Page 68 of Heartless
He shook his head again, quickly scrawling on his pad to elaborate.I don’t. Just miss one.
“You should take the advice you gave me,” I said, knocking back the rest of my drink. “Just put it out there and be yourself.”
“Heh.” Grudge made a noise of disagreement and shook his head again, but didn’t write out another explanation.
We smothered the fire as daylight approached and took turns watching as the other man slept. When dusk began falling, we hit the road again.
Andrea and Big G doubled up on one motorcycle, taking the winding two-lane main road while Grudge and I kept them in our line of sight along the canyons above. Jandro had fitted our cafe racers with the thickest off-road tires and biggest damn mufflers he could find so we’d make minimal noise.
The two-day ride was a whole lot of nothing, with no direct contact with the other riders except for a quick flash of a mirror to let them know we were still there. It was late afternoon when we came within sight of New Ireland’s northeastern border. Although it wasn’t the border itself as much as we spotted the Irish flag flapping in the chilly wind.
Grudge and I rode to opposite embankments flanking the settlement. We were each a good hundred yards away from their perimeter, and would have no problem taking out anyone patrolling.
I parked next to some dense brush, took what I needed from my packs, and walked the bikeintothe bush. After grabbing some tumbleweeds and sticking them in at odd angles, I felt satisfied that my bike was adequately camouflaged. Ideally, no one would be walking around here anyway. I loaded the first of my rifles and made my way up to the top of the hill, crouched low and silent as a cat. Right before reaching the top, I lowered to my knees and crawled my way to the ledge until I had a clear view of the gate while lying on my stomach.
Big G and Andrea were, for the moment, out of sight. They were hidden at the base of Grudge’s hillside, preparing to approach the gate with their disguises. Grudge flashed me an okay sign, indicating he had eyes on them. Nodding in return, I turned my attention to the final obstacle Andrea would be facing.
Twelve armed guards stood in front of the northeastern entrance alone, while a Jeep filled with more soldiers made its way slowly around the perimeter just outside the gate. This kind of security seemed excessive, almost like they were expecting an attack. I could only speculate that General Tash made many enemies due to how swiftly he trampled over cities and territories. Small uprisings of those he’d conquered had to be expected.
I tried to push away the thought of survivors marching up to this gate, probably wholly unprepared and armed with things like pitchforks. Just ordinary people who wanted justice for the atrocities committed against their loved ones. What kind of fate did they meet against these soldiers? The gravel road, surrounding sand, and perimeter walls were clean, even polished. There were no heads on spikes, no human remains littering the ground, no clues to indicate Tash’s abject cruelty. Some unassuming refugee might stumble upon this place and even think they were safe.
Movement below me prompted my index finger to curl around my trigger—just resting, not yet squeezing. Andrea was making her way out, approaching the gate on foot and…
I looked up from my sights and blinked both eyes. “What the fuck?”
Big G was approaching the gatewithher.
Looking across the valley to Grudge, he seemed just as confused as me. The plan was for Big G to cover Andrea as she went inalone. If there had been a change in plans, we sure as fuck weren’t notified.
“God fucking damn it, Big G,” I cursed under my breath as I pulled a small set of binoculars from my pocket.
Andrea was bound with her hands tied in front of her, Big G pulling roughly on her arm so much that she stumbled to keep up. She was scantily clad, the low-cut dress she wore her only possession. I figured she would make some kind of pitch as a service girl offering to entertain the soldiers, but to my knowledge, she didn’t need Big G for that.
Unless he had plans of his own that he wanted to carry out once inside, which was the most likely answer. I muttered curses under my breath as the guards halted them at the gate and began asking questions. Big G acted without thinking or informing others who his actions might affect. The problem with him wasn’t so much that he was insubordinate, but that he believed his ideas were much better than they actually were.
It felt like I held my breath through their long, ten-minute exchange standing outside the gate. Big G did most of the talking, while Andrea only answered questions when directly spoken to. My lungs released when the gates began to swing open but tightened up again when, just as I feared, Big G followed Andrea inside.
Grudge and I quickly lost our view of them as the gates slid closed. The two undercover Steel Demons were officially behind enemy lines. My mind raced, wondering what I should do. We weren’t given orders for this situation and I didn’t have a tactical mind like Gunner. We were supposed to come back with Big G alive or dead, unless circumstances prevented us from retrieving his body.
Anger coiled in my body. The fuckerknewwe were out here, they both did. They knew we couldn’t leave.
I had to get back to my woman. I promised her.
Looking across the valley, I made sure I had Grudge’s attention before making the ASL sign forhourswith my left hand, then counted up to 24 with my right. To my relief, he nodded and made theokaysign that he understood. I sighed and shifted my legs underneath me, trying to prepare myself for the long day ahead as I marked where the shadows touched the ground next to me.
One full day. Big G would have twenty-four hours to do whatever the fuck and get out. If he wasn’t outside that gate by this time tomorrow, we’d head home without him and he was on his own.
It must have been somewherearound hour twenty when I spotted movement down below. I rubbed my weary eyes and slapped myself awake, just as I’d done for the last several hours. A quick glance to the other embankment confirmed that Grudge was awake and watching too.
I waited with bated breath as the gates slid open, not knowing entirely who or what to expect coming through from the other side. My heart lifted slightly when I saw Big G being escorted out with a soldier on each side. He looked fine, not at all abused or in any distress. I didn’t want to relax too soon, but whatever story he told to get in with Andrea must have worked. I couldn’t wait until Reaper dragged that information out of him.
His escorts followed him roughly fifty feet outside of their perimeter before halting, their work done as they returned to stand at attention. Rather than continue on to where his bike was hidden, Big G stopped with them.
“Fucking get out of there,” I muttered under my breath. “You big dumbshit, what the fuck are you doing?”
He dawdled, standing casually as he turned to face his two escorts. His mouth moved and his facial expressions looked as if he was cracking jokes, but I couldn’t be sure. My finger curled around my rifle trigger, aiming at the empty space between him and the two soldiers. It was unnerving how familiar he was acting with Tash’s men. Like they were friends.
My heart beat with ever-increasing punches to my ribcage. Big G was annoying and not very smart. But a traitor? Even if so, would he be dumb enough to act friendly with Tash’s guards right in front of us?
