Theo had to smile. "You all have wives or girlfriends?" Wes and Jason nodded. "That's my army. All the women you were forced to leave behind. Oh, and they are being led by my girlfriend."

  There was an incredibly awkward silence. Then the men burst into laughter. Tony looked like he was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard.

  "Our…wives!" he managed, "Our wives and your girlfriend…gonna lead a war!" Theo remained calm. Gradually, the men saw how serious his face was and the truth hit them. "Oh, hell," said Tony. "You're serious."

  "I wish I wasn't," said Theo. "I know how much that scares you. I'm scared every second that I stop and think of what Kylee is going to be getting herself into. But they are coming, whether we want to protect them or not. The best we can do for them is help them from our end."

  "But we have no weapons!" said Jason. "How are we supposed to fight?"

  "As best we can," said Theo. "The rebels are bringing plenty of firepower, enough for every prisoner. But they won't be able to get to us without our help. There's too much of the Security Force consolidated in the prison."

  "So what do you want us to do?" asked Wes.

  "We are going to create a distraction. A riot. Disarm and defeat as many soldiers as we can, but mainly keep them so focused on us that they can't organize a defense against the rebels."

  "And you think that four of us can make that kind of a distraction?" asked Tony. "How do you know they won't just kill us and go to dinner?"

  "I don't think they'd be so quick to kill me or anyone involved with me, if they can help it," Theo said. "That wouldn't give Tiberius the show he's craving. But more important than that, I wasn't planning on it being just the four of us. We need to get everybody here involved. Do you have any ideas?"

  Jason stood up. Theo could tell the man's mind was working and his enthusiasm was growing. "The only time we see everybody is at lunch downstairs. There's going to be a ton of guards in the place. We'll have to rely on whisper-down-the-lane and hope that when you give a signal everybody will jump up."

  "That could work," Theo said. "It's a little more of a risk than I'd like to take, but we really are working with very limiting constraints. This has to happen tonight. So we will spread word around at lunch."

  "What do you want to tell people to do?" asked Wes.

  "How do you get the guards to come to your room?" Theo asked.

  "Sit right there and I'll learn you a couple things, new guy."

  Jason walked over to the entrance to the room. A little button that resembled a doorbell was next to the heavy metal door. He pushed the button and stepped back, waiting. A minute later, the locks turned in the door, and it opened to reveal a masked Security Force agent, gun in hand.

  "What?" asked the agent. "You know it's not time for breakfast. This better be good."

  "I just wanted to see if you'd been washing yourself properly," Jason said. He made a show of sniffing the air. "Nope, you still stink."

  The guard stepped forward and in one smooth motion jabbed the butt of his gun into Jason's stomach. Jason fell to his knees gasping for air.

  "That's what you get, funny man. Leave me alone unless it's something important. You got me?"

  He slammed the door and Theo heard the locks turn back into place. He ran over to Jason who was still holding his stomach. Jason looked up at him and smiled. "And that's the way it's done."

  Theo was shocked and impressed by the man's enthusiasm and lack of fear. He supposed that a little time spent locked up with all of one's rights stripped away could harden a person. "Okay," he said, "are all the prisoners in shared rooms like this?"

  "Absolutely," said Wes. "The leadership wasn't about to treat us to our own private spaces. It's three or four to a room all around, from what I've heard."

  "That works. Here's what we have to do: Spread the word at lunch that one minute after dinner is served to the rooms, each room hits the button to bring a guard. Now of course, they don't have enough guards for each room, but that's fine. The important thing is every single guard on the floors for "political prisoners" will go to a room. It's the job of the prisoners in that room to grab the guard and disable him. I know that's a big risk, but it's the way we have to do this. Those prisoners have to let the others out."

  "I think this might be crazy enough to work," said Tony. "What do we do then?"

