Aim
An Ambush
“Goodnight Claire,”I smiled.
“Night Gerard,”She leant up and kissed me on the cheek before climbing off of my lap and onto Frank’s.
“Thank you for picking me up, Frankie,”Claire whispered and kissed him,”Goodnight. Love you.”
“Love you too kiddo,”Frank smiled as she went running upstairs with Linda.
As soon as I heard her bedroom door shut I leant forward and stared at everyone,”So how are we going to find out who Cole’s spies are?”
Everyone was silent for a moment before Pete perked up,”A bunch have guys in the year above have disappeared from school... If thats any help...”
“No that wont do. They could have just stopped going to school and are still in Jersey helping Cole... Frank and Lily I meant you guys more. Any new people at work or school?”I looked at Lily’s thoughtful face as Linda came back in.
“None that I know of... There could be a new person up in head office though so I’m not much help,”Frank muttered. He looked pissed off.
“Oh no...”Lily looked up at us all,”Sam came into my class around two weeks ago oh fuck what have I done?”She put her hands over her mouth in shock, tears about to spill over.
“Jesus christ Lily! I knew I shouldnt have trusted him!”Frank stood up and pointed a finger at her,”Now do you fucking understand why you dont trust people?!”
“Frank I’m sorry! He- I- Its not my fault okay! How was I supposed to know that he was going to tell everything to fucking Cole so that Cole could spy on us all? Huh? How is that my fault?”She stood up and glared back at Frank.
“Lily! You dont go telling a guy you just met fucking everything! What exactly did you tell him?”Frank groaned.
“I told him where you work, I told him Claire’s school and class number and he obviously knows where we live and I told him Gerard’s apartment building,”Lily sat down in defeat.
“Why? Why would you tell him any of that?!”Frank screeched at her.
“I told him Claire’s class because he asked! He asked me if I had any brothers and sisters so I said an older brother and a younger sister and he asked what school she went to so I told him and he said his little sister went to that school. He asked me what class she was in because Arya isnt very good at making friends and it would be good if I could get Claire to make friends with her. He asked me if you went to school and I said no you work at Starbucks and he asked which one because his Mum owns the one on Oak Street and I said you dont work there, you work at the one on Queen Street. That good enough for you?”
“I- mostly. Why did you tell him about Gerard’s apartment building?”Frank covered up his defeat quickly.
“I- he asked if he could take me out to the movies on the weekend and I said I couldnt cause I was staying the night with you guys. He asked me about Gerard and asked what he was doing and how he was- fuck I’m so stupid. I cant believe I told him all that about you, Gerard I’m so sorry,”Lily sobbed.
Frank stared at her for a second before sighing and walking over to comfort her.
“Guys its good that we know how they found out but that doesnt solve how they know my apartment number and how they broke in to get that phone call going,”I sighed and stood up.
“Yeah sorry. Ray, did you bring the thing? Maybe we can focus on that for a bit,”Frank sighed.
“The what? Oh the map. I did but its at Gerard’s,”Ray mumbled.
“Well then lets go get it,”I smiled.
-time lapse-
Frank's POV
I watched Gerard scan the map with interest. He was taking this on way too much. I could tell he was getting ready to take over. I was happy to let him, I just didnt know if he would let me take over when he needed to go back. We were in the dining room, the chairs had all been moved back from the table and Gerard and I were standing at it. Everyone was sitting down, silently waiting for Gerard to say something.
"So- you dont know where Cole is? And yet, these,"He gestured to all the mini bases,"Have all been found?"Gerard started circling around the table.
"Um... Yeah..."I bit my thumb nail and watched as he continued deducing the map.
"Someone get me a pen. A vivid preferably,"Gerard snapped his fingers. Lily stood up and went to grab the peciln next to the phone.
"Here,"Lily handed Gerard the pencil, glanced at the map and sat back down.
"Okay so all the circles are ones you havent taken down right?"
“Yeah and the ones crossed out are-”
“The ones you have taken down so- has anybody,”Gerard placed the pencil at the top of the map on one of the circles,”Done this? Connect,”He drew a line between two mini bases,”The dots.”
