The Debt Collectors War

Chapter 72

Ellie walked over to the group of militia beside the bunker building. She walked warily, placing her feet carefully, taking care that she didn’t trip. She kept her submachine gun levelled as she moved, watching the militia over it, covering them all as best she could. Behind her, she knew without looking, Sameh would be following and moving the same way, although Sameh would be watching her tablet, and the sensor net’s imaging, as much as she would the actual militia in front of her.

It seemed to be safe though, Ellie thought. The militia seemed to have given up, at least for now. None of them were moving, not at all.

The militia were completely still.

Almost too still.

Ellie thought about that stillness. The militia had probably in this situation before, she decided, and been in it often enough that they knew to be extremely careful during these first few minutes, so no-one got hurt by mistake. They were standing still, not moving their hands, not even sneezing or coughing. They were keeping very still, and that was good, but there was also something a little odd going on too. The militia had been strangely careful how they put down their weapons. They had put them down surprisingly precisely.

Ellie glanced downwards as she got closer and saw that the militia’s weapons, mostly guns and knives, were on the ground as she’d asked, but that each was about a metre from its owner’s feet. A metre almost exactly, Ellie saw. Enough distance for the sensor net to consider the person unarmed, and show them as such on its displays, but very little more than that.

It was interesting the militia seemed to know that exact distance, Ellie thought. It was interesting they seemed to know how a sensor net worked.

Ellie wondered if she should be worried. She tried to reassure herself. The militia had probably dealt with debt recovery officials before, she thought, and everyone working for a debt recovery corporation probably used the same brand of sensors, and probably had the sensor management software still set to its defaults for things like safe distances between a weapon and a hostile. That was probably all it was, Ellie decided, but even so, the odd precision with which the militia had all put down their weapons made her a little suspicious.

“Step back a bit from the weapons,” Ellie said. “You’re too close.”

They all looked at her, but no-one moved.

Ellie needed them to move. The more she thought about it, the more that precision bothered her, and she wanted them to step back. They were still too near their guns, and too close to one another as well. She didn’t want them surrounding her, with their guns at their feet. She didn’t want them getting the idea they were a mob, and that they had some kind of chance if they decided to attack her.

She needed to move them back a little further.

Ellie pointed at one of the militia mostly at random, a younger man who seemed nervous, and said, “Step back or I’ll kill you.”

He looked at her, surprised.

“Step back,” she said, loudly, and took a step closer, threateningly, insistently, pointing her submachine gun directly at his face. She was right there, confronting him, as aggressive as she could be. “Do it,” she said, still in a loud voice. “Do it now, or you die right here.”