Athena and Moonbeam were my minders at the old farmhouse they took me to. Both were codenames, unlike my parents, theirs weren’t crazy. What kind of person names their daughter Gypsy? The pair saw to my needs but mostly just guarded me through the rest of the night. They kept my hands bound the entire time except when I was relieving myself.

It was early. The sun was just brightening the horizon and Athena had nodded off. I felt like doing the same. I hadn’t slept and was exhausted. Moonbeam was reading a paper facing the door. She might be able to see me out of her peripherals but she looked engrossed in her article.

I coughed, testing their reactions. Moonbeam glanced over, her jaw working as she chewed her gum. She went back to her article. I scooted a few inches to my left and began rubbing the zip tie against the doorstop. It was rusted. The rubber piece on the end had come off. I clenched my jaw as the plastic zip ties dug into my wrists.

The rusty metal wore through the plastic quickly and the ties broke. Elation filled me. I did it! Way to Go, Ginny! I coughed again.

Moonbeam looked over.

“I need to pee,” I whispered, glancing at Athena.

Moonbeam sighed. “You just went a few hours ago.”

“The sun is coming up. It’s been a while.”

She put her paper down and stood. I eyed the pistol on her thigh. If I could get her close I could grab it and then escape. I still need my pack. The wrist comm would be a huge loss. Or rather the software on it. I’d need to make a backup with all the software when I got back to the ship.

“Help me up, please?” I asked.

Moonbeam sighed but reached down to grab me under the arm. As she helped me up I pulled her off balance. When she reached out to brace herself I grabbed her pistol and pushed her away.

“Not a sound!” I hissed.

Athena was still sleeping. That girl could probably sleep through an artillery bombardment. Maybe she had.

“Where is my pack? Don’t lie to me.”

“Pegasus has it,” she said.

“Who’s that?”

“He’s in charge around here. P-please, don’t kill me.”

I stepped back and lowered the weapon. “Just let me go. We don’t need to be enemies.”

She stepped back and discreetly kicked Agetha’s foot.

My eyes widened as she woke the other girl. “Stop!” I leveled the weapon at her again. Athena groaned. “What? Is it morning already?”

Her eyes opened and then went wide. “Shit!”

“Don’t move. The bathroom. Get in there. Both of you.”

They moved into the bathroom. They had chosen the place for its small size and lack of windows. They had even installed a deadbolt on the outside of the bathroom so they didn’t have to watch me in there. I locked them in and hurried for the door. I pulled it open and nearly ran right into my captor.

“Ah!” I cried out and stumbled back. The weapon came up by reflex. He instinctively grabbed my wrist and wrenched it to the side as he advanced. Rider forced me back and stripped me of the weapon all at the same time. Before I could blink he was standing there with my commandeered weapon trained on me.

“Going somewhere?” he asked calmly. “For an early morning stroll perhaps?”

“Yeah, my legs were stiff. Thought I’d take a walk,” I sassed back as I caught my balance, mentally and physically.

“You better hope you didn’t hurt the girls,” he said, his levity gone.

“Rider, is that you? Rider, we’re in here!” Athena called. “The girl escaped!”

“I got her. You two alright?” he asked.

“Yes! Now get us out of here!” Moonbeam demanded.

Rider glared at me and I went and stood in the far corner. Moonbeam and Athena were not happy.

“Try to hold on to this next time,” Rider said, handing Moonbeam her sidearm. “She didn’t hurt you?”

“No,” she bit out.

“I was sleeping. Woke up and she bustled us into the bathroom.” Athena shrugged with her arms. “What did I miss?”

“Just our little thief trying to make a break for it.” He looked over at me. “Get any sleep?”

“No, it's kind of hard to do when you're tied up. What do you even want with me? I don’t know anything of value to you.”

“Sure you do. Besides, you have skills we could use.”

“Wait. Did you just offer me a job?” I looked at the girls. “He didn’t, did he?”

“No.” Rider flipped one of the chairs around and sat on it backward. “But I’m thinking about it.”

“Then you’ll let me go?”

He shrugged. “It’s not up to me.”

“Then why am I even talking to you?”

“Where is the horse guy?”

They all exchanged a look. “Horse guy?” Athena asked.

“Pegasus. It’s like a winged horse or something, right?” I asked.

Athena snort-laughed. “I think I like her.”

I scowled. “Great. Let's go on a road trip. I’ll grab my bag and meet you out front in half an hour.”

Moonbeam glared at me. “Why haven’t you tied her up yet?”

“She got out once. She can do it again,” Rider said. “Besides, Pegasus wants to talk to her. Let's go.”

“What's in it for me?”

“Breakfast.”

“Lead on!” I said promptly.

