Bass was right, the full moon was a help and a hindrance. She was able to see well enough to move fast through the forest, weaving through thick undergrowth, finding extra strength from somewhere. Finding that extra strength for Miles.
Her Uncle had become such an important person in her life. He called her 'kid' all the time but in truth he was the first to treat her like an adult. Miles trusted and believed in her.
He hadn't put Charlie in a bubble, refusing to let her venture into the great outside as others had done. Miles let her stand by his side, teaching her how to survive in the new world.
'I can't stop you from doing anything' were the words he had said to her the day she left Willoughby to travel alone. That wasn't entirely true. He would be the only person who could stop her. Her Uncle had enough faith in her that he was willing to let her go out on her own and because of that Charlie would do anything for him. She would even admit that she loved him.
She was pretty sure that love went both ways. Charlie would never forget the look on his face when she arrived back into town. He had hugged her, told her he missed her but more importantly he had smiled. A genuine smile. How many people could say they got a smile out of Miles Matheson. They were known to be as rare as rocking horse crap.
That love was keeping her going. Breathless and tired she kept moving. The closer she got to Willoughby the more Patriot activity she encountered and the previously helpful illumination from the moon suddenly felt like a spotlight and slowed her progress down while she hid in the shadows just like Bass had told her to do.
By slowing her pace, Charlie felt the cool night breeze across her skin and instinctively wrapped the shirt Bass had given her tightly around her body.
It smelt of him. She had never really given much thought to how Bass Monroe smells but there was something she identified as being exclusive to him. It wasn't a bad smell. Well, some of it was bad but they all pretty much stunk by this point, but amid the dirt and sweat was something else, something that felt reassuring. It was as if wearing the shirt gave her his strength.
She remembered watching Danny as a child running around with a sheet wrapped around his neck like a cape playing at being a superhero. That's how she felt now. That shirt and the smell of him gave her confidence and she hoped some of Monroe's badass skills.
The thought of Danny sent a shiver down her spine. Her brother died at Monroe's command. What would Danny think of her teaming up with the man responsible for his death. God, everything was so complicated.
Charlie climbed the roof as planned upon reaching town and took stock of Willoughby below. The flickering torchlight set around the town created a mass of moving shadows and Charlie struggled to calculate the numbers of soldiers.
Nerves were building up inside her as she lay flat against the tiles. Time was of the utmost importance yet Bass' words stuck in her head. 'Don't make a move until you are sure of your plan'. So she stayed, watching each area of town, looking for where Gene could be and more importantly how she was going to get in and out.
There seemed to be a buzz throughout the town. The word must be out about what had happened at the school. Charlie studied the areas of the most activity down below her but her eyes kept coming back to one place, Ken's store. Everywhere else had a reason to have that much Patriot activity around it. Truman's house, the patriots headquarters, but why Ken's store?. It was as good a place as any to start.
Charlie slid silently off the roof and slinked through the shadows eventually finding a cellar window at the back of the store. It was quieter there although she had to wait in the bushes for a good 10 minutes until it was completely clear.
The window was small and matted with mud. It looked like it hadn't been opened in a century. Charlie had to jimmy it with an old tree branch and her knife. It took some effort and she almost sliced her hand open doing it.
Slowly peering into the darkness of the cellar she let her eyes adjust to the dim interior. She could see a figure in the corner not moving. It could be Gene but she really couldn't tell from her distance.
"Grandpa?" her call was barely even a whisper but the figure on the floor moved a little.
"Charlie?" an equally quiet voice returned. The wave of relief that hit her was so overwhelming that she almost burst into tears. Her Grandpa was still alive, Thank God!
Climbing through the tight space of the window, Charlie dropped the distance to the floor.
"Come on, lets get you out of here" she whispered offering her hand to him for leverage, but Gene just groaned and barely moved.
Charlie knelt in front of him close enough that she could see he'd been worked over. It was very dark in the cellar but she could still make out the blood on the corner of his mouth and he seemed to close his eyes at every movement he made as though in great pain.
