Sabotage (Powerless Nation Book 3) (12 page)

Dee wasn’t, but she nodded. The sooner they rescued their friends, the sooner they could get back to normal. Whatever normal meant these days.

She thought over their plan. Using the metal snips from Hester they would cut a hole in the fence and sneak in. They were going to get into the warehouse through an unguarded door, distribute the guns, and then quietly get everyone out through the fence. It was too far on foot to Lookout Falls, so they were going back to Hester’s.
 

There were holes in the plan, of course, but it was the best they could come up with.

“I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” said Dee. “Let’s go.”

Mason moved toward the door and then paused. “One last thing. If there’s any trouble and one of us gets caught, the other needs to get back to town. We have valuable information. We know where everyone is being held, and where Hester’s house is.”

“We’re not going to get caught,” said Dee. “Come on.”

“Wait. Do you promise? If I get caught you’ll go back without me?”

Dark clouds covered the sky. The only light was a flicker from the distant fires. “Fine, whatever,” Dee said. “Let’s go.”

At the fence, she kept watch while Mason clipped a hole in the fence. He muttered a curse and Dee looked to see what was wrong.

“I dropped the stupid wire cutters,” he growled.

“Get them and keep going.”

“No, I dropped them
inside
the fence. They fell in through the hole.”

“Can you reach them? We could get a branch or something and lift them back out.”

“No,” said Mason, wiping his hands on the legs of his jeans. “I’m going over. It’ll be faster.” He slung the duffel bag of guns over his shoulder and was halfway up before she could protest. Dee was sure the metallic rattling of the fence could be heard for miles. She held her breath, but no one raised an alarm. Mason dropped on the other side. When he landed, his hurt leg almost buckled beneath him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he whispered. “Do you see the wire cutters?”

Dee pointed to where they’d fallen in the dirt behind him. He turned too abruptly and his weakened ankle twisted under him. With a sharp intake of breath he windmilled his arms and fell, sprawling against the woodpile. The duffel bag clattered to the ground, spilling its contents. Handguns and boxes of ammo went everywhere.

Mason cast about frantically in the dim light for the weapons while Dee held her breath. “Hold on,” she said, “I’m coming over.” She put her hands on the fence to scale it, but froze at the sound of voices. “They’re coming!” she whispered to Mason.
 

“Get out of here!” he hissed at her, shoving another gun into the bag.

“Mason, you have to hide!”
 

Mason scooped up the last gun, crammed the whole duffel bag into a crevice between a couple of logs, and dove behind the pile himself just as the beams from two flashlights came around the corner and flickered over the wood.

“I told you there was nothing here. Probably one of those coons crawling over the pile.”

“Isn’t this where that kid tried to break in?”

The vegetation grew close to the fence on the outside of the perimeter, and several large, ferny bushes shielded Dee from a casual glance. However, if they shined a light on this section of the fence they would see her.

She carefully took a step backwards and cursed her carelessness when the crack of a dry twig shattered the silence of the night. Both men immediately brought their guns up and pointed them in Dee’s general direction.
 

“Who’s there?”

Afraid they’d shoot her if she moved, Dee froze, while their lights edged closer to her position.

They were about to find her.

Then, from the darkness Mason’s calm voice said, “I’m coming out. Don’t shoot.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T
HE
MEN
SPUN
BACK
toward the camp at the sound of Mason’s voice. Dee was sick with a combination of relief and fear when they pointed their lights away from her.

“Come on out, kid. You might as well show yourself,” said one of the men in a tight voice. “We don’t wanna shoot you.”

Dee crouched down where she stood, afraid she’d make another sound.
 

Mason stood up from behind the log pile, hands high.

One of the men sneered. “It’s the same kid from the other night.” He prodded Mason in the chest with his gun. “If you wanted to join up so bad, you could have come in through the front gate.”

“I hope I’m not too late for dinner,” Mason quipped.
 