  "Then we head to the stairs and fight any remaining Security Force guards on our way to the entrance. By then they will know that Kylee and the rebels are nearby, even if they haven't quite arrived yet. We have to hold off guards until the rebels arrive. At that point, the responsibility to get us out of there falls to our army, and your next orders should come from Kylee."

  Theo walked into the prison cafeteria. It had once been some kind of restaurant in the building's former existence as a hotel. What fascinated Theo about everything he had seen so far in the prison was how quickly the Security Force had been able to get the building secure. With limited resources and a very small talent pool, Tiberius had been able to create a very tightly controlled facility. The halls were all lined with concrete, and special, massive doors separated segments of the building. Guards patrolled every nook and cranny of the place. The restaurant had been stripped bare. In place of the booths and tables that had once filled the room, a series of metal picnic tables has been erected.

  Men sat quietly at the various tables or waited in line for food. Theo saw to his surprise that the prison rations were not very different from those provided to everybody on the island, or at least the people outside the city. Baked rolls and simple vegetables were on offer. Theo thought again about the suspicions he and his friends shared about Tiberius's advanced knowledge of the hurricane. If the leadership hadn't known it was coming, how did they know to make sure to harvest crops from the farms before they were destroyed in the flooding?

  Too late to worry about that now, he thought. Theo waited in line with the other men from his room. The four of them knew what they had to do: get every man in the room on board with the plan for the evening. The plan itself was full of potential risk and room for slipups. Theo had to convince people that the risks were worth taking, and he had to hope that Tony, Wes and Jason could do the same.

  He kept an eye on the other men throughout the meal, as he talked to the five at his table. He could feel the guards who surrounded the room watching him, though it was impossible to tell under what Bill called the "death masks," black glass and carbon fiber helmets shaped like a cross between the head of a robot and a skeleton. Theo tried to concentrate on the conversation. He had not been sure he would be given an opportunity to speak, but that proved not to be a problem. Somehow, word had spread about the arrival of the mysterious Theo Essex, the teenager who had resisted Tiberius. The men at his table looked at him in a way he imagined celebrities would recognize immediately.

  The men saw him as the one who would save them, and Theo used that to his advantage, carefully firing the men up for the night's uprising. When he had finished giving what he thought was a fairly inspirational speech, he sat back and waited to see how the men would respond.

  "You're telling me that my wife is going to war with Tiberius tonight?" one asked.

  "Yes, that's probably right," Theo said.

  "Well if she can be brave enough for this, so can I. I'm in, Theo."

  The other men shared similar assent. Now came the important part. "I need you guys to go sit elsewhere. Pretend you don't want to have to sit with the new kid. Spread around the room and tell everyone what I told you. This is our one chance to share the plan."

  The men listened, jumping up from the table. One yelled out, "Fine, new kid, see how you like sitting by yourself!" Theo saw the guards move their hands to their guns, watching the men carefully, but the men simply went to new tables, sitting all around the room. Theo made eye contact with Tony and they nodded at each other. The word was moving around the room. Tonight, the wrongfully jailed citizens of Atlantic Island would fight back.

  Theo finished his lunch in silence. In the back of his mind it occurred to him that this might be the last meal he would be able to eat for a while, possibly forever. If so, he was going to enjoy every bite as best he could. He hoped Kylee and his friends were enjoying their meals and not worrying too much about the rebellion. Worry would do nobody any good. This had to happen. Whether it succeeded or not was not for him to decide. He would simply do the very best he could.

  Chapter 28

  Kylee knew things were going too well. The rebels had progressed past ten streets without so much as a stray animal running by, not that many animals were left alive on the island. She felt her confidence in herself and the mission growing with each cleared block. And yet, a voice in the back of her mind said, this is all too easy. It can't possibly continue this way.

  And so it was that when the sniper fired the first shot of the war and dropped one of her soldiers to the ground, that voice spoke behind the panic. Told you so.

  The sniper's gun made no sound, at least not one that could be heard over the marching feet and squeaking SUV wheels. Kylee only knew something had happened when the women around the victim of the shot screamed.

