“I was carrying a big ol’ machine gun. I’m way faster than you.”
“I’m gonna remember that when this is all over. We’ll hold a race to see who’s faster.”
“You’ve already lost, then.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m in your head,” the boy replied, grinning like the kid he was supposed to be, not the veteran partisan fighter that he’d become. “You’re already trying to prove it to me that you’re better. Admit it. You’re scared to compete against me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, dude. We’ll see. Until then, we need to clear out some of these invaders.”
The grin disappeared, replaced by the hard mask of determination that he seemed to wear so often. “Right.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” she said.
He held up the plastic explosive that he’d rolled out into a long, thick rope. It reminded her of the way the employees in those old mall pretzel shops rolled out the dough before twisting it into the iconic pretzel shape. Damn, she missed those things. Cinnamon sugar was the best.
“Ah, okay,” she mumbled, refocusing her thoughts. “Good. That’ll get wrapped around the wire.” She thought for a moment about the next step that Jake had shown her. “Um, let’s see your blasting cap and wire.”
Mark set the explosives aside and picked up a coiled roll of black wire. On one end, a two-inch silver blasting cap dangled. On the opposite end, the wire was split and he’d removed about an inch of the protective rubber coating to expose the bare wire inside.
“You wrapped the wire—”
“Yes,” he replied early. “I pushed in the bare wires through the end of the blasting cap and used a bunch of electrical tape to keep it secured. Just like you showed me.”
“Good. Let me see your clacker.”
He sighed and put his hand into his coat. A quick look of panic broke through his rough visage and he looked around the rooftop. She glanced to his left and saw the firing device next to his leg. She pointed at it and he picked it up.
“That’s why we’re going through this inventory check.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Okay, put it in your pocket where it won’t fall out.” She waited for him to do so. “Last thing. You have your pistol?”
He patted the drop-leg holster he wore with the pistol firmly seated inside it. She’d used the drop-leg holster initially, thinking it was kind of cool, but it was a pain in the ass every time she needed to go to the bathroom, so she’d eventually opted for the traditional paddle holster to carry her backup weapon.
“Only use it as a last resort,” Sidney directed.
“Got it.” She noticed his snarky attitude was gone after he’d almost left the clacker on the rooftop.
“You sure you’re ready? We can hold off.”
“No. Night time is the best time. We both know that. The infected are more active and it’s more likely that the soldiers are tired and sleepy. We move forward with the plan.”
She nodded, her movements casting shadows onto the rooftop in the moonlight. “Okay. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Mark took a sip of water, then carefully set the bottle down. “I’m gonna pee when I go downstairs, then I’ll head directly over.”
“You’ve gotta be fast,” she cautioned.
“I will be.”
“When you get to the corner of that building you’re gonna hide behind, I’ll take out the guard.” He nodded, but didn’t respond. “Good luck, Mark. Stay safe.”
“If… If anything happens—”
“Don’t,” she stopped him. “Just don’t.”
“Tell Katie that she means a lot to me. Okay. Just promise me that.”
“Nothing is going to happen. Mark, if you’re not up to this…”
“No, I’m good to go. I just want to get it over with.”
She smiled and reached out, taking the boy’s hand. She hadn’t known he and Katie were close in a romantic way. They were only a couple of years apart and spent a lot of time together, but they all did. That was one of the joys of cramming nine people into the small homes they occupied. There was almost no privacy for the two of them to be intimate. She wondered if he knew that Katie had been hooking up with the soldiers that stayed at Vern’s place. Was that only two or three weeks ago? Mark was such a sweet kid. She didn’t want to see him hurt.
“Be safe, buddy. I’ve got your six.”
He nodded again and gently pulled his hand away. “Okay, I’m going. Get that bastard before he sees me.”
Mark picked up the rolled out plastic explosive and the coil of wire before scooting across the rooftop to the open window and disappearing inside. Sidney listened intently and heard the soft scrape of his tennis shoe on the pavement below the house a few moments later.
He looked up at her and gave her a thumbs up, which she returned. Then he turned and walked cautiously toward the camp. Sidney angled her weapon toward him and smiled appreciatively. The boy had his pistol out, ready to defend himself if it came to that. Good.
She followed his progress across the small neighborhood, alternating between Mark and the guard stationed on the rooftop inside the camp. When Mark reached the last house before the road separating the camp and the clump of houses where she hid, he waved a hand over his head. She scanned the camp one more time, ensuring no one was out and about, then sighted in on the guard’s forehead.
Jake always told her that headshots were stupid. The target was much smaller and very likely to move away, wasting the shot and alerting the target that they were under fire. The Army taught soldiers to go for the chest. It was a big, broad target that was much easier to hit. If you were high
