D. MacHale - Storm

“Yeah,” Kent said. “Another branch that’s at war with the Retros.”

Matt looked back and forth between his friends who stood next to him as if confused. “What are these kids doing here?” he asked nobody in particular. He didn’t sound annoyed; it was more like he genuinely didn’t understand.

“We picked them up yesterday evening,” one of his friends answered.

“Uh, I’m sorry, guys,” Matt said, speaking directly to us. “You’re welcome here, but we’ve set up some parameters. We all agreed that we’re not letting kids get involved.

Young people are way too valuable to the future of—”

“Whoa, whoa,” Charlotte called out and pushed her way to the front of the group to face Matt. “Let’s take a beat. First off, these aren’t babies. When we talked about protecting kids, we were talking about real youngsters.”

“Uh, yeah. Like them.”

Charlotte looked back, made direct eye contact with me, and smiled.

“I don’t care how old they are,” she said. “These young people have been through far more than any of us. They’ve had contact with the Air Force, or Retros, as they call ’em. They’ve been in the middle of huge battles between SYLO and these Retros. Turns out, this isn’t a one-sided war after all. The Navy is in on it too. It’s not just one rogue bunch causing trouble, it’s a flat-out civil war.” She had Matt’s attention. Charlotte reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic baggie full of red crystals. Ruby-red crystals. I heard Olivia gasp with surprise.

“Remember this stuff we took off of that fella who was snooping around here a week or so back? We had no idea what it was… but now we do, because of them. The Retros are feeding it to survivors. It gives folks impossible strength and speed and stamina. It’s like a steroid on steroids. And you know why they’re doing it? They’re making slaves out of survivors to help them rebuild. Trouble is, it eventually kills anybody who takes too much. So the way I see it, this confirms what you just said, Matt. These Retros don’t have a lot of manpower. They’re looking to their victims to do their grunt work. That’s good news, and we got it from these young people.”

I felt the eyes of the others on us, and it was making me uncomfortable.

“Let me put it to y’all simply,” Charlotte said. “They know a hell of a lot more about what’s going on than we do, so I’d say we’d be smart to let them do whatever it is they came here to do, because they may end up being the difference between us doing some good or getting slaughtered.”

Charlotte smiled at me, then looked back at Matt and added, “Now you go on with your little speech.”

Charlotte melted back into the crowd and stood next to me. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“No problem,” she replied under her breath. “Just don’t screw up.”

“I love you, Charlotte,” Matt said. “You’re a pain in my butt, but I love you.”

“I love you too, Matty,” Charlotte replied.

A nervous chuckle went through the crowd. It helped take some of the pressure off.

“All right,” Matt announced. “We’ll see what you guys can offer. If everything Charlotte says is true, you’re definitely going to be an asset to this operation.”

“What exactly is this operation?” Tori demanded. “We came a long way because you said you were going to fight back. It looks like you’ve got maybe six hundred survivors here.”

“Six hundred and fifty-two,” Charlotte called out.

“Sorry. Six hundred and fifty-two,” Tori repeated, shaking her head. “You have no idea what you’re up against. There are armies battling out there. Powerful, mechanized armies. We’ve been through an air-to-sea battle that dropped hundreds of planes and sank dozens of warships. These two forces are huge, they’re determined, and there’s nothing that six hundred and fifty-two people can do to stop them, no matter how angry or dedicated they are.

We came here to fight. To make a difference. From what I’ve seen so far, you’re just setting yourself up for a noble suicide.” The room fell deathly quiet. Matt nodded thoughtfully.

“I hear you,” he said without a trace of defensiveness. If anything, his smile was even more sincere. “You’re right. There’s no way we could go toe-to-toe in the kind of battles you’re talking about. But you’re assuming we’re talking about going to war.”

“So then what’s the point?” Kent asked.

“Like I said before, the Air Force—the Retros, as you call them—don’t have manpower. They have firepower. And we know where that firepower is coming from.”

“Where?” I blurted out.

“We know where they’re staging their raids from. It’s where the black fighter planes gather before taking off on their missions.

The thing is, there are incredible numbers of planes, but not a whole lot of people. They may be able to swarm entire cities, but we think they’ll have trouble protecting their own backs.”

“So you do want to attack the Retros?” I asked.

“There are only a few ways to damage an operation like that. It could be bombed from the air. We don’t have that ability. It could be invaded by an army. As you pointed out, we don’t have an army that’s capable of that. But there’s a third option.”

“Sabotage,” Charlotte declared. “We’re going to be like silent hunters. Snakes. They’ll never see us coming.”

“Small groups,” Matt said. “Demolition teams. No fanfare. No warning. We’ll enter and be gone before they knew we were there.”

“And take out hundreds of those damn planes at a time,” Charlotte said with relish. “By the time the fires are put out, we’ll have disappeared back into the desert, invisible until the next time we come calling.”

There were positive murmurs throughout the crowd. These people had all lost something, and if they had made this trek into the desert, they were ready for some payback. Tori said, “Will it be enough to stop them for good?” Matt shrugged. “Who knows? But it will hurt them, and it’s what we can do. That’s good enough reason to give it a try.”

“I like it,” Kent said with glee. “Where is this place?”

“Close enough for us to strike and far enough for us to stay hidden.”

Tori asked, “How soon do you plan on—”

“Cover!” came a terrified cry from a woman who ran into the courtyard. “Now!” Charlotte, Matt, and their friends all tensed up.

“What? Why? We’re not doing a drill now,” Matt said, confused. The mood had suddenly changed.

Did I sense true fear in his voice?

“No!” the woman yelled. “It’s real. They’re minutes away.” She backed out of the courtyard and took off running.

“What’s going on?” I demanded. Matt and the others looked stunned. There was a painfully long moment when it seemed as if they didn’t know what to do.

“Talk to me, Matt,” Charlotte demanded.

Matt snapped into focus. He had gone from a jovial big brother to a man with a mission.

“Bring them below,” he said without a hint of panic. “We’ll take cover with the other Chiefs.”

“How is this possible?” Charlotte asked, though I don’t think she expected an answer.

“Let’s hope we get the chance to find out,” Matt said. “Go, now!” Matt and his friends took off running. Most of the others followed.

The rest of us gathered together in confusion. We all looked to Charlotte for answers.

“What’s happening, Charlotte?” I asked.

“They’ve found us,” she said soberly. “The Air Force is attacking.”

The panic was on. Everyone scattered to find shelter.

Tori, Kent, Olivia, and I stayed with Charlotte. “We’ve gotta find Jon,” I said.