Cassie and Lily didn't dare to more from where they were until Clark finished his visit to the barn and returned to the house. They were both feeling extremely thankful that they hadn't decided to race across the yard to get behind the bar. Cassie felt a wave of nausea come over her as she thought of Lily starting across just as Clark and Johnson had come outside. The blood rushed out of her head, and she started to collapse.
Lily noticed her weaving oddly, and turned in time to notice her eyelids flutter as she fainted, and was able to reach out and catch her tightly in her arms. Cassie fell heavy into her chest, but almost immediately began to recover. She started to let out a low groan, but Lily clamped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide with alarm as she shook her head. Cassie snapped alert, her eyes locking on Lily's, and she grabbed her for balance and squeezed her in thanks.
They let each other go, and turned their attention back to the lights in the yard.
It was impossible to see anything happening around the barn, and the sound didn't carry as well across the open lawn, but they could just make out the sound of voices if they strained their ears. Unfortunately, they weren't able to detect anything being said. They did catch what sounded like a laugh at one point, which they presumed was Clark when it devolved into a hacking cough that rang out loudly.
Deciding they wouldn't learn anything by staying put, and with the lights so visible, Lily motioned to Cassie that they take the opportunity to fall back deeper under the cover of the trees and regroup. They moved carefully until they felt they were well veiled through the foliage, then moved more quickly away until they could just make out the glimmer of light through the canopy.
"Are you ok?" Lily asked Cassie when she felt they were safely out of hearing range.
"I feel fine," Cassie assured her.
"What happened to you back there?" Lily asked, "you nearly scared me to death!"
"I felt sick when I saw the lights, and thought about you starting to run across the yard," Cassie explained. "If you'd been a couple of seconds sooner, they would have caught us. It freaked me out, and I fainted."
"Yeah, that was too close, even for me," Lily said with chagrin. "I didn't anticipate lights..."
"What do we do now?" Cassie pressed. "It certainly sounded like they've got Grace and probably Denning locked up in that barn. We can't get to them without giving ourselves away. Should we give up and call the police?"
"No, wait, yes," Lily said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and typing furiously with her thumbs. "That is, I need to text Nancy... there, that should do it."
"What did you say?" Cassie asked.
"I let her know that these two are planning on getting to the corner at 8:30, so they should stay away until they're in place."
"Oh my god! The sniper, Lily!" Cassie remembered.
"...and that was the other thing. I told them about the blind and the utility transfer," Lily continued. "I hope they can neutralize that blind before those two are in position."
"Lily, the lights dimmed." There was still light filtering through the trees, but not as bright as a few moments before. Lily was tempted to start making her way back toward them when darkness swallowed the light. Lily shook her head in frustration.
"Of course, the light dimmed when one floodlight shut off," she explained. "The one near the house stayed on longer. Time to get moving." She patted Cassie's arm, and started back toward the property, angling further to their right as she moved. Cassie hurried to keep up.
"We aren't going back there, are we?" She asked. It was madness to go back! They would almost certainly get caught.
"We've got to try, Cassie," Lily replied in a quiet undertone.