I watched in amazement as he connected them all to make the shape of a large 7 pointed star.
“Gerard that-”
“Isnt all. Gimme a minute,”He started walking around again, moving his fingers in swift lines that meant nothing to me.
It took another 5 minutes for Gerard to start drawing lines again. I watched as he brought lines into the centre and connected them. Once he was done, they had made the shape of a pentagon in the middle surrounding-
“The- the forest?”
“Fucking bastard,”Gerard snarled and threw the pencil down onto the table. Mikey stood up and moved closer. He took one look at what forest it was and let out a snort.
“Of fucking course. Why wouldnt he pick a place like that? Like we’re gonna think to look there.”
“What where is it?”Pete said as everyone got up to have a look.
"Thats the forest where your Mum-"
"Yep,"Gerard muttered and went to the fridge.
"What are we waiting for then? We should go over there right now and take em by surprise,"Pete thumped his fist on the table.
"We are in no postion to go attack guys. Ammo and weapons are at an all time low and that forest his huge. We have no idea where in the forest they are or how many people are there or anything. No. We need to work out a plan,"I looked round at them all.
I picked the pencil back up and started erasing the lines Gerard had made.
"Frank what are you doing?"Gerard walked back over, a can of coke in his hand.
"Look, we dont know if there are more mini bases or anything. Every time we take one down a day later we find another one. We cant assume that Cole is hiding out in the forest until we're certain we've found all of the mini bases."
"True... Okay, how many 'followers' do we think Cole has?"Gerard took the pencil from me and started walking around the table again. Everyone else took this as a sign to sit back down and wait.
"Around... 100? Give or take a few."
"And how many do we have?"Gerard stopped and looked at me.
"Uh... Ray?"I looked at him for help.
"47 as of half 12 today,"Ray said in what I liked to call his soldier voice.
"47? Jesus. Why the hell do we have so little?!"Gerard thumped his coke down.
"Cole moved ridiculously fast. He was probably planning this as soon as he went to prison. We've had two weeks. Jersey may have a lot of gay people willing to defend themselves, but there is a shit tonne more anti gay people crazy enough to kill. Gerard you cant go getting angry at us for anything we've done these past two weeks because it has been hell!"I glared at him.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to put things together... Okay, first things first, we're going back with you guys,"Gerard looked at the guys and smiled,"I aint staying here. I cant do this here."
"But Gerard your-"
"I know I'll come back in february I promise. Linda? You're gonna take Claire and Lily to your Mum's,"Gerard looked back at the map and started circling again.
"No way! I'm not going to fucking Washington. I'm going with you-"
"You'll do as he says Lily,"Linda growled at her.
"Mum! I want to-"
"No! Gerard is in charge here and if he says we're going to my Mum's then we are going to my Mum's,"Linda stood up,"I need a drink. Anyone else?"
"What have you got?"Pete asked.
"Whiskey beer or wine?"Linda said and opened the pantry.
"I'll have a beer thanks,"Pete smiled at her.
"Can I have a whiskey?"Mikey sighed.
"Mikey!"Gerard spun to face him, shock covering his face,"You drink?"
"Um. No?"Mikey looked away and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"God,"Gerard turned back to the map, silent once again.
"Frank you want anything?"Linda turned to me.
I glanced at Gerard's stiff back before shaking my head,"I'm fine thanks."
"Okay. Look at this,"Gerard pointed to one of the mini bases and everyone stood up to get a good look,"Look at the street its on. Then look at whats on the next street over."
I looked and almost fucking screamed in frustration,"They're finding out where we live... That- Pete where did your friend live?"I glanced at him.
"Over- here. Fuck!"Pete pointed to a street one over from a base we still hadnt taken down.
"This is insane. How on earth are they finding out where we live?"Ray said.
"Cole's been planning this for months I bet. And like you guys said, he moves fast. Okay. So we know how they're killing us in our beds, so what do we do?"Gerard looked around at us all. The dim lighting was throwing shadows across his face making him look ridiculously hot.
