Mik turned and loosed Lonnie’s grip, while Tilly grabbed the recce leader by his other arm and yelled, “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
Pulling him away, assisted by Mik, Tilly directed him toward the exit that Doc and Jak had used.
“Let’s move it, and keep him down!” she yelled at Mik, who nodded rather than waste breath.
Which just left Danny leading Dean through the confused and drunken crowd toward the rear exit from the bar.
They reached the door leading out to a back alleyway that was littered with garbage, and housed a few rats that scuttled for cover as they emerged into the daylight. Out front, where the other members of the recce party had been making their escape, a crowd of curious drinkers, sec men reluctant to walk into a firefight before it had run its course and those who just wanted to join a fight, had gathered. Danny and Dean, however, had a clear getaway.
They were out into the alleyway, and both young men scrambled to their feet, slowing as they gained a few yards from the bar’s back door.
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” Dean muttered in a low undertone to Danny. “We don’t want anyone coming around the back to wonder why we’re in a hurry and blast first before asking any questions.”
“Fuck it, I think I may have gathered that. I know I’m not that great at this, but I’m not a complete idiot,” Danny replied with testy edge to his voice. “Anyway, who got us out the easy way?”
“Okay,” Dean replied with a placating gesture. “There is one thing that bothers me, though. How the hell did you know about the back door, and where it was?”
They reached the end of the alleyway and turned into the main drag. Danny was leading them back into the crowd that had gathered around the bar. They skirted the far edge of the crowd so as not to get noticed by those gathered around, or recognized by those now emerging from the bar who could point them out to the sec men. Dean tried to keep an eye out for the rest of the recce party, but it was too confused and rowdy around the bar to see anything definite.
“This way,” Danny said, taking Dean down the first turn that led away from the main drag. “Now just stick with me and trust me.”
“It’s not that I don’t,” Dean countered. “It’s more a case of not knowing what the hell is going down here. After all, you said—”
“Said nothing,” Danny interrupted. “Listen, everyone who ever lived in Charity knows all about the drag, and remember my dad did sec over the whole ville. Anyway, I’ve seen the plans of this ville, back in Baron Al’s little private sanctum. And that, my friend, is where we’re going now.”
“But what about the others?” Dean questioned. “We’re supposed to be on recce for the trade convoy, not chasing after—”
Danny stopped walking and turned heatedly on Dean. “Listen,” he snapped, “there’s five of them going after that information. I figure that the real way forward is to get more info on the old tech. And I figure that’s what your people want, as well. So we leave the scouting to them, and we try to get our hands on something a little more interesting, right?”
“But there’ll be time for that when we’ve raided the convoy,” Dean reasoned. “Right now the best thing is to—”
“The best thing is to cover as many bases as possible,” Danny interrupted once more. “Just trust me on this.” He held up his hands. “If I’m wrong, chill me already. But we could do everyone a few favors. I know where the storehouse is, and I know how to get in there. So do we go, or do we not?”
Dean nodded firmly. “Let’s do it,” he said simply. Danny grinned and turned to go, leading Dean away from the main drag and into the main body of the ville.
In a matter of just a block, the drag seemed to be forgotten, the commotion around the bar fading into the background as the rest of the ville went about its everyday business. By this time, most people were up and about, and the trading posts and businesses were open. People moved slowly in the heat, the pastel colors and whitewash of the adobe buildings, stained by age, reflecting the heat back into the streets while the few unpainted brick buildings absorbed the heat, their surfaces already like kiln ovens that radiated heat back onto the street and into the path of passersby, including Dean and Danny.