She got up and walked away. Just before she turned toward the house, Jane looked back over her shoulder. “Hey, Kylee?” she called.
Kylee looked up. “Yes?”
“I’m proud to be fighting for you. With you. I want you to know that.”
Kylee felt tears in the corners of her eyes. She nodded.
Sundown arrived faster than Kylee had anticipated. She had expected to feel a sense of foreboding. Perhaps she would become paralyzed by fear and responsibility. Instead, she felt nothing but a sense of purpose. This was the single most important day of her life. She was sure of it.
She stepped outside of the safe house. When her feet hit the sandy, broken asphalt, she turned and looked back. This place had been home, one of several homes she had known and lost since the Event. She couldn’t say whether she would be back here again. What was certain was she would never live here again. When the war was over, she would either be dead, imprisoned, or free to pursue life with Theo somewhere else on the island. In her mind, she thanked the safe house for the shelter it had provided from storms both natural and manmade. She turned back around and marched onward to an uncertain future.
The rebel army was spread down the length of the small side street. Everyone was armed. Several of the women surrounded the rusty shell of a large SUV. One of the few blessings the army had been granted, the vehicle had been trapped in a garage under tons of debris in a house two blocks down. The leadership had missed it. It wouldn’t have run, even if there had been fuel available on the island. Instead, Ryan and Bill had stripped it down, removing as much weight as possible. Now, it was a giant push cart for transporting supplies. Kylee thought a tank might have been more useful, but she knew they were lucky to have anything.
The inner circle waited near the front of the line. She smiled at them as she approached. She wished Theo could be here with her, but then this was all part of the plan. She just hoped he was safe and would be in good health by the time she was able to meet up with him.
“General Kylee, looks like a beautiful night for fighting. What do you think?” Bill greeted her with a big smile of his own.
“I think you’re right,” she said. “Don’t forget, our goal here is to avoid conflict wherever possible. Many of the Tiberius loyalists are only that way because of fear. I think when we show them that we are willing to take the fight to the leadership, many of them will throw down their guns.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Joseph. “I don’t want to have to kill too many people.”
Bill laughed and slapped Joseph on the back. “Man, am I glad to be on your side, Joey!”
Joseph gave him a look of exasperation.
“Does anybody have any idea where Michelle is?” asked Ryan.
“Brian? Liz? Any idea?” Kylee asked.
“No, sorry,” said Liz. “We know she’s somewhere in the city. She knows she’s supposed to fall in with us once the fighting gets close, if only for her own safety.”
“You hear that, Ry?” asked Kylee. “She knows what she’s supposed to be doing. Don’t worry, we’ll get to her soon enough.”
She addressed the gathered rebels. “Okay, everybody, this is it. We are going to progress down Atlantic Avenue one block at a time. We stop each block until I give the signal that everything is clear. Remember your assignments. We are relying on those of you assigned to guard our sides and rear as we go. I don’t suspect the Security Force will attempt to flank us, especially in the early going, but we don’t have enough soldiers to cover Ventnor Avenue too. We have to keep to Atlantic and prevent incursions from the side streets. Everyone clear on that?”
Plenty of nodding and “Yes Ma’am,” and “We got it!”
Good, Kylee thought. Time to make an impact. “Move out!” she called. She heard the sounds of feet falling into step behind her. Light grunting followed by the rusty creak of the SUV’s wheels told her the wagon was in motion, beginning its slow trip to arm the prisoners and resupply ammo, should that be necessary.
Kylee had debated whether she and the inner circle should be on the front line. There was a risk to the morale of the troops, should any or all of them be injured or killed. Still, she and Theo’s other chosen few felt it necessary to lead by example. Kylee compromised. Should one of them get hit, the others would fall back to provide continued support until that particular skirmish was over. Of course, she secretly planned to stay up front no matter what. She wasn’t about to back away from the fight.
The procession turned onto Atlantic Avenue. Slowly, carefully, they walked to the end of the first block. Kylee raised her hand and heard the footsteps behind her cease followed by a squeal as the SUV came to a stop.
“All clear on the bayside?” They had decided to use the term, even though the bay no longer existed.
“Yes, Ma’am,” came the reply.
“All clear on the oceanside?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Are we clear from the rear?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Okay. All clear. Let’s keep moving.”
Chapter 27
Theo awoke as the sun came pouring through the curtainless window. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, momentarily confused by his surroundings and his vantage point looking up from the mattress on the floor. He saw the other men sleeping around the room and realization set in. He was imprisoned in an old hotel, a high-profile grab for the leadership to brag about.
He rolled up to a sitting position and pulled his knees in to his chest. The three men he was trapped with were all older than him. He judged them to be in their later twenties or early thirties, though he had never been good at guessing ages.
These were likely husbands or maybe boyfriends of some of the women he had come to know during the course of his hiding at the safe house. If he was going to unite the prisoners and instigate an uprising, he had to start his effort with these men.
He sat silently for a while, thinking about Kylee and his friends. They would undoubtedly be putting plans in motion to start the assault that very evening. That didn’t give him a tremendous amount of time to act, but he wasn’t about to begin by waking up the other prisoners. There were few ways more guaranteed to get you on a man’s bad side than by waking him up earlier than he planned.
Finally, one of the men turned and grunted. Theo watched him carefully. This was the man who had slept through Theo’s arrival. He was the largest of the men and he was black. The other two were white, or maybe Hispanic. Theo couldn’t really tell. The man slowly rose from his deep slumber. His eyes grew wide when he saw Theo sitting across the room from him. “Whuzzat… who… who are you?”
“I’m Theo Essex… I was thrown in here with you last night.”
The man laughed. “Essex, huh? You and everybody else in this place.”
“I don’t follow,” Theo said.
The man studied him as if he was examining a curious slide under a microscope.
“Wait a minute,” he said, “you’re really him, aren’t you? Theo Essex. Damn.”
“You’ve heard of me?”
The man laughed. It was a warm sound, welcoming in the chilly room. “Of course. You’re the guy the Supreme Leader wants dead. Every guy in this place has claimed to be you or to be friends with you, just to piss off the guards. Man, never thought I’d be the one to be talking to the real deal. Name’s Tony.”
Theo was struck by recognition. “Tony? Is your wife’s name Jane?”
The man’s jaw dropped. “You know Janie? You’ve seen her? Is she okay?”