3.1
09/28/2009
"How are we gonna get in?" Jelani asked in a tired voice.
"You're supposed to figure that out," Echo replied. "You lived here."
Jelani and Echo were perched on a small overlook, from which they gazed at the bustling city of Hoodsdale beneath them.
"The security is tight," Jelani said. "They barely even let the trucks in."
"Delivery trucks?" Echo asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "They bring a bunch of stuff in from Great Heights."
"So we just gotta get in one of those trucks?"
Jelani clenched his jaw as he considered it. "That's probably the best option we have."
"Then let's hit the gate," Echo declared, turning to continue their descent into the city.
They climbed down the small mountain cautiously, keeping their eyes open for soldiers or any other signs of danger. Thankfully, the trees were thick, so the chances of them being spotted were low.
They circled their way around to the north side of the city, peering through the trees as they tried to make out the gate and the road that led up to it.
"Oh, wait," Jelani said suddenly. "The trucks don't come very often."
Echo stopped walking and slowly turned to face him.
"How often do they come?" she said dangerously, only slits of her pink irises visible beneath heavy eyelids.
"Ahh…" he pondered, "maybe once every week or two."
Echo closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. "If only I could kill you right now. I'm not gonna sit here and stare at the gate for two weeks"
"Ohh," Jelani said, recalling another key fact. "Soldiers also drive in and out every day to go to the farms."
Echo blinked. "Then why the hell did you say once a week?"
"Forgot," he replied calmly.
She sighed, letting her tense shoulders relax. "Is there a time of day when they usually go back?"
"Uhhh… like 6 am."
Echo's eyes blazed, and she grabbed a handful of Jelani's hair. She yanked him closer and stared him in the eyes. "They would be going out at 6 am, Jelani."
"Ohh, yeah," Jelani said, nodding despite the hand that still gripped his scalp. "They'll probably come back at, uhh, 3?"
"You're worse than usual." Echo released him and sat down. "Alright," she said, "let's go over the plan again so you don't forget it."
"My memory's only bad for stuff that happened a while ago," he countered. "And it's getting better on a daily basis."
"Yeah, whatever," she dismissed. "So, I guess we'll just hop in one of the trucks and knock out the drivers. Then we'll follow the other trucks in and hopefully sneak away without getting noticed."
"Anyway," she continued, "it'd be best if we could just blend in with the civilians, but since you're shirtless and have scars all over your face, that'll be tough."
"So, at this point in the plan," Jelani interrupted, "You'll go steal a shirt for me, and the rest will be smooth sailing."
"Well… yeah," Echo replied, clearly harboring some reservations about their grand plan. "Anyway, let's go through all the things we need to steal." She paused. "Although, I did realize that we could just steal money and then actually buy most of what we need."
She turned to Jelani. "What would you rather, steal money or steal stuff?"
"Well…" Jelani contemplated, "we're gonna have to steal some stuff anyway, right? Didn't you want to get me a weapon?"
"Yeah," Echo replied. "But it'd be nice to only have to steal one thing. Anyw-"
"Yo, you hear that?" Jelani interrupted her mid-sentence.
A low rumbling sound snaked its way through the trees, and it was getting louder.
"You said they come back at 3!" Echo yelled, raising her voice for the first time in years.
"Ah, well, my memory's still on the way back," Jelani explained.
She cursed while two of them sprinted through the labyrinth of pines, ignoring any branches that happened to slam into their faces or tear into their arms as they chased after the noise of vehicles.
They dashed forward until finally reaching a sudden break in the trees, through which they poked their heads and watched as a line of trucks approached on a narrow gravel road.
"Shit," Echo muttered agitatedly. "There's too much space between here and the road," she hissed. "They'll see us."
The gate was around 200 yards to their left, and the trucks were a similar distance to the right. Trees had been cut down on either side of the road, which left at least 40 feet of grass between them and the thin gravel strip.
The trucks would pass in a matter of seconds.
"If we get behind them, they won't see us," Jelani whispered.
"Do they not have mirrors?" Echo asked incredulously.
The approaching line of vehicles–which did, in fact, have mirrors–were led by four massive semi-trucks, which were followed by at least a dozen pickup trucks as they slowly rumbled along towards the gate.
"Screw it," Echo announced resolutely. "Ya only live once."
The last vehicle in line passed their hiding spot, and she sprinted out of the forest, covering the distance in just a few bounding strides. Jelani followed right behind her, and they both leapt straight into the truck's bed.
The two had crossed the ground so quickly that the soldiers in the other trucks hadn't noticed anything amiss. However, the two men sitting inside the final vehicle had evidently felt the impact of Jelani and Echo's high speed landings as they both turned to look through the window behind them.
Echo wasted no time in smashing her fist through the window and punching both men out cold.
The truck swerved, threatening to veer off the road, but she slipped through the broken glass before grabbing the unconscious man in the driver's seat and yanking him onto his partner's lap.
She locked her hands onto the wheel and got the truck back on track, quickly closing the distance that had opened between them and the other vehicles.
"Whoa," Jelani said, sticking his head through the smashed window. "You pulled it off."
"There's no room for you in here," she informed him with satisfaction. "Go poke your head somewhere else."
Jelani ignored her, and when he saw the soldiers' faces, he squinted before exclaiming, "Hey, I know these guys!"
"I'm surprised you remember them," Echo mocked. She was in quite a good mood after her successful truck takeover.
"I worked with them quite a bit," Jelani thought out loud, intrigued by the memories their faces had stirred up within him.
"Get in here," Echo ordered. "They'll see you if you keep crouching up there like a fuckin meerkat."
Jelani clambered through the opening, sustaining only a few cuts from the jagged shards of glass. At that moment, the first truck reached the gate, and Echo pressed down on the brake pedal.
"Prop that guy up," she commanded as soon as they'd come to a stop.
"You mean Kyle?" Jelani raised the man who was originally in the passenger seat to a somewhat natural sitting position.
Meanwhile, Echo slid to her knees on the floor and grabbed the other man, returning him to the driver's seat.
"You hold these guys up," she told Jelani, "and I'll drive. With my hands."
She awkwardly crouched into the only possible position in which she could get her left hand on the gas pedal, right hand on the wheel, and still be able to see over the top of the dashboard.
Jelani, on the other hand, laid across the two men's laps, using his hands to keep the "driver" upright and his feet for Kyle.
The gate opened and the frontmost truck pulled forward into the city, but the hijackers had gotten into position in the nick of time.
One by one, under the scrutiny of a few soldiers who were tasked with ensuring that the trucks arrived as planned, each vehicle passed through the gate.
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