Alone Together part 2

Chapter 16. Thinking of a plan

"On the way back to the flat, only Courtney knew why I was walking so fast while trying to make everyone hurry. Even Peter who was with us the whole time did not hear a word of what I said, so he had no clue either. "Hey Jack slow down a bit nobody's following us you know" he even said. "No there's no time we must hurry back!" I answered. "Is something troubling you Jack?" Rob asked me. "Yes there is something. Now hurry the sooner we'll be at the apartment, the quicker I'll be able to explain". As nobody added anything else, I understood that they were probably confused. When it took us twenty minutes on the first leg, it took us only ten on the way back. Inside, we were all exhausted, me included. I really wanted to tell them, but I could not as they all went into their rooms without question. Only Courtney stayed longer the time to clean up the dining table which we had to leave as it was with all the food and drinks still on it. Everything was cold by now. What a shame for such good food. Therefore, I decided not to throw it away but rather to put it in the freezer for the time we would stay here. I doze off at 2 AM. It really was a long and exhausting day.

The next morning, I woke up later than usual, around 9 AM. But against all my expectations, I was still the first to enter the kitchen. However, the others did not sleep in much longer. By 10, we were all in the living room having the breakfast our newly discovered chef Matthew took the time to prepare. Once again, and even for a breakfast, it was simply amazing. Added to my usual morning coffee, I could not ask for better. Nobody was speaking or complaining, Matthew took it as a compliment. "Thanks, I suppose your silent means that you like it! Take your time I wouldn't want you to choke or get cramps" he said with a smile. "May I have more sirup for my waffles please" asked Britney. "Here you go" told her Liz handing it to her.

Once we were finished, we decided it was better to get prepared before elaborating our plan. So we did and fifteen minutes later, everyone was ready. Rob had kept an eye on his screen as he found the camera. "Any news?" I asked him. "No, nothing has happened since we came back" he answered me. Courtney remembered that I still hadn't talked to them about my thoughts of last night, "Now would be the time don't you think? While they're all here listening." "Yeah you're right." So I went ahead, "Guys, last night when we were looking for the camera, I noticed something about the town hall. All the lights inside were off even though it was already nighttime. So now, I'm asking you, do you think they go back to the burnt field every night or that they can see in the dark? The second option would give a use to their masks", but Peter interrupted me saying, "These masks are rubbish! I tried to wear one at the hotel last time remember? And it nearly killed me! I don't wanna have anything to do with one anymore!" "Ssshh Peter let Jack finish would you?" reprimanded him Rob. I proceeded "That's for the masks or helmets. But I also have a possible explanation for their ability to teleport. You all remembered that right? How a bunch of them disappeared and appeared back on the top of the van, out of nowhere, before Rob blasted them off. Well, that must have come from their suits, that red and black armor they're always wearing. Now, does any of you have an idea or an observation they'd like to share? If we're about to confront them soon for the very last time, we must know what each other thinks". Peter spoke first, "Well this is old news but the ones that patrol around the town hall don't have any weapon. Perhaps we could wait to encounter one, take him down, steal his suit, solve the problem with the helmet and we would fit right in!" he said. "That sounds a bit crazy, but I like it" Liz said. "And it actually might work if we can solve the problem with the helmet" added Courtney. "If you guys can bring me one of these, I would inspect it from top the bottom so we could use it without risking our lives" Rob said. "Are you sure you can deal with it Rob? It's not terrestrial stuff remember?" Matthew asked him. "I had no problem to sort out the plasma rifles so it should be about the same, even easier as it is not a weapon". "I believe in you sweetie" told him Sarah. "Then this is settle, let's ambush several of them throughout the day so we can sneak in" Courtney concluded. Now that we knew how we were going to enter, we had to know the place beforehand. We needed a plan of the facility. "Briksburg is an important city in the country, there has the be information about it all over the internet, I'll look it up right now" proposed Liz. "Yes, then transfer me everything you will find so I can put it on my tablet. I'll be able to guide us through" Rob declared. "Also now that I think about it, in order to be able to teleport ourselves, we must retrieve the suits without damaging them. This means no weapons or explosives". "Yeah he's right" Britney said. "Peter you took one down with your hands, do you know if they have any weak point or something? Or did you just beat him to death?" Courtney asked him. "Well, I did hit him quite a lot yes but if I remember well, I landed one hit that affected him quite a lot. It was just above his waist and between the last rib. That precise spot isn't covered by the armor. One good hit there and it should be enough for him not to stand back up" he answered. "Good now we have more details on the enemy" I said. "But instead of waiting for them to come out one by one, why don't we wait for a bunch to show up and ambush them all at once?" Liz asked. "I agree, waiting for one at a time would only be a waste of time. And I don't about you, but this has been going on for too long now. I want to know what happened, quickly" added Sarah.

We had a few ideas on how we would infiltrate the enemy's ranks. All we had left to do was to elaborate a plan of attack. Something efficient and easy to deal with because, once again, we were not professional soldier nor highly skilled ninjas. Having agreed that our robbery had to be during nighttime so we would not be noticed, we would act as a patrol like they usually do and go inside once we would be done with our false and shortened watch.

We ended spending the whole morning and afternoon having this conversation. "It's getting dark out guys" noticed Matthew looking out the window. "If we want to go, now would be a good time I guess" he said. "Agreed, let's head out" Courtney told us."