  "Sniper!" someone yelled.

  Kylee snapped into action. "Spread between the buildings! Off the streets! Everybody, now!"

  The rebels disbursed quickly, ducking for cover. Suddenly, a noise from the side of the supply wagon. A bullet had missed one of the women surrounding the vehicle and embedded itself in the rusty metal side. Kylee pointed toward the side of the street from which she now knew the bullet had been fired. Bill and Joseph, the only part of the inner circle still near her, both nodded and bolted in that direction. Kylee followed them, watching as she went to make sure the army was properly covered.

  She hated leaving their supplies out in the open, but she knew that despite the attack from either a roof or maybe a second story window, there was no way for the enemy to get to them by the streets. The rebels still had all directions covered. Kylee was proud as she saw the women taking positions in the shadows. They were not panicking, despite the loss of one of their own, a friend now lying dead in the middle of the street.

  She followed Bill and Joseph to a partially demolished store on the edge of the circle Tiberius was clearing. She had been prepared for the bright lights of the demolition zone, fully expecting some kind of reaction from the construction crews as the small army moved past. She had even anticipated that there might be an issue with a Security Force presence in the area.

  Kylee realized she hadn't known they were approaching the construction zone because the spotlights were turned off. The crews were not working. Was it possible that Tiberius had anticipated their attack? It seemed unlikely. If he had, they would have faced the full Security Force and their problems would be infinitely more complicated. This was some kind of unfortunate coincidence.

  The back door to the remaining half of the shop was wide open. She motioned silently to Bill and Joseph. They checked inside the door and Bill flashed her an "okay" gesture. She walked past them, her M16 at the ready.

  Something was very wrong with this situation. A woman was dead because Kylee hadn't anticipated that the demolition zone would be shut down for the night. She was ashamed that she didn't even know which woman it had been. Why would Tiberius call all the crew and guards off the job site, unless… was it possible that he intended to do something tonight? Something involving Theo, and he didn't want anybody to miss it. As Kylee led the way up the stairs, she became convinced that she was right. All the more reason to take care of this problem and keep on moving.

  On the second floor of the building, only one door was open. Kylee pointed, and Bill and Joseph moved carefully into position on either side of the opening. Bill leaned his head over to peer through the doorway. He pulled back quickly and nodded at Kylee. The sniper was in there. Waiting for the rebels to spread back out into the street.

  Kylee pointed to Joseph and at the door. Joseph nodded. The three of them exchanged glances, assuring that all were ready. Joseph made his move. He stepped into the room with his gun pointed.

  "Do not move," Joseph said in his thick accent. Kylee and Bill followed into the room. The sniper had set up his nest by one of the windows. He was frozen in a modified pushup position. He must have been startled and had started to get to his feet when he registered Joseph's command and stopped.

  Kylee approached the sniper. He was wearing his helmet. Theo had been sure the helmets contained some kind of night vision capability, and she was now inclined to agree. "I'm going to ask you turn around. When I do, you will get up and turn to face me, as slowly as possible. I want your hands up behind your head. Do you understand me?"

  "Yes, I understand," came the response, slightly muffled by the helmet.

  "Okay. We're going to do this on three. One. Two."

  The man spun to a seated position. Kylee was caught off-guard and had just enough time to register the pistol in the sniper's hand. She heard the bang of a gun firing. She looked down, expecting to see a hole in her chest. She saw nothing... felt nothing. She looked back up. The sniper was dead, folded over onto his back. A hole was smashed in the glass over one side of his mask. She looked over at Bill. He had a shocked look on his face, and he pointed toward Joseph.

  Joseph's gun was still drawn. Kylee ran over to him. "Joseph, you saved me!"

  Joseph's face was deadly serious. "He will kill no more of our people."

  "Holy crap," said Bill in a shocked whisper. "Joey, you are the very definition of badass."

