She rocked her rifle up and across her chest, tiptoeing around Matt. “What is it?” Jenny disregarded him—his curiosity followed her to the back of the vehicle.
A few glances around the bumper. Nothing. No activity other than what she had seen only moments ago. Then, tumbling across the graying sky, an array of bottles, of spinning flames. They crashed into the snow. A burst of flame engulfed the outsiders, sentencing their frigid bodies to death. Each tormented form collapsed to the ground writhing like cockroaches. A couple of shots fired into the air, unintentional from seizing bodies. Their voices transformed to shrieks, to cries that knotted her stomach. Holy…
Jenny hurried to leave, backing into Matt’s horrified stare.
“We gotta get the hell out of here.” His words direct, ironclad.
She could only bring forth a nod.
“Hey!” A woman’s voice came from behind them.
The woman’s call ripped Jenny from the scene, her attention drawn toward the Depot—the entry opened slightly. Only a hand waved them forward, the body hidden behind cover.
“Forget the ruck. We’ll get it later.” Jenny peeled the heavy bag from Matt’s back, and he jerked open the door of the SUV to stuff it inside. He stood longer than she liked. His gaze locked back onto the flailing bodies thrashing against the black asphalt where the snow gave way to heat. “Come on! This might be our only chance.”
Both sucked a deep breath in, staring across the frozen parking lot. Only forty yards. But the distance was riddled with cars and the threat of gunfire.
“Ready?” Matt squeezed her hand.
She squeezed back. “Always.”
Clutching their rifles, they charged for the opening to the Depot, for safety. Crack! … Crack! ... Crack! Three deliberate shots, then the Depot let loose from the rooftop, responding with authority. The gunfire scattered Jenny’s intended path. Diving headlong into the snow, her elbows bit into the pavement. The adrenaline pushed the pain somewhere deep and forgotten, her mind fixed on the two vehicles only a few feet away.
From behind the two cars, Matt and Jenny swung their rifles up and over the hoods. She scanned. There we go. Finally. The mystery was over. Black uniforms of the Second Alliance slunk across the lot—heads peeking from vehicles, rifles following with muzzles firing. This is it! Take a stand! This world isn’t for the S.A. to take. With anxious breaths, scanning the landscape above her sights, her finger rested on the trigger with every intention of using it. She only needed the opportunity.
Just to her left, at the perfect angle, a Guard hunkered down against a car’s bumper presented Jenny with a clear shot. She leaned her face into the stock and exhaled, taking the slack out of the trigger. Smooth press. She took it. Sparks flew from the steel bumper of the old Buick. Shit! The Guard retreated, taking with him any chance of redeeming herself with a follow-up. Damn it. Should’ve double tapped.
Crack! Crack! Two shots from the Depot and a different black uniform fell into the snow.
“Come on!” The woman from the door yelled to them again. “We got you covered! Move!”
“Jenny, let’s go!” Matt shouted, backpedaling toward the door.
“No!” Her eyes never left the sights of her rifle. “No more running! This is the turning point! The last time we’re on the defensive!”
Matt released a guttural roar of frustration into the air, then yelled, “I’m not asking!” He tried to pull her away from the vehicle, but she refused. Instead of protesting longer, he took to the other end of the vehicle, throwing his rifle over the trunk. “Damn you, Jenny!”
She blocked his anger and focused her attention deeper into the lot. Just need another one of them to slip up. That’s all I need. Just one and I’ll go.
Crack! Crack! The Depot fired again. At what, Jenny couldn’t tell, but someone else out there was becoming restless besides her.
Sharpening her glare, she spotted another Guard sliding between a couple vehicles. Again, she leaned into the rifle and expelled every last breath in her lungs. Smooth. Keep it smooth. Her rifle tracked his movements. Crack! Another shot from the Depot, but a miss. The Guard stopped in his tracks, burying himself against the wrong side of a car, exposed to Jenny’s rifle. She pulled. Crack! The Guard doubled over, clutching his gut. Another shot hit his shoulder, then another ripped through his skull. Finished, he slumped from a seated position and onto his side.
