The gas company

"I used to work for the gas company," Donna said. "I can borrow uniforms and a truck. We can say there's a gas leak and they need to evacuate the place."

Overall, that sounded like a terrible idea to Rick. The Black Hat shaved-heads would be suspicious of a supposed gas leak and might kill Kat on general principle. On the other hand, he didn't have a better idea and Donna was going on. "What we can do is open the gas line and pump a bunch into their lair. (Rick liked the 'lair' language.) When they can smell it, they'll believe. Trust me, I dealt with a lot of gas leaks when I was working for the gas company and when your place stinks like gas, you don't want to hang around and argue."

Lacking a better idea, this one was agreed upon.

Donna got on the phone and rounded up a couple of gas company workers who were willing to help out their old co-worker while Tanya went to a gun safe Rick hadn't noticed, unlocked it, and pulled out a little .22 rifle.

"You plan on sniping heavily armed and armored three hundred pound monsters with a .22?" he asked.

"I'm hoping not to snipe anyone. And if I have to, I'd like to do it with a bullet that stops when it hits someone rather than going on and killing innocent civilians. Besides, I don't aim at body armor. If I'm shooting, it's headshots all the way."

Okay, this was one woman Rick did not want to make angry.

"Besides, a little gun like this doesn't make much noise. It's harder for the enemy to get a fix on where the firing is coming from and if the cops are really on their side, harder for the cops to track both the shots and the weapon."

"Fine. Let's go."

Rick and Donna pulled on gas company uniforms while Tanya pulled an old Army camouflage T-shirt from a closet and Charlotte made helpless noises until Tanya handed her a bunch of bandages and told her she was a medic. That stressed her even more but it did quiet her down which, Rick suspected, had been Tanya's intent all along.

They all loaded in a gas company truck and headed for Balch Springs.

Rick had finished his bio-DNA program days before but he still felt ready to puke.