"I thought you might be interested," the young man said and spoke softly and furtively while he glanced around to make sure no one saw him talking to her. "They'll bring the prisoners out for execution tomorrow morning. Mayor Jones wants the whole of Auburn to be present for them, and Wilbur’s militia will make sure there are no further objections like yours.”
"Why are you telling me this?"
He looked uncertain but simply shrugged. "Maybe you're not the only one who thinks our town is worthy of more than another oppressive regime."
Before she could reply or voice another question, he vanished into the crowd that began to grow more restless as the minutes ticked past.
"Well, I guess we have until tomorrow morning to find a way to get Robert7 and the other FEMA pilots out."
"What about the raiders?" Mini asked.
"What about them?" she snapped and immediately regretted it. Maybe it wasn't quite the justice-centric outlook she had supported not minutes before.
She would have to find answers in the time she had available. There would be no time to second-guess herself once her plan was set and the chaos began.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Jessica13 still didn't have much of a plan in place when night began to fall. The crowd lost interest in waiting for the tribunal to return and gradually slipped away to their usual activities. The prisoners were herded to the stockade as a group, where they would spend the night.
Hopefully, her inner caution reminded her. She still didn't know if Wilbur would decide to simply drag them to a ditch or hole and execute them like he'd done with the others.
There was time to plan, at least, and if they were taken out of the stockade, her job would be much simpler if a little messier.
None of the men on guard appeared overly invested in their responsibilities. They left their weapons propped carelessly against a half-wall and were seated near fires that had been lit when the temperatures dropped and a wind began to whip around the town. Mini explained that the large fires that had burned had affected the weather and the results they now witnessed would only be temporary. It sounded interesting, but neither of them had time to explore it.
"I've been thinking," she said once she’d found something to eat and returned to the mech. "Getting the prisoners out of the stockade is only the first step, although it is important. The next will be to find some way to transport them. Did the Prophet's men leave any of their buggies behind?"
The AI conducted a quick scan. "No, they took those with them when they left. However, it would appear that the APCs they used when they tried to evacuate civilians from the city are still where they were abandoned. They might be a little damaged but are likely functional."
Jessica13 looked toward the section where the APCs had been left, which wasn’t too far away. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed them earlier but her mind had obviously been on other things. A few bullet pockmarks were visible on the armor, but they had been functional enough to drive the people into the town through the flames that had circled the edges of the town.
"Well, that gives us something to work on while we wait," she mumbled, guided the mech to the vehicles, and climbed out.
"What are you doing?" Mini asked. If she didn't know better, she would have thought the slight hint of an inflection in the AI's voice meant he was concerned.
"Keep an eye out and make sure there isn't anyone out there to see me working," she whispered and crouched as low as she could. Most of the people were in another area of the town, either involved in the work they hadn't done all day or preparing and eating their evening meal. Either way, she had the area to herself for the moment, but she could only imagine the inevitable problems if the militia found her mucking about there on her own.
They already didn't trust her, after all.
Even in the growing darkness, there was still enough light for her to examine the engines. They were a little dirty and grimy but three of them were functional enough for what she had in mind. The other two had bullet holes in the engines and she didn't trust them to hold up under a sustained race to freedom.
The fuel was still in their tanks, which meant no one had paid them any attention since the failed evacuation. It was an unexpected windfall and worked out perfectly for her plans. Their neglect would be her ally in this. A few other checks on the engines told her they couldn't expect the APCs to take them too far. Aside from the fact that the fuel stores were bound to be guarded, the dirt would probably cause them to overheat.
But they would get them clear of the town, and that was a start.
She climbed into the Minato again and moved cautiously toward the stockade, where the situation was the same as when she had left it. The guards now played what looked like cards and paid no attention to the prisoners or even patrolled the area once night had fallen completely. It seemed as though they believed guarding the gate was enough since the prisoners would not be able to break through the heavy logs that had been erected to keep them secured.
And in any other situation, they would have been right.
Jessica13 moved toward the back and away from the fires and the lights. Mini was able to help her navigate toward the edge of the stockade without raising the alarm.
Her fingers felt like they had never touched a mech's controls, and her whole body seemed to tick, alive with all kinds of sensations and not
