Kylee had a fleeting worry that one of the guards would make some kind of last show of effort, either killing one of them at the expense of his own life, or maybe committing suicide rather than being taken prisoner. Nothing like that happened. That was good. These guards may have done what Tiberius asked, but their loyalty hadn’t reached insane levels.
“What do you want me to do?” asked Jamie.
“Just walk with me. We need to count our losses. Double-check the field before we clean up here.”
Kylee thought if Jamie had pressed her further she would have given some kind of a story about Jamie’s great attention to detail or maybe she would have said something harsh about Jamie needing toughening. The truth was, if she was going to have to find out which of her people she had led to die she wanted her best friend with her for support.
In all, thirty Security Force agents had been guarding the camp. Of those, her rebels had killed twenty-six and taken four as prisoners. The rebels, with less training, less knowledge of the terrain, and poor visibility, had three injuries and no fatalities.
Kylee wondered if she would recognize the faces under the masks from her time at the Security Force headquarters. Probably. Still, these were people who had gone along with Tiberius’s orders no matter how extreme they had become. She knew that Menendez had organized those who would support the rebels back in the city. They wouldn’t be among the dead here.
Kylee ran to the boardwalk and pressed up onto the raised surface with one fluid motion. “Citizens of Atlantic Island, you are safe now. Come here where I can see you.”
Her rebels moved in around her after gathering up the guards’ weapons, except for the few soldiers who were moving the prisoners to the boardwalk. The people living in the camp came out slowly, hesitantly, as if they expected this to be just another Tiberius trick. Gradually, the audience in front of her swelled. Kylee watched, greeting each new arrival with a nod or a smile.
“This battle you found yourselves in the middle of tonight is just the start of what we have planned. You are free for now, but you won’t stay that way if we don’t take further action. The rebels here who have saved your lives are people just like you who were forced out of their homes by Tiberius and the Security Force. Join them. Join us. Help us march on Atlantic City and remove the so-called Supreme Leader from his Palace!”
Kylee didn’t expect that anyone would join. She knew these people were petrified of Tiberius and traumatized by the battle that had been fought around them. Yet a few were moving forward. Twelve men and three women joined her troops on the boardwalk and were handed weapons.
This was a very positive development. Exactly what she needed to be able to continue on to the prison. She hoped Theo was not having too much trouble with his part of the plan. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
Theo found that keeping himself calm for the sake of his men was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. With two of their number dead and several bleeding onto the concrete, the men were losing confidence. Theo knew there was bound to be significant opposition in the lobby.
“Guys,” he said, “I promise you we will come back for anybody we’ve lost. By the end of tonight the people of this island will have taken it back from Tiberius. That includes the prison. My friends are coming for us now, and we have to be the distraction that lets them come in guns blazing. If we don’t move now and fight the Security Force down here the rebels won’t have the power to get in and we will die here. Do you understand? We keep on moving.” He hesitated a second to see if anyone would object. Whatever objections or concerns the prisoners had, they kept them to themselves.
Theo waved the men down to the floor, where they took what they could from the guards sprawled on the ground. The door to the lobby had not been modified from the building’s time as a hotel, probably because nobody thought prisoners would get this far. The aluminum door had a small, wire-reinforced glass window. Theo moved his head in front of the window for only a second. He backed against the wall.
“There are Security Force agents running down the hall right now,” he told the prisoners. “Get out of the way of the door. We are going to pick them off as they come in. Won’t get us through everybody but it will thin the ranks a little before we move to the lobby.”
“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” somebody called.
“Something like that,” Theo said.
He moved back in front of the glass and away again, quickly as possible. “They are coming. Guns at the ready. Three, two, one—”
The door slammed open. A procession of armed guards ran in, and the prisoners fired, taking them out one by one. Five guards had entered the stairwell and found death at the hands of Theo’s new troops before the rest caught on and took positions along the sides of the lobby hall.
Theo set up a rotation at the door, moving the line of prisoners up one at a time to keep steady pressure on the guards. He ordered his men to be conservative as they fired. He did not want to run out of bullets. He wished he had had more military training- any training, really. His mind could not develop a strategic way to get through the lobby now that the remaining guards were in position.
After every prisoner had rotated through, Theo told the group to take cover in the stairwell. “Theo,” said Wes, “what the hell do we do?”
“I’ve got a few ideas in mind,” he said, hoping to stall for time. He did not want to admit that he had no clue. Maybe he could buy some time using the protection of the Security Force armor. Allow the men to make a run for it and… wait. He looked down at the bodies of the guards. So many had fallen victim to the prisoners that the bodies had begun to stack up like logs.
“Here’s the plan,” Theo said. “I want ten men to change into the guard’s uniforms. I know some of the helmets were damaged by the killshots, and the uniforms are going to be messy, but this is the only chance we are going to have. The men in guard costumes are going to lead five prisoners, including me, out to the lobby.”
He explained the rest of the plan as the volunteers got changed. He had expected to have to reason with the men or beg them to get them into the bloody uniforms. He could not have been more wrong. The prisoners, amped by adrenaline and motivated by the desire for freedom and the longing for their loved ones, stepped up right away. He ended up with more than enough men for the job.
When the men were dressed, Theo lined up with Tony, Wes, and two other men. They put their hands behind their heads. “Are you sure about this?” Tony asked. “We’re sitting ducks out there.”
“I’m as sure as I’m going to be about anything right now,” Theo said. “This is our chance. I think it can work.”
Tony sighed, the uncomfortable exhalation of a man making his peace with himself and whatever deity he worshipped. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s give it the old college try.”
Theo laughed before he could catch the laughter and rein it in.
“What’s so funny?” Tony asked.
“Nothing, nothing. It’s just…I never got a chance to go to college.”
“Rebellion 101, my friend. You’re the professor now.”
When everyone was in his proper place, Theo gave the order to open the door and proceed.
Jason, wearing one of the less damaged Security Force uniforms, stepped to the front. He pulled the door open and stepped forward, weapon drawn to his chest. A battalion of guards popped out from all sides of the hall.
“Whoa,” Jason called to them, his voice muffled by the helmet, “easy, people. We’re coming out with the prisoners.”
“How many?” asked one of the guards.