“And that’s how you knew exactly what had happened, when you found us,” I guessed. “Because you could actually ask. You knew how big an area the EMP had affected and what the government was doing about it.”
“And what I was meant to do with you,” he finished for me. “Because I hadn’t only come to ask about the EMP. I needed to know my orders when it came to you. They’d told me to find you and protect you. They hadn’t told me anything more than that.”
And there we were talking about how they supposedly had a top-secret mission for me again. I still wasn’t sure I believed that part. Mostly because Marlon hadn’t been able to give me any further information yet. Was he about to?
“And they said…” I said, hinting at getting the end of the story.
“They said that I would be given that information when I needed it,” he said, and I could hear both the smile and the frustration in his voice.
A smile and a frustration that I knew all too well. “Typical military orders,” I answered.
And then we were in another larger opening and Marlon was pulling me up against the wall, his finger to his lips in the universal sign to be quiet. He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes incredibly intense in the dim lighting of his flashlight, and we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.
31
I stared at the ladder in front of us, knowing exactly what that had to mean. The tunnel ended here, and the cable we’d been following snaked into a smaller room, which looked like it held something large and boxy.
“The communication device?” I asked, gesturing to it with my chin.
“It is,” Marlon answered. “This is the only room of this entire tunnel I’d seen before. I’ve only ever needed the device before.”
I let my eyes travel up the ladder to the door at the top of it, and frowned.
“And what exactly is up there?”
“The library,” Marlon answered, and I could hear the triumph threading through his voice. “That door leads right into the library.”
“Which is only three doors down from Town Hall itself,” I said.
It meant we were already nearly at our target. Three doors down—three buildings down—Town Hall held Randall and most of his men.
And they had no idea we were this close. Hell, they didn’t even know that we were coming.
“We’re going to come up right in the middle of their camp,” Bob said in wonder, looking upward as well. “I never even knew this was down here.”
“You were never supposed to,” Marlon answered quickly. “This has been here for years. The government chose this town specifically for this purpose and did this construction before many people lived here. They knew they wanted one of their recruiters in the area, and they knew it would be an ideal place for people who were recovering from being in the service. They just needed a town. So they… built this one.”
Bob shook his head again, but let that particular piece of information go, and though I had questions on the tip of my tongue, I knew that I wouldn’t get good answers. The truth was, this town hadn’t been here for as long as the towns around it. It was relatively new in the area—meaning it had only been here for twenty years or so.
The timeline worked. The reasoning worked. As fantastical as it seemed, I thought that Marlon was probably telling the truth.
And that was unimportant right now. Because right now, we had bigger fish to fry. Like figuring out how we were going to get up that ladder and out into the town without emerging right in the middle of a group of Randall’s men.
And further, what we were going to do once we were up there.
“If we come up in the library, like you say we will, then we won’t have to worry about Randall,” Henry said suddenly from the crowd.
I whirled in his direction, having forgotten that he was with us at all, and felt a sudden surge of relief at his inclusion. Out of all of us, he knew Randall the best. He would be the one best positioned to tell us what he thought Randall was doing.
“Where do you think he is?” I asked quickly. “What do you think he’s doing?”
“Drinking, most likely,” he said wryly. “Partying. Celebrating that they took over the town. I’m sure he has a few men out keeping an eye on things, but I’m betting there aren’t as many of them as there should be, and I’m betting he didn’t give them any specific commands.”
“You don’t think much of his intelligence,” I noted, a bit confused. I’d thought Randall to be more clever than that. I’d assumed he’d be guarding the town jealously, like a new girlfriend.
Henry shrugged. “He’s plenty smart. But he likes to celebrate, if you know what I mean. And he doesn’t generally bother to keep his eyes open when he thinks he’s already won a battle.”
Well that was interesting. I turned to Marlon, my eyebrows lifted in question, and he nodded.
“If that’s the case, then it would appear we have a green light to get up top,” he said, agreeing with my unspoken thought. “I agree that Randall and his men will be giving the library a very wide berth.”
“Then let’s get this over with,” I grunted. “Okay, folks, we’re going to be going up, grouping in the library, and then heading out. Our target is Town Hall. We capture as many people as we can. We shoot the ones who insist on making it a fight. Got it?”
I didn’t like putting any of them in that sort of position, but I didn’t think we had any choice. Once we were up there, bullets were going to be flying, and their lives were going to be in danger. Far better for them to know that right now, and to know what I expected them to do about it.
And to my surprise, as I looked around, I saw faces that were confident in their ability to handle it. Faces that weren’t quite keen or eager, but were definitely ready.
My townspeople, I thought with pride. My friends. My allies. My soldiers.
“I’ll go first,” I said firmly. “Marlon, you bring up the rear.”
The ladder led us out into the back of the library, but I didn’t wait for the rest of the group to join me. The minute I was in the room, I was running for the front of the building, ready to figure out exactly what we were up against out there. With luck, Randall didn’t have any men in this part of the town. With even more luck, we’d have a clear path from here to Town Hall.
After that, it was going to be every man and woman for themselves. But I’d be a whole lot happier if I could send them out there with a plan rather than a set of vague instructions.
I came sliding to a stop against the front wall of the building, right next to a big picture window, and leaned back against the wall, bringing to mind a picture of how this street was set up. Across the street, I knew, was a large restaurant. Well, large for this town. Between here and Town Hall lay the post office, a bakery, and the hardware shop. After the hardware shop, we’d come to the town square right in front of Town Hall.
It was a quick, easy path. But there would be almost no cover. Our best bet would be to rush it. Get to Town Hall before they knew what was happening. Take out anyone we found on the way to keep them from shooting and giving away our location.
I slid my head around the edge of the window and looked through the glass, my gaze sliding to the left and the right as I tried to figure out whether we would see anyone on the way. I didn’t want to, if I was being honest. Far better if we got to Town Hall without having had to hurt anyone. Better if we went in there with our guns still fully loaded.
And as I stared out the window, I started to think that we might actually be able to do that. Because I didn’t see a single soul out there. No one guarding the corners. No one walking the street. I ducked down and angled myself a bit more so I could see all the way into the town square, and almost to the door of Town Hall.