connected them behind his neck.

  Drayden’s heart fluttered. He’d never been close to Sidney like this. He stood, resting his hands on her hips, their faces so close. Sidney was beautiful.

  He thought about Catrice, his guilt sneaking up on him. He couldn’t help it, wondering if she could see them from where she was hiding in the marsh. He didn’t check. Even though it was over with Catrice, he still worried about her, cared about her.

  Catrice’s default state was frightened. Often her fear wasn’t warranted, or at least not the magnitude of it. But this time, it was, and then some. Drayden had gone out of his way during the Initiation to keep her out of harm’s way. In this operation, not only was she in harm’s way, she had a greater risk of death than anyone else. As the architect of the strategy, Drayden himself was responsible for endangering her life. It had to be that way. The plan couldn’t work otherwise. He felt terrible for not saying anything to her when they left the roof. She must be shaking with fear. And quite possibly, she was watching him cozy up to her nemesis.

  Screw it.

  He’d bent over backward trying to make her happy, and she embarrassed him over and over. She picked the Guardian barbarian—the Guarbarian—over him. He bet she didn’t feel the same way about Eugene now. He was a far cry from the innocent charmer they’d met before the expedition. Which version was the real Eugene anyway? Hell, Catrice might have accepted her dangerous role to prove to herself and everyone else that she, too, could contribute to their victory on the expedition.

  Drayden sat back down and wrapped his arms around Sidney’s waist, pulling her close.

  She sat on his lap, facing him.

  He brushed his hand on her cheek, her skin so soft against his hand. She had a lot riding on the outcome of this fight, as did he. She had Nora, her little sister, who needed her. Besides their lives, they each had personal reasons they needed to vanquish the Guardians. All of them hinged on Drayden’s plan.

  His mind played out so many different scenarios. The various ways it could go wrong flooded his brain. The Guardians taking a di
fferent route didn’t even make the list, since it was unlikely, though it was still a risk. What if they didn’t fall for the trap? They might not. This wasn’t their first rodeo. It was dusk now, light fading by the minute. What if the Guardians showed up after it was dark? The scheme wouldn’t work at night. What if someone from Boston saw the fire and interfered, screwing everything up? His head was a mess.

  The team had endorsed the plan because they blindly believed it would work. They didn’t perceive the shortcomings he did. If Catrice did, she hadn’t said anything. Drayden had a gut feeling something would go wrong. Although the privates and Eugene had discussed specific contingencies if things didn’t work out properly, they couldn’t prepare for every scenario.

  Of course, Drayden had one wrinkle to the strategy he couldn’t divulge to anyone. He did, however, need to provide Sidney some explanation about why he would deviate from the plan right at the start.

  He cleared his throat. “Sid, I’m not feeling too well. That short jog I did practically killed me. I’m thinking I won’t run alongside you. I’ll cover you from a distance. I just…I think I might be too slow, and the whole plan will be blown if we’re slow.”

  “Um, okay,” she said, struggling to hide her disappointment. “I’d rather have you there with me, but if you don’t think you can do it…where are you going to go?”

  “I’m gonna hop the guardrail and head toward the back corner of the building through the parking lot. There’s another whole swampy area there and thick tree cover. I should be able to move undetected.” Drayden hadn’t lied yet, he’d only omitted some information. The short jog had, in fact, almost killed him. And he was going to hop the guardrail rather than run down the ramp beside her. But he was going to do other things too.

  She rubbed his chest. “Don’t worry, I can handle this part by myself. Should we let the others know we’re changing the plan?”

  “No,” he blurted. “It shouldn’t affect them. It’ll just be you down there, instead of me and you.”

  Thank God he could always count on Sidney to handle whatever was required of her.

  She looked out over the marsh, her jaw clenched. “Do you think this is going to work? Really. After we reach Boston, will we get to go home?” Her eyes moistened.