Chapter 23: Prepare for War

Ash controlled his breathing. He inhaled slowly through his nose and exhaled slowly through his mouth. He had been trying to calm his nerves since he and his battle contingent had reached their checkpoint. The night sky cloaked their entire force, though the moon and stars illuminated the desolation of the Wasteland. The night was clear, but clouds hovered over the horizon. Despite the Cataclysm, several buildings and structures remained upright.

Kiara had explained that the Cuffs used to be a small suburban township called Cuffley. The Chain Gang had made their headquarters around the old postal office and built up the surrounding neighbourhood. They had remade their portion of this suburban township to their liking, using the materials of nearby buildings and anything else they could get their hands on. The rest had been a combination of vigorous effort and unscrupulous trade.

Ash waited, his eyes continuing to observe the fortifications the Chain Gang had erected. The walls around the Cuffs were made from a collection of pre- and post-Cataclysm parts. Some sections were constructed entirely of clay bricks or salvaged materials from homes, while others were welded from metal beams, poles, and fencing. Some of those sections even incorporated the exteriors of pre-Cataclysm vehicles, which had continued to rust since their installation.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Ash turned to the thin voice behind him. It was from one of the older conscripts Kiara had acquired. The old man’s name was Daley. He had joined on account of being mugged by Chain Gangers nearly a decade prior. He still harboured resentment against the gang, despite his years of recovery and a more stable life in Invernstead.

Kiara sighed. “We wait for the signal, then you follow me into the compound. Keep your eyes peeled and your guns ready. Only shoot hostiles. There are plenty of innocent souls within those walls.”

“Yeah, but what’s the signal?” Daley asked. His years seemed to have added to his arrogance rather than smoothed it out.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Kiara said. She looked at the small group behind her. Aside from Ash and Sander, she had Daley and three others who would be storming her part of the compound. Others, led by Scar, would be storming through one of the weak points behind the post office, while a sizeable enough force would follow in the wake of the Spearhead.

“How do we know we haven’t missed it already?” Daley propped his rifle on the ground and leaned on it. As he pressed his body weight onto his gun, a loud bang echoed through the night air.

“You were saying?” Kiara turned to face the few flickering lights in the Cuffs. Most of the men would be sleeping at this hour. If they had been partying earlier in the night, more of them would still be incapacitated, probably intoxicated by one thing or another.

“That’s the signal?” Daley asked, taking his rifle back into his hands.

The night sky suddenly lit up with a red flare. It streaked across the sky with a long tail of smoke that glowed with unearthly colours.

“Ready up!” Kiara shouted. She began to jog toward the compound. It would take them ten minutes to reach their entrance point under the cover of darkness. If they had used motorcycles or any other vehicles, their attack might have been spotted more easily.

As the group ran, they heard an exchange of gunfire. The fusillade ended abruptly with the sound of explosions at the front gate. Ash had no problem keeping pace with the group. With a 7 in Endurance, he could hold out longer than Sander, who only had 6 in the same stat.

“Grenades,” Ash said curtly. Sander, who was running beside him, panted a simple “Yeah” and tried to keep pace with his younger counterpart.

After two more explosions, the group heard a loud crash at the other end of the compound.

“Spearhead,” Kiara said to the group. “They’ve made contact and should be through the front gates.” Ash imagined the cream-coloured station wagon, with its metal plough at the front, breaking through the gates and driving down the main road of the compound. He hoped Garrick and Chance could hold their own and not die before the other groups reached the wall.

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Ash looked beside him and noticed Kiara matching his pace. They seemed equally fatigued, although the other members of the group trailed behind. No one was far enough behind to merit a pause, but there was a lack of squad unity in their approach.

Kiara reached the compound wall and pressed her back to it. She waited a few moments for her group to catch up, then shimmied to the entry point. When she had spent time in the Cuffs, she had slipped through this narrow gap in the wall, just to see what total freedom felt like. “It was intoxicating,” she had told Ash in the intimacy of their tent the previous night. She had shared the small space with Ash and Sander, the only people she trusted. “I had to restrain myself from running into the distance. Chain Gangers are horrible at the best of times, but those who tried to escape? I’ve never seen anything more evil. If I was going to run, I needed to make sure I chose the right time.”