“Is that enough for you?” Matt took hold of her arm, bringing her eyes from the rifle. “It’s time to go.”’
“Wait!” Jenny smiled.
In the distance, a small band of Second Alliance Guards retreated, their black uniforms slipping in and out of view. A few shots from the Depot’s roof chased them further into the woodline.
Cheering broke loose.
Chapter Eleven
Jenny leaned in toward Grant—“You think they’ll listen?”—her words fighting against the sporadic outbursts of celebration.
“Won’t know for sure until we try.”
“Yeah…” She studied the crowd. Everyone in the Depot, minus Matt, Xavier, and a few guards minding the perimeter, had gathered in the Garden Center outside. People shuffled along the tables of the soup line, bowls being poured full of stew. Those who’d already been served stood around several burn barrels, chatting between bites while they waited for the explanation they’d been promised.
“They’re pretty worked up over the win,” Grant said, “but you gotta couple of people in there who prolly realize this ain’t over. Those the folks you need to help you out. Tell them your story, and I don’t mean just talkin’, but touch them, you know, reach out to them, and then they’ll help bring in the others.”
“Got ya.” Jenny spotted a few who appeared worried, out of place like black and white figures drowning in a sea of color and jubilance. She understood what Grant meant but doubted those people’s ability to fire up the crowd. No energy existed in them. They barely stood on their own two feet, disconnected, not participating with the others. Jenny could only assume they wished to be alone in their tents to mourn Danny and Griffin, to consider the future of the Depot. At least they get it. They understand loss and that none of this is ever completely over. Everyone else, though… “How many you think know about Danny and Griffin?”
“Gotta be all of them. No way that news didn’t spread ‘round here like wildfire. People can’t keep they damn mouths shut.”
“True… I guess everyone being so happy threw me off. I figured maybe they didn’t know. Just seems kind of wrong.”
“You ain’t bein’ fair to them if that’s what you’re thinkin’.” Grant took on his familiar fatherly tone. “Think about it, girlie. Through all that shit you just went through with Danny and Griffin, with finding us, with finding Xavier, with the battle, all that, you think of Danny the whole time? Or you focus on other stuff too?”
“Other stuff too, but—”
“Yeah, other stuff too. The ‘too’ is important. All of them feel that loss.” He began pointing his finger at the crowd. “All of them knew Danny, knew Griffin. Hell, some of them may have loved them just like you did. So, for you to think they don’t care is wrong. You want them on your side, you better get that outta your head.
“Remember, we just won a battle with no deaths, no injuries. They’re pumped up. Most of them tryin’ to think happy thoughts, tryin’ to block out the bad. You gotta remember people deal with shit differently. You gotta respect that.”
Jenny’s shoulders sank, her eyes followed.
“Hey, don’t be doin’ that.” Grant dropped his arm around her shoulder. “I ain’t tryin’ to get you down. Those just some facts you gotta understand. I know these things ‘cause I’m older than you, and that means I’m smarter,” he joked. “Seriously though, everythin’ I said about you before still stands. Don’t get it messed up. You’re brave and able to do stuff I ain’t ever dreamt of doin’. Someday, you’re gonna be a great leader. In some ways you already are. We just need to work on
your people skills.”
She cracked a smile.
“There we go. Now, you think you ready for this?”
“I…” Unnoticed by Jenny, the line for soup had worked its way through—every set of eyes in the crowd were now focused on the two of them. She felt a tremble in her hand, slight, but there. Just tell your story, Jenny. Let them know the truth about where you came from. What you’ve been through.
A few groans slipped through the crowd because of Jenny’s hesitation.
You know what to say and what not to say.
“Alright, let’s quiet down now,” one of the women shouted in an effort to squash the restlessness and last remaining bits of whispers.
Let’s—let’s do this. She took a deep breath, looking over the crowd. Each person in front of her wanted an answer, wanted to know what the hell had happened over the last 24 hours.
