Zombie Rules | Book 8 | Who The Hell Is That? Achord, David (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📖

neither did Roscoe, your brother, or your father, and I don’t think Hermione cares one way or another. So, that leaves Irena.”

He felt Riley fidget. “That’s weird. Why would she do that?”

“I’m not sure. There is a rumor that she and Gil had messed around back last year, so they might be closer than any of us know about,” he said.

“I didn’t know that. I bet dad doesn’t know either. So, you and Roscoe are going to ignore his order?”

“Yes, we are, both orders,” he said.

“Wow. What do you think the president will do when he finds out?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure, but here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to break off our association with Mount Weather, and when I say we, I mean Marcus Hook.”

Now Riley turned on her side. “Holy shit, really?”

“Yes, really,” he said.

“Gil is going to be pissed,” she surmised.

“No doubt about it,” he said in agreement.

“Won’t he try to do something?”

“It’s highly probable. Some of them will suggest a diplomatic response. He’ll probably send a message filled with threats and ultimatums, and then order something more direct and forceful, but we’re going to take preemptive measures.”

Riley listened keenly as Johnny G explained the elements of Operation Betrayal.

“The biggest amount of work will be creating the roadblocks. After we get everything in place, we’ll make an announcement to everyone living here. Anyone who disagrees can leave if they want to.”

Riley smiled. “I’m not leaving.”

“Good,” Johnny G said with his own grin.

“My brother and father will stay too. Is there anything we can do to help?”

Johnny G smiled slightly. “If you want, you can help us confirm Irena is the one who told VanAllen about the trading post.”

“Oooh, this sounds like fun,” she said. “What do you want to do?”

“Create some ruse to be with her tomorrow; can you do that?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. Right now, there are only a few people who know about Operation Betrayal. Roscoe, me, you, and a couple of others. I’m taking my crew out right after breakfast to block the roads. Roscoe is going to disable the phones. An hour after breakfast, I want you to get her alone and reveal the secret of Operation Betrayal. Tell her everything, especially tell her we are going to disable the phones which will cut off communications with Mount Weather. And then, you’re going to let her in on another little secret.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“If she’s the spy, she is going to want to tell VanAllen everything as soon as possible. That’s when you tell her about the short-wave radio hidden in the closet of my office that is tuned to the Mount Weather frequency and that you can call them anytime you want to.”

“Ah, I see now. If she’s the spy, she’s going to want to use the radio,” she said.

“Yep. Now, as you know, I keep my office secured. You’re going to tell her this, but then you’re going to let her in on another little secret about the spare key I keep in my dresser drawer.”

“There is? Oh, I see where you’re going. I’ll tell her I know about the key and we can use it to get into your office.”

“Yep, exactly.”

Riley gave a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry, she’ll think I’m her best friend before the end of the day.”

“Good. If she’s not the snitch, she won’t care about the radio, and if she is, she’s going to talk you into getting access to it.”

Riley scoffed. “I bet she can’t wait to get on that radio.”

“Good. Make her think you’re being unwittingly duped. If I know her the way I think I do, she’ll insist on doing the talking. You go along, but make sure you remember everything she says.”

“And report it back to you,” she said. “Okay, I can do that. I’ll kill her then if you want me to. Dad will be upset, but he’ll get over it when I tell him why I did it.”

“Let’s not go to that extreme,” he cautioned.

“Why not?”

“She may be a snitch, but it’s nothing extreme enough to kill her over. Besides, we may be able to use it to our advantage and have her unwittingly pass along bogus info to VanAllen.”

“You’re going to mushroom them,” she said, chuckling at her brother’s earlier reference. “So, we’re never going to have anything to do with Mount Weather again?”

“I think things will iron themselves out by the time the trading post is open,” he said.

She snuggled up against him. “If you say so, but if you change your mind and want me to kill her, let me know.”

Chapter 44 – Fred and Nikki Return

Fred would never say it out loud, but when the gate to his driveway came into view, he offered a silent prayer of thanks to the good Lord. He was cold, his legs and hips hurt from the long hours in the saddle, and he was hungry. He glanced over at Nikki. She looked miserable, but to her credit, she had not uttered one word of complaint. She caught his glance.

“We made it,” she said and tried to smile.

Fred did not respond, not even a micro nod. Approaching the gate, he stopped Aisha and swung a leg over. He was so stiff he almost fell when he dismounted. Nikki pretended not to notice. While Fred held onto Aisha, attempting to steady himself, Nikki slowly dismounted from her horse and almost fell too. She looked over to see Fred holding onto a stirrup and stretching. She did the same to work out some of the stiffness.

After a minute, Fred unlocked the gate and swung it open. Nikki led Leeroy through and waited for Fred, who did the same with Aisha. Locking the gate, the two of them awkwardly mounted their respective horses and walked down the long drive to the house. Rachel exited the front door at their approach and ran over to Fred as fast as her pregnant body would allow her.

“Get down off those horses and