Sabotage (Powerless Nation Book 3) (13 page)

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

Dee narrowed her eyes. “What’s not possible?”

“Leaving. You have to stay here.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“We can talk about it later,” said Sena. She sounded like Dee’s dad.

“I don’t need your permission, Sena.”

“Actually, you do. I’m in charge here and I can’t let you go back out. What if you get caught? I have to keep everyone safe.” Sena’s voice cracked and she turned away. Dee realized she was barely holding it together. She wondered what it was costing Sena to care for so many children behind enemy lines.

“No one’s going to catch me. I just need to see if Grandpa’s okay.”

Sena straightened and met Dee’s eyes. “I won’t allow it.”

The two stared at each other for several long moments, then a loud shout interrupted them and Dee spun around. Two boys were playing chase near the bookshelves. Instantly, two older kids hurried over and took charge of the younger children. The little boys struggled to get away, wiggling and tugging against the arms that held them. Dee felt bad for them. They’d been cooped up for days.

“I know,” Sena said when she saw her watching. “I hate it too. But it’s better than their lives would be in Downey’s child army.”

Dee was about to turn away when one of the little boys broke free and ran quickly in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, that took him straight into a wall and a framed art project from the local school.

The boy hit the glass with one shoulder and it crunched, shattering at his sudden impact. Several large pieces of glass fell from the frame and landed soundlessly on the carpet.
 

The girls ran to the little boy and inspected his shoulder. His sweater was torn, but there wasn’t any blood.

The boy tentatively touched the frayed yarn of his sweater. “It doesn’t really hurt. I think I’m okay.” He took a step away from the wall and sagged at the knees.

“Easy there, tiger,” said Sena. She caught him under the arm and helped him take a few steps. He limped out of the area, his toes peeking out from beneath too long track pants. His foot left a dark print on the carpet.

“Hold on,” Dee said. “I think he’s bleeding. Does it hurt anywhere?”

The boy’s freckles stood out against his pale face. He shook his head, but he was sweating even though the room was cool, bordering on cold. “Were you outside earlier? How did you get your pants leg get so wet?”

“Wet?” the boy looked at her blankly.

Dee squatted down and gently lifted one of his pant legs. A large piece of glass protruded from the top of his foot.
 

“Whoa,” said Harvey, peering around Dee.

Everyone stared at it for a moment then Sena scooped the boy up in her arms. She carried him to a small couch in the children’s reading area and then bent to get a closer look at the wound.
 

“We shouldn’t take that out by ourselves,” said Dee. “We need to get my grandpa.”

“We can’t,” said Sena. “Downey’s got him.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Dee gritted her teeth and tried not to yell.

“Because Downey wants him to be their doctor.”

“Fat chance,” said Dee. “Grandpa would never work for him. We need him for this.”

“Maybe so, but there’s no way.”

“There’s always a way.”

The little boy tugged at Sena’s hand, whimpering.

“It’s okay, honey,” she soothed him before rounding on Dee. “You can’t just come in here and think you can change everything. You’re not in charge, you know.”

“I’m not saying I’m in charge! It’s obvious he needs a doctor. Anyone with half a brain could see that.”

“Anyone with half a brain would see we’re on our own. There’s no doctor. No one is coming to help. It’s up to us.” Sena turned to a tall girl. “Run and get the first aid kit from the break room.”

The girl darted away, and Dee shook her head. “This is crazy.”

“I’ve been running this school ever since they threw you out for trying to burn it down. You don’t get to show up here and start calling the shots.”

“What is wrong with you? Can’t you see—”

“Look,” interrupted the little boy. “Now you can stop fighting.” He held up a jagged piece of glass edged in blood.

Something wet splattered Dee’s coat, leaving a pattern of red splotches.

“What the—?” Sena began, but Dee was already kneeling beside the boy. Another spurt of blood pumped out of the open puncture wound in his foot. She looked for something to staunch the rapid flow.

“Your scarf!” said Sena. Dee clamped it onto the wound and helped the boy lean back on the couch and put his leg up on the arm.

