Nathan Jones - Determination

Trev barely recognized her. The Deb he knew from Newtown had only been a few years older than him, friendly and energetic and just a tad bit plump. Now she looked like she was in her 40s, gaunt and listless and with her brown hair hacked short and brittle as straw from prolonged malnutrition.

She’d cringed away fearfully in spite of herself when he came close, even when she thought he was here to help, and her face bore the marks of old bruises. She was also hunched slightly around her stomach as if in pain.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what she’d been through. “How did you end up here?” he asked incredulously.

Other prisoners were crowded the mesh walls of their cages nearest to him and Rick, and before Deb could answer another prisoner cut in. “I’m with her,” the man said hoarsely. “Set me free and I’ll strangle the first blockhead I find and take his gun, even if I get shot trying.” There was a quiet but desperate chorus of agreement. Not all of the prisoners chimed in, but most did.

“Trev, Rick?” Lewis’s voice came in their earbuds. “Did you shake the patrol? I’m setting the detonator now.”

“Get outside and play sentry,” Trev told Rick as he toggled his mic. His friend nodded and took the blockhead’s rifle, then slipped out the door. “I’m here, Lewis. We shook the patrol, I think, but we had to hide in the barn. There’s over two hundred prisoners in here.”

There was an uncomfortable pause. “And?” Jane asked.

Trev glanced at Deb, who’d sank to her knees as if too exhausted to stand. “They want to try to escape. They say they’d rather die than stay prisoners.”

“We talked about this, Trev!” Lewis snapped. “You realize that if they try they will die. All of them, and us too!”

He realized that, of course. Blast, why’d they have to use the barn to hide? He could’ve kept ignoring the prisoners if he didn’t have to see their plight directly. Caged like animals, starving and bruised and exhausted from hard labor. He couldn’t walk away now. “Yeah, probably. But I know some of these people, Lew.”

“So get them out and try your luck with just a handful. Although even that’s probably suicide.”

“What do you think the rest will do then?” Trev took a deep breath. “Listen. Set the detonator and get out. I’ll try to figure out something here, so if it doesn’t work at least it’s just me.”

“And me,” Rick chimed in. “It may be a horrible idea, but I won’t just walk away.”

His cousin swore. “I’m not leaving if you’re not. If you guys are going to be idiots, at least give us a chance to plan it out so it has a shot of working.”

Trev set his jaw. “I’m not going to get you guys killed over this.”

“Then start sneaking your way out of camp, just you and Rick,” Lewis snapped. Trev had no answer for that, and his cousin continued. “Thought so. Just give me a minute, okay. Sit tight, and don’t draw attention to yourselves.”

There was a slight pop as Lewis toggled off his mic. Trev turned back to the prisoners in the cages, who were all staring at him in silent expectation. “If you’re willing to take the risk, we’ll try to find a way to free you,” he said. “For now, though, stay quiet until we can figure something out. We only need to get you to the foothills west of here, and then you’ll be safe and protected by the United States Armed Forces.” Instead of a cheer there was something more like a mass exhalation, a sigh of relief from hundreds of mouths.

He looked down at Deb, who’d started to cry, and dropped down into a crouch in front of her. “Where’s the rest of the people from your town?” he asked gently.

“I-I don’t know.” She pulled her knees up against her chest. “We split up once we ran into the army coming from the south, to avoid their patrols. There were only a dozen of us in my group. Half were captured along with me and the blockheads left the others behind. I haven’t seen anyone I recognize in this barn with me.”

“How long ago were you captured? Up until about a month ago they were killing any US citizen they came across.”

Deb shuddered. “They did plenty of killing. I watched them shoot a woman right in front of me.” She pulled her knees tighter against her chest. “And we passed other groups who’d been gunned down by the blockheads. So many others.” Her voice dropped to the barest whisper. “Maybe they were the lucky ones.”

Trev waited, but her thoughts seemed trapped in a dark place. “But they didn’t kill you and these other people, though,” he said gently.

The haggard woman raised her head to look at him. “No,” she agreed. “No, they took any adults who were young and in good health. They’re taking us up north to work, they say.”

“You mean slavery?”

Deb laughed, mostly bitter but slightly hysterical. “They call it forced labor. Reparations for the Retaliation. But they’re not fooling anyone, even themselves. They certainly treat us like slaves.”

Trev nodded. “Mistreat you, you mean. I hardly recognized you at first.”

“Yeah.” She lifted a skeletal forearm to look at it. “There are worse things than being ugly in this camp. Small silver linings.”

He rested a comforting hand on the mesh near her, then stood. “All right, everyone. Let’s get these cages open.”

“We’re almost finished sabotaging their vehicles,” Trent was saying. “Shouldn’t be more than another few minutes.”

“And then we’re out,” Gutierrez added. “Sorry, Lewis. I’d love to see those poor people freed, but when I volunteered for this it wasn’t a suicide mission.”

“I understand,” Lewis replied, double checking the detonator’s wiring. As he’d hoped, the armory held a modest store of high explosives. “Be careful, you two.”

“He’s got a point,” Jane whispered after he’d toggled off his mic. She was busy stuffing grenades, handguns, and loaded magazines into two packs for them to take with them. At least some of the prisoners would be armed. “We should take time to plan this properly.”

“Maybe.” Done. Now all he needed to do was set the timer and get out. Once he figured out how much time to give them. “Unless the blockheads move the prisoners before then. Or this attack makes them triple their security and we never get another chance.”

She paused with a flashbang in hand. “This wasn’t part of the plan,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not ready to die.”

“Neither am I. Neither is Rick. And stupid as he’s being, neither is Trev.” He gave his wife the most reassuring smile he could. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen.”

He switched his radio to the main channel and toggled his mic. “Sergeant Davis, you there?”

There was a brief delay. “Same place I was when you left hours ago, Halsson. What’s up?”

“I could use a hand. Trev is about to commit suicide and get over two hundred US citizens killed.”

A new voice came over the radio, Harmon. “The blazes are you talking about?”

Lewis briefly described the situation. “I was thinking if we could make some noise we might have a better shot. When we blow the armory that’ll be a start, distracting them to the north, and you could distract them to the south. I know Peterson and Anders are still alive on the rise, but if you’re willing to start your attack against the blockheads there soon, you could save lives.”

“You want us to throw away our lives breaking prisoners out of the middle of a blockhead camp?” Harmon demanded.

“No,” Lewis replied, trying for calm. “But if anyone on our side already has an attack planned and is willing to speed up their timetable, it would help. Trev’s going to try no matter what.”