The other man guffawed. “You’ve got
cajones
, all right. Come on, we’re taking you to see the boss.”

“You’d better check him first,” said the man.

Mason submitted to the rough pat down without complaint. When they were satisfied that he was unarmed, they shoved him toward the camp. “Welcome to your new home, kid.”
 

Mason walked away without a backward glance and Dee wanted to cry. She should have been the one to surrender, not him. She tried to straighten from her crouched position and realized fear had sapped her strength. Her legs were so weak and wobbly, she could barely cross the short distance to the fence. A slight breeze chilled her and she discovered she was covered in a layer of sweat.

Dee set her hands on the wire links. Though the fence was at least ten feet high she knew she could make it. She tensed and prepared to climb.

 
Then she remembered her promise to Mason. Had she really promised? Technically, no, she hadn’t. She put a foot on the fence.
 

The sound of Mason’s voice was stuck in her head. Dee thought about how he sounded when he’d surrendered, and how deliberately he’d walked away from her. He wasn’t scared for himself. He was doing everything he could to protect her.
 

She couldn’t make less of his sacrifice by breaking her promise to him. Dee sighed and stepped away from the fence. She was going back to Lookout Falls.

*

Dee huddled on the cold, hard seat of the snowmobile and waited for a truck to drive by so she could start the engine without being detected. She hadn’t believed her luck when she’d found the snowmobile still hidden where they’d left it. Hopefully it would start.

She was exhausted, physically and mentally. She was cold too, but sleep was what she wanted. For just a few minutes she wanted to forget about everything that had happened. She rested her head on the handles of the machine, sleep weighing down her eyelids. Just a few minutes. The woods were so quiet that if anything drove past on the road she’d hear it. Dee let sleep drag her under.

The sting of sun on her eyelids snapped her awake. A truck roared past on the nearby road, and Dee caught glimpses of it through the trees. She had to get out of there before someone saw her.

She half-knelt on the seat, holding onto the handlebar with one hand. She used the other to press the throttle and then turned the key to the on position. She grasped the starter cord, wishing for the millionth time it had an electric start, and gave a pull. The engine groaned but didn’t turn over, so she tried again. With each pull of the cord she was sure someone would hear her.
 

The engine caught, and the snowmobile leaped forward abruptly, catching her off guard. Dee struggled to keep from falling off. Desperately, she grabbed for the other handlebar and yanked hard to the right, barely missing a collision with a tree.

Her near miss with the tree had brought her into the open where she was visible to the camp. Dee leaned heavily on the snowmobile and it made a sharp left turn. The front runners slid onto the road, just as several soldiers burst out of one of the buildings.

She opened the throttle to full, holding on for dear life while she raced back to Lookout Falls.

Dee got as close to the town as she dared on the snow machine, but it was too loud and she left it behind, hidden. She would go the rest of the way on foot, approaching the town through the forested area near the library. The ground was rough, and she hoped there would be enough cover to allow her to get close without being spotted. After that it would be tricky. The streets were bound to have guards and patrols.
 

Crouching next to a large boulder, she studied the path. Several boot prints caught her attention, but they were too small to belong to the soldiers. It looked safe enough. She started walking up the slight incline, scanning the trees and brush around her.
 

There was a sharp tug at her ankle and her feet were pulled out from under her. Dee landed heavily on her backpack in the snow, the air forced out of her lungs by the sudden impact.

She flailed in the snow, feeling like a turtle on its back. She tried to stand, but one of her legs wouldn’t obey. She pulled at it, panicked. When she realized she was caught in a snare she laughed in relief. The students must have forgotten to take down the traps after the fire at the library.

Dee had to take her gloves off to loosen the cord around her boot. After she freed herself, she headed toward the library again, blowing on her hands to warm them. She needed a plan for getting home and letting her parents know about the mill. Then she needed to get enough people together to launch an assault and free the prisoners.

