Sabotage (Powerless Nation Book 3) (18 page)

“Don’t take too long,” said Hyrum, getting to his feet.
 

As he started to leave, Dee couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “Have you seen Mason? I thought—I mean, why didn’t he come with you tonight?”

Hyrum shifted his weight from foot to foot. “He had last minute work detail and couldn’t get away.”

“Work detail?” Dee stood up when she realized Hyrum wouldn’t meet her eyes. “That’s B.S. Where is he?”

Hyrum looked like he’d rather be anywhere but there. “Mason wants to talk to you about it in person.”

Dee clenched her fists. “It’s about that girl, isn’t it? I saw them together in the chow line.”

“It’s not what you think. There’s really nothing to worry about, I swear.”

“Then why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

“Because I said I wouldn’t. Mason made me promise.”

“Will you at least tell me her name?” Dee demanded.
 

“What’s the point?” Hyrum gestured with a shrug and open palms. “She’s not from Lookout Falls. You don’t even know her.”

“Exactly. So there’s no reason you can’t tell me.”

“All right, fine,” said Hyrum, guiding her back to the chair. “But you have to promise you’ll calm down. Deal?”

Dee nodded.

“I’m going to make sure Mason finds you tomorrow. Then he can explain what the deal is with the girl. Her name is Amanda, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

Amanda.

Hyrum mistook her silence for calm, when in truth, her mind had gone into overdrive. Dee barely noticed him leave.
Amanda
. She was sure she knew the name. Then it hit her.

The love shack girl.

She looked for Hyrum, but he was nowhere in sight.
Chicken,
she thought.

She almost shouted after him, but stopped herself, knowing it could cause a panic in the barracks. Dee had to settle for imagining the shrub was Mason’s head.
 

And kicking it across the floor.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
AT
roll call, Sergeant Olmos looked at Dee’s plant and then at Dee. “Rough night, recruit?”

Dee stood silently at attention and didn’t respond. Olmos ignored her poor military etiquette, and a moment later, Dee understood why. Inches from her ear, a male voice shouted, “You’ll address your officers with respect!”

It was Downey. Dee was so surprised that she broke attention and stepped sideways.
 

Downey moved to the front of the group and spoke. “Thanks to your little escapade in town the other night,” Downey continued, “I’ve assigned you all latrine duty for a month in addition to your usual chores and training.”

Dee used to moan and complain when her mom told her to clean the bathroom. Now she’d give anything to be back home in Maryland, cleaning the luxury bathroom that was all hers. Running water, fluffy new sponges in crinkly plastic packaging, Scrubbing Bubbles, and an unlimited supply of paper towels.
 

It was nothing like the old blue Porta-Johns they used in camp. A big vacuum truck would normally have come to empty and clean them on a regular basis, but those were a thing of the past too. The recruits had to make do with tattered socks as sponges and melted snow for water. Soap was in short supply, but they were allowed to use a few drops of bleach in their bucket.
 

There was nothing anyone could do about the smell.

Cleaning the portable latrines would normally fall to a platoon once every couple of weeks. But every day for a whole month? Dee was impressed that the entire platoon of children answered, “Yes, sir!” in response to the bad news. Their moms wouldn’t recognize them.
 

For a moment she wondered what her own parents were doing. They’d barely gotten home from their cruise before things started falling apart in Lookout Falls.
 

Dee remembered her last conversation with her dad. It was ironic they’d been fighting over whether Dee could join Downey’s military force. Her dad hadn’t believed she was cut out for combat, and yet look at her now.

He’d been right about Downey though.

Downey gave the order for them to fall in behind him, and Dee kept her eyes fixed firmly on his back. She wished ‘shooting daggers’ at someone wasn’t just an expression.

They stopped when they got to one of the outbuildings that was being used for a garage. “I brought you all here to show you something,” said Downey. “A little surprise.”
 

Dee’s stomach sank at the smirk in his normally detached voice.

“Bring it out!” he hollered.

A large army truck roared to life and drove slowly out of the building. Dee wondered what the surprise was until she saw the lightning shaped symbol of the Resistance painted on the door. It was one of the trucks they’d sabotaged. It was working just fine.

