فصل 54

chapter-54 The first wave.

“You guys need to get out of here fast,” I said.

“Do you have any food?” Tara asked.

“Yeah, we’re starving,” Torstyn said.

“I’ll take them to get something to eat,” Cassy said.

“I’ll go with you,” Nichelle said.

“Michael,” Welch said. “Come with me to free the guards. They should see me first.” We passed a room where Abigail was alone arranging tables in long rows.

“What’s she doing?” Quentin asked.

“Turning it into a hospital,” I said.

Welch, Quentin, and I freed up nine Elgen guards who had run afoul of Hatch. Welch thought there were more. There were, but they had already been executed. Not surprisingly, the remaining guards wanted revenge on Hatch.

“Listen up,” Welch said. “Hatch and your former brotherhood are descending on this island. They will not be taking prisoners. Neither will we. Fight as if your life depended upon it, because it does.” We led the men down to the supply closet and armed them. The guards found Elgen uniforms and put them on, though Welch handed out a roll of security tape for them to wrap around their arms to keep from getting accidentally shot by the other prisoners.

As we were finishing up, Jack, Tessa, and Zeus returned.

“The tunnel is armed,” Jack said. “Gervaso has gone out to blow the dock.” “Alone?”

“He said we couldn’t wait any longer.” Jack looked at the guards. “Who are they?” “These are all the former Elgen guards,” Welch said. “Three of them were ZCs. They are leaders. They’re now your soldiers. They’re under your command.” Jack looked them over. “Fall in, soldiers.” The men lined up against the wall.

Jack looked natural commanding. “Men, we’re under attack. We’ve got to arm and manage two hundred prisoners. Each of you will take a squad of twenty prisoners. It is your responsibility to get them armed and guard the section I give you. Understand?” The men shouted, “Yes, sir!”

“I told you they were well trained,” Welch said. “Now we’ve got to go. Let’s get the boat captain.” He looked at Torstyn and Tara, who were still wearing their pink outfits. Their hands were filled with food. “Change your clothes; then eat,” he said. “We’re going to get the captain. We’re leaving the second I return.” “Taylor and I will go and start freeing prisoners,” I said to Jack. “We’ll send them back to you.” I lifted my radio. “Ostin, we’re going to start letting the prisoners out. Get ready.” “Roger.”

Taylor and I ran down to the south cells. The door was locked. “Ostin, open the main door to the south cells.” “Roger that.”

“Who’s Roger?” Taylor asked.

“It’s just a radio thing,” I said. I pushed open the door and walked into a dim, long, narrow hallway. There were about twenty doors on each side, each filled with GPs in various states of mental trauma. I walked up to the first door and looked in through its acrylic slot window. I counted five Tuvaluan men, all with electric collars and dressed in orange jumpsuits. They must have heard us coming, as they were huddled at the back of the room. “Open S-001.” “Opening S-001.” The door unlocked. “Collars off.” I opened the door. The GPs didn’t move.

“Déjà vu,” I said. “Just like the academy.” I looked at the men. “You can speak.” No one did.

“Maybe they don’t speak English,” Taylor said.

“I speak English,” one of them said with a British accent.

“Good. We are here to free you. But we have to fight against the Elgen. Will you help?” “Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“I am Enele Saluni, grandson of the prime minister.” “After we overthrow the Elgen, your grandfather will be free to rule again,” I said. “But right now the Elgen are coming and we need your men to fight.” “The Elgen are coming here?”

“All of them. To destroy the prison.”

“Do we have weapons?”

“For everyone,” I said.

Enele turned and spoke in Tuvaluan, and the men immediately stood at attention.

“We will help,” Enele said.

“We’ve got to let everyone out,” I said. “We’ll need everyone.” We walked out, then opened the first four doors on the south side of the hall, releasing twenty prisoners. I led them back to Jack, leaving Taylor with the radio and Enele. When I returned to the armory, Welch was standing there with J.D., another crew member, Quentin, Tara, Torstyn, and Cassy.

“Everyone ready?” I asked.

“Where are we going?” J.D. asked defiantly. He must have figured out that he had nothing to lose, as he’d already lost his previous humility.

