Into Ruin

Chapter 11 Connections

Two days of surveillance had gone remarkably well and there were no incidents to compromise the crew members. It was nice to know that Olivia had a team she could trust, if they were divided properly. Gunnar managed to let it go that they weren't able to get the young boy out. The boy didn't trust them enough anyway, and children only got in the way. To him, a known evil was more reassuring than an unknown. She'd believed that lie for far too long herself too.

In addition to the spoils that the officers seemed to enjoy, Amelia and Matt had managed to pick up on the squalor facing the young workers. Young and old it seemed were bearing the brunt of the work. Their food appeared to be long lasting, quick energy bites like instant noodles, rice, or slop. Few of the hunting spoils crossed the line from elite to blue collar. At least back at the colony, Olivia wasn't living wildly above any of the other members. Her apartment didn't mirror the barrenness of Edward's, but post-disaster recruits weren't afforded the same opportunity that the others had had.

"Last bag is packed," Gunnar reported.

Olivia surveyed her team. Quinton was wrapping up his ankle with a tensor that the men around the intruding community had offered. Nate had only been able to relay information on the daughter's condition: alive and working in the mines. They wouldn't be the most willing allies, but Olivia's group at least had a few steps in the right direction.

Without any major interruptions, their group pushed through to Las Vegas. Olivia had been keeping tabs on a former comrade who'd joined up with a similar setup to the one in Colorado. After the storms, it became challenging to communicate and she kept an ear open for anything useful. Edward had unknowingly done a few searches for her back in the mountains. If Marcel had been right about Yuri's motives, then he'd be mighty useful. If not, they could be in hot shit sooner than anticipated.

They set up camp in a well sheltered area and the teens set off hunting. She pulled Nate off to the side and handed him her old cell phone. As the cool device left her palm, she felt transported to another time when it would light up on the corner table, a text from Marcel telling her he was running late or Paul and Jean inviting them out for drinks. Presently, they'd manage to scrape up a temporary power grid and charge the device just in case the battery she'd conserved didn't stick.

"Yuri, if you can connect to anything, ask Yuri for coordinates," she muttered.

"Can do," and Nate's fingers already went to work. She paced, waiting for any kind of results. He paused for a moment and turned back to her. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," she snapped instinctually.

The way he studied her face made her wish she was anywhere else. "You look anxious."

"Of course I'm anxious. If this doesn't work, we have nothing."

His demeanour softened. "Relax, Edward just asked me to-"

Her pacing stopped and her eyes narrowed. "You aren't Edward."

His gaze lingered. "No, and I don't think I'd want to be."

She gritted her teeth and wandered off. She wondered if choosing Nate over Edward was a bad call. There was something to be said for having a person that you could actually speak with. Nate was an arse masquerading as Edward's little helper. She didn't need and certainly didn't want anything from him other than to pacify Edward last week.

Within ten minutes, Nate had an answer for her. Edward would have spent those ten minutes consoling her which was wasted time. Her choice had been the best one for the team.

"I'm in a network, but once I send off this text I can't mask my presence anymore. It's secure and similar to the one I worked with before at the colony. I'd say it went up after the storms. I need more to go on to find this guy, any kind of nickname or username he would go by. Old numbers will be useless now."