“I have some new information for you, Cassie,” Chris says one day. The scorching July heat is all but singeing my eyebrows off, so I’m huddled under the shade of a tall tree. The camp is busy with activity — there is no such thing as an idle moment here. Even our sleeping hours have purpose. “Cassie?”
I blink and look up, yawning.
“Sorry. I was dozing.”
He smiles and sits down next to me, one of the few moments lately when he’s been relaxed enough to do this. As the weeks have passed, the stress and pressure of being in charge of this militia have changed him. He’s even more logical and methodical than he used to be. He’s a lot busier, too. People depend on him to make life-changing decisions. It must be difficult to carry a burden like that.
“What’s up?” I say.
“Underground gave us some new information,” he replies.
I lean forward. “Is it good or bad news?”
“Both. The good news is, there’s a rebel militia force called the Mountain Rangers headed our way.”
I nod. We’ve all heard of the Rangers. They’re second only to the Freedom Fighters in notoriety. “What’s the bad news?” I ask.
“The bad news is, we have to decide if we want to join forces with the Rangers or if we want to keep our group separate. Joint operations change the dynamics. Right now our men work really well together. Bringing in an ally could either mess things up or make us stronger.”
“We don’t know enough about the Rangers to make a judgment, do we?”
“The Rangers are, as far as we know, very similar to our militia. They use guerilla war fighting tactics, they’re quick, they’re hearty and they’re no friends to Omega.”
That makes them on our side, I guess. But Chris is right. Exposing ourselves to anybody is a monumental risk.
“Why don’t you meet with their commander and talk to him about it?” I suggest. “Just you and him. Don’t drag everybody else into it until you’re absolutely sure that we need their help.”
“We don’t really need anybody’s help,” Chris replies. “But we could do a lot more with an extra force.” He stares at something in the distance, thinking. “That’s not a bad idea, Cassie. I should do that.”
“Can you get a message through to the Rangers using the Underground?”
“I should be able to.”
“Who’s in charge of their group?”
“I don’t know. Everybody’s got codenames.”
“Right. Alpha One.” I grin. “What’s their leader’s codename?”
“We’ll find out.” He stretches his long legs across the dirt, threading his fingers through mine. “The Underground also mentioned a huge Omega supply depot being stocked on the outskirts of the foothills. A lot of food and water are going in there. Omega’s tightening up security around the place — it’s important.”
“So we need to hit it, then?” I ask.
“Essentially.”
“Do we have enough manpower for that?”
“I think so. We’re outnumbered, but we’re smarter. And faster.” Chris looks down at our hands. “How are you holding up?”
It’s a sudden question. And something he hasn’t asked me in a while.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not very descriptive.”
“I am.” I bite back a smile. “I miss you, though. Even though I’m around you all the time, it’s like you’re not really here. You’re always so busy.”
Chris presses the palm of his hand against my cheek.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “But you understand, right?”
“Understand that people need you?” I nod. “Yeah. I do. I just miss you, that’s all.”
“I know.” He kisses my forehead. “You’ve adapted extremely well. You’re a good soldier. I’m not the only one people are looking up to, you know.”
“I know. That’s what scares me.”
“What? Respect?”
I gaze up at him.
“I guess so. When people respect you, they expect a lot from you. There’s so much responsibility. People’s lives are at stake.” I sigh. “I don’t feel up to being a hardcore rebel leader all the time.”
Chris takes both of my hands in his.
“That’s why people like you. You’re human, but you try to do the right thing no matter what.” His eyes flick to the edge of camp, where the women are doing their daily food preparation. “Always try to do the right thing. Go with your gut instinct.”
“I’m not a leader like you are.”
“Yes, you are. Just in a different way.” His expression softens. “You give good advice, too. I’ll see if I can get in contact with the Rangers’ leader. It might be helpful if we combine forces at some point. But until then, we need to get ready to hit that supply depot.”
“How far away is it?”
“About twenty miles. It’s out of the foothills. On the edge of the valley outside a little town called Sanger.” He looks at me. “Are you up for that?”
I roll my eyes. Leaving the safety of the hills is a major risk.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Just thought I’d ask,” he chuckles, standing up. “We should hit it soon, before they get a chance to set everything up completely. They’ll be beefing up security anyway because of what we’ve been doing in the area, plus the area will be crawling with Omega patrols.”
I agree. Ever since the Freedom Fighters have started fighting back against Omega, more militia groups have formed. All people needed to see was one group taking the initiative and hitting back at the enemy. Omega’s got an entire state full of rebels and guerilla fighters on their hands these days. It can’t be easy being an invading army. Not with people like us around.
But what I haven’t said out loud is that Omega is gearing up to receive backup. Sophia and I figured that out a long time ago when we were imprisoned in the labor camp. It’s obvious they’re going to need more manpower if they’re going to kill off the rebels completely, anyway. Chris knows this. I know this. Most of the people in this militia know it.
The question is, what will we do when Omega’s backup does arrive?
What kind of backup is it going to be? Where will it come from?
Can we survive it?
The Mountain Rangers are hard to contact. Just like our militia, everything is kept anonymous and secret, because let’s face it: you can’t trust anybody these days. Of course, I didn’t trust anybody before the EMP, either. But that was just me. Now everybody has come down to my level.
Ironic.
The Underground is an efficient but slow means of communication, and it will take a few days to find out if they want to have a pow-wow with Chris about joining forces. Until then, our focus is the supply depot that Omega is setting up. It’s located on the edge of Sanger, about twenty or so miles away from Squaw Valley. Because we’ve moved our campsite farther into the hills, it will be a little bit more of a journey for us to reach the depot in our trucks. It will also be hard to be stealthy, because once we leave the shelter of the hills, we’ll be out in the open. Wide grassy plains aren’t that great for our style of fighting, but Chris will find a way to make it work.
The best thing we can do is take away Omega’s food, water, fuel and ammunition. What Chris likes to call the “meat and potatoes” of war. Because that’s the one thing that everybody needs to stay alive. That’s why hitting supply depots are so important. And we’re getting better and better at it.
My dad would be proud.
And shocked. I don’t know if he ever expected me to amount to anything. I mean, sure, I’d planned on getting a degree in criminal justice before the EMP hit and the world went down the drain, but at the time I had no way to attain that goal. No money, no job, no friends, no family. I was a speck of nothing in a big world that was passing me by.