Grenade launcher.
Grenade launcher.
Grenade.
Launcher.
Junie felt like she could spend hours running those words around in her head. Both were fantastic words all by themselves but put together… it was like chocolate and peanut butter.
Simon and Garfunkle.
Fish and chips.
Coffee and…more coffee.
Yeah, perfect pairing.
Somehow she just knew that the grenade launcher was going to be key. She didn’t know how or when, but it was going to play a part. She patted it affectionately. Standing to her left, Fipps was smiling at her.
Junie liked it when Fipps smiled at her and that was good because he seemed to be doing it a lot.
Ahead of her, Roger had assigned a number of new and not entirely complimentary titles to the sergeant behind the desk who was trying to detain them. Throwing around General McNabb’s name didn’t seem to be effective without paperwork signed in triplicate giving them express rights to his priveleges. They were long past the point of taking advantage of the comradiness that had served them so well in the mess hall, too. They were to a point that Roger was going to be causing more problems than he could solve.
Aubrey, in an unusual display of incentive, strode up to the desk.
“Sir, I’m sorry,” the sergeant was saying to Roger for the millionth time, “but the number of strip clubs you’ve accompanied the general to is hardly a convincing argu-“
Aubrey lifted her shirt. The sergeant stopped. “Uh….” was all he managed before the tactical mug twanged against his skull and he went down hard.
Roger grinned at Elliott. “Excellent! Free reign!”
He turned to head back into the depths of the armory but Elliott attempted to persuade him not to. It wasn’t easy but somehow Elliott was winning. This was, she suspected, mostly because Roger had actually recognized the need to vacate. He might be drunk and gun-crazy but he wasn’t stupid (which was good because all three of those things might have heralded the end of the world).
It’s already the end of the world, and Roger didn’t actually have that much to do with it, surprisingly.
Shut up, Bob. I’m busy.
Junie was secretly a little alarmed at how receptive Bob had been lately to her commands. He never used to go away that quickly.
And it’s not the end of the world, she added belatedly.
If you want me to go away you can’t keep talking to me.
Junie huffed out a breath in exasperation.
“Anything wrong?”
“Ha, now who’s talking first!” she barked. Fipps blinked at her in surprise. “Oh, sorry,” she said sheepishhly. “I thought you were someone else.”
Fipps glanced around: Roger and Elliott were well ahead of them, talking quietly amongst themselves. Aubrey, who seemed to have little to say to anyone, was hovering near, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked scared but wasn’t paying any attention to anyone. Fipps looked like he wanted to ask who she could possibly have thought was addressing her, but he didn’t.
“I never really know what to expect from you,” he said.
Elliott held out a hand to stop their group once they reached the front door of the armory. The dust of machinery all around them was tickling Junie’s nose and she sneezed. Elliott waited until he was sure she wasn’t going to again before he nudged the door open a crack and peeked out. Spot poked his nose out as well. Both Elliott and the dog ducked back in and sighed miserably, in unison.
“What is it, my boy?” Roger asked, ignoring the dog. Spot gave him an offended look.
Elliott shook his head. “It’s chaos out there. Soldiers running around, willy-nilly, no one paying a lot of attention. It would be the perfect scenario for getting off this base undetected.” He left much unsaid, but Roger rarely did.
“Yeah, if it weren’t for having to bloody find Red,” he groused.
“Exactly,” Elliott said. “But on the bright side, it is still good for us. Hopefully Higgins can get to Shavian and this mess will help them get back to us.”
“That does beg one question though,” Aubrey said. “Once we’re all back together, are we going to count on McNabb to let us out of here?”
Elliott shook his head. “I think the general is a white hat, but I’m not going to count on that. I’ve misjudged people before. No, but this does give me an idea. We might need a distraction to get out of here, so everyone keep your eyes open for something we might use.”
Junie’s lips peeled away from her teeth and her eyes sparkled as an idea entered her mind.
It would be key and she thought the words to herself again.
Grenade.
Launcher.