asked Tyler as the squads were getting off the trucks.
“Yeah. I know what to do,” Tyler replied. He glanced around the Gathering Squad members until he saw Nicole. The fact that she wanted to get in his pants could be overlooked because the girl was one of the most tactically-proficient Gatherers on the squad. He usually chose her to accompany him on the more dangerous missions. “Nicole, you ready to go see if anyone’s home?”
She broke away from the others, slinking over to him. “Are we just gonna walk up and knock?”
“You got a better idea?”
“We could try and sneak in a door on the back side or go through a window. Hell, we could even breach the side of the building and then storm in. Pretty much anything is better than knocking on the front door.”
“That’s not how Traxx wants to play this one. We’re gonna try to recruit them instead of attack. If anyone’s inside, he wants to point out that Midland-Odessa is only a little ways down the road and they’re obviously all alone here. He’s willing to offer a spot in San Angelo for whoever’s here if the haul is good enough.”
“I thought we had a population problem,” she stated flatly.
“Yeah, well…” Tyler trailed off with one of his trademark shrugs.
“Fine. Come on, big boy,” Nicole muttered and hooked a hand through his arm.
Tyler allowed her to lead him across the street while the remaining members of the Gathering Squad and the Shooters spread out around the sides of the building.
The moment that Tyler and Nicole stepped from the pavement onto the community center’s concrete parking lot, a loud hissing noise came from the building and the clanging of metal grates falling into place over windows and doors filled the silence of the afternoon. He dove to the ground with his rifle pointed towards the building, willing someone to appear.
When they’d scouted the community center, it appeared totally abandoned. That obviously wasn’t the case. “What the fuck was that?” Nicole asked. She stood above him, exactly as she’d been when the gates were released from their hiding places.
“No clue. Get down!” He pulled on her arm to bring her down to his level. Dammit, combat training 101 was that when you get fired on, you either take cover or get down immediately, he thought. What is she doing standing up?
“I’m fine. That wasn’t gunfire,” Nicole whispered in his ear.
He ignored her and continued watching the community center. Besides the metal grates that now covered every possible entrance into the building, it seemed just as abandoned as before the commotion. Tyler rolled slightly to his side and looked down the length of his body to where Aeric and the Shooters waited.
Aeric raised both hands up to shoulder height with his palms up in an exaggerated motion that could be seen from all the way across the road. Tyler took it to mean basically that he didn’t have any fucking clue what to do.
“Okay, somebody’s home. I guess we still try to go up and see if anyone wants to talk.”
“Yeah, sure,” Nicole snorted. “They’ve probably got the parking lot wired with explosives.”
That made him pause for a moment. He didn’t know if the EMP that wiped out all the non-hardened electronics in the US also knocked out things like detonators. He wondered if the old school box and plunger-type detonator from the Old West would still work. About the only thing he knew was that it created an electrical charge by pushing the plunger downward. Did the EMP destroy things that created an electrical current via kinetic means or what about items that were constructed after the EMP?
Then he remembered the old truck that he and Aeric had seen driving in Corsicana those first few days after the war. The driver had been able to get that old beast to crank, so the EMP hadn’t knocked out everything. Tyler wished that he’d paid more attention in his high school shop class or that he’d signed up for an engineering
“Yeah. I know what to do,” Tyler replied. He glanced around the Gathering Squad members until he saw Nicole. The fact that she wanted to get in his pants could be overlooked because the girl was one of the most tactically-proficient Gatherers on the squad. He usually chose her to accompany him on the more dangerous missions. “Nicole, you ready to go see if anyone’s home?”
She broke away from the others, slinking over to him. “Are we just gonna walk up and knock?”
“You got a better idea?”
“We could try and sneak in a door on the back side or go through a window. Hell, we could even breach the side of the building and then storm in. Pretty much anything is better than knocking on the front door.”
“That’s not how Traxx wants to play this one. We’re gonna try to recruit them instead of attack. If anyone’s inside, he wants to point out that Midland-Odessa is only a little ways down the road and they’re obviously all alone here. He’s willing to offer a spot in San Angelo for whoever’s here if the haul is good enough.”
“I thought we had a population problem,” she stated flatly.
“Yeah, well…” Tyler trailed off with one of his trademark shrugs.
“Fine. Come on, big boy,” Nicole muttered and hooked a hand through his arm.
Tyler allowed her to lead him across the street while the remaining members of the Gathering Squad and the Shooters spread out around the sides of the building.
The moment that Tyler and Nicole stepped from the pavement onto the community center’s concrete parking lot, a loud hissing noise came from the building and the clanging of metal grates falling into place over windows and doors filled the silence of the afternoon. He dove to the ground with his rifle pointed towards the building, willing someone to appear.
When they’d scouted the community center, it appeared totally abandoned. That obviously wasn’t the case. “What the fuck was that?” Nicole asked. She stood above him, exactly as she’d been when the gates were released from their hiding places.
“No clue. Get down!” He pulled on her arm to bring her down to his level. Dammit, combat training 101 was that when you get fired on, you either take cover or get down immediately, he thought. What is she doing standing up?
“I’m fine. That wasn’t gunfire,” Nicole whispered in his ear.
He ignored her and continued watching the community center. Besides the metal grates that now covered every possible entrance into the building, it seemed just as abandoned as before the commotion. Tyler rolled slightly to his side and looked down the length of his body to where Aeric and the Shooters waited.
Aeric raised both hands up to shoulder height with his palms up in an exaggerated motion that could be seen from all the way across the road. Tyler took it to mean basically that he didn’t have any fucking clue what to do.
“Okay, somebody’s home. I guess we still try to go up and see if anyone wants to talk.”
“Yeah, sure,” Nicole snorted. “They’ve probably got the parking lot wired with explosives.”
That made him pause for a moment. He didn’t know if the EMP that wiped out all the non-hardened electronics in the US also knocked out things like detonators. He wondered if the old school box and plunger-type detonator from the Old West would still work. About the only thing he knew was that it created an electrical charge by pushing the plunger downward. Did the EMP destroy things that created an electrical current via kinetic means or what about items that were constructed after the EMP?
Then he remembered the old truck that he and Aeric had seen driving in Corsicana those first few days after the war. The driver had been able to get that old beast to crank, so the EMP hadn’t knocked out everything. Tyler wished that he’d paid more attention in his high school shop class or that he’d signed up for an engineering
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