Fallback Read Free Page B

they get anywhere near us. The council believes, and I agree, this is actually good news.”
    Some disbelieving murmurs broke out, but Rich settled them down. “Think about it, everybody. It’s a very preliminary step. It’s not a serious threat. It takes little effort and carries little risk for them, so they go ahead and try to send a few deadlies our way. But what it means is our intelligence was correct, and they’re not ready to move on us soon, which means we have time to prepare. And that’s why you’re all here this afternoon.”
    I stepped closer to Melissa, our shoulders lightly brushing. Whatever we were going to hear, I wanted her to know she wasn’t in it alone or without support.
    Rich stepped closer to the speaker and cringed as a squeal of feedback pierced the air. He moved back, wiggling one finger in his ear. “The council has been planning for situations such as this since the beginning. Depending on how it came about, they had some preliminary ideas for how to deal with it. After meeting with the patrol leaders and neighborhood captains last night, this is what they want to do.”
    Rebecca’s hand twitched in the direction of the knife at her hip, a conditioned response. Bethany just looked pale and perhaps a bit nauseated.
    “The fact we’re so established here is both a blessing and a curse,” Rich said, somehow simultaneously conveying pride and regret. I wondered if he’d been a trial lawyer, or maybe a motivational speaker in his former life. “It means we have a good life, but it makes us a target, and a large enough force coming against us could take the Compound. There’s been a plan in the works for some time, though it’s still in its early stages, to establish some fallback locations. These would be places within a few days’ travel from here. Places we’d stock with supplies, fortify, and settle a small group there to maintain it in case of need.” My ears pricked up at this. The idea sounded interesting. “There are to be four locations, and only the council knows the locations of all four. Scouts have been seeking out suitable places for the past year, places we can secure to an acceptable degree, house the people we want on site, and provide short-term residence for groups of people if we have to evacuate.”
    An older woman standing on a picnic table didn’t care for this idea. “What, we’re all just gonna split up? Run? We got a good community here, friends, and family. We can’t scatter off all over the place.”
    “You’re right, Deena, and that’s not the plan. A site has been chosen for a new permanent settlement, should something happen and we have to abandon this place. The fallback locations are kind of like waystations. Everyone in the Compound will be assigned to one of these places, in the event of an emergency, with several sergeants leading each group. If things go balls-up…” He paused and seemed to blush a bit at his lapse from the formal tone he’d been employing. “If things go badly, groups move to their fallback point. The folks there will have stocks of supplies—because we’d have to leave a lot behind—and places for you to rest, for the injured to be treated, before moving on to the new settlement.”
    Despite the dire nature of such a plan, I found myself becoming excited. I’d been meek and passive my whole life, until Quinn died and I saw the price such passivity could demand. Now I looked toward action. What could I do? How could I help? How could I be stronger and make things better? And how did I go about being chosen to be on one of those fallback teams?
    Then I looked at Melissa. She’d come a long way since our rescue, but was she up to such a risk? The tight line of her lips hadn’t eased, but her gray eyes were narrowed in thought. I could practically hear the wheels turning.
    The crowd had begun commenting among themselves, and Rich called for their attention. “The first priority is and always will be to secure this