“I think it’s an artery,” said Dee. “It’s going to be really hard to control the bleeding.”

“Do you know how to treat it?” asked Sena.

“My grandpa does.” Sena’s gaze challenged her. “Where is he?”

“Sena?” asked the boy in a small voice.

Sena glanced at him and then back at Dee. “Fine. He’s at our house in town. They’re holding him for questioning.”

“How do you know that?” asked Dee.

Harvey began to explain, but the tall girl arrived with the first aid kit. Dee took out a mesh bandage. “Here. Hold this tight against the wound and keep adding more if it soaks through.”

“Am I going to bleed to death?” asked the boy in a small voice.

“Nope,” said Dee. “My grandpa will have you all patched up in no time. What’s your name?”

“Brody.”

“Okay, Brody. You stay here and be tough. I’ll be back with a doctor before you know it.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

D
EE
HID
ACROSS
THE
street from her house. At least one guard patrolled the area, and he never went far from her front yard. She tapped her mittened fingers impatiently on her leg. It was cold, and Brody was running out of time.

The pressure of the situation was getting to her and she was afraid she’d do something stupid. She’d already been tempted to sneak across the street when the guard’s back was turned, and trust her luck and the darkness. She made herself wait. A moment later, another guard strolled up. Dee suppressed a groan. Now there were two of them.

“Hey, want to come have a smoke with us back at the station?” the new guard asked.

“Your treat?” asked the first guard.

“Dream on.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying. I’m in.” With that, the two guards walked off toward the police station.

Dee was across the street in the blink of an eye. The worst part was being exposed while she darted through the open space. There weren’t any lights, but the moon was bright. On the front step she tried the door. It was locked from the inside.

She was afraid if she knocked it would be too loud in the still night. She pressed herself against the wall near the doorbell and scratched quietly at the door like Grandpa’s dog, Jasper.

She was rewarded with the sound of approaching footsteps. “Who’s there?” came her grandpa’s voice.

“It’s Dee,” she whispered.

The locks tumbled and then the door opened a crack. “Maddie? Hurry. Get inside.” He opened the door slightly wider and Dee slipped into the dark room. After Grandpa locked the door she buried her face in his shoulder and breathed in the smell of old leather and gun cleaner.
 

Wishing she could stay in the warmth of his embrace forever, she stepped back. “One of the boys up at the library had an accident and he needs your help.” Dee gave the details, while Grandpa looked through his doctor bag.
 

“Tell me what you did to stop the bleeding.”

Dee explained how they had elevated the foot and were keeping steady pressure on the wound.

“It sounds like you’ve got the right idea,” said Grandpa. “When you get back you need to irrigate the puncture. Flush it with all the sterile water you can spare. Do that, and put a clean bandage on it. Antibiotics if you have any.”

Dee tugged at his hand. “Come with me. We’ll be gone before the guards get back.”

“I’ll be there when I can, Maddie. Right now you need to leave. Do what I said and Brody should be fine.”

“But Grandpa, you have to come.” She sat on a chair and folded her arms. “I’m not going without you.”

“Maddie, please,” said Grandpa. “There’s no time to waste.”

 
She shook her head. Then Dee heard the sound of an engine outside, and the creak of a car door.

“I’ve got a gun,” said Dee.

Grandpa peeked through the curtains. “There are too many of them. We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“There’s no time,” Dee said. Grandpa grabbed her arm and pointed at a small cupboard under the stairs. A knock at the door sent a shiver of fear down her spine.

“Open up, Kerns.”

“Give me a minute, Downey. I don’t move as fast as I used to.”

Dee opened the cupboard, praying the hinges wouldn’t squeak, and slipped inside. She left it open a crack and peered into the living room.

When Grandpa unlocked the front door, it slammed open and Downey and three of his men walked in.

“This is your last chance,” said Downey, making himself comfortable on the couch.
 

“I’ve given it some thought,” said Grandpa, “and I’m ready to make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” said Downey, eyes narrowed.

“You let the kids go and bring back our guns, and I’ll be the doctor for you and your men full-time.”