“Do I have permission to shoot her if she tries to run?” Moonbeam asked.

“Sure, just don’t jump the gun,” Rider said.

I rolled my eyes, but a smile tugged at my lips at the horrible pun. Was it even a pun? I don’t know. I’d been up all night.

“So who were you stealing food for?”

“Steal? I don’t know—”

“What I’m talking about. I know. So who were you getting food for?” Rider cut in.

I shrugged. “I have a big appetite.”

“You expect me to believe all that was for you?”

I patted my stomach. “I’m trying to hide my figure.”

Athena burst out laughing. “Can we keep her?”

Moonbeam glared at her. “Shut up.”

“What’s your problem? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

“That would imply I went to bed,” Moonbeam snapped.

Athena laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “Go get some sleep.”

After breakfast Rider took me to meet Pegasus. Apparently, he wanted to meet me himself to evaluate the risks of utilizing my skills. He outlined the mission. Infiltrate a prison, release the prisoners, and hand out some guns.

“So will you help us?” he asked.

“No way. I’m not getting involved in your crazy war!”

“We’ll give you your pack and other items back.” He paused. “And let you go.”

“I still see no reason to help you.”

“We can pay you.”

“How much?” I asked.

He thought about it for a moment. “Ten grand.”

“Oh great. Risk my life for you people for ten grand? When do we leave? I can hardly wait.”

“Sarcasm?”

“If you want my help, I want my things back.”

“No weapons until mission time.”

I waved it off. “Fine.”

“And we’ll hold onto your things during the mission. We need some assurance that you’ll do your part.”

“Is my word not good enough?”

He snorted. “Rider tells me you're a little free with the truth.”

I glared at Rider. “Telling all my secrets?”

He grunted. “Not all.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you know them all.”

His gaze hardened. “You screw this up, you could get a lot of good men killed.”

“Not my men or my problem,” I said. “But if I accept payment for something. I’ll do it but I want fifty grand. You want my expertise, it’s going to cost you.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Payment upon successful execution then. We can do twenty thousand,” Pegasus cut in.

“Forty-five.”

“This isn’t a negotiation.”

I shrugged. “Then find someone else.”

“Your freedom isn’t payment enough?” Rider asked.

“You could be lying about that. Heck, you could be lying about everything.”

Our bickering wrapped up when a man burst into the room. He was breathing hard and his brow was covered in sweat.

“Patrol inbound!” he said.

The response was immediate. “Go. Rider, take the girls. We’ll meet at an alternate location,” Pegasus said.

We hurried out and I was pulled along by an irate Moonbeam. “Keep up! If you slow us down, I’ll kill you.”

What a ray of sunshine… I did as instructed. Rebels hurried about, some ducked into the barn and reappeared a few minutes later loaded for bear. Rider shouldered my pack. Moonbeam, Athena, and Rider were joined by two other men. They formed up and pushed into a jog heading for the crop of trees in the distance.

“Don’t slow us down,” Moonbeam said.

“Or you’ll kill me, I know. I got it the first time.”

The movement helped loosen up my stiff muscles. The bruise on my chest had stopped hurting sometime during the night. Bob lied to me. The nanobots might help me heal faster, but they didn’t do squat for sore muscles.

They pushed hard to reach the trees and then dropped into foxholes and turned to wait. They prepared weapons and armed some preset claymores.

“Are we expecting a fight?” I asked Athena.

“Hush!” Moonbeam snapped.

“Ignore her,” Athena said. “And yeah. We’re always expecting a fight. So are you going to help us?”

“I’ll probably have to. I don’t want to be shot,” I said casually.

Athena winced. “Sorry about that. I know some of the men in that prison. They are good people.”

“Maybe they are, but it’s not my fight. I just came here—”

“Yeah?”

“Nothing.”

“You seem alright for a thief. Who were you stealing food for? Siblings?”

“I’m not a thief. I am just a greedy glutton,” I said.

“Fine. Don’t tell me.” She fell silent. “Hey, Ginny?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Um, for what?”

She smiled. “For helping us.”

“I haven’t decided to—”

“You will. I can tell,” Athena said.

The patrol rolled up to the farm. Everyone tensed in anticipation. After twenty minutes that seemed to last for hours, the patrol left. We set out again heading deeper into the woods. It was almost noon before we reached a cabin tucked into the woods. I collapsed into a chair and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Three days passed in the cabin. Athena and Moonbeam left. Others came and went. I listened to radio chatter to pass the time. Rider finally relented to my pestering and gave me my wrist computer and I hacked into the enemy communications. He was much more accommodating after that. The rebels executed an ambush on a convoy, blew up a radio tower, and scouted the prison.

