To Be A Warrior

Chapter 32: Inside Out

"Five, Steve, Lobatse, are you ready?" Nadia's voice is hushed, tone clipped with the knowledge that she must be quick in talking to us.

"We're ready, love," Steve says with a nod. "We're waiting in the red barn by Holtstock Manor."

"But are you safe, Nadia?" Kefilwe asks. "Is there a chance the Last Riders will catch you speaking to us?"

"I hope not. I've been careful."

I shift at her words. She's been with the Riders for nearly three weeks now, with Paula and Tom watching carefully over her through coms and cameras that Sam managed to get access to. Still, every second she's there is a second closer the Riders could get to discovering she's a traitor. Of course, we knew she may be there for a while. Janine estimated that she may be in the Riders' ranks anyway from one month to six.

But still it's worrying to know what could happen to her, what will happen to her if she's caught.

"They've got a prisoner right now, and they're... they're playing with him," She continues, seeming to have to force the words out. "The sounds he's making... well, they'll cover me speaking to you."

Kefilwe frowns. "There's nothing you can do, Nadia. You're outnumbered. You'd throw away your life for nothing."

"I know. I know." Her voice holds a heaviness I remember feeling with the Torrencers. You see things, and you know they're wrong but there's nothing you can do besides keep your head down and hope you can get out before ending up like the person who happened to be on someone's bad side. "They ran an old man over the other day. Didn't even mean to. It was an accident. But they got off their bikes and stood and laughed as he bled out."

My stomach twists, and I my face scrunches up into a cringe.

"That's why you're there, love," Steve says reassuringly. "So you can stop them. Janine said you found out the factory where they're making a new version of those pills of theirs. The ones that look like ecstasy, but they've been laced with zombies' blood."

Ah, yes. I remember the meeting held a few days ago with me, Peter, Tom and Jody-all the runners who get picked for these types of missions, and others who sometimes are assigned to go with me, like Steve and Kefilwe. Janine stated that because of some of the transmissions received from Nadia, and because of how events were lining up, that she believed the rave was a trial run. There's a Peace UK movement that's running cross-settlement events to try to get people working together again, with talks and parties and all-around joy.

And it, according to Janine, would be just the thing the Riders would be looking to destroy.

"Yeah, yeah," Nadia says. "I've heard little bits of the Peace UK thing that Janine said was coming up. The Riders are planning to turn them into massacres. Losing their refinery hasn't put them off. The factory's in a warehouse. It's always guarded, but the rotate the duty around different factions. And right now, it's the Flaming Hogs."

Kefilwe frowns in worry. "They sound dangerous."

"Only the way a Labrador with a shotgun is." She laughs mockingly. "They're idiots with heavy ordinance. I saw one scalp his best friend yesterday. They were reenacting a scene from Inglorious Bastards. Didn't realize it would actually work.

"Here's the plan. Kefilwe, Steve, you'll provide distractions while Five messes with their equipment."

I grin. If there's one thing I can do, it's mess things up.

...Wait.

"You got the spigot I told you to?" She adds, and Steve nods.

"Yeah. Nice bit of kit."