Ash followed Kiara along the wall. His body brushed against hers as the rest of the group mirrored their movements. Sander was immediately to his right, Daley behind him. Ash volunteered to go before Sander since he was wearing the bullet-proof vest they had stolen in New Cistern. Ash controlled his breathing once more, feeling himself grow calmer. He hadn’t survived so much just to die now. The gun in his hand testified to how much he had overcome. He checked the weapon’s safety and held it close to his chest. It was the submachine gun of the man he had killed at the gas station. Though the thought of using the dead man’s weapon had filled him with disgust a week ago, he was now ready to use it to kill the man’s gang members. This weapon had wounded Sander, and now it would do worse to his enemies.

Kiara raised her hand into the air. Everyone looked at her fist. She extended her fingers. Ash counted silently: Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Kiara crouched down and slipped through the gap in the wall. The sheet of metal, which seemed secure from the outside, shifted as her shoulder pushed against it. It lifted enough for her to enter. Ash followed suit, knowing five more would be behind him.

He stared into the combat reality in front of him. The Cuffs vibrated with chaotic energy. Dark figures ran in the distance as the light from burning buildings illuminated the long road. His ears filled with the cacophony of gunshots and screams. A motorcycle revved in the distance. An alarm began to blare, adding another layer to the madness. Kiara moved along the sides of the road and slipped around a building. Ash beckoned the others to follow.

With his gun at the ready, Ash scanned the space in front of him, sweeping the area with his weapon. He looked left, then swept right, making sure to lower his gun close to the ground as it crossed in front of Kiara. He didn’t want to accidentally shoot her while trying to protect her. Still, the order was to take as many people alive as possible. Kiara had stressed that most of the people in this settlement were innocents. Still, it felt hard. Ash could feel the tension of the night coursing through his arms. His index finger stayed away from the trigger, but it twitched with the urge to fire. If he hesitated too long, he might die. He thought it would be better for an innocent to die than for him to be killed. After all, as Sander always reminded him, most of these people were NPCs.

Kiara approached the front door of a building and waited for the rest of the team to arrive. Once together, Kiara asked Ash to open the door. She would barge in first to clear the room. Ash counted Kiara down.

Three. Two. One.

Ash twisted the knob and pushed the door. Kiara raced into the building with her gun raised. Ash followed closely. He immediately understood why Kiara had chosen this building before helping their soldiers. Rows and rows of cages extended through the building. The figures inside -- mostly emaciated females -- reached out to them as they passed, as though they needed to touch something living to remind themselves they still existed.

Kiara rushed to the far end and, seeing no guard, shot open a metal box on the wall. She opened it to reveal keys, all labelled and hung neatly. She took them in her hands and began distributing them to the squad.

“Free everyone you can,” she told them. Then, turning to the room, Kiara shouted, “You’ll all be freed, but please stay in this building. My soldiers and I are here to save you, but there’s danger outside. I’ll come for all of you when the battle is over.”

Sander grabbed Kiara’s arm and whispered furiously. “Why are we here? The others need us more!”

“The others?” Kiara snapped. “The others are here because of me. This is my mission. This right here is the priority. What if the fire spreads? What if a grenade breaks through one of these windows? What happens to them? No, I won’t let any of these girls die when salvation is so close. It’s better for them to get gunned down while trying to escape than to suffer another minute in these cages. Now, go be helpful. Save them.”

She thrust a set of keys into Sander’s hand. He took them with a huff and began unlocking cages. Ash had just finished his first when the woman inside rushed past him and out the front doors.

Kiara cursed under her breath.

“Please, stay in here!” she pleaded tearfully. She wanted everyone in here to survive. Ash immediately realized these were the same cages Kiara had spent days, weeks, maybe months inside. Or at least that was the impression she had given them. She had looked nothing like these girls when they first met.

As their group of seven worked through the locks, a figure burst through the front door. A short man, carved from pure muscle, rushed into the room and saw what was happening. As he reached for his pistol, Kiara acted. She shot him twice with her revolver. His body collapsed backward, and the door swung shut behind his dead body.

“Grab his gun,” she ordered. Ash immediately complied.

As Ash pushed open the door to retrieve the gun, he saw the approaching fire.