"Come on guys, what do you think? We plan an ambush."
“Night Gerard,”She leant up and kissed me on the cheek before climbing off of my lap and onto Frank’s.
“Thank you for picking me up, Frankie,”Claire whispered and kissed him,”Goodnight. Love you.”
“Love you too kiddo,”Frank smiled as she went running upstairs with Linda.
As soon as I heard her bedroom door shut I leant forward and stared at everyone,”So how are we going to find out who Cole’s spies are?”
Everyone was silent for a moment before Pete perked up,”A bunch have guys in the year above have disappeared from school... If thats any help...”
“No that wont do. They could have just stopped going to school and are still in Jersey helping Cole... Frank and Lily I meant you guys more. Any new people at work or school?”I looked at Lily’s thoughtful face as Linda came back in.
“None that I know of... There could be a new person up in head office though so I’m not much help,”Frank muttered. He looked pissed off.
“Oh no...”Lily looked up at us all,”Sam came into my class around two weeks ago oh fuck what have I done?”She put her hands over her mouth in shock, tears about to spill over.
“Jesus christ Lily! I knew I shouldnt have trusted him!”Frank stood up and pointed a finger at her,”Now do you fucking understand why you dont trust people?!”
“Frank I’m sorry! He- I- Its not my fault okay! How was I supposed to know that he was going to tell everything to fucking Cole so that Cole could spy on us all? Huh? How is that my fault?”She stood up and glared back at Frank.
“Lily! You dont go telling a guy you just met fucking everything! What exactly did you tell him?”Frank groaned.
“I told him where you work, I told him Claire’s school and class number and he obviously knows where we live and I told him Gerard’s apartment building,”Lily sat down in defeat.
“Why? Why would you tell him any of that?!”Frank screeched at her.
“I told him Claire’s class because he asked! He asked me if I had any brothers and sisters so I said an older brother and a younger sister and he asked what school she went to so I told him and he said his little sister went to that school. He asked me what class she was in because Arya isnt very good at making friends and it would be good if I could get Claire to make friends with her. He asked me if you went to school and I said no you work at Starbucks and he asked which one because his Mum owns the one on Oak Street and I said you dont work there, you work at the one on Queen Street. That good enough for you?”
“I- mostly. Why did you tell him about Gerard’s apartment building?”Frank covered up his defeat quickly.
“I- he asked if he could take me out to the movies on the weekend and I said I couldnt cause I was staying the night with you guys. He asked me about Gerard and asked what he was doing and how he was- fuck I’m so stupid. I cant believe I told him all that about you, Gerard I’m so sorry,”Lily sobbed.
Frank stared at her for a second before sighing and walking over to comfort her.
“Guys its good that we know how they found out but that doesnt solve how they know my apartment number and how they broke in to get that phone call going,”I sighed and stood up.
“Yeah sorry. Ray, did you bring the thing? Maybe we can focus on that for a bit,”Frank sighed.
“The what? Oh the map. I did but its at Gerard’s,”Ray mumbled.
“Well then lets go get it,”I smiled.
-time lapse-
Frank's POV
I watched Gerard scan the map with interest. He was taking this on way too much. I could tell he was getting ready to take over. I was happy to let him, I just didnt know if he would let me take over when he needed to go back. We were in the dining room, the chairs had all been moved back from the table and Gerard and I were standing at it. Everyone was sitting down, silently waiting for Gerard to say something.
"So- you dont know where Cole is? And yet, these,"He gestured to all the mini bases,"Have all been found?"Gerard started circling around the table.
"Um... Yeah..."I bit my thumb nail and watched as he continued deducing the map.
"Someone get me a pen. A vivid preferably,"Gerard snapped his fingers. Lily stood up and went to grab the peciln next to the phone.
"Here,"Lily handed Gerard the pencil, glanced at the map and sat back down.
"Okay so all the circles are ones you havent taken down right?"
“Yeah and the ones crossed out are-”
“The ones you have taken down so- has anybody,”Gerard placed the pencil at the top of the map on one of the circles,”Done this? Connect,”He drew a line between two mini bases,”The dots.”
