Spotting Ghost standing with his team, Trigger felt renewed energy move through him. Between his own team, and Ghost, Fletch, Coach, Hollywood, Beatle, Blade, and Truck…he had every confidence that things would turn out in their favor.
He strode toward Ghost, ready to explain the plan.
Sierra stood in the back of one of Grover’s guest rooms and did her best to seem as excited as the men around her. Cameron and Rob were standing on either side of the window, taking turns shooting rounds. From what she understood, they weren’t actually aiming at anyone; they were just shooting every now and then to make sure no one outside came too close to the house.
Adam and Zeke were doing the same thing from other windows upstairs. Between them, they were keeping the back and front of the house covered.
“More ammo, Sierra!” Zeke called out. She’d been tasked with making sure the guys had ammunition at all times. She went into the hallway and grabbed another box of bullets, then headed for the master bedroom. It was painful for her to see the room where she’d been so happy, and felt the most relaxed, get defiled by the Strong Foot Militia.
She handed the box to Zeke, then turned to head out of the room. The less time she spent in there, the better for her sanity.
She almost ran into Kevin in the hallway. Cory was behind him…and she shivered at the look on his face.
“It’s time,” he said with a grin. “The media is here. Only one van, since the assholes are keeping the others back at the road, but one camera is all we need. Their footage will go viral around the world.”
Kevin whooped and asked, “Can I get the RPG ready?”
Sierra almost wanted to roll her eyes. It was as if he thought he was playing a video game or something, not about to put together a weapon that could kill dozens of people with one shot.
Cory nodded. “Sure. Set it up in that small room over there. It has the best view of the front of the house, where the assholes have parked their fancy vehicles.”
Sierra wasn’t sure what to do. She was only one person. Cory and his followers outnumbered her eleven to one and they were very well armed. Yes, she knew where Grover had hidden weapons in the house, but even if she could get to them without being seen or stopped, she wasn’t sure how to use them. They might have safeties on them, or maybe they weren’t even loaded.
She’d worked hard to get these guys to trust her, with the split lip to prove it. The last thing she wanted was to ruin that, not if she could do something else to help the Deltas.
She knew Grover had probably talked to his team. That phone system in his media room was the main reason she’d suggested Cory put him in there. His team needed to know what was going on in the house, and Grover could help coordinate their rescue. She hoped.
Not knowing what else to do, she went back into the room where she’d left Cameron and Rob.
“Shit, man. I need some weed,” Rob bitched.
“Same. Think Cory’ll let us take a break soon?” Cameron asked.
Sierra knew they had to realize she was there, but they obviously didn’t care. Tony had explained who she was when he’d brought her upstairs. The other men accepted the story she’d weaved without question. The longer she was in the house, the more she realized that these men—boys, really—were even more naïve than she’d been when she’d accepted the job overseas.
They weren’t here to truly hurt anyone. This was almost like a game to them. A bit of excitement for a bunch of bored kids. And if Cory had been supplying them with drugs and food and anything else they might need, why wouldn’t they simply go with it?
Glancing toward the door, she didn’t see Cory. She heard him and Kevin putting together what she assumed was the damn RPG. She didn’t have a lot of time.
“How’d you guys hook up with Cory, anyway?” she asked.
Rob fired his rifle and laughed. “Did you see that? I didn’t think that old guy could move that fast.”
“Watch this,” Cameron told his buddy, shooting off a few rounds of his own.
Sierra clenched her teeth, hard. She hated that these jerks were aiming at her friends or other innocent people because they thought it was amusing.
Desperate to get them to stop fucking shooting, Sierra blurted, “You know we’re all gonna die, right?”
She had no idea what she was saying, but she needed to do something to take their attention off the windows.
Cameron turned to stare at her. “What?”
“What the fuck you talkin’ about?” Rob asked.
Sierra thought fast. “Remember Waco? Oh, wait…that was before you were born. But surely you heard about it. The ATF and the military, the same people who are outside right now, got frustrated when they couldn’t get into the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. So they took a tank and rammed the place and it burned to the ground, killing like seventy people who were inside. Men, women, and children. I don’t see how things for us will turn out any differently.”
She didn’t mention that it was likely the Branch Davidians actually started fires inside the compound before the tank broke through the wall in the first place.
Rob and Cameron were quiet for a moment. Then Rob shook his head. “No. Cory said we’re just putting on a show for the media. And they’re out there right now, filming. Once the world sees how dangerous and out of control the military is, we’ll surrender.”
Sierra let out a harsh laugh. “You really believe that?” she asked. “The second we walk outside, we’re dead meat. Those military guys are pissed way the hell off that they’re being shot at. They’ll fire on us, then later claim we were holding weapons. They always spin shit to make themselves look good.” She shook her head. “Nope, we’re all gonna die today. But that’s all right with me. I’m already fucked in the head after everything I’ve been through. I’d rather die for the cause than live with the nightmares and flashbacks I’ve got because of the fucking military.”
Cameron and Rob shared a nervous look, and Sierra was thrilled that she’d at least planted a seed of doubt in their minds. It was about time they started using their damn brains instead of following Cory blindly.
“Sierra! I need more bullets!” Adam shouted from another room.
“Duty calls,” she told Cameron and Rob. Then she turned and headed out of the guest room. She almost tripped over Kevin again, who was moving a large wooden box out of Grover’s office.
“Watch it!” she barked.
“You watch it,” Kevin retorted.
“Wow, you guys got it set up already?” Sierra asked, her stomach dropping.
“Yeah, it wasn’t hard. Cory’s getting it ready. There’s a huge SWAT van parked right in front of the house and behind it is a military Humvee. He thinks he can take both out with one shot,” Kevin said excitedly.
“Awesome! What then?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are our plans after that? It’ll probably make everyone outside fire back. So what are we gonna do after we blow their shit to smithereens?” She kept her voice down, not wanting Cory to overhear. Her lip still hurt from where he’d hit her. Of course, that blow was nothing compared to what she’d experienced at the hands of Shahzada.