The Kingdom

Chapter Sixteen

 Reilious sat down in the cafeteria and started to eat, Talia sitting down next to him. They were the only two in there, since it was very early in the morning. The cafeteria was dark except for a single electrical lanturn brought in by Reilious.

Talia closed her eyes after she finished eating, leaning into Reilious as he ate. Reilious ws eating slowly, staring off into space as he thought about plans and ideas for what Carmal would do next. He finished eating and was brought back to reality as he heard the soft snoring of Talia in his ear. Looking over, he saw she had fallen asleep beside him.

He checked his watch. 7:30 AM.

Well, I was in thought for awhile... he thought to himself.

He shook Talia a little until she woke up, kissing her good morning. She smiled and got off of him so he could get up.

Reilious got up and walked out of the cafeteria and into the school's conference room, where the rest of the generals were already talking and had set up a command center. He sat down and began writing writing out his plans for attack. Halfway through, Scorch walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Reilious asked.

"Have you thought about infiltrating the capital first before attacking? Not many of our troops know how the city is set up," Scorch replied.

Reilious nodded. "Let's get a few people from each coalition to come with me. We need to find some vehicles that weren't damaged by the attack."

Scorch gave a thumbs up and walked over to a radio on a desk, picking up the microphone. She spoke into it, giving orders to find vehicles.

. . .

Reilious got into an old, green Chevrolet Cheyenne, the truck selected for him by the soldiers. Talia climbed into the passenger's seat, Deryle hopping into the backseat. Reilious turned the ignition key, the truck trying to start. It didn't start. Reilious tried again the engine turned over, not starting once again. He hit the dashboard and the truck started with a rumble.

He rolled his eyes at the old truck and shifted into drive, leading the convoy to the highway. He yawned as the trip began, he knew it would be a long one.

. . .

He drove off the exit of Katcui's downtown district, taking a deep breath as he saw a military vehicle drive by. He was the most wanted man in the country, he was pretty sure. Looking around, he saw the hundreds of shops, each owned by civilians loyal to the king. It didn't disgust him, he wasn't that kind of leader, but he didn't think too highly of the capital anymore like he had as a child.

The radio took him out of his thoughts. "Alright, we need to take a right, and the Capitol Building should be right up ahead," Deryle announced.

"10-4," Reilious replied, turning at the street, seeing the massive building at the end of the road.

The Capitol Building stood tall and strong, it's golden dome shining in the sunlight as the kingdom's flag blew from its peak. The walls, made of pure white quartz, stood firm, free from dirt and dust from the city around it. Reilious parked out front as he stared at the building, the other people driving around him so they didn't look suspicious. To the people around them, they looked like tourists.

"Alright, study the outside and from there we have our main plan," the radio announced next to him.

He looked inside some of the windows, seeing nothing but black curtains. He started up the truck again after taking a couple pictures, and started driving back to the ramp to the highway.

. . .

He sat down in the chair, opening the call to the different leaders, his own representatives sitting at the table with him. He waited for the leaders to answer, then stood.

"We have gained intel on the Capitol Building. It is a semi-fortified building with-" Reilious started.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Johnstone, but we know this already," one of the leaders on the call announced, stopping Reilious in his tracks.

"Alright," Reilious replied after a few seconds, "Meeting adjourned."

The leaders nodded, hanging up as the generals turned back to Reilious. He turned to face them, sitting back down at the head of the table. They group started planning their attack of the capital.