By the time the friends left the wag, the Gate had moved down the drag, led by Gloria and Tammy. Two of the warriors were carrying the helmets that accompanied the uniforms, and they laid them down by the wag, where Ryan and Krysty had left the uniforms ready for allocation. The Crossroads people had gathered with the Gate people, and they were facing Ryan and the companions, waiting to see what would transpire.
Ryan spoke. “I don’t need to tell you the importance of what’s going to happen. We believe that the disease that’s infested this ville, and which these people we know as the Illuminated Ones plan to spread throughout the whole of these lands, has its root in an underground base not far from here. We want to break into that base, chill every last one of those people before they can do any more harm and wipe out all traces of the disease that’s there. We also believe that they have an antidote. They’ll have that to make sure they didn’t get it.
“We know where this base is, and we have experience in fighting these people. You Crossroads people who join us are taking a risk, and we appreciate that. If we leave soon, we can reach the base before sunrise, and that’ll be the best time to take them.
“My plan is simple—some of us will use this wag and the uniforms taken from the chilled, and we’ll attempt to enter the base as the missing wag crew. The radio was shot out, so they won’t know that we’re fakes. The rest of you will follow at a distance, keeping to cover. They have sec cameras around the entrance to the base, so in order to maximize cover and lull their suspicions we need to act swiftly and take advantage of the darkness.
“We can get in, and once there we need to stall them long enough to open up the doors to the base so that the rest of you can get in and help us. They’re not good fighters, but they may have better weapons, and we have no idea at this stage of how many we face.
“Your task is to drive them back into the heart of the base—Crossroads people, let the Gate lead. Like us, they have an idea of how these places are constructed. Others of us will set out to find the disease cultures and the antidote. We know what we have to look for. We need you to help us fight against the numbers.
“Basically, those of us in the wag will seek the disease. The rest of you, keep to cover until we can open the sec doors. Then follow us in and blast those fuckers into oblivion.
“There are no guarantees of success, but this is a one-shot chance, so we need to have clear heads and chill anyone who does not belong to us. Is that clear?”
There were murmurs of understanding and approval from the crowd.
Ryan nodded firmly. “Okay. We know what we have to do—let’s get ready to move.”
Chapter Nine
J.B. wasted no time in linking up with Jon to get an overview of the combined armory. The young Gate Armorer had gathered the cache of weapons from the Crossroads armory with his own and was checking them with the aid of Cat and Dette.
“How’s it going?” J.B. asked, noting the looks of concern on their faces.
“Shall we just say that these people are kinda triple stupe when it comes to keeping their weapons in good condition?” Dette spit without looking up from the Sharps rifle that she was attempting to clean. “If some poor fucker actually fired this thing, it’d be more likely to blow up in his face than chill some enemy.”
J.B. bit his tongue and caught Jon’s eye, barely suppressing a grin.
Jon shrugged. “She’s not choosy with her words, but she does have a point,” he admitted. “I guess they don’t get much of a call for combat around here.”
“I don’t think they do,” the Armorer agreed. “Mind, they’re brave enough to join us when they know they’re shit at firefighting.”
“Either brave or really, really stupe beyond belief,” Cat remarked.