To Be A Rebel

Chapter 49: Want You Gone

"Runner Five, Jody, thank God you're here," Ellie sighs in relief.

"Hi, Ellie. Where are Zoey and Phil?" Jody asks.

"They're going to miss the rendezvous. Van trouble."

Jody stomps her foot in frustration. "Buggar! Zoey's got to be here. She's the one takin' your place. She has to arrive before your new Ministry handler, or he'll know she's not you, Dr. Ellie Maxted, expert in... expert in... old things."

"Yeah, and we can't try to do the switch after he sees you either," I say, and we all know I'm right. The two look nothing alike, not in height or weight or skin color or eye color. They don't even sound alike, since Ellie has an American accent, although Zoey said she could try to fake it if necessary.

Ellie shrugs apologetically. "She can't get here in time, and without a stand-in, I can't just disappear from this stupid propaganda tour Sigrid has me on. It'd raise too many alarm bells."

"But we need you," Jody says desperately. "The mission to recover the Viking armlet is tonight." She sighs and shakes her head. "Me and Chris had that thing in our hands and we just let it go."

Yes, after the wedding, after Peter and I had returned from our little outing, Janine shared what we knew to the others in the base. Evan, of course, wasn't very happy about it, since it's such vital information and all that, but the talk of the armlet brought up a memory of Jody's. Apparently she and Chris McShell has gotten ahold of the armlet and sent it off... with someone who worked for Netrophil.

So, with a little digging over three days, we think we know where it is. Evan says he has faint memories of the place, and after thinking long and hard, he does believe the place we suspect it might be is where the armlet is hidden.

Now we just have to go get it, although now the place it's being held in is currently owned by Ministry people, who are guarding it for its other treasures. Sigrid must not think the armlet's in there, seeing she would've torn the place apart in order to find it if she did. Still, we have to act fast. We don't have much other choice, since if Sigrid even suspects the armlet is in this royal residence place, she'll have guards swarming the place while they search for it. We have to get in and find it before that happens.

But first, we need Ellie.

"You couldn't have known its value," Ellie says, and Four shrugs.

"We still don't. Not really. I described it for Janine and Runner Seven, but you're the only person who can interpret it... I can't believe Evan's the head of Netrophil. Is everyone hidin' a massive secret?"

"I will be now, from Sigrid. Jody, I want to help, but I don't really want to die, ideally. Are you sure Zoey can impersonate me, if she gets here on time somehow?"

Jody nods. "She can bullshit with the best of them."

Ellie looks over at the brow of the hill, where the road is, if you can still consider it a road with how many cracks and weeds are growing through it. "Dang it. Look over there. He's early."

"The blue Beetle?" The blonde frowns. "Who drives a Beetle after the apocalypse?"

"Ministry publicists."

"Right. Okay." She nods, lips pinching together as the wheels turn in her head. "New plan: me and Five will distract him until Zoey and Phil get here. He can't meet you. He has to believe Zoey's you when he meets her for the first time."

"I saw the signs for the Mallory Museum down that gravel drive," She suggests. "You could say Dr. Maxted wants him to collect some artifacts."

"What kind of artifacts?"