Dee walked, lost in thought, until a loud clatter startled her. A soda can rolled to a stop in the snow. She stepped closer to get a better look at it. A cord was tied around the middle of the can and several coins spilled from the opening. She followed the cord and realized she’d tripped another wire which pulled it down. It was a crude alarm.

A sound ahead of her made her freeze: footsteps on compacted powdery snow.
 

Dee turned to flee.

“Dee, is that you? Wait!”

She checked her retreat at the sound of a familiar voice. “Harvey?” Dee blinked and looked again. Yes, it was the skinny chemist from her class. She took an inadvertent step backwards when the child launched a hug at her, almost knocking her down.

“It
is
you,” said the boy. “We thought you’d been caught.”

“We?” Dee looked around but didn’t see anyone else. “What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

“We can’t go home,” said Harvey. “We’re safer here.”

“At the library? Isn’t that kind of a strange place to hide?”

“Things got bad the day the
recruiting
started.” Harvey made air quotes around the word ‘recruiting’.

“How bad?”
 

“We should go in and talk about it.” Harvey scanned the area with wide eyes. “I get nervous out here. So far they don’t know about us, but Sena says we can’t take any chances.”

“Sena’s here too?” Dee said. Finally, some good news.
 

Harvey nodded. “She’s the one in charge.”

He led the way into the library through a back door and then to a book sorting room where a few other children were reading or napping. He asked someone to get Sena and then told Dee, “I like it in here. No windows.”

“So what happened that day?” Dee asked.

“Remember how Downey said he was going to do a census and give everyone food?”

Dee nodded.

“It was an excuse to get everyone together in one place. The soldiers made people check their weapons at the door of the church, and then held them hostage while they did a search of the houses in town. They took a lot of the food and all of the guns.”

“I have a hard time believing Max and the militia surrendered their weapons that easy.”

“A few people fought back. But Dee, they have a tank.”

She thought back to her own terror that day, and she’d been watching from a distance.

“Plus,” Harvey added, “no one knew yet they were after the kids. By the time they found out, Downey had most of the guns.”

“So you think you’re safe here?” asked Dee.

“We should be okay unless the guards take a sudden interest in reading.”

“Dee!” Sena exclaimed, rounding the corner. “You’re here!” Sena hugged her. “We thought they’d caught you.”

“Not quite,” said Dee, remembering Mason’s sacrifice. She made a vague sweeping gesture with one arm. “What is all this? I hear you’re in charge.”

“Come on, I’ll show you.” Sena took her into the children’s section of the library and explained what had happened the day Downey took over. “After you left that morning, I came to the library for school. A lot of kids didn’t show up, but I knew there would be a few. When we heard the gunshots we knew we’d have to lay low for a while.”

Dee was impressed. For four days, Sena had kept thirteen kids hidden right under Downey’s nose. “I can’t believe you’ve been here this whole time.” Dee took a closer look at Sena, noting the dark circles etched under her eyes. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll get caught?”

“It’s better than being a prisoner.”

“What are you doing for food?”

“Well, we run the trapline. And some of the parents sneak in food and water for their kids when they can and we share it.” Sena lowered her voice. “I don’t know how much longer we can do it though. The kids miss their parents, especially the little ones. Everyone is homesick, and they’re so scared. I’m afraid someone is going to give us away.”

“You can’t let that happen. I’ve seen Downey’s prison camp. He’s brainwashing children to be his own private army.”

Sena met Dee’s eyes with hostility. “Don’t you think I’m doing my best? Some of these kids are just too little. They’re always cold, and they never get enough to eat. If they were home with their families maybe they’d have a better chance.”

Dee shook her head. “If their parents thought that, they’d come get them. I’m here now and I’ll help too. I promise I won’t try and burn down the library this time,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
 

“That’s one thing I haven’t had to worry about,” Sena smirked. “Thanks to your stellar example, not a single kid has suggested we start a fire inside.”

“Is my family okay?” Dee asked. “I have to go see them. I’m worried about Grandpa.”