Summer Lane - State of Chaos

Chris takes both of my hands in his.

“That’s why people like you. You’re human, but you try to do the right thing no matter what.” His eyes flick to the edge of camp, where the women are doing their daily food preparation. “Always try to do the right thing. Go with your gut instinct.”

“I’m not a leader like you are.”

“Yes, you are. Just in a different way.” His expression softens. “You give good advice, too. I’ll see if I can get in contact with the Rangers’ leader. It might be helpful if we combine forces at some point. But until then, we need to get ready to hit that supply depot.”

“How far away is it?”

“About twenty miles. It’s out of the foothills. On the edge of the valley outside a little town called Sanger.” He looks at me. “Are you up for that?”

I roll my eyes. Leaving the safety of the hills is a major risk.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just thought I’d ask,” he chuckles, standing up. “We should hit it soon, before they get a chance to set everything up completely. They’ll be beefing up security anyway because of what we’ve been doing in the area, plus the area will be crawling with Omega patrols.”

I agree. Ever since the Freedom Fighters have started fighting back against Omega, more militia groups have formed. All people needed to see was one group taking the initiative and hitting back at the enemy. Omega’s got an entire state full of rebels and guerilla fighters on their hands these days. It can’t be easy being an invading army. Not with people like us around.

But what I haven’t said out loud is that Omega is gearing up to receive backup. Sophia and I figured that out a long time ago when we were imprisoned in the labor camp. It’s obvious they’re going to need more manpower if they’re going to kill off the rebels completely, anyway. Chris knows this. I know this. Most of the people in this militia know it.

The question is, what will we do when Omega’s backup does arrive?

What kind of backup is it going to be? Where will it come from?

Can we survive it?

The Mountain Rangers are hard to contact. Just like our militia, everything is kept anonymous and secret, because let’s face it: you can’t trust anybody these days. Of course, I didn’t trust anybody before the EMP, either. But that was just me. Now everybody has come down to my level.

Ironic.

The Underground is an efficient but slow means of communication, and it will take a few days to find out if they want to have a pow-wow with Chris about joining forces. Until then, our focus is the supply depot that Omega is setting up. It’s located on the edge of Sanger, about twenty or so miles away from Squaw Valley. Because we’ve moved our campsite farther into the hills, it will be a little bit more of a journey for us to reach the depot in our trucks. It will also be hard to be stealthy, because once we leave the shelter of the hills, we’ll be out in the open. Wide grassy plains aren’t that great for our style of fighting, but Chris will find a way to make it work.

The best thing we can do is take away Omega’s food, water, fuel and ammunition. What Chris likes to call the “meat and potatoes” of war. Because that’s the one thing that everybody needs to stay alive. That’s why hitting supply depots are so important. And we’re getting better and better at it.

My dad would be proud.

And shocked. I don’t know if he ever expected me to amount to anything. I mean, sure, I’d planned on getting a degree in criminal justice before the EMP hit and the world went down the drain, but at the time I had no way to attain that goal. No money, no job, no friends, no family. I was a speck of nothing in a big world that was passing me by.

Now I have a purpose, at least.

As we gear up for the journey down the mountain to hit the Omega base in the nearby valley city of Sanger, my nerves are all over the place. I give an Oscar-winning performance of calmness for Chris and the rest of the camp, but on the inside, I’m being eaten alive with anxiety. We’ve never tried to attack a target this big before, and we’ve really never tried to hit anything outside of the foothills.

Something about this whole mission seems… off .

Go with your gut instinct, Chris told me. But my gut instincts aren’t like his. Mine are tainted with fear and raw nerves, which makes the “instinct” a little hard to decipher. How do you know what’s real and what’s not?

I’m guessing this is why I’m not in charge.

The night we’re supposed to carry out our mission on the supply depot finally rolls in. Chris is wound tight — more so than usual. My stomach is tied into knots. Even Alexander seems tense about the situation. I guess it’s natural. We are wandering out of our comfort zone this time.

“Maybe we should just wait and see if the Rangers will help us,” I suggest to Chris. We’re waiting by our pickup truck, checking our gear. “This is a big target. We’ve got a lot of men, but backup could never hurt, right?”

“We don’t have time to wait around for the Underground to bring us a message back from the Rangers,” Chris replies, tugging on his jacket collar. “I want to hit the depot before they’ve got everything completely mobilized. Before they get everything set up. We can’t wait.”

I sigh.

“I just have a bad feeling about this one, Chris.”

He presses his lips together, meeting my gaze.

“Don’t let fear back you into a corner,” he warns. “This is new for us, so it’s intimidating. But we’re more than capable. You know that.”

“I know. But—”

“—No. Cassie, remember what I said about people respecting you? You’re an example. Don’t let people see you being afraid. Be brave. Even if you don’t feel that way.”

I nod, blinking back tears.

“Yes, sir.”

He traces my cheek with the back of his hand.

“We’ll be fine.”

How many times are we going to have to go through this kind of scene? I guess that’s what war does to you. It’s repetitive. It’s also terrifying. Going to college and getting my criminal justice degree would have been a lot easier than this.

Leave it to me to do things the hard way.

“Be careful,” Isabel says.

She’s wrapped up in an oversized windbreaker. Her wild blonde hair is sticking up in every direction, and her baby blue eyes are tinged with red. She’s as tired as the rest of us, despite the fact that she doesn’t do any fighting. Living in an active warzone is enough.

“We will be.” I give her a hug. “Take care of everything until we get back.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“We should be back by morning.”

Chris musses up her hair.

“See you, kid.” He gives her a smile and walks to the center of the camp. It’s time to run through the plan one more time before we move out. I walk around the edge of the ring, spotting Harry in the crowd. He’s talking animatedly to somebody, but he’s too far away for me to make out what he’s saying. I inch closer, straining to hear. Chris steps into the middle of the circle and starts speaking.

“This will be the biggest target we’ve hit to date,” he says. “Let’s go through the plan one more time and make sure everybody’s completely clear on what they’re supposed to do…”

The man that Harry’s talking to has his back turned to me, and I can’t see who it is in the darkness. I weave through the crowd, trying to concentrate on Chris’s speech and Harry’s movements at the same time.

“…You just watch yourself,” I hear.

Harry’s gaze snaps to the left. He sees me. He stiffens and mutters something under his breath. The man he’s talking to turns around, glaring at me. Alexander Ramos. I suck in my breath. Harry takes a few steps backwards and melts into the crowd, throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder.