World in Tatters Ch.13

It took me a little longer than I hoped to make it back to Corina’s camp. I decided it wise to take the long way around, just in case. It must have been around midnight before I finally walked into the old library to find Corina and Alice talking in the corner. Alice looks upset. She sits against the wall, her leg bouncing from nerves, but she doesn’t see me coming just yet. My guess is that she has been like that for a while.

Corina is the first to notice my entrance and draws Alice’s attention to me. Alice jumps up from the floor and storms over to me. The look in her eye is a combination relief and deep, dangerous rage. Normally, I would hide from her in this state, but this time I deserve every bit of it.

As she approaches me, her rage seems to give way to relief. As soon as I think she’s going to hug me, I feel a sharp, painful jab to my solar plexus, dropping me to my knees.

“I see you missed me.” I gasp through the pain. As soon as I catch my breath, I stand up, keeping a hand on what will likely become a bruise.

“You’re an idiot.” Without another word, Alice walks off into the other room. I don’t think she’ll be speaking to me again tonight. She’ll probably avoid it as much as possible tomorrow too.

“You know you had that one coming, right?” Corina had watched it go down and didn’t even try to stop her. How rude.

“Yeah, I know that. But did you really have to let her hit me? That hurt.”

“Yes, I did. And good. Anyway, were you able to retrieve the trinket you risked your life for?”

“Yeah. I got it. I also have some information. Information I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t gone there tonight.”

“So, it was worth it?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“What did you find out?”

“Well, for one, Alexandre is missing. His people haven’t seen him at all today.”

“That doesn’t mean much. He’s always been a cagey one. Stays locked up in that pigsty of his more often than not.”

“Except that his room was the first place I checked. Someone had kicked the door in. The jam was shattered, but whoever they were pulled the door shut anyway to alleviate suspicion. They didn’t want anyone noticing right away. And, I found dried blood and hair on the leg of his desk.”

“Yeah, that’s bad. Did you ask around? See if anyone saw something?”

“That brings me to my next point. I wasn’t the only one looking for Alexandre.”

“What do you mean? Who else was there?”

“There’s a couple that have been staying at the inn. I noticed them our first morning there. Their names are Richard and Kiera, if that means anything to you.”

“No, unfortunately it doesn’t.”

“Tonight, I overheard them questioning one of the mess hall workers. She told them that she saw someone she didn’t recognize. She said there were about four or five. Carrying guns…”

“Which means they have ties to the militia. No other way to get those permits.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. The thing is, Philip and some of his men were shot. My guess: it’s the same guys. The mess hall lady said they weren’t in uniform, so probably some very connected bounty hunters.”

Corina sighs as though she’s about to deliver bad news, “Or special ops.”

“Special ops? What do you mean?”

“Well, with the rising levels of resistance here in Picayune, the Praetor must have requested special units from Hattiesburg. Highly trained. Dangerous guys.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. Why would Hattiesburg special ops be after me? How would they even know that I’m here?”

“They may not even know who you are. Philip ran a whole resistance cell. Alexandre’s been helping the resistance for years. Not everything is about you, Steven.”

“Do you really believe that? There’s no way the timing could be a coincidence.”

“I don’t know.”

“Can we just keep this between us for now? I don’t want to worry Alice until we know something for sure. For now, I need to get some sleep. I think we both should. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

“That’s probably best.”

“Do you think I should check on Alice first, or do you think she’d just punch me again?”

“If you try to talk to her tonight, she will probably hit you again.”

“You’re right. I should just let her be.”

“Now, I didn’t say that.” With a coy smile, Corina turns and waves goodnight.

I thought for a moment about what Corina had said. Alice is pissed at me, but she’s angry because she was worried about me. She had every right to be. From her perspective, what I did was reckless. I knew I could handle it, but I left her in the dark. I walk to the doorway Alice went through earlier, pausing for only a moment before pushing aside the canvas.

I’m about to get hit again.

The room is dark, but with the faint light from the sanctuary, I’m just able to make out Alice’s shape huddled in the far corner. Keeping the canvas pulled for light, I drop my pack and dig out the blanket I had tucked away. Without a word, I walk over to Alice and unfurl the blanket. I sit down next to her, leaning against the wall, and cover the both of us.

With a quick thump to my shoulder, “Idiot.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good.” Without another word Alice scoots close, leaning her head against my shoulder.

*****

Alice and I must have fallen asleep sitting on the floor of that side room. We both awoke when the sunlight began shining through the tent in the main hall, still in the same position from last night. I look up to see Corina standing in the doorway with a satisfied smirk dancing across her face.

