Page 45 of A Brighter Yellow
“Steve gave you C-4?” demanded Ochre, looking over his shoulder at her. Anna smiled guiltily.
“It was what he had!”
“I don’t even…” Ochre shook his head. “Just hurry up and set it. We have some sort of timer, right?”
“Oh, yeah, no problem,” said Anna confidently, going back to the table with a small gray brick of putty in one hand.
“Shouldn’t you put on clothes first?” asked Charlie.
“Why?” asked Anna, looking up from whatever it was she was doing with the explosives.
“Well, we’re blowing things up? I don’t know. It seems like a clothing-based activity. Ochre, don’t you think she should put on clothes?” Charlie looked at Ochre as if for support.
“Oh, I don’t police women’s bodies,” said Ochre. “Or I get my ass beat.”
“He has sisters,” said Anna, as if that explained everything, which it kind of did. “OK, timer is set.”
“I have sisters,” said Charlie. “They tell me to buy better bras.” She sounded as if she couldn’t believe she was having this conversation.
“I’ve given us twenty minutes,” said Anna. “We should get the hell out of here now.”
Episode 22
The Battle
Anna
Anna followed Ochre and Charlie out into the hallway. Then she picked up the door she’d knocked over and propped it in the frame so that it looked sort of mostly up if someone just glanced at it. Of course, it would blow over at the hint of a breeze.
“What do you think, sunshine?” asked Ochre, his tone was light, but she could see tension in the set of his shoulders. “Back across the temple and out through the side door?”
“I want to stop and place charges in the temple,” said Anna. “Charlie, will that kill that source stuff?”
“I hope so,” said Charlie fervently.
“No, seriously,” said Anna. “Is it going to work? Because I don’t want to make some sort of source monster if I blow it up.”
Ochre made a strongly agreeing noise. Clearly, his adorable pointy ears were listening in, even though his eyes were trained on the hallway.
“Oh.” Charlie shook her head. “No. You won’t do that, and I think fire will kill it, but there’s a lot in the bowl. I think it will take a lot to really exterminate it.”
“Great,” said Anna. She was about to add that she intended to use a lot when there was a shout from up the hallway.
“Anna, take Charlie into the temple,” said Ochre, unslinging his bow. “I’ll hold them off here for as long as I can. Get the charges set.”
“Got it,” said Anna, grabbing Charlie’s hand and Ochre’s bag. She pulled Charlie into the temple, but she could tell that Charlie didn’t have a lot of hustle in her. Anna tried to figure out the best way to work the situation as she took out two bricks of the C-4 and handed them to Charlie.
“Take these,” Anna had to pause as there was a distinctthwapof Ochre’s bow and a scream from the hallway. “Take these to the pedestal in the center,” said Anna, pointing. “I’ll join you there in just a minute.”
Running to one of the long draping banners, she seized the block of C-4 in her teeth and began to climb up the fabric. About halfway up, she began to think that maybe Charlie was on to something with the clothing idea. C-4 It tasted like motor oil-drenched Silly Putty, and had she not been Supernatural, Anna rather thought that she would have been upchucking in short order. C-4 was not for consumption. On the other hand, she realized that even if she were dressed, her pants didn’t have pockets so it was probably a moot point. Once she had attached the C-4 to the ceiling, she slid down the banner with a woosh.
The doors clanged shut, and Ochre leaned against them, panting. He held his hand over the lock, and she guessed he was working his rust magic.
“Might be a good time to hurry, babe!” he yelled.
“Working on it!” she yelled back, sprinting toward the pedestal and Charlie. Charlie had sunk to the floor. She looked even worse. “But they’re going to go to the other door!” she yelled over her shoulder as she took the charges out of Charlie’s hands.
“Working on it!” he yelled back as he ran across the space toward the far doors.
