Fredric Shernoff - Atlantic Island

Too late to worry about that now, he thought. Theo waited in line with the other men from his room. The four of them knew what they had to do: get every man in the room on board with the plan for the evening. The plan itself was full of potential risk and room for slipups. Theo had to convince people that the risks were worth taking, and he had to hope that Tony, Wes and Jason could do the same.

He kept an eye on the other men throughout the meal, as he talked to the five at his table. He could feel the guards who surrounded the room watching him, though it was impossible to tell under what Bill called the “death masks,” black glass and carbon fiber helmets shaped like a cross between the head of a robot and a skeleton. Theo tried to concentrate on the conversation. He had not been sure he would be given an opportunity to speak, but that proved not to be a problem. Somehow, word had spread about the arrival of the mysterious Theo Essex, the teenager who had resisted Tiberius. The men at his table looked at him in a way he imagined celebrities would recognize immediately.

The men saw him as the one who would save them, and Theo used that to his advantage, carefully firing the men up for the night’s uprising. When he had finished giving what he thought was a fairly inspirational speech, he sat back and waited to see how the men would respond.

“You’re telling me that my wife is going to war with Tiberius tonight?” one asked.

“Yes, that’s probably right,” Theo said.

“Well if she can be brave enough for this, so can I. I’m in, Theo.”

The other men shared similar assent. Now came the important part. “I need you guys to go sit elsewhere. Pretend you don’t want to have to sit with the new kid. Spread around the room and tell everyone what I told you. This is our one chance to share the plan.”

The men listened, jumping up from the table. One yelled out, “Fine, new kid, see how you like sitting by yourself!” Theo saw the guards move their hands to their guns, watching the men carefully, but the men simply went to new tables, sitting all around the room. Theo made eye contact with Tony and they nodded at each other. The word was moving around the room. Tonight, the wrongfully jailed citizens of Atlantic Island would fight back.

Theo finished his lunch in silence. In the back of his mind it occurred to him that this might be the last meal he would be able to eat for a while, possibly forever. If so, he was going to enjoy every bite as best he could. He hoped Kylee and his friends were enjoying their meals and not worrying too much about the rebellion. Worry would do nobody any good. This had to happen. Whether it succeeded or not was not for him to decide. He would simply do the very best he could.

Kylee knew things were going too well. The rebels had progressed past ten streets without so much as a stray animal running by, not that many animals were left alive on the island. She felt her confidence in herself and the mission growing with each cleared block. And yet, a voice in the back of her mind said, this is all too easy. It can’t possibly continue this way.

And so it was that when the sniper fired the first shot of the war and dropped one of her soldiers to the ground, that voice spoke behind the panic. Told you so.

The sniper’s gun made no sound, at least not one that could be heard over the marching feet and squeaking SUV wheels. Kylee only knew something had happened when the women around the victim of the shot screamed.

“Sniper!” someone yelled.

Kylee snapped into action. “Spread between the buildings! Off the streets! Everybody, now!”

The rebels disbursed quickly, ducking for cover. Suddenly, a noise from the side of the supply wagon. A bullet had missed one of the women surrounding the vehicle and embedded itself in the rusty metal side. Kylee pointed toward the side of the street from which she now knew the bullet had been fired. Bill and Joseph, the only part of the inner circle still near her, both nodded and bolted in that direction. Kylee followed them, watching as she went to make sure the army was properly covered.

She hated leaving their supplies out in the open, but she knew that despite the attack from either a roof or maybe a second story window, there was no way for the enemy to get to them by the streets. The rebels still had all directions covered. Kylee was proud as she saw the women taking positions in the shadows. They were not panicking, despite the loss of one of their own, a friend now lying dead in the middle of the street.

She followed Bill and Joseph to a partially demolished store on the edge of the circle Tiberius was clearing. She had been prepared for the bright lights of the demolition zone, fully expecting some kind of reaction from the construction crews as the small army moved past. She had even anticipated that there might be an issue with a Security Force presence in the area.

Kylee realized she hadn’t known they were approaching the construction zone because the spotlights were turned off. The crews were not working. Was it possible that Tiberius had anticipated their attack? It seemed unlikely. If he had, they would have faced the full Security Force and their problems would be infinitely more complicated. This was some kind of unfortunate coincidence.

The back door to the remaining half of the shop was wide open. She motioned silently to Bill and Joseph. They checked inside the door and Bill flashed her an “okay” gesture. She walked past them, her M16 at the ready.

Something was very wrong with this situation. A woman was dead because Kylee hadn’t anticipated that the demolition zone would be shut down for the night. She was ashamed that she didn’t even know which woman it had been. Why would Tiberius call all the crew and guards off the job site, unless… was it possible that he intended to do something tonight? Something involving Theo, and he didn’t want anybody to miss it. As Kylee led the way up the stairs, she became convinced that she was right. All the more reason to take care of this problem and keep on moving.

On the second floor of the building, only one door was open. Kylee pointed, and Bill and Joseph moved carefully into position on either side of the opening. Bill leaned his head over to peer through the doorway. He pulled back quickly and nodded at Kylee. The sniper was in there. Waiting for the rebels to spread back out into the street.

Kylee pointed to Joseph and at the door. Joseph nodded. The three of them exchanged glances, assuring that all were ready. Joseph made his move. He stepped into the room with his gun pointed.

“Do not move,” Joseph said in his thick accent. Kylee and Bill followed into the room. The sniper had set up his nest by one of the windows. He was frozen in a modified pushup position. He must have been startled and had started to get to his feet when he registered Joseph’s command and stopped.

Kylee approached the sniper. He was wearing his helmet. Theo had been sure the helmets contained some kind of night vision capability, and she was now inclined to agree. “I’m going to ask you turn around. When I do, you will get up and turn to face me, as slowly as possible. I want your hands up behind your head. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand,” came the response, slightly muffled by the helmet.

“Okay. We’re going to do this on three. One. Two.”

The man spun to a seated position. Kylee was caught off-guard and had just enough time to register the pistol in the sniper’s hand. She heard the bang of a gun firing. She looked down, expecting to see a hole in her chest. She saw nothing… felt nothing. She looked back up. The sniper was dead, folded over onto his back. A hole was smashed in the glass over one side of his mask. She looked over at Bill. He had a shocked look on his face, and he pointed toward Joseph.