Dee clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. Grandpa couldn’t join the enemy.

Downey shook his head. “No can do, old man. Those kids are worth more to me than you are.”

“Then we’re done,” said Grandpa, turning away.
 

Downey gave a nod to one of his men. The man stepped forward and punched sharply at Grandpa’s lower back. He collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain.

Dee bit her lip until it bled, fighting to hold herself back from jumping out to his defense.

Grandpa was on his hands and knees on the ground and the man kicked him in the side.
 

She couldn’t just sit here and watch. She reached for the gun in her pocket. She could shoot one, maybe two of them before they figured out what was happening. Her hand was on the cupboard, ready to push it open and fire, when she realized Grandpa was looking toward her. He gave her a tiny shake of his head and a slow wink with his back to the others so they couldn’t see. Dee froze. Did he really think the situation was under control?

“Help him up,” Downey ordered. The men dragged Grandpa to his feet. “Do you need me to beat any more sense into you?”

Grandpa coughed weakly. “You think that’s going to make me want to join you?”

“Actually, I don’t,” said Downey. “That’s why I picked up your daughter and son-in-law at the church earlier today.”

Dee smothered a gasp. They had her mom and dad.

“You might not mind taking a few knocks, but I bet you don’t have the stomach to watch the same thing happen to that girl of yours.”

Grandpa sagged visibly. “Why are you doing this?”

“I already told you,” said Downey. “Military groups are forming all over the country. There’s one down in Boise that could wipe us out. We’ve got to get ready.”

“We
should
be more worried about the folks that shot the nuke off that started this whole thing.”

“The Koreans?” Downey scoffed. “What a joke. They were set up from the beginning.”

“The Koreans did it?” asked Grandpa.

Downey inclined his head. “Some of my guys were in Seattle a few months ago and they heard the whole story. The Koreans launched the nuke from a container ship. After that they took over a cruise on its way to Alaska.”

The story was familiar to Dee, and she remembered Sena and Kade’s story of the Korean terrorists that had boarded their cruise ship. Sena had taken several photos of them, and the destroyed container ship from which they’d launched the nuke.

“So the Koreans
are
the threat,” said Grandpa.

“Wrong. That’s what someone
wants
you to think. The Koreans got paid to shoot that nuke off at us, then they were double-crossed. After they launched the bomb, someone gave away their location and they were blasted out of the water.”

“Who hired them?”

“I wish I knew,” said Downey. “They’re the ones I’m worried about. That’s why I’m building an army. We’re going to get a government going, and set ourselves up as our own country with our own military. They’ll have to respect us.”

Dee decided Downey was a man that liked to hear himself talk.

“If that’s all true,” said Grandpa, “why didn’t you just tell us? We had a militia you could have trained. We would have fought with you to defend our homes had you just given us a chance.”

Grandpa’s eyes never once strayed to the cupboard where she was hiding.
 

“It’s not too late, you know,” Grandpa went on. “Let the kids go and give us back our guns. You train us to defend our homes, and I’ll be your personal physician.”

Downey seemed to think it over then shook his head. “There’s no time. If I make enlistment optional I’ll lose half my people and the ones that stay won’t take it seriously.”

“Tell them the dangers,” Grandpa pleaded. “I know these people. They’ll listen to you. Come on, Captain. Send our children home and we’ll fight for you.”

“I don’t think so, but I admire your spirit. I wish I had more like you. I’ve got training camps up and down this area full of spoiled, entitled brats that don’t know the first thing about holding a weapon or defending their country. I’m making men and women out of them. Their parents ought to thank me.”

“For kidnapping their children? I don’t think so.”

Downey grabbed the front of Grandpa’s shirt and twisted it, pulling their faces in close together. “Listen up, old man. Do you want to be around to patch up those precious kids or not? This is your last chance to come willingly.”

“Let my daughter go and I’ll do it.”

Downey released Grandpa with a shove. “Why do you keep acting like you’re in a position to bargain? You’re going to help me one way or the other. You should save yourself some pain and do it now.”

“Fine.”