D. MacHale - Storm

“You’ve said that before. I don’t know. It’s hard to believe, but it sure makes it easier to accept that my parents were helping him.”

“It’s time!” Matt announced as he strode into the ballroom.

Everyone slowly got to their feet and stretched.

“Has everyone been assigned to a team?” he asked.

There were general grunts of agreement.

I looked at Tori. This was her chance to bail.

She reached out, took my hand, and gave me a small smile.

I didn’t know if she trusted me any more than before, but at least this meant we would be together until the end. I’d take the victories where I could get them.

“Everyone has a starting position?” Matt called out.

Same response.

I looked at the number I was given. Number six. We would be leaving in the sixth wave.

“Good,” Matt said. “There’s nothing more to say but… good luck. I’m proud of you all. Group number one, come with me. I’ll come back to fetch the next group shortly.”

He strode out of the room as four people hitched up their packs and headed after him. The rest of the room broke out in spontaneous applause. It was a heroes’ sendoff.

“This is really going to happen,” Tori said.

“Sure is!” Kent announced as he joined us.

Olivia was right behind him with wide, nervous eyes.

“I gotta admit,” Kent said. “I wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m looking forward to this mission. It’s gonna feel good to kick those guys where it hurts. Thanks for talking us into this, Tucker.”

Olivia winced as if she had been hit in the stomach. She didn’t offer me any thanks.

“The main thing we have to do is stay together,” I said. “Let’s make sure we can always see one another.”

“Don’t worry,” Kent said, as cocky as ever. “I’ve got our back, whether you think so or not.”

“Thanks,” I replied. What I didn’t say was, “We’d better stay together, because if any of you sneak off, I’ll know that you’re going to try to warn the Retros.”

One by one the teams were called out of the ballroom. Each group got their own round of applause and cheers of encouragement.

During one cheer I leaned in to Tori and whispered, “Did they give you your gun back?”

She nodded.

That was reassuring.

“Team number six!” the escort called.

“That’s us!” Kent announced. “Saddle up!”

“Oh God,” Olivia blurted out.

As we walked from the room, we got the same applause as the others.

Kent waved to the room like he was some hero who had actually done something to deserve it. Idiot.

The escort led us first to the hotel lobby, where Cutter was waiting with four small backpacks, each holding ten charges.

“You’ve got your maps?” he asked.

We all nodded.

“Take off at exactly sixteen thirty hours,” he said.

“When?” Kent asked, confused.

“Four thirty.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just say that?”

Cutter shot him a dirty look and said, “Once you hit the interstate, pick it up to eight-five miles an hour until you hit the exit point marked on your map. You should have all the charges attached and activated by twenty hundred, uh, eight o’clock. Then get on your horse and out of there, because thirty minutes later… boom.”

“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s all the instruction we get?”

“What more do you want?” he asked. “Get out of there fast . How’s that?”

I didn’t like Cutter. He was way too cocky, like he was putting on a show of being a Special Forces guy to impress us.

“Head outside. Charlotte has your ride.” He then held out his hand to shake and said, “Good luck, son.”

He said it with absolute sincerity and no bluster. That simple gesture made me realize he was just as nervous about what was about to happen as everybody else.

I shook his hand and said, “Thanks. Same to you.”

He shook each of our hands. Olivia actually gave him a hug. He wasn’t ready for it and was stiff at first, but then loosened up and gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

“I’m sorry you kids have to do this,” he said. “But I’m proud that you are. You guys are already heroes. It’s an honor to serve with you.”

Olivia broke away, and we all headed outside.

Tori whispered to me, “Okay, maybe he’s not such a tool after all.”

We walked out of the front doors of the hotel, where Charlotte stood in the driveway beside a green Range Rover.

“All gassed up and ready to go,” she announced cheerily.

We put our gear in back, and I went right for the driver’s side.

“I’ll drive, Tori navigates,” I announced with authority. I didn’t leave any room for discussion.

Charlotte was waiting for me at the driver’s door.

“Any questions, pardner?” she asked.

“Only about a million.”

“I’m sorry, Tucker. I should have seen through Jon’s act.”

“That makes all of us,” I said. “We spent a lot more time with him.”

“But I’m supposedly the expert. It was my job.”

She glanced out to the street and the devastation that Jon had brought on. When night fell, it would get far worse.

“I can’t believe I’m sending kids off to do something like this,” she said wistfully.

“Yeah, well, like you said: We may be young, but we’re not kids anymore.”

“I know, and it kills me.”

She reached out and hugged me.

“You’re incredible,” she said. “You all are. Please be careful.”

“We’ll see you afterward,” I said. “Somewhere. You realize this is just the beginning.”

“Let’s hope so,” she said.

She walked off to set up the next team, revealing Tori, who had been standing behind her.

“We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?” she asked.

“Looks like it,” I replied. “There’s just one thing I gotta know first.”

“What’s that?”

“Why the hell were y ou making out with Kent at the racetrack?”

Tori’s jaw dropped, and her eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment.

“You saw that?”

I smiled, which broke the tension.

She smiled back and shrugged. “I gave it a shot. What the hell? Big mistake. It was gross.”

“Kind of how I felt about being with Olivia in the shower.”

“Liar.”

“Guilty.”

“Hey!” Kent yelled, sticking his head out of the window. “We’re on a schedule.”

Tori gave me a killer smile and said, “Let’s go blow ’em away.”

As she hurried around to the passenger side, I gazed out at what was left of Las Vegas. Being part of this operation gave me a jolt of confidence that I hadn’t felt in, well, ever. At least not since my old life was destroyed. It was time for payback.

I got in the car, threw it into gear, and hit the gas.

It was a good feeling.

We were finally going on offense.

The desert is beautiful at sunset.

It was our second journey through the wide-open desolation, and it was just as breathtaking as the first. As the sun dropped toward the distant mountain range, long shadows crept and grew over the desert floor. The colors changed from multiple shades of amber to deep orange to purple and ultimately to black.

Unlike our tense, quiet journey across country, this trip was full of nervous chatter. The fear of a black Retro jet suddenly appearing over the mountains on its way to blasting us to dust made it difficult to fully appreciate the glories of nature.

“I’m feeling good,” Kent declared. “We’re gonna get in fast, do what we have to do, and get out even faster. Hit and run. Shock and awe. I’m feelin’ it.”He was terrified.

“Where do we go afterward?” Tori asked. “We’re pretty much on our own.”