“Come on, you two, we have a job to do.”

Alice and I slowly rise from our frankly uncomfortable arrangement. My entire body feels like one big knot. As I stand up, I rub my sternum, finding it quite tender from Alice’s punch. Say what you will about her, but she knows how to hurt someone when she needs to.

Once Alice and I shake off the soreness from sleeping on the floor, we join Corina and the others in the sanctuary. I looks like Corina’s cell came through. Around a large table in the center of the room stand Corina, two other women and a man. Laid out on the table is all the paperwork from Philip’s office and a map of the city.

“Oh, finally.” Corina calls out when she sees us. “Good morning.”

“Mmm. G’morning.” I grunt in response, rubbing my neck.

“Morning.” Came Alice’s answer.

Once we join the crew around the table, Corina goes around introducing our new team. Corina stands at the head of the table. I stand to her right with Alice next to me. Starting from Corina’s left, there are Isabella Perez and Mateo Desoto, a Spanish-speaking brother and sister who joined the cause after the Praetor executed Isabella’s husband. To their left, Gracie Kingston, a dark-skinned woman who once served as a Praetorian guard here in Picayune. Which means, she knows the ins and outs of militia life. She’s going to be a huge asset for this job.

For the next few hours, we discuss the plans for tonight, going over strategies and contingencies for several possible complications. Our basic plan is to break up into two teams: Corina, Isabella, and Mateo on one, Alice, Gracie and I on the other. The warehouse is an ancient building set in among several newer militia operated structures. Around the compound is a high chain link fence with only two gates, both well-guarded. One gate is on the northwest corner, the other on the south side. Corina’s team is to sneak around behind the compound to the fence outside the old loading dock, subduing the few guards there.

Our team is supposed to give CP the signal at the south gate where they’re stationed. Once we’re inside, our job is to subdue the rest of the guards, get them tied up in the warehouse, and help Corina’s team load up. We start after the evening guard swap. Our window is only couple of hours, but if we time it right, the rest of the militia should be none the wiser.

Once we’re out of the compound, we deliver the goods to a new resistance safe-house. That’s where they will stay, under constant supervision, until the heat dies down. Once the others are sure they’re in the clear, they’ll start moving the supplies wherever they feel they’re needed most. Food. Guns and ammo. Medical supplies. If the inventory is right, and we can pull this off, the resistance will have a fighting chance. Plus, that amount of non-perishable food could feed a small army.

The tough part is going to be convincing CP to trust us enough to come with us. They’re expecting Philip, which will cause its own set of problems. Plus, this op would probably compromise CP’s cover whether or not we needed to interrogate them. However, getting them to see it that way could prove difficult. I hope CP has the answers I need, or at least another clue how to get them.

All in all, executing this plan should be pretty simple. Get in, take down some guards, get the supplies, and get out. I mean, we all know it’s not going to be that simple. It never is.

By the time we were all up to speed, the sun had risen close to its peak. At this point, I am getting very hungry. We have a few hours before we need to gear up, so…

“So, where’s the closest place to get some food?”

“Aren’t you two on the run?” came Gracie’s admonition.

“Yeah. But I’m hungry. I’m sure someone in this resistance cell has to know somewhere discrete to get some grub before a job. Right?” Gesturing around the table. “Right?”

After a moment of silence, “Yeah, I know a place. Come on.” This time it’s Mateo who speaks up.

“Fantastic. I’m famished.” Alice nudges me and flashes a smile.

I run to grab what little money I had stashed away in my pack before rejoining the party.

*****

Almost everyone decided to join us for lunch. All except for Corina who had to duck out and head to her clinic. She figured she should make an appearance there so as not to arouse suspicion.

Mateo guided us to a little hidden saloon not far from Corina’s campsite. Mateo told us that the business is just a cover for some black market spice trading, but the food is pretty good. After all, the spice trade yields some good funding. He wasn’t wrong about the food. And, because Mateo is acquainted with the owner of this establishment, we were able to get our meal at a discount.

Today’s special: two hardboiled eggs, chicken fajitas complete with onion and bell pepper, and a side of Spanish rice. It’s definitely the best meal I’ve had in a long time.

The five of us sat together in a side room out of sight, eating our veritable feast. We actually took the time to get to know each other. Not our stories. Those were too dangerous to discuss in the open. However, we did find some common ground, and ended up laughing, carrying on like old friends.

We bonded and feasted. For tonight, could be our last. Probably not though. Our plan is pretty solid.