Mine.
“James?”
I want her to come to me when she needs something. I want her to search for me in a crowd. I want her to depend on me; I want her to reach for my hand; I want her to miss me when I’m gone. I want her like I’ve never wanted anything—
“James?” she says again.
“Yeah?”
“The place we’re going—You said they managed to trap the assailant inside of a warehouse?”
“Yeah.” I feel my chest tighten. I back up a few more steps, as if the distance will help steady my heart. “Sounds like they’ve locked it down.”
“What does it house? Munitions? Aircraft?”
“It’s not that kind of warehouse,” I say, managing ananxious laugh. “It’s one of those places where you can get things in bulk for a reasonable price.”
She stares at me blankly.
“I’m guessing you don’t have one of those.” I take a deep, clarifying breath. Look around. “You know,” I say. “I’m realizing I don’t know anything about the way you lived on the Ark.”
She flat out ignores this.
“All right,” she says, getting to her feet. “Let’s go.”
“So you’re absolutely sure about this?” I hesitate. “You really think we should ignore the big, obvious fire in the sky?”
She nods, slinging the rifle around her neck. “I wouldn’t put it past The Reestablishment to blow up a hospital,” she says. “But a move like that is a blatant act of war. The fact that it’s being reported in your comms as an attack from an open enemy seems premature at best. Has anyone actually claimed responsibility for the explosion?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
She shakes her head. “The Reestablishment doesn’t normally act without the cover of plausible deniability; it really isn’t their style. They no longer have the manpower to fight major battles, and they have no interest in a land war. Their preference is for a slow war of attrition, chipping away at your world incrementally, turning the people against themselves. Then taking it out with a final blow.”
“You’re right,” I say, tensing. “They prefer psychological warfare. Every operation we’ve dealt with in the past several years was a horrific attack designed to look like an accident,or else inspire mass chaos to foment division among the public. They’re trying to make our leadership look incompetent in order to make our own people hate us.”
She looks suddenly grim. “You’ve been paying attention.”
“All right, fine.” I sigh, resting the rifle on my shoulder. “Follow me. We’re going to have to steal a car.”
40
James
“I thought you said it was a warehouse,” she says, lowering her voice. We’re backed up against a side wall, tucked into the shadows. “This looks too sleek for a warehouse, and the zoning is strange. Why is it so close to a residential area?”
“It’s not a regular warehouse,” I quietly remind her. “It’s a place where you can buy things in bulk. It’s a warehouse, but it’s also a store.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” she whispers.
We’ve already done scans of the perimeter, checking exit doors and escape routes. The place is massive, ringed by an even more massive parking lot. My comms indicated that the building had been locked down, but looking around now I can see the building is no longer properly surrounded. The dispersion of our troops to the hospital has fractured our power out here. We spotted only a few soldiers on our initial checks; whatever manpower we might’ve had has now been severely diminished.
Rosabelle was right; something is wrong.
It’s way too quiet here.
“They store stuff, in the warehouse,” I explain to her, “but it’s also a business. People come through during the day and buy things.”
“From a warehouse?”
