Page 44 of Rising

He gave me a sincere smile as he passed by, greeting me with a, “Good evening, General,” and I took in the red rimming the bottom of his hazel eyes.

I recognized him but couldn’t remember his name. He’d come here within those first few months, but had always kept to himself. It was a group of them, him, a few other guys, and a woman. None of them seemingtoo offfor today’s standards, but that was the extent of my memory. A girl could only retain so much information.

Quickening my pace to catch where he was headed, I stopped short, noticing the emptiness of the alleyway as I stared at his inked back.Damnit.No go. He’d whirl around the second we’d enter the alley.

Continuing back towards the way I had originally been headed, I let my thoughts wander, trying to unpack what I had seen. Every second replay in my mind like photos. Trying to pick out anything that stood out as being overly suspicious, what I could gather from their interaction and how it played into everything that was happening. I came up empty.

That night I fell asleep reading, eyes glazing over the text as my mind focused on the world around me.

* * *

“Fuckin’hell,” Prescott uttered, leaning back into his chair. I’d made my way here at first light, determined to act on this as quickly as possible. Tossing and turning in my sleep, I woke before the sun rose, deciding to get started on thecriticalpile Riley had arranged on my desk.

If we were going to send people out, we needed to tell them as early as possible. Give them a chance at making good time or at the least have enough light to make decent progress today. There was no telling how bad things had gotten in between requests, and I’d sat on this for long enough already.

Before my leave of absence, Monterey had been the only settlement in the area under pressure. There were one off attacks along the other borders, but none that could hardly be deemed as out of the normal.

Luna was in full emissary mode. “All seven of us?” she mumbled. Running through all the information I had just presented them with. All seven of the settlements left in California had been facing similar attacks, but some of their forces weren’t as strong as ours, and some simply just weren’t as large. They needed help, they needed physical resources.

“Reno too, but I know that’s a stretch.” I was leaned up against the door, not wanting to sit down as I worked through my thoughts.

Selfishly, I wasn’t sure how many soldiers I could spare already being on thin ice here ourselves, but I knew I couldn’t leave them hanging without repercussions. That would take a few hours of discussion alone, and I wanted Luna’s recommendations on who I should send. The emissaries wouldn’t be able to head out a few days ahead in groups per our usual process.

“Absolutely not.” It wasn’t a command.

Luna would never command me to do anything, but she knew I trusted her opinion when it came to sending out emissaries. She was out there just as much as my troops. Instead of relying on the brothers and sisters around her, she had to rely on herself and herself alone.

I wasn’t going to push her. “Okay. But my guess is if they’ve reached out to us, then they’ve reached out to Sacramento, San Jose, Fresno, Elko, and Vegas, too. We won’t have confirmation unless we send someone out. I’d bet my best soldiers that Boise and Bend are on their short list if we reject them.”

“So let them call for ‘em,” she pushed, waving her hand in the air with dismissal. “Sending someone out there alone through Yosemite is a death wish.”

“What about Tahoe National?” I countered, it would take longer, but it was another option.

Her voice was grave as she stared into my eyes. “If The Pansies don’t get them, the wildlife will. Those woods are dangerous, Amaia.”

My attention shot towards Prescott, trying to see where his head was at. His fingers tapped against the arm of his chair and the fire cracked to the right of him. The room was tense as we both awaited his reply. I could take information that was provided to me as General to Prescott, but ultimately he made the final call.

The day-to-day calls were up to me; staffing the troops and sending out routine patrols and such, but sending out aid to others was a big decision. Some things required checks and balances. Same as in The Before. It wasn’t so much a political situation as it was a safety one. We needed people here to keepourpeople safe first and foremost.

Compound first, always.

“So they won’t go out in advance. They’ll go out with our reinforcements. What’s our headcount?” He examined me, and I wanted to find a hole to hide in.

I was tired of people looking at me with wary eyes, trying to see if I was in the right frame of mind and within all my senses. I knew he was just doing his job, but it bothered me most when it came to him. From someone who was supposed to have my back, no matter what.

“One thousand forty-five.” I cleared my throat. “Two hundred are out on patrol right now. Our conditions are … less than desirable at the moment.”

They looked at each other before I added, “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help. I can make it work. I know my troops. They can help.”

Prescott’s hand ran through his beard, his blue eyes scanning me over once more and I held firm under his scrutinizing gaze, ultimately deciding to trust my work, at least in the moment. His eyes lingered a moment in warning, this was a trial run.

“Okay, I’ll sign off on it.” He sighed and shook his head, fighting with the logic of the situation versus doing what was right. “It still has to go through the Council and they’re going to want answers that we don’t have, Amaia. You may want to help, but we can’t afford to send anyone to Reno, no matter if an emissary went ahead of your soldiers or not. Let’s just hope they can come back with some useful information. There has to be a reason for an uptick in attacks. It doesn’t make any sense, the numbers in Pansies should bedwindling,not—”

“About that.” I gulped, remembering what I had seen out there with Riley. “I think they can talk to each other, Prescott. Or communicate in some kind of way.” Concern covered their faces but they allowed me to continue.

“Two days ago, I went out to Jax’s grave. There were three of them there, standing in a circle. They’ve developed some sort of language, I guess? Nothing but a series of grunts and moans, but it wasweird. Then the attack later that day, all of them showing up at once, not moving like a normal herd, targeting the gate ironically during a shift change. Of all times of the day to attack andno onesaw or heard them coming? Come on now, you can’t think that’s just a coincidence.”

“Amaia,” he said, brushing me off. His hand fell to his temple. “We’ve been over this, and I’m not interested in returning to the conversation. When resources are solidified, I want a full briefing.”

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