“You gotta tell me, Jenny.” He slapped his palms down on her tabletop.
“Settle down, Matty.” Grant took hold of his shoulders, trying to pull him away from the table.
What do I say…? If I tell him the truth, he’d never forgive me for hiding it from him, right? And the baby… What if he rejects it? Or me? I can’t risk it. I can’t let him know. “Griffin…” She searched for a reason. Something that would stick. “He—he gave you guys to the S.A., right, but he—” Jenny struggled to keep her voice steady through the lie. Most of this isn’t a lie. Just blurt it out. “Griffin was giving me away. Like a slave or something. I don’t know, but Danny found out, and they fought.” She calmed her words. “Sherman got a hold of Griffin, and he took out a pistol. Just started shooting and Danny got hit. He—”
“You ain’t gotta finish, girlie. We know…”
Grant eased Matt into one of the seats and sat down opposite him at the table. Neither said anything more, burying themselves in thought, in silence. Jenny turned her attention back to the Depot. They need some time…
Through her binoculars, she scanned across the parking lot, past the several-hundred-or-so vehicles placed in a deliberate pattern to slow the approach of unwanted guests. Her view was limited, but up to this point, still no sign of the Second Alliance along the ground. So far, so good. She focused atop the roofline. What the…? Defenses were bolstered—guards riddled the rooftop with rifles drawn toward the middle of the parking lot.
“One thing I don’t under—” Matt started, but Jenny shushed him.
She danced the lenses through the lot, between the cars. The guards’ immediate focus
failed to become apparent. “Lots of guards on the roof focused on something, but I can’t tell what.”
“What they got?” Grant asked, shooting up from his chair and toward her.
“I said I can’t tell right now.” Frustrated, she scanned once more before moving to a different booth to see if it would help. It didn’t. “Damn it…”
“You think it’s the S.A.?” Xavier asked from across the room.
“Naw, don’t think so.” Grant snapped his attention away from the window and over to Xavier. “There was some kinda agreement, or else they wouldn’t’ve taken us away in the first place. No way our guys would be pointin’ guns on them if that was the case.”
“Maybe… What if I went out there? I could scout it out.” Xavier walked away from his post. “At least if they see me, they won’t do anything. I can just say you guys let me go or something.”
“But what if it’s not them? And whoever it is does do something?” Jenny fired back, her eyes still scanning the parking lot through the binoculars. “Even if it is them, it won’t work anyways. The S.A. wouldn’t be able to get close to the Depot like that, it’d be over by now.”
“You gonna tell me why that is now?” Grant asked. “They seemed cozied up pretty good together yesterday.”
“So, about that.” She lowered the binoculars, turned, and allowed her companions to observe the smirk stretching across her face. “The Depot thinks the S.A. were the ones that killed Danny and Griffin. I didn’t see a point in correcting them. Figured it’d be best to let them take the fall for it.”
“Sounds good to me.” Matt stood from his seat, moving toward the window to observe. He gestured for the binoculars.
Jenny obliged but kept her attention on whatever standstill existed in the lot. “The S.A. needs more enemies. So, when Derrick caught me leaving out the backdoor with Sherman. I… I may have mentioned something about the S.A. Didn’t really have time to explain, and it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
A hand gripped her shoulder from behind. “At least you found a way to make us smile,” Grant said. “At least somethin’ good came out of this. I think you’ve done great, girlie, come a long way for sure. Knowin’ what you did all by yourself, I ain’t never been so proud of somebody before. Danny’s lookin’ down on you right now, prouder than ever on what you can do.”
Jenny slid away from the window. “I know.”
“He trained you well. Looks good on you.” He flopped back in his seat. “You’re a leader. How you handle that dog. How you came and got us. You’re meant for this.”
“Meant for what?”
“Stoppin’ the Second Alliance.” Grant stiffened upright in the chair, his voice eager. “Givin’ them what they deserve. They gonna keep comin’. Now, especially. We gotta let the Depot know that. When you walk over there and we’re with you, and you’re tellin’ them what happened, how you got the best of them, they’re not gonna have a choice but believe in you. I’m not sayin’ it’ll be easy or that you’ll be leadin’ some big army, but it’ll inspire them. Get them fired up to make sure what happened to River’s Edge doesn’t happen here.”
Jenny nodded. “Then we warn them. Tell the Depot what’s coming. Xavier,”—he looked to her—“I appreciate you volunteering, but… if you walk out there in that uniform, you’re guaranteed to be shot.” She let a long breath escape her. “I guess I couldn’t blame you if you had second thoughts about sticking with us. Going against your parents would be tough.”
“It’s not about going against my parents. They aren’t out there fighting, they don’t even know what’s going on. Someday I’ll show my mom and dad the truth. Then they’ll know the S.A. isn’t for us. It never has been.”
“Yeah, I hope they do figure it out…” Her voice trailed off, her thoughts moving on, trying to piece together some kind of plan. Xavier’s definitely out. Sherman too. Grant… He’d be better off staying behind. She sighed. “So, I’m thinking it has to be just me and Matt going out. Anyone else will be too big of a risk.”
The binoculars dipped from Matt’s gaze. He faced Jenny, but said nothing, a look of doubt greeted her.
“You don’t even know what’s out there…” Grant pointed out the obvious.
“The fact no shots have been fired is a good thing. I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to get the guards’ attention before getting too close. It’ll be fine.” I hope… Jenny stripped her sock hat and kerchief away. “Grant, can you stay here with Xavier and Sherman? I know it’s probably not what you want, but it’s what we need. If for some reason we don’t make it—”
“Don’t say that.”
“Just hear me out.”
Grant nodded.
“Someone will need to vouch for Xavier if the Depot finds you guys. And…” Jenny exhaled, her voice became downhearted. “…if the S.A. for some reason makes it here or whatever, then Xavier can act like he took you prisoner or something. The step beyond that… I don’t know.”
“Well, if I’m staying put,” Xavier said, “then take this.” He offered his Steyr AUG rifle over to Matt. “Here.”
Matt passed the binoculars back to Jenny and shimmied his way from the booth. He took an awkward once-over of Xavier’s rifle, clearly not familiar with some of its features. “I… This thing looks… kinda weird.”
They all work basically the same way, Matt. Come on…
“Here, let me show you.” Xavier motioned for Matt to follow him to the other side of the dining area with the jerk of his head. Jenny set her long gun across the tabletop—double-checking a firearm was never a bad idea, especially when surrounded by increasing unknowns.
While working her M4 carbine, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop on Xavier’s instruction. He had obviously been through extensive training since joining the Second Alliance. His confidence. His newfound expertise. Wonder if he forgot all his maintenance training to make way for all that knowledge. Easing the charging handle back, she confirmed a round sat in the rifle’s chamber. Then, she checked the magazine. Filled to the top. The steel selector switch dimpled her thumb, pushing ‘Safe’ to ‘Semi.’ Once satisfied with her firearm, she hung it over her shoulder and moved toward Matt and Xavier.