Tony shouted a cadence, hustling the men along. The bastards could suffer a little. “’Eft-’ight, ’eft-’ight, ’eft…!”
The men picked up speed, heading towards the city and the dangerous countryside beyond. Tony took one glance back towards the sea, certain he would never see it again.
Diane shadowed Thomas as much as possible, always dropping off reports here or checking supplies there. Whatever she did, she always made sure to do it close to the general. The only problem was keeping her hands off him. Every second she spent breathing the same air as Thomas filled her with an almost uncontrollable rage. She wanted to claw out his cold grey eyes. She wanted to force her hand down his throat and yank up whatever rotting innards she could find. She wouldn’t rest until he was dead. For General Wickstaff and for Maddy.
And for Portsmouth. We deserve someone better after all we’ve been through.
Diane missed Maddy terribly. She was the only other survivor from their original group in Crapstone. No more Rick. No more Keith or Daniel. Their loss was a staple beneath her thumbnail, a constant dull pain, but losing Maddy was like hot coals in her stomach, a searing agony burning up her insides.
So far, Thomas, the sonofabitch, hadn’t seemed to realise what Diane was up to. Her true purpose for shadowing him was to see who was loyal to him and who was not. She could tell those who disliked the general by the strained expressions they wore as soon as he turned his back. Diane was in the business of recruiting those people. Nineteen had already agreed to take up arms against Thomas when the time was right, and many more would soon join. Wickstaff had inspired all those around her, so finding people willing to fight in her name was easy, but she had to be cautious about who she approached. Some men were only out for themselves. Some men placed their loyalties wherever it would help them most. Trustworthiness could never be assumed.
It made recruitment a slow process.
If Diane gave a rebel yell from the rooftops, she knew several thousand men and women would scream allegiance to Wickstaff and take up arms. The flaw in that plan was that it wouldn’t be enough. General Thomas had brought more than fifteen thousand troops with him from the continent, and it would be impossible to retake Portsmouth without persuading at least some of them to join the cause. Tony Cross was the lynchpin to converting many of those forces, but Thomas had shrewdly sent the colonel away on a fool’s errand. Mass was dead, that much was obvious – he’d never been away this long. Tony Cross would most likely never return from his mission.
I’m running low on allies.
Commander Klein was in favour of General Thomas’s removal, too, but the German was a law unto himself, preferring to stay out of things until forced to act. She couldn’t rely on him. Maybe he would help her once enough people had been recruited. That was why she was heading to speak with a guardsman named Tom, her next recruit.
Tom was a good guy who’d gone to bat for General Wickstaff several times in the past, including a time when Thomas had directly challenged her authority. He was popular – someone other men instinctively seemed to like – and Diane was certain he would join her cause. Tom stood up for what was right.
And what I’m doing is right.
Diane found Tom sitting on a crate by the edge of the quay. Four others sat with him, all playing cards. It was hard to tell if they were on duty because only Thomas’s men wore uniforms. The original Portsmouth inhabitants wore whatever suited them.
“Hi, Tom. You busy?”
He looked up at her and smiled. “Does it look like it?”
“Depends how good your hand is.”
Tom threw down a trio of cards – a four of clubs, a two of spades, and a ten of hearts. “As good as tits on a donkey.” He stood up and moved further along the quay, motioning for her to join him. In a conspiratorial tone, he asked, “What’s going on around here, Di? Me and the guys are getting nervous. People are saying Maddy had something to do with Wickstaff’s death.”
Diane sneered, wanting to slap him for even saying such a thing. “You know that’s bullshit!”
“Of course I do. It’s no secret how close Maddy and Wickstaff were.”
Diane didn’t comment on Maddy’s relationship with the general, but it didn’t surprise her to learn that Tom – and most likely others – suspected the two women had been more than colleagues. Would it affect people’s loyalties? Were people still judgemental, even now?
“Thomas murdered Wickstaff and would’ve killed Maddy too if she hadn’t escaped.”
Tom nodded, glancing aside to make sure no one was listening. He whispered, “I guessed as much. Commander Tosco is missing too. I assume he was the one who got her out of the city? Both were a huge part of what we built here. Portsmouth is their home. We can’t let Thomas get away with it.”
As Diane suspected, Tom didn’t need convincing. “We won’t let him get away with it, but I don’t have a plan yet. I need to know who I can trust.”
“You can trust me – and a dozen others I know would leap at the chance to rid Portsmouth of Thomas. The guy’s an arsehole. A murderous arsehole.”
Diane chuckled. She went to say something, but their eyes locked for a moment and made them both blush. She finally spoke. “Hey, um, if you’re not on duty, you fancy going for a walk or something? I could use a friend.”
“A walk? Um, yeah, a walk would be nice.”
Diane motioned with a nod and they started walking along the quay. Tom bid his mates goodbye and moved close enough that their arms brushed together. He glanced at her. “So, did you ever see yourself becoming leader of La