  "We need to get back out to the street and keep moving," Kylee said. She was determined not to let the others see just how much this situation had upset her. The death of one of her soldiers, and her own near-death experience had thrown her mind into a spin. She had to maintain focus and control. Had to get back on the road, moving block by block toward Theo.

  She led the way to the door. As she crossed the threshold, the sniper's radio crackled. "Nestor, come in. This is Supreme Leader Tiberius. Your superiors told me you reported rebel troop movements?"

  Kylee looked at Bill and Joseph. "Bill, this has to be you."

  Bill smiled. "Alright, you'll get exactly what you want. Brace yourselves, I'm about to show you my Nestor."

  He walked over to Nestor's body with caution, as if he expected the dead man to rise up and grab him.

  "Nestor," Tiberius called again amidst the static on the radio, "Nestor, do you read me?"

  Bill leaned down over Nestor and took the radio. He took a deep breath. Pressing the button he said, "This is Nestor, oh Supreme Leader."

  "Good. Nestor, you said there was troop movement?"

  "I was mistaken, Supreme Leader. Only two of the rebels. I shot and killed one, the other ran away. I think I was fooled by shadows."

  Silence. Bill looked up to Kylee for approval. She gave him a thumbs up.

  "Very well," Tiberius said. He sounded disappointed. "Congratulations on your kill. You have done a great service for your country and I will instruct your commander to award you proper honors."

  "Thank you, sir. Have a glorious night."

  Bill dropped the radio and walked over to the door. "How did I do?"

  Kylee smiled. "You did great, Bill. Let's get back to the others."

  They walked back down to the ground level and made their way back out on Atlantic Avenue. Kylee looked at the sky. The sun of a universe to which they did not belong was low on the horizon. She guessed there was only maybe an hour before they would be plunged into total darkness. She knew there was not much time for them to connect with Carlos Menendez and assault the prison.

  She signaled to the rebels hiding around the street. They emerged from every possible hiding place, and moved to the center of the road, where the fallen woman lay in a puddle of dark blood. A woman named Debra checked the body and looked up at Kylee. "It's Helen," Debra said, tears in her eyes.

  Kylee flashed back to her few conversations with Helen. Her time training with her in the street outside the safe house. A friendly face, one of many that had provided her and her friends with food and shelter. Now a face that stared blankly at the darkening sky. How many more friendly faces would she lose? How many more would die for this cause?

  Kylee walked over to Helen's body. She put her hand on Debra's shoulder. "I'll take care of it from here. She knelt down and scooped up Helen's body. Kylee carried the body to the side of the road and placed it gently on the ground. She closed the vacant eyes with her fingers.

  "She will be hidden well enough here for now," she said to her army. "When we are victorious, we will return and bury our dead." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted the connotation. Her words held the implication that Helen would not be the only one buried at the conclusion of this conflict.

  Kylee worked her way back to the front of the line. Ryan and Jamie approached as she neared the head of the group.

  "Kylee," Ryan said, "we have an idea."

  "Okay, Ry, what is it?"

  "We're about to go through the demolition zone, right? Well, it's possible there are other traps arranged for us."

  "I agree," Kylee said, "so how do you want to handle it?"

  "What if we go down by the beach?"

  She was confused. "The beach? Ry, it's going to be hard to maneuver the SUV onto the boardwalk, and there are supposedly guards around the camp of the people who got evicted from their...oh."

  Ryan smiled. "Exactly. Who better to recruit for our army than the people who have been dumped into tents on the beach?"

  "Okay," she said. Kylee's brain was on maximum throttle, cooking up strategy for an attack. She called Brian and Liz to her.

  "What's up, Kylee?" asked Liz.

  "I need to know an estimate of the typical security on the beach camp."

  Liz turned to Brian. "What do you think? Five to ten?"

  Brian scratched his chin. "Yeah. I'd say closer to ten, but we don't know what exactly is going on tonight."