Even though she tried to hide her disappointment, no doubt it was clearly visible in all their faces. Downey looked pleased. Dee wanted to slug him.

“That’s right,” he said. “It’s as good as new. Well, almost. It
will
be after you’ve finished scraping off that childish graffiti.”

Dee’s heart sank even lower. He wanted them to destroy the last evidence of Harvey’s dream.
 

“I can see a few of you are wondering about the other trucks,” said Downey. “Let me assure you they will be in prime condition in no time. I’ve got a new mechanic, and he says there isn’t an engine he can’t fix. Come on down here, Grease Monkey, and meet the kids that got you your promotion.”

The door of the truck opened and Dee gasped. The mechanic swinging down from the cab was Mason.

She took an inadvertent step toward him, her heart pounding. His long hair had been shaved short, and he was wearing a blue armband, showing he’d already been promoted once in the brief time he’d been there.

Some of the other children recognized Mason, and someone whispered, “…just like his stepdad.” Mason acted like he hadn’t heard, but a muscle jumped in his cheek.

Why
was
he working for Downey? The Resistance had given up so much, and now Mason was making their sacrifice meaningless by reversing what they’d done.

Olmos handed out steel wool and told them to get to work. Dee stood on the running board of the truck and scrubbed at the paint until her fingers were raw and aching. Then she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. She turned and found herself face to face with Mason.

Dee looked into his dark, sad eyes and her anger slipped away. She wanted to reach up and touch his short hair. No matter what he’d done, she knew she’d find a way to forgive him. She couldn’t stay mad at him. Not when he looked at her like that.

“There’s so much I need to tell you—” he began, but was cut off by the sound of Olmos loudly clearing her throat.

Dee glanced over Mason’s shoulder where Olmos was standing near the door, chatting with another soldier. “Back to work, Grease Monkey. You’ve still got four trucks to patch up.”

Mason spoke without turning to look at the officer. “Just bringing over more supplies.” He handed Dee a new piece of steel wool and pressed something else into her palm. He mouthed the words, “For later.”

Dee turned back to the truck before carefully tucking the things Mason had given her into a pocket.
 

Later that evening, exhausted from working on the trucks and then cleaning the bathrooms, Dee finally had a moment to herself. She felt around in her pocket and found a folded piece of paper.

Don’t give up on me. I love you. -M

The day’s exhaustion instantly drained away. Mason still loved her.

*

Dee thought it was a stretch to call a little bit of rice and soy protein a meal. She scooped up the food with two fingers and brought it to her mouth, careful not to spill a single grain, while she tried to find anyone she recognized in the mess area.

After the long day of paint removal and toilet scrubbing, Olmos had announced that Dee’s platoon could mingle with the other recruits after chow. They were thrilled, and most of the children lost themselves in the crowd, in search of siblings and friends.

Dee walked quickly, scanning the faces. The more she saw, the lower her heart sank. It was nothing like a school cafeteria. The kids were quiet, either speaking in whispers or not talking at all. Many of them stood alone, silently eating their rations, enjoying a moment of respite from the drills and shouting. Even though life had been hard after the EMP, it was better than this.

Children outnumbered the adults by a long way. Some of the soldiers didn’t even have guns. How did Downey control everyone so effectively? Fear tactics were a big part of it, she knew, especially in the beginning. And once he got the kids to his camp he used the arm bands to encourage youth leaders to take charge of the younger kids. Soon they would practically run the training camp themselves.

Dee found Kade and Sena standing with a group of students from the school. Sena talked while Kade scratched a diagram on the cold ground with a stick. One of the kids nudged Sena in the ribs and she looked up and saw Dee. Her smile of greeting was tinged with sadness and Dee wondered if she knew about Harvey.

“What are you guys working on?” Dee asked, clearing her throat, which had suddenly grown tight.

“Maybe you can help us,” said Kade. “We’re trying to get an idea of the layout of this place, but none of us have seen the whole thing.”

