To Be A Leader

Chapter 53: Boom Shake The Room

"Janine, are you sure there's no way we can save them?" Sam asks desperately, brokenly.

"I've looked the plans over several times, Mr. Yao. Sacrifices are sometimes necessary."

"Yeah, I know! But there's sacrifices, and there's sacrifices!" I cringe when his voice cracks. "Five, you don't want to see them burn, do you?!"

"Of course, I don't," I reply, tightening my ponytail as I run, "but we don't really have much of a choice, do we?"

"We need Sigrid to think that her plans are workin', Sam," Jody continues. "We can't let her know we've got any clue what she's up to. We've finally got an advantage now that we've seen the plans, and now Runner Five isn't getting any Moonchild-head-voices anymore, so we know one bit of Sigrid's plan won't work. But we can't let her guess what we know!"

Janine hums in agreement. "Yes. We have a strategy now. We're intending to disrupt the Minister's plan at certain key points, but remember the Second World War, Mr. Yao?"

"I do," I sigh, and Peter raises a brow at me.

"You say that as if you were there."

"Well, look, for some reason men in the southern states of the U.S. just love to know about wars. My dad was obsessed with the Civil War, and my grandpa had tons of books on World War I and II he would let me read when he was doing paperwork in his office."

"Weren't you like, twelve when the apocalypse started? Why would he let a twelve-year-old read that stuff?"

I shrug. "Why not? I was already learning about it in history class. Anyway, Janine, I think I know what you're referring to. The allies had broken the Enigma code, but they had to allow the U-boats to sink some ships to keep their secret safe."

Peter hums. "And let's be real. This isn't quite as bad as letting ships full of innocent people get sunk, is it?" He pales, his face scrunching up in a wince. "Oh, God. Sorry. No offense, Five."

"None taken," I reply, but I don't look at him, even when he gives my wrist an apologetic squeeze. "And the people have already evacuated from Riddington. We warned them Sigrid's soldiers are coming, and they're out already. We just need to make it look like these buildings are still occupied, so Sigrid will think she's cut off our key supplier of luxury goods."

I scoff at my own words. Luxury has a very different meaning in the apocalypse. I feel like they should be called our necessities supplier, but I suppose we could, technically, survive without the goods Riddington provides us, such as shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and-

"It could be worse, Sam." Peter shrugs. "You still have some Curly-Wurlies."

"Riddington's greenhouses are the only place in the UK where they've managed to grow cocoa. We were going to be able to make our own Curly-Wurlies!" He moans, sounding close to tears. "Oh, God. Why?!"

Janine sighs as Sam sniffles and lets out small, choked sobs. "It's alright, Mr. Yao... Let it all out." She sounds a bit disgruntled at his dramatics, but I can't blame him for being upset. It's so hard to find anything nice now, especially something like chocolate.

Peter and Jody both look at me expectantly, and I stay silent, my gaze ahead.

"I'll turn off your microphone," She continues. "Just for now. Runner Five, Runner Four, Mr. Lynne-"

"Uh, you can just call me Runner Three, if that's alright," Peter murmurs, and a smile spreads across my lips.

"Very well. The soldiers are on their way. You need to be in every building in Riddington ninety seconds before they arrive. Your first target is the dye factory. The soldiers are on the horizon. Go now. Run."