“Now, young lady.”
An odd look flashed on her face. There and gone before he could decipher its meaning. “Come on, Toby.”
“I yike the lights.” Toby waited patiently while Jillie undid the seatbelt then climbed up, raising his hands above his head until she secured him.
“I wanna see,” Olivia whispered.
“You will.” He checked the mirror.
Jillie flounced into her seat and shoved the belt into the latch. “Happy now?”
“Yes.” Night leaned against the windows and the children wiggled closer to the interior light. “Let’s get a good look at where we’re going.”
He stomped on the accelerator and swerved into the oncoming lane. Three domed reactors rose like bone-white tombstones from the blackened desert. Lights pockmarked the concrete and brick buildings clawing at the reactors. He gulped. “It’s huge.”
Certainly a hell of a lot bigger than a nuclear sub.
“You got this covered, right B?” Say yes.
“Sure, Papa. No sweat.”
He scraped his hand down his face and swung behind the tanker. No sweat, huh? Then why did the squid’s voice shake?
Olivia craned her neck. “Can we stay the night?”
Hell no! Didn’t she see the danger? But she didn’t, no one had until so many people died that Mother Nature had no choice but to hammer the final nail in humanity’s coffin. “We’re on a dangerous mission, so I’m going to need all of you to stay close and do as you’re told. No questions. No arguing. Got it?”
Olivia nodded. “So we can stay?”
“For the night and maybe most of tomorrow.” Then they’d get the hell outta Tonopah and hightail it to the soldiers and safety. “You understand the rules, Jillie?”
“Yeah.” Jillie stretched the word into three syllables. “I’m not deaf, you know.”
He bit back his retort. Sarcasm was wasted on the young. “I’m counting on you two to look after Toby.” Jillie glared at Olivia. “It’ll take both, because the little squirt can get into trouble lickety-split.”
Jillie crossed her arms and flung herself against the seat back. “I know how to watch him.”
He’d have to talk to the girl, explain that Olivia needed her too.
“I’s not a squirt.” Toby hugged his teddy bear. “I’s a munchkin.”
“I’ll help.” Olivia snuck a peek at the backseat.
“Good.” He followed the tanker off Wintersburg Road onto a side street. It wouldn’t be long now. Instructions welled up in his throat. He should have spent time warning them instead of trying to fix them. “I’ll—”
“Heads up, Papa Rose.” The tanker’s brake lights bathed the car’s interior in a bloody hue. Gears ground as Brainiac downshifted. “We’re pulling up to the guard station.”
Why had Falcon let the squid drive? The sailor manned boats not semis. “Roger that.”
“Fuck me!” Pride colored Falcon’s voice in phosphorescent hues. “They’ve got tanks guarding the place. Four. Five. Six of them. Flash your lights.”
Yeah, they didn’t want to be blown to bits, not when they were so close to completing their mission. All they had to do was transfer the gas to the generators, make sure the reactors were powered down and voilà, everyone got four extra days on the Earth’s surface.
What could possibly go wrong?
Lifting his foot off the accelerator, he coasted behind the big rig. Tanks. Well, why not? Too bad the attack had come from tiny kids toys. There’d better be a particularly nasty corner of Hell for the asshole that dreamt up that offensive. He lifted his Sig-Sauer from the door’s pocket. “I want you guys to lay low until I say so. Got it?”
“Toby’s already low.” Jillie laid her head behind the sleeping boy’s and set her hand on the chubby one holding the teddy bear.
“Am I low enough?” Olivia slouched in her seat. The interior dome light sparkled on her silver emergency blanket.
Her head stuck a couple of inches above the window. A good target for a half-assed sniper. “Why don’t you sit on the floor and put your head on the cushion?”
Eyes wide, she nodded and unclipped her seatbelt.
“You could come back here.” Jillie stuck her hand between the two front seats.
Olivia clasped it and dove into the back. The blanket snapped like a cape behind her and her foot collided with his elbow. “We can share the blanket.”
“Thanks.”
He rubbed the ache from his arm and stopped the car. “Okay, we just have to clear the checkpoint.”
Hopefully without shooting. He set his hand on the gear. Maybe if he threw it in reverse, he could get the kids far enough away before the tanker exploded.
Falcon swore softly. “It’s unmanned. I repeat the station and tank are empty. I’m going to unlock the gate.”
The Prius stilled underneath his feet. God, he hated that. It always felt like the engine died. “You need help?”
“This isn’t amateur hour.”
He heard the cab’s door shut.
“Hey, Papa?” Brainiac drummed on the dashboard to an old AC/DC song. “You think the same kids that go to special ed classes later have to go to Special Forces when they enlist?”
The squid must have been thinking up that one all day. “Sounds about right to me. Notice how Falcon barely speaks, gotta be some mental handicap in there somewhere.”
“Fuck you two.” Falcon popped the lock then there was a click and the gate rattled as he pushed it open.
“Obvious anger issues.” Brainiac tsked.
“Probably why they wear the funny colored hats, too.” He scanned the fence encircling the property. Damn. Why wasn’t there a coyote or bird or something out? This stillness made his balls itch. “Helps to know at a glance what kind a mental midget you’re dealing with.”
“While you two comedians are yucking it up, I’m doing the heavy lifting.” Falcon grunted. “The job was the death of old Fred here.”
He tensed and clicked the safety off his weapon. “Foul play?”
“Natural causes. Or what passes for it nowadays. There’s a damn Burgers in a Basket plushie sitting on his computer monitor.” An odd clicking sound drifted through the com. “I’m lowering the pylons now.”
“Why would they have pylons?” Brainiac scoffed. Air brakes burped then the tanker drifted forward. “I mean, anyone who wanted in could just plow through the fence.”
“And the guards with automatic weapons would pick ‘em off if they got close to the reactors.” Falcon breathed heavier, no doubt sweeping through the building.
“And the fields are mined on the other side,” Papa interjected. Why should Falcon be the only one pulling lies out of his ass? “Go off the paved road and boom!”
“Really?” The brake light flared as Brainiac coasted by the guard station.
“No, you dipshit.” Falcon ghosted out of the building and behind the truck, flipping the bird while passing in front of the Toyota’s hood. “Papa’s just messing with your squishy squid brain.”
Killjoy. He jackrabbited the car close to the other man’s legs. “Are you finished snapping holiday pictures, Falcon? Can we get on with the mission?”
“Patience.” Falcon disappeared around the side of the tanker. A moment later, the cab door slammed.
The tanker picked up speed.
“Name’s Papa Rose and if you don’t know it by now, you might wanna take a refresher course in Special Ed.” He shifted into drive and followed the truck. Headlamps illuminated construction equipment until it was subsumed by shadows.
“Can we get up now?” Olivia stared up at him from the back floor.
“Not yet.” He leaned into the turn. The reactors and assorted buildings blazed on the left. Plenty of places for a sniper to hide. “But soon.”
“‘Kay.” She shrunk back down but her hand gripped the teddy bear’s.