A week passed before they were ready to hit the place. Rider was going over the plan with me for the fifth time that morning, still trying to convince me to help. I was holding out for forty-five thousand and Pegasus wasn’t budging. North Star another of their team burst inside, his side was drenched in blood and he was exhausted.

“North Star, what happened?” Rider demanded.

“Patrol found us,” he gasped. “Midnight is dead. Emerald and Silver too. They captured Athena! They are coming.”

“Burn the maps!” Rider ordered. “Get out of here, take Ginny to the fallback sight. I’ll clean up here and join you.”

“There is no time!” North Star said. “Use the incendiaries.”

Rider cursed. I grabbed my pack while they handled their business. “Give her a weapon.”

“No thanks. I’d prefer the zip ties, I probably have a better chance of survival if I’m a prisoner.”

“Now isn’t the time for your jokes!” Rider shouted. He thrust a rifle into my hands causing me to stumble. “Let's go.”

We exited the door and he tossed a pair of incendiary grenades into the cabin, then we ran. Rider was slowed helping North Star as the man stumbled along.

“Get his other side!”

“My clothes might get bloody,” I grumbled even as I obeyed.

“You’re all heart,” North Star said between gulps of air.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

The smoke started pouring out of the cabin as we crested the hill. I glanced back and saw a pair of tracked vehicles smash through the brush. Soldiers poured out of them and surrounded the cabin.

“Get down,” Rider ordered.

The brush and trees hid us well, but there was no point taking risks.

We sat in silence for a while. North Star was still bleeding.

“He needs a doctor,” I said.

“I know.”

“Rider, he’s losing a lot of blood.”

“I know!”

I swallowed hard. “Keep pressure on it,” I told him. My throat tightened as I watched him bleed out. I didn’t know him well but watching him bleeding out was awful. The dam broke and tears flowed down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I cried.

His hand clutched mine. Rider cursed but I couldn’t take my eyes off North Star.

“I-I’m John,” he said. “P-please, help Rose. T-they took her.”

“Rose?” Rider asked.

“Athena,” John croaked. “Please, you have to save her.”

“I’ll try,” I said.

His grip weakened. I leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. A few seconds later he was gone. His head rolled to the side and his hand went limp.

I don’t know how long I sat there crying but Rider jolted me out of my daze with a hand on my shoulder.

“We should go. Before they organize their scouts.”

He shook me to get a response. I sniffled and wiped my nose. I felt hollow inside. All the dead bodies I’d seen on the prison ship were nothing compared to this. Watching as the life slowly drained out of someone and being helpless to do anything about was horrible.

Rider pulled me after him. We stayed low to avoid detection and then we were over the hill and on our way. I’d only gotten to know North Star a little over the past week, but he seemed like a decent guy. Athena, Rose, I’d gotten to know a lot better. They had her now. She was kind and bubbly. Even in the mists of war, she had a happy disposition. God only knows what they are doing to her right now. I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say she was a friend, but it was close.

Rider led me through the woods for hours before we came to a pavilion. A vehicle was sheltered there under a thick tarp. Dead leaves had collected in the dips on the tarp.

He uncovered it and hopped in. The jeep had a rollbar and open top with a small area behind the seats for cargo. The engine cranked once before dying. Rider cursed and slammed his palm into the steering wheel.

“What now?” I asked.

“Get the generator started,” he ordered. “I’m going to check the supplies.”

I had to hunt around for the generator. My experience with old tech like this was growing, but I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for. I didn’t ask though. Rider was ticked. He’d lost several people and was fuming.

“It’s under the tarp in the back,” he snapped.

The generator was a clunky thing housed in a square metal frame with wheels on it. I rolled out and fumbled with the thing before figuring it out. A pull cord? Really? Thankfully that was well-built and fired up on the second pull. It coughed for a few seconds and then revved up to a healthy purr.

Rider popped the hood and hooked up some cables. “Try it now.”

I’d never driven one of their vehicles but it looked pretty simple. I copied what he’d done and it cranked over. A few seconds later it sputtered to a start and evened out.

Rider wasted no time removing the cables and tossing them in the back. He shut the generator down and called me over. “Give me a hand,” he said.

We loaded it up along with the other supplies he’d found and then we were off. The trail hadn’t been used in a while, but we only had to travel a mile or so before we reached a gate on the edge of the woods.

“Get the gate,” he said.

I complied. It wasn’t locked and he pulled through, into a field. We bounced along through the field and pulled out onto the road after passing through another gate.

“What now?” I asked over the wind.

“Now we hide. The cell is compromised. Athena will spill her guts eventually and we’ll all be in danger.”

