“Let me finish.”

The first step is to conduct reconnaissance. Determine when your enemy is sleeping and awake; how many people or dogs are used to guard both prisoners and entry points; find out where they store their weapons and food; see who is giving orders and who appears most likely to sway from them. The more disciplined the unit, the more regular their activities should be. You can use their routines to your advantage, striking when they are most vulnerable. In other words, you should strike when they are sleeping or have the least amount of manpower and gunpower at the ready.

Kowi was nodding his head. “Pretty decent.”

“It gets better,” I said, turning to another page I had marked.

A very successful technique to be utilized when a completely undetected rescue cannot be done (and in most cases, that type of operation would be impossible to execute), is the distraction team set. At least, that’s what my unit called it back in the day. The distraction team’s job was not to rescue, but merely to cause a ruckus and not get killed in the process. While they keep the enemy busy in another part of their territory, the rescue team moves in and takes the prisoners, when it is likely that most of the enemy’s manpower will be occupied with fighting off the distraction. I caution you in its use for many reasons. First, the distraction team members very much risk getting injured or killed. They will be calling the enemy directly to them, usually making no secret of their existence. One could use a distraction that does not risk as much, such as a fire, but these usually do not keep the enemy distracted long enough and often result in an unpleasant surprise visit upon the rescue unit. Second, they risk being ambushed from behind, as their enemy may well have planned for an attack from that location and have already set up contingency plans to manage it. This is why very close and comprehensive scouting and reconnaissance (recon) must be done in advance to find all of the locations the enemy might be familiar with and consider a part of its territory. Of course, there is never a line drawn around the area they consider their territory - but they do tend to frequent the places that they are comfortable fighting from and for.

“Wow. That’s a lot of stuff. Is that just on that one page?” asked Kowi.

“Yeah. The whole book is full of this kind of thing. George was like a war commander or something.”

“Can I see it?” asked Kowi.

I handed it over. “Sure. Anytime. Just make sure it stays here in my hut, is all I ask.”

“No problem,” said Kowi, absently, paging through the book.

“So you think we should do a recon kinda thing first?” asked Trip. “I just feel like we’re going to see those kids in there and not be able to walk away, you know? Like if Celia were there, and I saw her …” his voice cracked and he couldn’t continue. He swallowed hard to keep his emotions under control. It was strange to see him go from so angry and strong to so vulnerable like that, but it made him seem more human so it was almost a relief.

“I understand. I’m not sure what to say. Yes, I think we need to do recon. But if they know we’re out there, and planning on coming back, they’ll be ready for us and we’ll lose a huge advantage.”

“Maybe we can compromise,” said Kowi.

Trip and I focused our attention on him. I was anxious to have someone else coming up with the ideas. The responsibility of having people follow my plan was huge, and all I could think about was how I would be to blame if kids died. I was no hero, and my complete lack of desire to shoulder any blame was proof of that. I was much more comfortable being one of the ground troops than being the leader.

“We could plan a quick attack thing. Like do recon one day and the rescue attack the next. That way, very little could happen in between. No extra injuries for the prisoners there, hopefully, and no time for the canners to change anything about how they operate.”

I nodded my head, considering the benefits.

“The question is, can Bryn train us fast enough to get us ready?” asked Trip, looking right at me.

“When do you want to do this?” I asked.

“A week. Is that enough time?”

“Are you kidding? You want me to cram a lifetime’s worth of krav maga into a week? With time for muscle recovery? Uh … no. There’s no way.”

“What can you do in a week?” asked Kowi.

“Teach you only the most basic moves, and maybe make you just one small level above amateur.”

“That’s what we’ll have to do then. It’s not like we have much of a choice, if we want to keep them from hurting any more kids or venturing out into our territory.”

I shook my head. They were asking for miracles, and I was no miracle-worker. “What about weapons? They have a lot of firepower and we have almost nothing.”

“We have the grenades,” said Trip.

“I’m not sure using grenades is the best idea. They’re loud, they can injure us too. I think we’re better off using stealth and ignoring those.”

“I was thinking we could use them as part of the distraction thing,” said Kowi.

“Good idea,” said Trip.

I couldn’t think of any reason to disagree, other than the reasons I had already given. I wasn’t sure making a big ruckus was the best plan we could come up with, but I didn’t have anything else better to contribute, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Alright, so you tell Peter about what we want. You can focus all of your lessons on the ten who are going on our mission. You’ll let us know who those people are?”

“Yeah. I want to see every able-bodied person tomorrow, for a short evaluation session. Peter will organize it. Tell everyone to come see him at some point tonight during dinner to get their slot. I’ll probably run eight to ten of them.” I shook my head.

“What’s the matter?” asked Trip.

“I’m just thinking about what a nightmare day I’m going to have, running that many sessions and keeping track of that many people.”

“You can have Peter there to help you,” said Kowi.

“I’ll have to. There’s no way I can keep it all straight in my head the way he can.”

