Chapter 479: Readying For the Brigantine Rescue

After leaving the Whitesun Hotel, I headed toward the Boardwalk.

It was already night, though not late enough for the entire settlement to be asleep.

And the Boardwalk was not dark.

Not anymore.

After the Screamer attack, Marlon had changed the night protocols. More battery-powered lights had been placed near the barricades, around the main streets, and at the entrances to important buildings. People stood watch in pairs instead of alone, and guards checked the roads more often.

Nobody wanted Callighan’s men slipping through another blind spot.

Nobody wanted to wake up to another Screamer.

The lights were weak compared to what the Boardwalk must have looked like before the outbreak, but they were enough to make the streets feel safer. Enough to see movement. Enough to make it harder for someone to approach unnoticed.

By now, my face had become familiar around here.

The guards at the entrance recognized me immediately.

One of them gave me a nod.

"Ryan."

"Hey," I replied.

He did not stop me or ask where I was going.

A few weeks ago, I would have been treated like an outsider. Someone from Jackson Township who had arrived with a dangerous Symbiote and a group of people nobody knew.

Now, even if some people still did not trust me, I had become part of the Boardwalk.

Or close enough.

I had fought beside them during the Screamer attack. I had helped repair their defenses. I had stayed behind when I could have gone back to the Whitesun Hotel.

And tonight, I was going to Brigantine for Mei and Emily.

I headed straight toward Marlon’s house.

The Resonance Disruptor was still there.

After Marlon gave it to me, I had decided to leave it at his place until I truly needed it. Carrying a Starakian weapon around the Boardwalk every day seemed like a bad idea.

But tonight was different.

Tonight, I needed every possible advantage.

Gaspar might not appear.

That was what I hoped.

The plan was supposed to be simple. Wait near the shore. Let Tommy bring Mei, Emily, and Keith to the boat. Pick them up. Leave before anyone in Brigantine understood what was happening.

But plans never stayed simple.

I reached Marlon’s house and knocked.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the door opened.

Summer stood there holding a torchlight.

The warm glow lit up her face and made the darkness behind her seem even deeper. She looked tired, probably because she had been helping with the night preparations, but she still gave me a small smile when she saw me.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah."

I looked past her into the house.

"I came to take the Starakian weapon."

Summer’s expression changed immediately.

"Oh."

Then she nodded.

"Sure. Come in."

I stepped inside.

The house was quiet.

Too quiet for Marlon’s place.

I looked around the living room, then toward the stairs.

"Marlon isn’t here?"

"No," Summer replied. "He’s out."

"Out where?"

"I don’t know. Probably near the hotel or the barricades."

That sounded like Marlon.

He could not stay still when the Boardwalk was preparing for something important.

"Do you know where he keeps it?" I asked.

Summer nodded.

"Yeah."

She started upstairs, and I followed her.

The wooden steps creaked beneath our feet.

"Do you need it right now?" Summer asked as we climbed. "Is it urgent?"

"Yeah."

I did not see the point in lying.

"Tommy sent a message from Brigantine. He said it’s time."

Summer stopped halfway up the stairs.

She turned around quickly.

"What?"

"Mei and Emily," I said. "We’re getting them out tonight."

For a moment, Summer only stared at me.

Her eyes widened.

"You’re going to Brigantine now?"

"Not inside the town," I explained. "We’re taking a boat to the shore. Tommy is supposed to bring Mei, Emily, and Keith to us."

Summer’s expression did not relax.

"And then?"

"Then we get them onto the boat and leave immediately."

She kept staring at me.

"Isn’t that dangerous?"

"It is."

I did not try to make it sound safer than it was.

Brigantine was Callighan’s territory.

His people were everywhere. His guards watched the streets. Gaspar was somewhere there, even if we did not know exactly where. One mistake could turn a quiet rescue into a fight none of us were ready for.

"But we’re not charging inside," I continued. "We’re not attacking anyone. We wait near the water, take them onto the boat, and leave."

"Right," Summer murmured.

Then she resumed walking upstairs.

"But it’s still dangerous."

"Yeah."

"That’s why you need the rifle."

"Just in case."

Summer glanced back at me.

"Just in case you meet Gaspar."

I did not answer immediately.

She already knew.

"You didn’t end up well the last time you fought him," she said quietly.

"The last time, I didn’t have a huge Starakian gun that can hurt Symbiotes."

"Or kill them."

"Hopefully."

Summer nodded, but the worry did not leave her face.

We reached Marlon’s room.

It was mostly dark except for the small torchlight Summer carried. She moved toward a spot near the wall, shifted a few things aside, and finally pulled the long rectangular box out from where Marlon had hidden it.

She placed it down carefully.

"There."

I stepped forward and lifted it.

The box was heavy.

For an ordinary person, it would have been difficult to carry far. But Dullahan’s strength made it easier. I could feel the strange weight of the weapon inside, along with that uncomfortable feeling that came whenever I touched something made specifically to hurt Symbiotes.

Summer watched me.

"So who is going with you?" she asked.

"Me, Rachel, and Lucy."

"Just three?"

I looked at her.

"You don’t expect us to go in there with a huge group, right?"

Summer crossed her arms.

"I’m just saying."

"It’s an extraction," I said. "Not an attack."

"If you say so..."

She still did not look convinced.

"I think more people would be better. Not too many, obviously. But more than three."

"I prefer to keep the number short," I said.

More people meant more danger.

More people meant someone could make a mistake.

More people meant more people to protect if Callighan’s guards found us.

Summer looked down at the box in my hands.

"Lucy makes sense," she said. "She’s former marine like dad but what about Rachel?"

Summer looked toward me again.

"Is she some kind of secret force? Or was she secretly in the Marines too?"

I let out a small laugh.

"No."

"Then why her?"

"She’s stronger than normal people," I said. "Like me. You know that already."

Summer nodded slowly.

"I see."

She seemed to want to ask something else.

But she did not press me.

Instead, she helped me make sure the box was closed properly before we headed downstairs.

I carried it with one hand as we reached the living room.

Then I looked at Summer.

"Do you know where your dad is?"

"Maybe near the hotel," she said. "I don’t know."

She walked toward the door and began putting on her shoes.

"You don’t have to come," I told her.

Summer glanced at me.

"It’s fine."

"I’m just going to get ready."

"I know."

She finished tying her shoes.

Then she looked up at me again.

"And I want to walk with you."

For a moment, I did not say anything.

Summer’s worry was obvious.

She did not like the idea going to Brigantine. She knew what had happened the last time I faced Gaspar. She knew I was carrying a weapon because I expected something could go wrong.

But she was not trying to stop me.

She was just refusing to leave me alone before I went.

"Alright," I said quietly.

Summer nodded.

Then she opened the door.

The cool night air rushed inside.

Together, we stepped back into the Boardwalk’s dimly lit streets, with the Resonance Disruptor in my hand and midnight drawing closer with every step.