When Jenny finally spoke, her words were shaky at first, but tightened with every truth put forth, with every head that nodded along with her. She told them everything about River’s Edge. Their life there. All they had accomplished together since Almawt. Then, their downfall at the hands of the Second Alliance, explaining how the enemy had managed to do it through a plan of deception and false camaraderie. The same way they planned it with the Depot.
“I told you they were trouble,” a woman said.
“Yeah, you did call that one.”
“You think I missed anything?” Jenny asked Grant.
He shook his head.
“That’s all well and good, but what about Griffin and Danny?” a man with a large scar across his forehead demanded. “What the fuck happened to them? The Second… whatever they’re called, they did this? Is that what you think?”
“That’s what I know.” And there it was—the lie Jenny knew she’d have to tell. It was the tricky part, but the most important. If she was to convince the Depot to mobilize against the Second Alliance, the lie had to be told.
Briefly, she brought it together in her head so as not to fumble through it when it mattered.
The S.A. came here to strike up the deal with the Depot. When the S.A. took Matt and Grant prisoner, the discussions fell apart. A fight broke out, but none of us saw it. I was outside, then later in my tent cleaning up. Grant and Matt had been put in a secured room. Unfortunately, the only people who saw everything were the S.A., Griffin and Danny. After the gunshots, I found the bodies and took Sherman and tracked the S.A. I rescued Matt and Grant. Simple. Keep it simple…
If anyone asks why they took Matt and Grant, it’s because they knew the truth about the S.A. And, the reason I wasn’t taken is simple. They didn’t find me. Hopefully, not many people know how Griffin died, but if anyone brings that up… Again, you weren’t there. You have no idea. Stick with that.
“Well, out with it!” the man yelled.
As Jenny brought forth the lie, the scarred man fell silent—the rest of the crowd did the same, all of them listening intently. She hit on all her points, but in the back of her mind, she apologized to Danny for disrespecting the truth, hiding what really happened. In this way, no one would know Griffin, the monster. No one would know what he’d planned for the Depot—for Grant, Matt, for Jenny. The fact that Danny had saved her would never be known. He gave his life for her. The lie was a disservice to him. A disservice to the truth that everyone deserved to know but couldn’t. The S.A. had to be the enemy. It was Jenny’s only way to fight back.
Danny, I’m sorry… but it won’t be for nothing, I promise. River’s Edge is worth it. Taking the S.A. out is worth it. If we don’t, they’ll keep coming for me, Grant, Matt. They’ll keep tearing everyone else down.
The joy which had swept over the crowd earlier had quickly evaporated with Jenny’s explanation. Most struggled to keep their chins up and their eyes toward her while she finished. “...and if you think this is bad, this is only the beginning. The Second Alliance will be back. They won’t quit.”
“We believe you, but how—how do we stand up to them?” Lars asked. “If what you’re saying is true—”
“We don’t know it is!” the scarred man said. “The Second Alliance could all be bullshit. How the hell do we know how big this group is? It’s probably just some bullshit operation. You think people are that organized already? Like some big-ass army?”
“It is possible! Why the hell not?” a woman interjected. “We’re going on three years since Almawt.”
“Seems crazy to me is all...” he let his defeated voice fade.
“Is there any other proof? Anything at all?” the woman asked Jenny.
“I do, but… you have to understand, when I bring him out, he’s not one of them. Yes, he has their uniform on, but he’s—”
“A prisoner?!”
“We took a prisoner?”
“No! He’s not a prisoner!” Jenny shouted out to quell the notion before it got out of hand. “He’s the one they hung from the scaffolding at River’s Edge. Well, the one we thought was hung, but the truth is, the S.A. didn’t kill him. They faked his death. It’s—it’s complicated.”
“And we’re supposed to trust that? Come on!”
Grant stepped forward and cut into the fray, “Shut it! Now!” He shifted his attention to where Matt stood post—the second set of doors toward the back which led inside the Depot. “Matt! Go ahead and bring him out.”
