“They know what to do. It’s a good plan, and they’re ready.”
I sigh and relax, giving him a half-hearted scowl. “I’m not good at ceding control.”
“That I know.” He’s not looking at me right now, but his mouth twitches slightly.
“You don’t have to be smug about it.”
He shoots me a laughing look, but it doesn’t last long. The truck is getting closer. It’s holding a steady pace but not a rushed one. They might not know what’s going on at the outpost, but they probably don’t think they’re going to face much resistance.
They almost never do.
That’s one of our advantages.
We wait three minutes until the truck reaches the first explosive.
It fires. It’s small but creates a loud, completely unexpected bang just in front of the right corner of the truck. It does no damage, but the scared driver veers wildly to the side. Before he can stabilize, the next explosive fires on the opposite side of the road, just in front of him. He swerves again, even more dramatically. The truck runs into the ditch and comes to an abrupt halt.
Two of the men in the back get thrown all the way out of the truck, and the others lose their footing. They have no time to react, assess their condition, and start shooting before they’re surrounded by our people.
Central City guards are used to always having the advantage. They do finally get themselves together to fire their weapons, but only one of them actually hits a target. Roderick’s backpack pays the price.
My people shoot back, and they don’t miss.
Four of the guards are killed in the initial gunfire. The two others plus the driver are rounded up to join their compatriots in the jail cell, which is fortunately big enough to fit all our captives.
And now we have a combat truck since the explosives were timed perfectly and did no damage. Those trucks are sturdy, so I doubt the impact with the ditch even made a dent. Roderick gives a loud whoop as he climbs into the driver’s seat and backs it out of the ditch with the help of a couple of other guys who push.
I’m smiling at Ben as we climb down from the perch.
He smiles back.
We did it.
It’s about time.
One thingI’ve noticed over the years.
Get a big enough group of doers together—bold, idealistic, or adventure seeking—and you can definitely get things done. But you also have a lot of strong wills, adrenaline, and testosterone to channel.
Usually it’s an advantage, but there are also some unwelcome side effects. Namely, interpersonal conflict.
I have very little patience for bickering. I used to dismiss gripes and squabbles without giving them any attention. I’d make my people shut up, and if they didn’t, they were gone.
But a couple of years ago Ben mentioned, in his laid-back way, that I should at least listen to the issues being argued about because it could give us insight into the group dynamic, which will only help us.
Ben almost never suggests anything that implies I’ve handled things wrong. It’s not because he’s a yes man. He’s not. He has strong opinions and isn’t afraid of articulating them, but he and I think the same about nearly every part of this fight. So when he does disagree with one of my ideas or actions, I always take it seriously.
He doesn’t argue for the sake of arguing. If he tells me something, it’s important.
I listened to him back then. When arguments arose, I experimented with letting folks tell me what they were angry about. I still dismiss their complaints half the time, but my people believing I’ve actually heard them has changed things. I don’t lose nearly as many as I used to for minor reasons or from hurt feelings. And more than once a simmering uprising in the ranks has been rooted out before it has caused a problem.
When we all return to the outpost building—excited and victorious—it’s probably not surprising that the energy eventually shifts. My first clue is when I hear Vella saying, “Fuck you!”
Her voice isn’t soft and gentle under normal circumstances, and when she’s angry it carries.
I hear it from all the way in the command station.
I’ve been fiddling with our plan for the next advance from the Capitol, but at the sound of Vella cursing, I get up and go outside to see what’s happening.
