To Be A Rebel

Chapter 29: Here Comes The Rain Again

"Now we're far enough away from those listening ears at Abel," Ian says. "I brought you out here, Five, because there have been a series of thefts lately. Obviously, there's been some pushback against my rationing program, which just shows how effective it is."

He continues to talk, but another voice comes in, drowning his voice out to nothing but a whisper.

"Wow, man. Something to prove, little man?" Moonchild laughs. "This guy. He's so out of alignment. I feel bad for him."

I tense. Why are you here?

"I'm here because you're stressing out about your kids, and the plan. Penelope got that lock pick set you smuggled into her breakfast, and Milo and Phineas know to sit and wait. And they know when to meet up with Penelope and jump the perimeter fence and head for the woods when it's time for you to leave. But you're still worrying. You're worrying a lot, actually. So, here I am.

"But, back to nasally voiced man here-I really do feel bad for him. If he wasn't such a... oh, I don't know, Five. It's like he's literally 'the man', you know? And I've never seen anyone run in a suit jacket before. Can we stay upwind of him? Sometimes I can sense what you're smelling."

Please, just get out of here. I don't need you distracting me right now, and I'm not in any danger so, you can't really help me. Please leave.

Moonchild sighs dramatically. "As you wish."

"-they think they can steal from me, but they will be stopped!" Ian continues, his voice coming up to normal volume for me again. "I know you're with me. You gave me your name."

Not willingly.

"Plus the Minister trusts you. Anyone she trusts is good enough for me. It's important that justice is maintained. Some medical supplies have gone missing. That's why Dr. Lobatse said she wouldn't give me any antibiotics for that sniffle I had, even after I put her back in the box.

"Anyway, I may not be a military man like Steve, but journalists know a thing or two about finding sources, or about how to motivate people to be sources. The medical supplies are being collected in the valley over this hill. We're going to wait for the rendezvous. I'll find out who's been stealing from me and I'll make them pay. Come on. Hurry up."

I pick up my pace.

"Wait, not that fast."

I roll my eyes, but say nothing. It's best I don't. If I say something that isn't to Ian's liking, he'll most definitely take it out on me, or try to. I think he's scared of what the Minister might do to him if he hurts me too badly. She likes me. What he did to me yesterday was to teach Penelope a lesson, so he'll probably get away with it, but I don't know if that would work if he somehow hurt me because he didn't like my reply to something he said.

But what matters now is getting this over with, and then getting inside those labs. I told Milo and Penelope and Phineas they need to be out of Abel by two o'clock this afternoon, which is five hours from now. I told them to go to a certain spot in the woods, and I told them to wait for me there. I gave Milo clearance to a gun, and I gave him my axe, which he can use if zombies come around while they wait for me.

I plan on causing a distraction myself after I've gotten Ian's key but before I go down to the labs. I figured I'd just borrow one of Steve's grenades and blow up that one training area I haven't been in yet. I don't want to put my other kids at risk, especially now that Penelope is in a cell. So it'll just be me. Then I'll either kill or incapacitate the guards and then sneak in and do what needs to be done, then hightail it out of there. I'm even wearing my tagged training gear, so they'd have to make the tags unrecognizable before they could shoot me, which would give me even more time to escape.