“Avoid the roads and use rivers whenever possible, and you’ll make better speed,” Collette said. “Also, less chance of hitting a roadblock and having to waste ammo on mercies or coldhearts.”
“Riverbeds, you mean,” Brandon said, smiling at her mistake. “Not in the actual water.”
“No, she’s correct. Use the rivers,” Sheffield ordered. “The wags are amphibious.”
Awkwardly, the men shifted their stances, trying to pretend they understood the words.
“The wags are waterproof. They can float,” he added angrily. “Chill anybody who gets in the way. Put the fear of the blues into the bastards. Pave the way for our return.”
“The first team will be designated Alpha. They’ll check the sites in northern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky and Pennsylvania.”
“Beta team will bypass Georgia, and recce the middle of North Carolina, south Virginia, then upstate.”
“Lot of ground to cover,” Campbell stated, walking his fingers across the paper and trying to guess the distances involved.
“Yes, but there is a lot at stake,” Sheffield said. Then he crossed his arms and smiled. Now was the time to give them the carrot. “The first team that finds what we need will be assigned as permanent guards for the new gaudy house. No wall patrols for the rest of their lives.”
The grim faces in the throne room brightened at the prospect, smiles abounding. It was a rich reward.
“When can we go, sir?” Brandon asked, hitching up his gun belt. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we come back with a new ville for you.”
Caught unprepared, Campbell shot the officer a hate-filled glance, but said nothing. Damn ass kisser. The baron grunted. “Good man. You’ll leave within the hour, and the slaves will start packing today. Once we have a goal, we leave immediately. This valley is dead.”
“About those two sites in Virginia,” Collette started, rubbing her nose thoughtfully.
Spotted that, did she? Sheffield cleared his throat. “The first is near Green Cove ville, good walls and that’s about all we know. The other is just east of Front Royal. I’m very glad that Silas didn’t melt the place, because it may just become our new base.”
“Front Royal?” the lieutenant gasped. “But sir, they have wags, troops, an awful lot of our own AK-47 blasters, grens, and Nathan Cawdor is known to be a chilling machine.”
“We can take them,” Campbell growled. “They’re just a bunch of farmers and whitehairs. Easy chilling.”
Scowling, Collette shook her head. “Front Royal is an armored citadel that no amount of troops can take. Only a fool or a madman would even try.”
“So what are we going to do if that’s our best site?” the sergeant asked, worried. “Melt them a little with the Kite as a warning?”
“That would be a waste,” Sheffield said, annoyed. “I can do much worse to Cawdor and his brown shirts. Much worse.”
“RISE AND SHINE, lover,” Ryan said, walking naked from the steaming shower. He grabbed a towel from a pile and started to dry himself.
“I’ll rise,” Krysty grumbled from underneath the blankets, “but that’s all. What time is it?”
“After noon,” he replied, toweling his hair.
She cracked a smile. “Just getting up yourself, I see.”
“Second shower today for me,” Ryan stated, tossing aside the damp towel and pulling on some clothes. “We spent most of the morning cleaning that damn ash out of the garage so we could work on the crossbows. Blasted shit gets up your nose and down your boots like its alive.”
“And you didn’t wake me?” Krysty asked. “I looked that bad, eh?”
With a shrug, Ryan started to button a shirt. “You were hit the worst by the Kite and needed some extra sack time. That’s all. Now go wash. Lunch is ready.”
Krysty sat upright on the bed, the blankets tumbling to her waist. “More soup?” she asked around a yawn, stretching her arms wide. “We should dip the arrowheads in it.”
As always, Ryan felt himself responding to her beauty, but shoved those thoughts aside. There was too much work to do. “Too dangerous. It might rot the metal,” he said, buckling on his gun belt. “Get moving.”
Stumbling from the warm bed, the nude woman scratched herself as she padded across the barracks floor and into the shower. Minutes later, she emerged from the clouds of soapy steam scrubbed pink, her hair cascading down her back.