Tawny chewed her lip, “Yeah, maybe, maybe not… I just think we should all take silenced weapons with us in case we come across one. We’d need to nail it before it got a chance to turn the horde against us—”
Good point Tawny, sharp. Jesus… that was almost an afterthought. I wonder what else we’ve not thought of, what we’re missing—
Brody nodded, “You’ve got it, silenced pistols will be provided for your team. If you think of anything else let me know.”
“When is this operation happening?” Seth’s voice rang out from the back of the room again.
Brody straightened up, “First light tomorrow. The airport team moves out this afternoon, they’ll have to recon the airport. They’re the ones to get the ball rolling, everything else follows on from then. So, we’ll all be leaving here today and in position by first light tomorrow morning—”
Rose glanced at Mercy.
Christ, this is getting real—
Chapter 29
The Gathering
“So who was this Von Moltke dude?” Mercy asked Barnes after the meeting.
“Von Moltke? Helmuthe Von Moltke was a Prussian field marshal in the 19th century, he was chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years. He knew a thing or two about battle planning and strategy—” Barnes replied.
Mercy’s face was blank.
“Well, you did ask,” Barnes said.
“Yeah, no, sorry. I got it, he was a military commander,” Mercy said. “No, I just remembered… a useful bit of kit to bring would be some road flares, they seem to distract the tropes. A single road flare got us out of having to fight those six Hazmat tropes at the silo. The rule of thumb is to avoid noise where possible, so yeah, road flares and glow sticks. I’m gonna see if I can track some down.” Mercy said. She paused, “What about you Barnes? You obviously spoke to Brody and that Dimitri guy before the meeting. Are you OK with the airport plan?”
Barnes shrugged, “That type of stuff is my bread and butter. It’s what I was trained for. We’ll recon it and improvise. Granted, Brody’s people are not military… they’re more outdoor survivalists, but they know how to handle their weapons and can obviously take orders, so yeah, I think we can get the job done. I only hope our fly-boy Dimitri is a kick-ass pilot. If he flew a crop duster his low flying skills should be honed and anyone who’s worked up in the Yukon is OK by me—”
Mercy held out her hand, “OK Barnes, if you’re happy with your side of the deal I’m happy. Just be careful, I didn’t expect you to be dropping bombs by hand from a biplane like some World War 1 flying ace. I have my reservations, this shit is nuts, Tawny’s instincts are right. Then again, sometimes the nuts shit works and the logical stuff wipes out. Sorry, I’m rambling, what I meant to say was be careful out there, up there… whatever—”
Barnes looked at her outstretched hand and shook his head. He opened his arms and gave Mercy a hug. “Yeah, me too Dawes. I don’t fancy your task of gathering a few thousand tropes together. At least you’ve got Rose, Tawny, Flynn and Annalise with you. That’s some crew. Yeah, keep your eyes and ears open and watch out for any of those alpha bastards—”
“Yeah, Roger that,” Mercy replied.
Barnes released Mercy, “Oh, and this is for you.” He pulled out a silenced Glock 17 pistol. “I spotted a couple in Brody’s armory, got this one for you. Your 45’s all well and good but you can’t argue with the stopping power of a 9mm parabellum.”
Mercy took the Glock, “Thanks, I’ll pay a visit to the armory too.”
Barnes went to find Dimitri. Mercy chewed her lip and watched Barnes walk away
Yeah, they might have road flares… and Brody said a ghetto blaster? Jesus, what music do these people have here? Some thrash metal would do the trick—
Mercy set off towards the bunkhouse to find Annalise.
“Bluegrass? Blue… grass? You’re kidding me—” Mercy said, eying the cassette tapes Annalise handed her.
“Well, it’s either that or… show tunes or… hang on… pan pipes—” Annalise replied.
Really—?
“Really? I mean… really?” Rose said, frowning.
“Well, we are talking a ghetto blaster here, and cassette tapes… hello? So, yeah, quite retro. It’s all I could find at short notice. Most people use battery powered CD players for their music so we’ll just have to suck it up. So then… what’s it to be?” Annalise replied.
Mercy looked at Rose.
“Bluegrass it is then,” Mercy said, her tone one of despair.
“Oh, and I got the road flares and binoculars you asked for. I couldn’t find any glow sticks, sorry,” Annalise indicated the items on the table.
“And we found suppressors for our pistols in the armory, so we’re good. And Annalise has her crossbow, she was showing me how to use it. It’s a thing of beauty. I declined the William Tell practice shot though… just couldn’t work myself up to that one—” Rose said, eyeing Annalise.
“Chicken,” Annalise responded.
Mercy checked her watch, “It’s 3:35 pm… almost time for the off. I’m not looking forwards to all that time in the saddle. I still haven’t recovered from the other day.”
“So, how far are we from Charlottesville anyway?” Rose asked.
“Twenty five klicks, as the crow flies,” Tawny replied.
“I hear Sledge is taking us into Charlottesville, then we’re on our own. Is everyone clear on the route from Charlottesville to the prison?” Mercy said.
“Yeah, it’s burned into my consciousness,” Flynn replied, “but we’re bringing a map as well, aren’t we?”
Mercy tapped her pocket, “Yeah, me and Tawny have maps. OK guys, good to move out? Let’s go and find our torture instruments… I mean horses—”
They left the bunkhouse and found Sledge nearby, saddling the horses. They watched
