We scavenge the factory for anything we can use, stripping it of useful supplies, of weapons and ammunition. There's a lot of scrap metal, a lot of parts and pieces that Maren thinks she can use. We load it all onto the transport, making sure we have everything we need before we set it on fire.
The factory is a maze of corridors and rooms, but we work quickly, efficiently. There's no time to waste, no room for error. We have to be out of here before the sun rises, before anyone comes looking. And then we'll hit the supply depot, the real prize.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. The fight here... it was hard, brutal. But it was quick, relatively straightforward. The supply depot will be different. It'll be bigger, more dangerous, more unpredictable. I don't know if we're ready for that, if I'm ready for that. But we don't have a choice. We have to try.
We're committed now. There's no going back. And that's...
That terrifies me.
But I try not to show it, try not to let it affect me. I have to be strong, for the others, for myself. I can't let fear control me, can't let it stop me. I have to keep going, keep fighting. It's the only way.
We finish loading the transport, the last of the supplies secured. Maren looks at me, her expression serious. "Ready to burn it down?"
I nod, my throat dry. "Yeah. Let's do it."
She moves to a trail of what looks like - and probably functionally is - gunpowder. I don't actually know for sure what it is, but she pointed it out and had us pour several barrels of it on the ground, across machinery, and everywhere she pointed. I follow her, the others close behind, my hand gripping my weapon tightly. She lights a match and drops it, and the powder goes up like a fuse. The flames speed off into the building, past the doors, and a brilliant yellow-red glow lights up behind them.
The factory erupts into flames, the fire spreading rapidly, consuming everything in its path. I can feel the heat on my face, the smoke stinging my eyes. But I don't look away, don't flinch. I watch, my heart pounding, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. This is it. This is the start of our war, our rebellion. This is us taking a stand, fighting back. And it feels... it feels good. Powerful. Right.
"Burn, you bastards." Alistair whispers, his voice barely audible over the roar of the flames. I glance at him. He's not looking at me. That intense, burning hatred is there again, in his eyes. "Fucking burn."
He turns away, his jaw tight, and strides to the transport. The rest of us, one by one, follow, our shadows so long ahead of us that they stretch for what appear to be miles.
We didn't just find scrap metal in the factory. We also found what looks like... hovercycles. They were in storage near the end of the factory. There's six of them, which means that there's enough room for all of us to ride two-by-two and then an extra. It gives me hope we can find more at the supply depot. Something more practical than a transport cart is... basically necessary if we want this to be first cut in a war and not a final flash in the dark.
"I don't understand..." I say, as we approach the cycles. "There's only aliens on this planet, right? There's hostile beasts, but they're not that common. And they all work together, the aliens. Why... why did they know to be ready to fight?"
I swallow down the twist in my gut, the fear that somehow, among the people still here, we have some kind of a leak.
Jess kicks at one of the cycles, shaking her head. "This planet is old, Sarah. Maybe older than you can imagine. They've had time to make mistakes, to learn from them."
"Before our time, the rebellion was far more violent." Maren says from the front of the transport, sliding a crate into place. "Ivan... ah, sorry. The real Ivan, who was before the one you knew. The first Ivan. He decided he'd had enough of being so damn careful. He burned a lot of places down. And it was working, at first. We were winning. The aliens weren't ready for it, they didn't have these defenses in place."
Her jaw tightens. "But I guess we paid the price for that in the end."
That part I know about. The attempted escape before our last failed attempt. The one that had killed almost everyone in the resistance, before Ivan - well... before the man I knew as Ivan - took over. I can't imagine what it must have been like for those who survived that.
"Anyway..." She shakes her head, and looks over at Alistair, who is currently helping to secure a cycle to the back of the transport. "Did you know the dumbwaiter was there?"
"Yep." Alistair says, smirking. "I've snuck around these places enough to know a few ways in. Just didn't think I'd be literally getting the drop on them. If I'd known, I'd have thought up something way cooler to say."
"They don't speak English anyway." Leo says, frowning. "You would have just been making a fool of yourself."
Alistair makes a face, but doesn't argue. I don't know if it's because he agrees or because he's too busy tying down the cycle.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. So they don't think we have a leak. That... that makes sense. It's not ideal that we have to face the consequences of a past failed attempt but.. then again, maybe that's good?
It makes us even more confusing and random to them, I hope.
"In the back, Cal." Maren waves her hand. "You're not driving the cycle with the broken wrist, I am."
He hisses. "Sitting behind woman is humiliation!"
"You'll survive, old man." She shoots back, crossing her arms. "Unless you want to sit on the transport in the back with the supplies."
"I will sit with him!" He points at Alistair.
"No way." Alistair hooks an arm around my waist, pulling me with a suddenness that makes me gasp. "I got dibs." He grins at me. "And Sarah's lighter anyway."
"Hey, don't-" I start to protest, but he's already scooping me up like I can't sit in the damn seat myself.
Mikhail makes a face at him and grumbles something in Russian. I don't think it's polite.
"You can sit with me," Ben offers, waving at the cycle next to him.
"No! I have heard tales of your driving! It is worse than if I drove with broken wrist!" Mikhail shakes his head, and then, with a great sigh, resigns himself to the apparent ego horror of sitting behind Maren. "Fine. I will survive the humiliation."
"Ben, Hestia." I say, as Alistair sets me down on the cycle. "Would you...?"
"Yes, I got her." Ben nods, looking at Hestia, who tilts her head at him, as if trying to figure him out. He just smiles at her. "I'll be a good driver. Don't worry."
I bite my lip and give Hestia a look. "Be safe, okay?"
She nods, walking over to Ben, and I... don't want to let her out of my sight. But it's not like we're splitting up. We're all riding side-by-side. Ben and Hestia are just slightly behind because they're the ones towing the transport so we don't have to come back for it. I take a breath and turn my attention to Alistair.
"Ready?" He grins. His features are illuminated in stark relief as he looks over my shoulder - part of him blazing bright orange from the fire, and the rest in the shadow of the night. "Time for us to shine, baby."
"...Baby?" I turn my nose up, raising a brow at him. "Really?"
He laughs, and the cycle beneath us hums. "What? Cal can say it and I can't?"
"Since when could Ca-Mikhail say it?!" I sputter.
Alistair grins and leans forward. "I think it's cute. How can't I call you that?"
"I'll. I'll punch you if you say that. I'm not cute right now!" Or. Ever. But that's for another time. Right now I'm going to be hardcore! Not cute!
"Hey lovebirds," Maren says, pulling her cycle forward a few feet. "Flirt once we're done."
"Mmh, I told you they'd call us lovebirds-"
"That! This is not the same thing at all!"
His laughter echoes into the night as the hovercycle surges forward.