“Good, Anna’s here,” Char said. “Here’s the full situation. There are five or six Imperials trying to escape along the river. We outnumber them two to one, but there are still enough to do damage. It’s likely they’ll take cover and fire on us as we approach. You know the drill, so don’t do anything stupid. They’ve already killed several of the slaves who weren’t quick enough.” Char looked around at everyone. I wondered what “the drill” was, but was too afraid to ask. “Keep low, form a half-circle and flank them in. None of these Imperials need to make it home. Right, let’s go!”
Char turned and ran for the river. Everyone followed.
I ran beside Makara.
“Samuel told me to tell you not to die.”
Makara smiled. “I’ll try, Alex. Stick by me.”
We ran for at least a mile. As we got closer to the action, I could smell acrid smoke in the cold, dry air.
We ran up a small incline. Cresting the rise, we saw them beyond, waiting for us. There were five Imperials lying on the ground, rifles pointed at us. They fired.
Bullets whistled above and beside us. The Raider on my right fell, hard. As I collapsed beside him, I knew he would not be getting back up. He had been shot in the forehead; blood trickled down.
Makara pulled me behind a large rock.
“I thought you were supposed to stay alive.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
She stayed on her stomach and kept her head below the rim of the hill.
“Just wait here,” Makara said. “We can’t charge them or we’ll get killed.”
Every Raider was planted on the safe side of the ridge. The gunfire had faded, leaving only the wind and the sand in their interminable dance. The sand hit my face, collected on the windward side of my body. I imagined if I lay out here for a few hours I could collect a lot of it on that side. Because, from the way it looked, we were going to be here for hours.
And then…
Crack.
It was a single, distant shot reverberating through the desert. Whether it came from the north or south, east or west, I couldn’t tell.
I heard screams. At first, I thought they were on our side. It took me a moment to realize they were coming from the river.
Crack.
Another shot. More cries of panic.
Makara was looking toward the other Raiders. They were all lying in place, as before.
Char raised an arm. Silently, all the Raiders stood, then charged down the ridge.
I rushed to join them. Two dead Imperials lay at the bottom of the hill. The remaining three were running for the cold Colorado River.
The Raiders fired their guns, yelling, surrounding the Imperials on three sides. The Imperials ran into the water and started swimming. Even if they did have the strength to make it across, they would be so cold and exhausted that they would be dead by nightfall.
The Raiders didn’t want to take any chances. They aimed and fired into the water, downing two of the men. Their bodies floated downstream. The last made a dive, vanishing below the surface of the dark blue water. We waited for a good thirty seconds before he came back up. When he did, he appeared distant, about a quarter of the way across the river.
The Raiders took aim again. But before any could take a shot, another crack sounded in the air. The man stopped swimming, and floated downstream like the rest.
They were all dead. And I had no idea who had killed three of them. I saw all the Raiders looking northward along the rise. At a high point, a figure stood with a long rifle held aloft.
Of course. Lisa had sniped them all out.
I had no idea how I missed that one.
After she joined the rest of the group, we headed back to Bluff. Though the Imperials were all dead, that didn’t stop the fires they’d set from burning.
Chapter 7
It was evening. We had spent the rest of the day putting out what fires we could. Not just us, but every person that could be spared in Raider Bluff, slave or free. We worked hour after hour, throwing water gathered from the irrigation canals and river onto the stubborn flames. Often, it felt as if we were making no progress.
Finally, the last of the fires had burned out, leaving a good thirty percent of Raider Bluff’s farmland a smoking ruin.
Though I didn’t say anything about it, I wondered how Char felt about killing Rex. It was only a matter of time until the Empire came back. Next time, it would not be six men. It would probably be more like six thousand.
We stood in the clinic. Samuel had called this meeting to make an announcement. Makara had brought Lisa, for some reason. Char had come to hear what Samuel had to say; Anna was there because Char was there.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Samuel said.
He couldn’t be serious. He had been shot in the arm just yesterday. It was a while before anyone spoke.
“Absolutely not,” Makara said. “You need more time to recover.”
“I will have to recover on the road,” Samuel said. “This attack has convinced me. I will not be caught in Raider Bluff in a war. Moreover, Bunker One will be buried in snow if we wait until I recover. By then it will be too late. I will not be delayed any longer.”
Makara opened her mouth, but Char held a hand up.
“Listen here,” Char said. “I know you’re a tough guy, but this is nuts. You leave now, that thing will open up and get infected. You want to go through the Great Blight with an open wound like that? The Empire will be back, yes. But not tomorrow. Not even in one month.”
“I’ll do what I must to get those Black Files,” Samuel said. “Even at the risk of my own life.”
“Yes,” Char said, “but does your sister feel the same way?”
From the look in Makara’s eyes, it was clear that she didn’t. She took a step forward. “Samuel, you’re not thinking straight. Like Char said, the Empire won’t be here for months, probably, and…”
“I know,” Samuel said. “This is crazy. But this mission is happening, and it is happening tomorrow. The longer we stay here, the more things will fall apart. The Empire attacked Raider Bluff today, and who’s to say they don’t have an army camped a day’s march away?” He looked at each of us in turn. His brown eyes were fierce and determined. “No, it must be tomorrow, or it might never be at all. As soon as we can get outfitted, we’ll be out of here. As for my arm, it’s a risk we’ll have to take, because we’re not risking just my life here. We’re risking the fate of the world.”
Everyone was quiet as we thought about this turn of events. Samuel was our leader; wherever he decided to go, I would follow him. It was Makara I was worried about. She had a good point. Samuel was not one hundred percent. He was not even fifty.
“Then we’ll leave tomorrow,” Lisa said.
Everyone stared at her.
“Wait,” I said. “You’re coming?”
“Makara and I talked it over when you left. You guys will need me out there.”
“Yeah, you’re coming,” Makara said. “But not tomorrow. Sam isn’t…”
“Makara,” Samuel said. “I appreciate your concern, but as long as I don’t put stress on my arm, I should be fine.”
“Stress that is guaranteed to happen,” Makara said. “We can’t predict what will happen out there.”
“But we can predict what will happen if we stay here,” Samuel said. “An all-out siege by the Empire and no hope of making it to Bunker One. That’s all that matters.”
Makara sighed, clearly unhappy. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”