"Where have you guys been?" Aaron spouted after nearly colliding with them in the remains of downtown Colorado Springs.
"Hi to you, too," Miles retorted. Charlie hugged Aaron and Bass gave him a nod.
"Well, while you all have been taking your sweet time getting here, I've been trying to keep the soldiers at bay," Aaron huffed.
Miles snorted. "Like we haven't?" he replied.
"Just come on," Aaron said, taking off down one of the side streets. The trio shared a look before following. If only Aaron knew …
Aaron led them into a deceivingly decrepit warehouse only to find it was obviously a façade. Two levels in, Aaron had assembled his own version of a computer control center with all sorts of wires running from here to there.
"Wow," Miles said. Charlie admired it and smiled in Aaron's direction.
"How did you …" she asked, sweeping her arm in the air.
"Remember I was a tech geek before the blackout?" Aaron said, standing in the middle of the room. "Well, I had offices across the country and one happened to be in Colorado Springs."
"But businesses were raided after the blackout and electronics stripped," Bass interrupted. "How did you manage to hide that equipment or retrieve it?"
"Easy. Underground vaults at the local military installation," Aaron replied, looking at Monroe as if he should have known that.
Bass and Miles glanced at each other. How had they not thought about that?
"And exactly how have you managed to keep this operation hidden from the rest of the community?" Charlie asked.
Aaron's eyes lit up and he gave her a half-smile.
"Surprisingly no one feels compelled to deal with a crazy, homeless bearded guy who drifts around with wires hanging around his neck," he said.
Charlie grinned. Bass chuckled.
"Imagine that," Miles muttered.