Kyle West - Darkness

“Land us inside the walls and we can storm their base,” Rey said.

“This is dependent on finding Carin Black,” Ashton said, fixing Rey with an intent stare. “Such an attack would be foolish if Carin was not present in the building at the time.”

This much was true. It was Carin Black that we were after. As long as he was dead, taking the rest of the gang down would be easy. At least, we could only hope.

“I agree with Ashton,” Cain said, his blue eyes cold. He leaned over the table, propping himself with his right forearm. The beginnings of a gray beard, thicker than Rey’s, covered a square jaw. “He has a point. We might need to be sneakier at first. Find out where Carin stays. Where he goes during the day. And how we might take him out.”

Jade, who sat next to Cain, snickered, his wet eyes widening with glee. He drew his index finger across his thin neck in the universal symbol of murder.

Even if taking out Carin Black with an assassination was probably a better idea than storming his gates, the fact that Jade was behind the idea made it unappealing to me. The guy made me feel slimy just by looking at him.

“Assassination,” Makara said, testing the word.

“I want to be the one to gut him,” Anna said. “He destroyed my life. The least I can do is destroy his.”

Makara met her eyes. “You will have to contend with me for that.”

“Deal,” Anna said. “We both have equal claim — whoever is first gets the prize.”

Makara nodded. “But no sneaky stuff. I want him to see me as I stab him in the heart.”

Michael and Julian looked from Anna to Makara uncomfortably. I wasn’t sure if they were aware of the story behind why both Makara and Anna hated Carin Black so much — but even though I knew the story, this was getting to be a little much.

“Let’s try to focus on the specifics,” I said. “And not get caught up in something that may or may not happen. Black has to die; that much is clear. But I’d be happy just blasting the Reapers’ main base to bits with a few well-placed missiles.”

All of the men nodded — I hadn’t expected them to agree with me so readily, but I could see why. If we just did things my way, no one would have to risk themselves. If we had the resources to attack from a distance and not get anyone hurt, then why wouldn’t we do it that way?

“Perhaps a mix of the two tactics would work best,” Char said, coming out of his silence. “We could have people on the ground, spotting for Carin Black. Upon confirmation of his location, we could fire the missiles.”

Makara shook her head. “But how will we know he’s truly dead if we use missiles? His body might be blown to bits, but we wouldn’t know it. I want no chance of this scum escaping. That means me looking him in the face as I watch every ounce of life drain from his eyes.”

“Besides,” Anna said. “A lot of innocents could get hurt in such an attack. Their headquarters will be filled with slaves and innocent people.” She shook her head. “That should be a last resort.”

“The kid has a good plan,” Rey said. “And Char was right, too. A few people on the ground to spot Black. An attack from the air once his location is confirmed.” Rey made a gun with his right hand, shooting it. He smiled. “It’s easy.”

I thought about Anna’s point. Having innocents killed wasn’t something I had considered. The gang lords seemed to have no qualm with it, however.

“Whatever we end up doing,” Anna said, “I want to be in the thick of it.”

“Why?” Cain asked. “So you can go commando and get your revenge?”

Anna said nothing.

“You need to rest up, anyway,” Makara said. “And I need you to pilot one of the ships. You getting in the thick of it won’t be happening.”

“Aren’t you needed to pilot as well?” Anna asked.

Makara did not have an answer for that.

“Look,” Char said, “what matters is knocking off Carin. And we need to do it quick since we’re running on several clocks here.” Char held up a finger. “One is the food clock. We have two weeks until we run out.” Char raised a second finger. “Second is the Empire clock. Augustus will be arriving soon with his legions. We need to take the Reapers down before he arrives.” Char held up a third, final finger. “Then there’s the last clock — the xenovirus clock. The Blighters are pressing farther and farther west. Los Angeles won’t stay safe for long, even when we take control of it. We’ll have to be quick about rallying all of the gangs there, and take the fight to the Great Blight. And it would help to have Augustus on our side for that.”

Makara had been about to protest, but the idea that Char had presented, of Augustus helping us, had silenced her.

“Yeah,” Marcus said, coming out of his silence. “Char and I have talked about it a bit and I know I’m the last person you’d expect to bring it up. But there it is. We need him. We need all those soldiers he has. Instead of fighting each other, Augustus could be useful in attacking the Great Blight.”

“He’d never agree,” Makara said. “Samuel already tried to convince him, but he will only help if we hand him the Wasteland.”

“Which will never happen,” Rey said.

The other Vegas gang lords nodded their agreement.

A nervous giggle escaped Jade’s throat. “I’m starting to wonder whose side you and your brother are on, Char. I suggested this same move back in Vegas and I was nearly driven from the town.”

“I’m on humanity’s side,” Char said. “Territory will do us no good if we’re all dead.”

“It’d rather be dead than lose my honor,” Cain said.

Suddenly, the conference room erupted in arguing. Marcus and Char shouted down the rising protests of the Vegas gang lords. Makara sighed and turned her head, arms folded. Ashton stood, holding out his arms in an attempt to regain order. Michael and Julian watched on, silent.

The one I watched was Grudge, who had been entirely silent, which was unlike him. He now started speaking, not even yelling, and everyone broke off their arguing and began to listen to him mid-thought.

“…go to, and we can just fly to the Crater and…”

“Slow down,” Char said, his voice gravelly. “You’re going to have to start from the beginning. We didn’t catch that first part.”

Grudge stared at us all with his dark, brown eyes. This man had saved us in Bunker 84, and we all owed him a massive debt. Maybe that was why we listened.

“What I don’t understand,” Grudge said, “is why we don’t go to the Crater and blow it up.”

Everyone was struck silent by his words. Go to the Crater? Now? Would that even work?

“We have nukes, right?” he asked. “Why not use them? Blow those aliens to hell, back to wherever they came from. It’s a worth a shot, right?”

No one said anything. It was hard to tell if people were actually listening to him or if the idea was so stupid that we were all left dumfounded.

For some reason, I thought of the Wanderer. What would he think of that? He had said it all depended on me. I was the one who had to infect Askala, the Radaskim Xenomind, with the Elekai version of the xenovirus. Without that, well — anything, even a nuclear strike, would be pointless.

Yet, Grudge did have a point. Maybe a nuke wouldn’t outright kill the Radaskim, but it could severely weaken them.

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Grudge asked, looking at all of us. His eyes were bright and shining, and for some reason, they reminded me of a child pleading with his parents for something he really wanted.