Worried, Jenny watched Matt bring Xavier outside. I’m not sure they’re ready for him yet. Not sure he’s ready either. He must have felt it too, his head shaking, his feet shuffling toward her, shoulders slumped, noticeably ashamed to be dressed in the enemy’s garb. “I don’t think right now’s a good idea,” Jenny said to Grant.
“As good as any. They need to hear it from him. Need to ask him what they want, unrehearsed or whatever you wanna call it.” Grant turned back to the crowd. “Listen! The kid’s comin’ out here to let you in on the truth. The whole story. This ain’t no joke. This ain’t some scare tactic. I’m tellin’ you, there ain’t no way around it. What Jenny says gonna happen, will happen.”
While Grant spoke, Xavier made it to Jenny’s side, closer than she would’ve normally liked, but understandable considering the circumstances.
“She told you how our old town fell to the Second Alliance,” Grant said, “and how some of us fought back. But… we failed, and we felt it. They made sure of that. We lost some people—some good people ‘cause of them. But this young man here”—he gestured to Xavier—“was thought to be the first one killed. But the Second Alliance, they playin’ games with everybody. They acted like they hung him to make a point. That no one can cross them. But instead of killing him, they killed someone else.”
“He turned on you guys!” the scarred man shouted. “That kid’s an insider. Sold you guys downriver.”
“That’s not true!” Grant shut the man down.
Jenny watched Xavier cringe, uncomfortable with the accusation. Wanting to offer his vindication, Jenny felt the words form within her mouth, but thought better of speaking them—Grant was doing well enough.
“Then what?” the scarred man continued. “Why’s he in that damn uniform if he’s one of the good guys?”
Grant sighed. “You know I wouldn’t lie to you. All you know me, worked with me. Hell, Me and Jenny, Matt, all of us have given our sweat, our blood to fix this place just like any of the rest of you. Some of your stares are uncalled for. We love this place. Don’t want to see it fall.”
Most in the crowd nodded with understanding.
“This here.” Grant pulled the unopened Second Alliance letter—the wax seal still intact—from his coat pocket. “This letter was part of the plan, but Griffin never gotta chance to read it. If you want, I can read the damn thing or any of you can, don’t care. I already know what it says without openin’ it. It’s short and sweet. The truth is, they ain’t got it much better than we have. Sure, they got fancy uniforms and big promises, but shit, you can put a dress on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
> Very few chuckled through the tense air.
“The whole point is they’re comin’ for us. They gonna take us whether we want it or not.” He held up a second letter—the one Xavier found in Simon’s boot months ago. “This one shows what they willin’ to do to get what they want. Fake attacks. Murder. Kidnappin’. Both these letters I got are two very different things but come from the same monster.
“The S.A. came here with a peace plan, but they saw me and Matt. Two people that got away from River’s Edge with the truth of what was goin’ on there. When they saw us here, they took us. The only blessin’ was Jenny wasn’t there at the time, or we’d all be gone. You’d be sittin’ here without any answers. Sittin’ here with two dead bodies and three people missin’.
“But thank the Heavens, she wasn’t there. She’s the hero. Saved us. Came and got us with Sherman just like Danny would’ve wanted. I’ll say we got some revenge today, but not enough for what they took when they killed Danny and Griffin. Think of all those two did for you. How they took you in. They deserve better than just lettin’ this whole thing go.”
“We can’t sit back and let them come for us,” Jenny cut into Grant’s message. “They’ll have the advantage if we do. I know maybe I haven’t always been so outgoing, maybe rude or whatever at times, but I’ve been scared. I’ve been scared that they would find us, because I knew what would happen. And it did. But I’m not scared anymore. All of us together, we can do this. We’ve spilled their blood. They’ll be back. It’s a guarantee. But…” She took a second to catch her breath. “We can’t let that happen. They won’t expect us to take the fight to them. We’ll catch them off guard.”
Almawt Virus Series (Book 3): Days Since...Jenny [Day 986] Page 16