“When will you tell us who you’ve chosen?” asked Trip.

“I’ll tell each candidate I’ve picked right at the session to come back the next day. Then I’ll start training them three times a day for the next five days. The final two days will be just to rest, plan, and practice.”

“Works for me,” said Kowi.

“Good,” said Trip. “I’ve gotta go. Talk to you guys tonight.” He got up and walked off without another word.

I watched him go, saying quietly to Kowi, “He’s not the warmest guy in the world, is he?”

“He’s alright. He just has a lot on his mind with his sister. I think he’s lost too much already. If he lost her … well, I’m not sure we’d ever get him back completely, you know?”

“Yeah. I get it.” I’d only lost my dad. I guess I got off easy. The thought of losing Peter or Bodo made me feel sick, and I hadn’t even known them for very long. It made me appreciate Trip’s attitude a little more to think about him losing a little brother and having his sister in such bad shape. That must have really sucked, especially when there was regret to go along with the loss.

“So, I’ll see you at dinner then?”

“Yeah. See ya. And thanks for the lunch.”

“No prob. It’s the least we can do.”

Kowi left me standing there on the edge of the hut.

I spent the next half hour practicing my sneaking techniques before I was joined by Peter and then Bodo.

***

I handed Peter the basket of food. “Here. This is your lunch.”

“I already had some,” said Peter. “I learned how they make bread here. It’s pretty amazing, actually. They’re using solar ovens and wood-fired brick ovens over near this kitchen hut thingy.”

“Cool. Here,” I said, handing the basket to Bodo.

He reached in and grabbed a sandwich, taking a huge bite out of it. It was even bigger than the bites taken by Kowi and Trip, which I would have thought impossible if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

“Jesus, Bodo, you don’t have to choke yourself with it,” said Peter, eyeing him with a bit of disgust.

Bodo swallowed with effort. “It’s not a problem for me. It fills up my stomach to have a bigger food in dare.”

“You think if you take bigger bites, you’ll have more in your stomach? How’s that possible?” asked Peter, clearly doubting Bodo’s logic.

“No. I’m saying dat if da food is in bigger chunks in dare, it takes longer to break it into da small pieces in da stomach, so it feels more full a longer time. Dat’s better for me when I am starvingk a lot.”

“Oh.”

It actually made sense, now that he’d explained it. Maybe I’d try it at my next meal if no one was looking. With my luck I’d choke myself, so I’d have to do it with Peter nearby, ready to give me the Heimlich.

“So, what did you do today, Bryn?” asked Peter.

“I made some plans with Kowi and Trip for scouting out the canner place and getting those kids out of there. Oh, and I need your help.”

I had all of Peter’s attention now. “Oh, yeah? To do what?”

“I need you to organize all the Meeks and Creeks into groups of ten or twenty. I’m not sure how many bodies we have in total, but I want to see all of them tomorrow for half hour sessions, to evaluate who’s going with me and who’s staying behind.”

“How many are going?”

“Ten or so.”

“You’re not going,” said Bodo, matter-of-factly.

“Of course I’m going.” I looked at him, confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he misunderstood or something.

“No. You cannot risk it. You need to stay here in da swamp with da udder girls.”

My jaw went out of whack as I stood there looking at him, getting angrier and angrier by the second. “You’ve got to be frigging kidding me,” I finally said, once I realized he wasn’t joking.

“No. I am totally serious. You stay here and let da men take care of dis problem.”

I put my hand up to block his face from my vision and looked at Peter. “Get him away from me before I kill him.”

Peter looked nervously from Bodo to me, his gaze finally resting on Bodo. “Um, yeah. Bodo? I think maybe you should go, uh, doodle on something. Somewhere else. Right now.”

“No,” he said firmly. “I’m not gonna doodle on anything. I am saying da truth. Bryn is very smart and strong but she cannot go. Dat’s how it is.”

I dropped my hand and fixed him with my best evil eye. “Let’s get one thing straight, Bodo. You don’t decide where I go or what I do. You don’t put me back in a safe little box with all the other weak-ass girls. I go where I want. I do what I want. You have no right to even dream of giving me permission to do anything.”

“I just dit.”

“No, you didn’t!” I yelled. Talking to Bodo was like talking to a tree. His head was made of wood.

“I know you heardt me,” he insisted. “I said it in Engklish. You want to hear it in Cherman too? Here you go: Du gehst nirgendwo hin. Du bleibst hier mit den anderen Mädchen, das ist mein letztes Wort. Mir geht es nicht darum, dich zu beleidigen; ich bin lediglich um deine Sicherheit besorgt!"

I took two steps forward and pushed him hard on the chest, shoving him away from me. “Blow it out your ass, Bodo!”

He caught himself after stumbling back a few steps. “Dat sounds interesting, but no thank you. Not today. Maybe anudder time.”

I had a feeling he wasn’t going to engage me in a fight no matter what I did, so I gave up physically intimidating him into leaving me alone, deciding that ignoring him was the better option instead.