The wag with Ryan and Gloria headed one way, accompanied by the wag that included Mildred and Doc. Dean, Jak and J.B.—still on the armory wag with Jon—headed for the other side of the main drag, with their sec outriders including Tammy and Krysty.
There was little chance for any immediate communication as the wags and horses ate up the distance between their original arc of travel and the outskirts of the ville. As they entered the ville itself, it was like a ghost town. The plowed fields and the residential dwellings were deserted, and it was only as they approached the main drag that the sounds of activity began to assert themselves.
As they passed the hospital, Mildred thought of Hector, and wondered how he had been coping, and if he had succumbed to the disease himself. Come to that, was he even there now, or was he with the others trying to protect their ville.
“Couldn’t cover a fart with a tin can,” J.B. commented to Jon, unconsciously echoing Mildred’s thoughts as the armory wag approached the rear entrances to the main drag.
On the opposite side, Ryan felt the same. “They’ve left the rear totally exposed. If we’d wanted, we could have come and mopped them up before they even knew it.”
“Shit, they really do need our help,” Gloria commented.
At the last, a token defense was offered. A few desultory shots rang from the rear of some of the bars as those inside realized that they were being approached from the rear. But the blasterfire was so spare and inaccurate that the convoys were able to take cover with ease, and incur no casualties.
“Stop firing, you stupe bastards,” Ryan yelled from cover. “We’ve come to help you, dammit!”
“Ryan? That you?” Yardie waddled from the rear of one of the buildings and came over to where the one-eyed warrior and Gloria were sheltering. His expression as he saw the Gate queen would have been worth a laugh under different circumstances. “Where the fuck did you all come from?” he asked in a small voice.
“No time to explain,” Ryan replied briefly.
“There’s more of us on the other side. Listen, we have some weapons that may disable those bastards, but we’ll need your help to make it work.”
ON THE FAR SIDE, J.B. was outlining the same plan to Robertson, the baron leading his people by example.
“But I don’t understand why you want to try and take one of the wags,” the baron said, confused. “Shit, with those blasters like theirs, surely you can just whomp shit out of them.”
J.B. shook his head. “Not that easy. For one, we can only fire at the unprotected parts of the wags. The lasers’ll just whizz off the rest of the wag like any normal shell. You think they wouldn’t protect their own wags against weapons like theirs? And for two, we need to take one of the wags so we can carry out the next part of Ryan’s plan.”
“That’s what I don’t get,” the baron began, but the Armorer cut him short.
“Doesn’t matter right now. If we don’t get this bit right, then there won’t be the next bit. Are you with us?”
Robertson nodded. “Like we have a choice?”
YARDIE HADN’T even bothered to argue with Ryan’s plan, and the Gate warriors and companions were in the middle of spreading themselves along the bars and gaudies, using the back entrances to slip in and explain the plan of action to the defenders while adopting offensive positions.
“Think the others are in position?” Gloria asked Ryan as they watched the Illuminated wags sit malevolently in the street outside.
“Should be,” Ryan answered. “Let’s find out.”
The one-eyed warrior slipped out the back way to the bar, and ran to the end of the drag. There, beyond where the wags sat, was an alleyway. He arrived and looked at the alleyway opposite.
It was empty.
“Shit,” he muttered, and settled to wait. Within a few minutes, J.B. arrived in the empty alleyway. He signaled to Ryan that everything was set. The one-eyed man pointed to his wrist chron and held up five fingers.
The Armorer nodded, then disappeared. Ryan watched him go, then ran back toward his own post, poking his head into each back door and yelling the countdown to those within, knowing that J.B. would be doing the same. All the while, he noticed that the constant stream of blasterfire from both sides of the main drag was answered only by intermittent laser fire that took chunks out of walls, but wasn’t directed to chill.