"You shouldn't be here, you need to go before they find you" he insisted but that wasn't an option for Charlie.
She could tell from the inflection of his words that Gene had given up. He knew once the patriots had done trying to get information out of him they would kill him and Gene was accepting of that fate.
"Do you want to die having Rachel think you betrayed her?" Charlie asked
Gene shook his head, of course he didn't what that. His daughter was the most important thing to him. Half of what had gone down in Willoughby was his attempt to protect his daughter over everything else.
"Well you have a choice, you can sit here and die or help your daughter. She needs you. Miles is really sick and he won't make it without help"
Gene winced as he tried to move from the floor listening to Charlie talk
"Look, I know Miles isn't your favourite person but he's important. Important to mom, important to me" she added a tear falling down her cheek at the thought of losing him.
"Ok, ok, I can try, but I'm really not sure if I'm in good enough shape to make it" he replied but Charlie only heard the first part of his answer as she pulled him up to his feet hearing him trying to swallow the pain ripping through his body.
She knew from her roof top view that there was no going out the front door. Guards surrounded the main street. They had to go out the way she got in. It wasn't going to be easy for Gene to get through the tiny window. He was a strong man, even in his advancing years he'd managed to survive in the cut-throat blackout world but even with that strength, the beating he'd taken was too much for his ageing body.
It took effort but somehow Gene managed to find the will to pull himself through the window. She was hot on his heels when Charlie heard the cellar door open. She held her breath and slowly pulled out her knife.
A soldier entered, the glow from wall torches behind him lighting the room. There was shock in his face at being presented with something other than the beaten up old man that he was expecting. Charlie used that shock to her advantage and before he had brought his rifle to his chest she had grabbed him by the neck and in one swift motion sliced her knife across it. The soldier dropped to the floor and Charlie almost fell with him at what she had just done.
Stood in stunned silence at her own actions she only moved when Gene's hurried whispers found her through the window.
They made it to the Porter house at a sprint, she had no recollection of how she got there. Her mind only being able to picture the knife slicing through skin. But what they were faced with brought her focus back. The house had been ransacked. Furniture was all over the place. Windows were broken. All the vaccines, antibiotics and other medicines were gone.
Gene stumbled into a chair. "Looks like I'm no longer needed as the town doctor" he said as Charlie lit a candle giving her more light to look around for anything useful.
Her head was down searching for left behind items when she turned round, the flame flickered in front of her Grandpa and the sight of him nearly made her drop the candle.
The man had taken more than just a beating. His face was a mess, one eye was completely closed and badly swollen, his jaw was bruised black and blue and from the way he moved she imagined the rest of his body was in a similar condition.
"Oh God" she said as she dropped in front of him, her hand hovering wanting to give some comfort but not knowing where to let it rest.
Gene shooed her away. He couldn't say he was ok, because he far from felt it. But there was nothing she could do to help him. He was still alive and could still move so they needed to get what they came for.
"There's an emergency bag under the porch, there's no meds in it but stuff that might help" Charlie ran off and came back with it a few moments later. Gene pulled himself to his feet and took the bag scouting around for other helpful items.
They could hear distant voices outside. They must have found the dead soldier, which meant they had very little time before the Patriots started headed their way.
Charlie ran up stairs, grabbed clothes from various rooms and all the candles she came across. Flying downstairs she took canteens and bottles of water, bread, tomatoes and some fruit along with two liquor bottles that she spotted on the kitchen table. The bag was heavy but they had nothing at all at the train-car. She met Gene in the hall and grabbed his hand.
"We need to go now Grandpa" she said pulling him out and away from the house.
They were out, moving away from Willoughby and back towards the woods. She had followed Bass' advice to the letter. His shirt giving her the courage when she needed it.
It was a long journey back to the carriage. Especially with the weight of the bags and the condition her Grandpa was in. She honestly didn't know if he would make it, but her thoughts didn't linger on that for long. They needed to make it for Miles.