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“Not important today,” I cut in. “You can figure out logistics later. But it’s never too early to tell someone you care about them. It’s a mistake I made with Claire early on, and we were lucky it didn’t end badly. Don’t let her go off to fight without talking to her.”

Kimmy gave a short nod, looking shy, which wasn’t like her. It made me grin in spite of everything.

“Damn, you got it bad, huh?” I said, and chuckled as I dodged the bread roll she tossed at my head.

I geared up for my mission, filling my pack with the usual supply of ammo and tools, along with some preserved food and fresh water in case Claire and I got stuck somewhere. I also packed my medical kit, which was much smaller than Kimmy’s but still had basics like bandages and sutures. Because you never know.

Finally, I strapped my rifle to my back. They’d given me a high-powered, fancy rifle for the job. Powerful enough to hit a target at the distance we needed. It had auto-targeting and other high-tech features that honestly just slowed me down, so I disabled almost all of them. Still, it was kind of nice to have a new toy, even in the middle of this shit show.

I had an earpiece that Ayanna said we could communicate through, though she said not to expect much from her except my cue. She met with me and the soldiers who were supposed to get me where I needed to go. It was a little over an hour before the festival started.

“There’s been an unexpected complication,” she said in greeting, and I tensed. “The Order struck last night and managed to blockade and occupy a couple roadways. We think the Sire is trying to keep it quiet, since there’s been no official announcement. Some of the military has been diverted to try to force them out, but so far, they haven’t been successful.”

I cursed. “What, is the Sire hoping people just won’t fucking notice what’s going on in their backyard?”

Ayanna shrugged. “I’ve gotten a report that behind closed doors, he’s losing it, but he never wants to show the cracks until absolutely necessary. This festival isn’t just about the Delta; it’s being broadcast live to every compound. It’s supposed to be a morale booster, and admitting that they’re losing control here isn’t going to do that.”

A brief silence settled before the leader of the platoon—Hector—demanded, “What does this mean, then? Do we postpone the op?”

“Not an option,” I cut in immediately. “We’re not leaving Claire there.”

Hector rolled his eyes at me, but Ayanna said, “He’s right. All our efforts have been leading up to this operation. It’s too important; we can’t back out now. Later, we can figure out how to breach those blockades and rescue any civilians they’ve captured. Until then, we go ahead as planned.”

Relieved that that was over, we went through the mission plan one more time. As far as I was concerned, me and my team had the easiest job out of everyone, but we had to go first and get in position. The rest of the White Rose was going to the festival and planning to storm the gates after Claire’s speech. With my job done and the Delta military caught off guard, they hoped to overwhelm them. I didn’t know if they’d succeed, but my focus was on getting my wife out of here, once and for all.

“You ready, John?” Hector asked, as the other men on our team led us out of the garrison.

“As I’ll ever be,” I answered, scanning the empty street. “I think that’s the first time you’ve used my actual name, instead of Wastelander. I’m touched.”

I was surprised when his lips twitched. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.”

That was the closest I’d get to a compliment, so I’d take it. We were dressed like Delta soldiers, without our White Rose armbands, because we wanted to blend in as much as we could. For that reason, I had a hood covering my hair, pulled low to stop anyone from looking too closely at me. The others were dressed the same.

The streets of the Delta were quiet. Going to the festival was mandatory for anyone who didn’t do essential work, so most civilians were at the park now. Hector led us down abandoned side streets, away from military patrol routes. From a distance, we spotted a road that had been blockaded by the Order. Stolen military trucks were parked at each end of the street, blocking the path, and they’d put up surprisingly strong-looking barricades behind them. Around the barricade, guys wearing eye masks guarded the entrance holding guns. A couple corpses of soldiers were lying in front of it.

They’d obviously planned ahead.

We detoured to avoid their line of sight. The last thing we needed was a run-in with the Order right now. We had bigger fish to fry.

We avoided more patrols until we got to where we needed to be: the black Pyramid at the centre of the compound. It was the tallest building, and that made it the best choice. The only people who saw us were civilians, and since we were hiding in plain sight, they didn’t think anything of a small group of soldiers patrolling. They were used to a constant military presence, and they barely gave us a glance.

“You won’t be able to go in the front entrance,” Ayanna had told me in our mission briefing. “There’s a reception desk who’ll alert security. One of my informants works there and is sacrificing his position to get you a pass to the service entrance out back. Make sure it’s not in vain.”

We crept around to the back of the building, to a door labeled Staff Only. Hector used a keycard on the nearby scanner, and the door unlocked.

“Stay out of sight, Wastelander,” he said to me in a low voice. “You can’t be caught. After you get in there, it’s all you.”

I gave him a short nod. I knew what I signed up for.

The service door led into a small room that contained one service elevator for staff. We got on and it took us up to the fifth and highest floor. The ceiling was steepled to a point, and this level was much smaller than the massive first and second floors, according to the blueprints I’d been shown. Because of that, it was only split into a few rooms and used mostly for storage. Crates of random equipment and supplies were everywhere. There were a couple offices, but they were empty, thanks to the festival. We had the floor to ourselves as planned.

Hector and his men led me into a storeroom at the back of the floor—the one facing the central park. Ayanna was right that it was a straight shot from here. It was just much farther than most people would ever want to shoot from.

Except me, lucky guy that I was.

“This is where we leave you,” Hector said. “We’ll stand at the elevator to stop anyone coming up. But there are no guarantees. When we leave, barricade the door. Do not come out for anything until you hear my signal.”

I nodded, and when they left the room, I pushed a few heavy crates in front of the door, grunting with effort. It wasn’t perfect, but it’d buy time if needed.