Dee studied the map and then smudged out some lines in the dirt with her boot and used the stick to draw new ones. “It’s more like this.” She indicated a point past a small cluster of buildings. “You’ve got the barracks and main office right, but over here the buildings are smaller and there’s equipment sitting around. Big piles of logs too.” She made an X near the back. “This is where Mason came over the fence.”

Sena stared at the spot. “That’s what I was wondering.” She turned to Kade. “I need to talk to Dee alone for a minute.”

“Sure,” said Kade. “I’ll drill them until they all know where the stash is.”
 

After he walked away, Sena drew Dee aside. “Have you talked to Hyrum yet?”

“I was just looking for him. I’m surprised you’re not in charge.”

“I’m better with small groups like this. Did you know there are at least two hundred kids in here? Most of them would follow Hyrum to the ends of the Earth. There’s just something about him, you know?”

Dee thought about how he’d been with McKenna. It had only taken him a few minutes to win her over. “He’s a born leader.”

“Probably,” Sena agreed. “You should go find him. I need to get these kids inside before lights out.” Sena shuddered, and Dee glanced at the lamps around the perimeter of the clearing. It was pitch black in the barracks at night, especially when clouds blocked the moon. Dee remembered Sena was afraid of the dark.

“Do you have some kind of light?” asked Dee.

Sena held out her palm, and in it was a small flashlight. “Kade found it for me. I don’t know what he had to trade to get it, but it was worth it. Most of the time I don’t even turn it on. Knowing I
could
turn it on if I need to is enough.”

The flashlight gave Dee an idea. “Do you have any extra batteries?”

Sena shook her head. “No, but if you need them, you can have these.”

“Are you sure? I’ll bring them back if I don’t end up using them.”

Sena was already unscrewing the flashlight and tipping it to spill out several batteries. She handed them to Dee and then clenched the small light in her hand. “I know about Harvey.”

Dee froze. If anyone could blame her for Harvey’s death, it was Sena. Sena had kept the kids safe. Not like Dee, who had gotten them captured or killed.

Sena took her by the hand. “I can tell by your face you are blaming yourself. Listen to me. It’s not your fault. Harvey knew it would be dangerous. If he’d known what was going to happen he still would have said it was worth it.”

Dee almost believed it.

*

She found Hyrum in the barracks. He’d been kneeling next to his bedroll and stood to greet her. “Oh hey, I was going to come find you after lights out,” he said.

“Are you okay?” asked Dee.

“Yeah, I needed some last minute guidance.” His smile was tired but peaceful.

“So it’s almost time?”

He nodded.

“I saw Mason today,” Dee said.

“Did you guys work things out?”

“I think so,” said Dee. “I don’t know what the deal is with Amanda, but I’m over it.”

“When Mason found out the base had a garage, he had the idea to get a job there. He said he could do the most good there working with the machinery. Amanda works there too,” said Hyrum. “He needed her to put in a good word for him.”

Dee wished Hyrum would have explained that to her the previous night. He gave her a wry smile. “Mason changed his mind about my telling you. He thought he’d be able to talk to you by now, but they’re keeping him really busy lately.”

“What’s he doing to the army trucks?” Dee asked. “I saw one today that he had working again.”

“It only
seems
like it works. None of those trucks would make it to Lookout Falls. Mason’s making sure of it.”

A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Maybe their hard work hadn’t been for nothing after all. “Tell me how I can help,” she said. “I’m ready.”

Hyrum grinned and clapped her on the back. “I knew you’d come around. Just in time, too. Tonight’s the night.”

“Tonight?” echoed Dee. “What’s the plan?”

“There’s a door at the back of the barracks that only has one guard. I’m going to take him out and start leading kids to the back fence while someone creates a diversion out front.”

“What if they see you?” asked Dee.

“Sena and Kade’s team is going to recover the guns Mason brought in, and cover us while I get the main group out through the fence.”

“You’re taking them to Hester’s?” said Dee.

Hyrum nodded. “It’s closer than Lookout Falls and from the way Mason described it, it’s more defensible.”

“You think there will be fighting?”