I watched in amazement as he connected them all to make the shape of a large 7 pointed star.
“Gerard that-”
“Isnt all. Gimme a minute,”He started walking around again, moving his fingers in swift lines that meant nothing to me.
It took another 5 minutes for Gerard to start drawing lines again. I watched as he brought lines into the centre and connected them. Once he was done, they had made the shape of a pentagon in the middle surrounding-
“The- the forest?”
“Fucking bastard,”Gerard snarled and threw the pencil down onto the table. Mikey stood up and moved closer. He took one look at what forest it was and let out a snort.
“Of fucking course. Why wouldnt he pick a place like that? Like we’re gonna think to look there.”
“What where is it?”Pete said as everyone got up to have a look.
"Thats the forest where your Mum-"
"Yep,"Gerard muttered and went to the fridge.
"What are we waiting for then? We should go over there right now and take em by surprise,"Pete thumped his fist on the table.
"We are in no postion to go attack guys. Ammo and weapons are at an all time low and that forest his huge. We have no idea where in the forest they are or how many people are there or anything. No. We need to work out a plan,"I looked round at them all.
I picked the pencil back up and started erasing the lines Gerard had made.
"Frank what are you doing?"Gerard walked back over, a can of coke in his hand.
"Look, we dont know if there are more mini bases or anything. Every time we take one down a day later we find another one. We cant assume that Cole is hiding out in the forest until we're certain we've found all of the mini bases."
"True... Okay, how many 'followers' do we think Cole has?"Gerard took the pencil from me and started walking around the table again. Everyone else took this as a sign to sit back down and wait.
"Around... 100? Give or take a few."
"And how many do we have?"Gerard stopped and looked at me.
"Uh... Ray?"I looked at him for help.
"47 as of half 12 today,"Ray said in what I liked to call his soldier voice.
"47? Jesus. Why the hell do we have so little?!"Gerard thumped his coke down.
"Cole moved ridiculously fast. He was probably planning this as soon as he went to prison. We've had two weeks. Jersey may have a lot of gay people willing to defend themselves, but there is a shit tonne more anti gay people crazy enough to kill. Gerard you cant go getting angry at us for anything we've done these past two weeks because it has been hell!"I glared at him.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to put things together... Okay, first things first, we're going back with you guys,"Gerard looked at the guys and smiled,"I aint staying here. I cant do this here."
"But Gerard your-"
"I know I'll come back in february I promise. Linda? You're gonna take Claire and Lily to your Mum's,"Gerard looked back at the map and started circling again.
"No way! I'm not going to fucking Washington. I'm going with you-"
"You'll do as he says Lily,"Linda growled at her.
"Mum! I want to-"
"No! Gerard is in charge here and if he says we're going to my Mum's then we are going to my Mum's,"Linda stood up,"I need a drink. Anyone else?"
"What have you got?"Pete asked.
"Whiskey beer or wine?"Linda said and opened the pantry.
"I'll have a beer thanks,"Pete smiled at her.
"Can I have a whiskey?"Mikey sighed.
"Mikey!"Gerard spun to face him, shock covering his face,"You drink?"
"Um. No?"Mikey looked away and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"God,"Gerard turned back to the map, silent once again.
"Frank you want anything?"Linda turned to me.
I glanced at Gerard's stiff back before shaking my head,"I'm fine thanks."
"Okay. Look at this,"Gerard pointed to one of the mini bases and everyone stood up to get a good look,"Look at the street its on. Then look at whats on the next street over."
I looked and almost fucking screamed in frustration,"They're finding out where we live... That- Pete where did your friend live?"I glanced at him.
"Over- here. Fuck!"Pete pointed to a street one over from a base we still hadnt taken down.
"This is insane. How on earth are they finding out where we live?"Ray said.
"Cole's been planning this for months I bet. And like you guys said, he moves fast. Okay. So we know how they're killing us in our beds, so what do we do?"Gerard looked around at us all. The dim lighting was throwing shadows across his face making him look ridiculously hot.
"Come on guys, what do you think? We plan an ambush."
7/10/13