“There’s been a change of plans,” Welch said. “You’re going to sail back to Nike just as you told Hatch you would.” J.D. scowled. “And if I refuse?”

Welch’s eyes narrowed. “Imagine what it would feel like to have your hand in a microwave oven for sixty seconds. Torstyn can show you how that feels. And then he will melt your eyes, your tongue, then your brain, in that order. Do you understand?” J.D. swallowed. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Torstyn, these are Hatch’s friends and collaborators. If they make one wrong move, melt them. Slowly.” “Just give the word,” Torstyn said, staring hatefully at J.D.

“Let’s go.” Welch lifted his radio. “Come in, Gervaso.” “Gervaso, copy.”

“This is Welch. We’re headed down the tunnel. Just didn’t want you to shoot us.” “I’m headed out now for the dock. Good luck.” “Roger,” Welch said into his radio. Then he turned to his group and said, “Let’s go.” I looked at Cassy. “Good luck.”

“I’ll make sure they come back, if I have to drive the boat myself,” she said.

As we were parting, our radios squelched. “This is Ian. We’ve got small rafts landing on the west side of the island. Three of them. Here they come.” “Looks like some of our guests arrived early,” Welch said. “Let’s get this party started.” As the others began climbing down the ladder to the tunnel, Welch turned to me. “If we don’t come back, it’s because we failed or are dead. You can trust us.” “I do,” I said. “Good luck.”

“Just hold out.” He turned and followed the rest of his group down the tunnel. Jack and his soldiers were standing quietly, sizing up the GPs.

“That’s all there is?” one of the guards asked.

“It’s just the first group,” I said. “We think there’s about two hundred. Not all of them speak English. Not all of them are fit to fight.” Jack turned to the GPs and asked, “Who speaks English?” Three of the men raised their hands.

“Get up here,” he said to the biggest. “You’re second-in-command of the squad.” There was at least one English speaker for every ten natives, which was all we needed. While Taylor and I were releasing prisoners, Jack had established a chain of command with the guards and gone over the map of the installation, establishing their battle stations. He had also distributed radios to each Squad Captain.

With the guidance of a former Elgen Zone Captain, Jack created a plan to hold the outer wall.

The group of prisoners I had just brought were assigned a leader, and the man created the first squad, arming his men and leading them out to defend the west wall, where the Elgen had started landing.

By the time I returned to the south corridor, Taylor and Enele had released nearly a hundred prisoners.

“We better stop for now,” I said to Enele, a little nervous of so many unstable men roaming free. “We’ll need a little time to assign them to squads.” “Do not worry,” Enele said. “They will follow directions.” I led the men back to the armory, where Jack and the guards divided them up while Taylor and Enele freed the rest. There were more prisoners than we expected, two hundred and thirty-two in all, so Jack created an extra squad, with Enele in charge.

After all the men had been sent out in squads, Taylor and I climbed the stairs four stories to the central watchtower. As we entered the observation room, we saw Tanner sitting cross-legged on one of the shelves, looking out through binoculars. He was wet, and there was a pool of water beneath him. He had opened a window and rain was blowing in, drenching him.

He’s lost it, I thought.

Nichelle was on the west side of the tower, and Ian was on the east side talking into his radio. He didn’t need binoculars. It didn’t even matter what side he sat on.

He turned toward us. “Guys, this rock is starting to crawl. I’m having trouble keeping track of them all. The first major wave is about to hit the west shore. Did you get my message about the early rafts?” “Yes, we heard it. Did you warn Gervaso?” “I don’t know if he heard me. He didn’t answer.” “If he saw them, he turned his radio off so he wouldn’t give himself away.” Tanner spun around on the counter. “Hey, kidlings. There are more binoculars over there on that shelf. These things rock.” “Thanks,” Taylor said warily.

We each took a pair. Then I walked over to Nichelle. “How are you?” “You know, the sea scares me. I didn’t want to tell you that on the boat. Thought it might worry you. But I think the devil rides the waves.” I looked out and saw the first flotilla of Elgen boats approaching the island.

“He definitely is today,” I said. “How’s Tanner?” She just shook her head.

Just then, over the radio came, “Ian, this is Gervaso. Do you read me?”