“Not if we rescue her. John said they took her to the prison, right? We are all set to raid that place anyway.”

“Forget it. Pegasus isn’t going to risk it now. There is no money. That was a lie.”

I thought about my near escape from the Breakers. The Triv might have a low crime rate, but was extensive torture really worth it? To me, that just sounded cruel for cruelty's sake. I imagined a similar fate for the sweet woman. She’d been kind to me. I’d never had many friends and she didn’t care one lick that I was a thief.

“What will happen to her?”

He grimaced. “What do you think?”

Nothing good, that’s for sure. “We can’t just leave her there.”

“What can we do? We’re on our own. We’ve got no support. Even if I dared to contact anyone. They are going to go to the ground. It was risky when we had time to plan, now it’s suicide.”

“Well, I’m not going to leave her here!” I said.

“Why the sudden change of heart? You were dead set against it before, and demanding money. What changed?”

“It got personal,” I said, almost too quietly for him to hear.

We went another mile in silence. “Forget it.”

“If you’re not going to help, you can let me off here,” I snapped.

He pulled over and slammed on the brakes. He threw it in the park and glared at me. “If you want to run off and get yourself killed, be my guest. She’s gone. Just like North Star! I’m not throwing my life, or anyone else's life away, on a fool's errand! We fail, and everyone we’re trying to save will get killed!”

I drew back from the fierce anger in his eyes. He was angrier than I’d thought. His tone shifted as he spoke about the prisoners. Someone there was important to him. “They have someone important to you. Who?”

“None of your business,” he said bitterly.

“What! None of my business? You made it my business when you didn’t let me leave! I’ve been stuck with you for more than a week and miserable for most of it! I’m sick of being told what to do! Being shuffled around in dirty little spaces with smelly bodies, terrible beds, and no voice. I’m done! I’m going to get her out. You can sod off and hide if you want but I’m done with you telling me what to do!”

I hopped out and grabbed my pack, exchanging it for the rifle he’d given me. I was sick of this war, the fighting, and death. What are you doing, Ginny? I didn’t owe Athena anything. She’d shown me kindness but hadn’t tried to help me or get me released. I cursed my foolishness and spun to face Rider.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get out of here!” I snapped.

“You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“That’s my choice!”

“This is war, Ginny. Sometimes you can’t win and you have to accept reality and move on,” he said softly.

“Or maybe you’re just a coward,” I hissed. “I’ll see you never!”

I turned on my heels and started walking back the way we’d come.

“Where are you going?” he called.

“To the prison!”

“You’re going the wrong way.” He cursed. “Fine! Get in. Ginny! I said get in.”

“I’m done obeying your orders.” I stopped.

“I said I’ll help you, now come on. That’s the wrong way.”

“You didn’t say that,” I retorted, grumbling.

“Just get in the dang jeep! Every conversation with you is a battle.”

I huffed and returned to my seat, hugging my pack as he pulled back onto the road.

We traveled in silence for a time. The hills and fields look so peaceful here, then a burned-out building turned up with bomb craters marred the countryside. We passed abandoned vehicles and slowed to drive around a few bomb craters on the road. All reminders of the war.

“I hate war,” I said.

“Yeah.”

I fiddled with my wrist computer and tuned out the world. My gadgets made sense. The fighting and killing was so pointless. Why couldn’t people just live peacefully with each other? Because people suck, Ginny. I knew that better than most. Abandoned at birth, struggling to survive the orphanage with bullies stealing my food. Then at ten on the streets when I’d run away. Living off the charity of soup kitchens and sleeping behind a dumpster in some cardboard boxes.

I wouldn’t wish my life on my worst enemy. How many homeless children had this war created? People were the worst. Some had shown me kindness over the years, but that was a rarity. Athena was one of those rare people and I repaid my debts, at least to my friends. As for the rest of the world? It was for the taking.

“Call Pegasus,” I ordered.

“No, they will be waiting for that. SOP is no calls after a raid like this.”

“That’s because your encryption sucks. I’ve got you covered. They could spend two years and never trace this call. Now call him.”

He looked at me for a long moment.

“Trust me—look out!” I cried.

He swerved around a crater and we bounced through a field and back onto the road.

“Blast it! Eyes on the road!” I released my death grip from the handle above the door.

“Sorry.”

“Call him.”

“We’ll stop up ahead to refuel. I’ll do it there.”

A short time later we pulled into a gas station. He started filling it and I went in to stretch and use the bathroom. We picked up some supplies and met back at the vehicle.

“Use this encryption. It will hack his device and update his encryption so the call will be secured on both ends.”

“You can do that?”

“Of course, I’m a genius.”

He made the call and after a lot of convincing, Pegasus finally agreed to meet.