I apologize for taking so long between chapters but no new revolution meant no inspiration and terrible writers block!

Chapter 13

The next morning Monroe woke to a pounding on his door before it opened. Joan stuck her head in the dimly lit room.

"Get up Monroe." She ordered. The tone of her voice confused him until he remembered the events of the day before. Today they started the journey to revenge. He dressed quickly and went to the living room where Max was giving orders out to a gathered group that must have served as their officers. Joan met him at the base of the stairs, two Militia style swords in her hand. He took them and buckled them around his waist. It felt good to carry weapons again. He looked up to glares from the group of people. There was fear in their eyes though. He smiled to himself, they were afraid of him. Max dismissed the group and they exited the house leaving just him, Max and Joan. Max threw him a glare as Nahla entered the house.

"The others from the second camp have arrived." She announced.

"We will brief them on the way." Said Max with a nod. "Right now we need to get going."

It took them 2 days to reach what they called Sinclair's border. The other camps had brought horses with them and had formed a nice sized cavalry. He had been surprised when Joan had offered him a horse but had gladly accepted it. It beat walking for 2 days. They were camped in a valley far enough out so that scouts would be less likely to find them but with in striking distance.

Now Monroe, Joan, Nahla, and Max lay on a hill over looking Sinclair's castle. Joan passed the binoculars to him again and pointed out another guard. As Monroe looked at it through the binoculars, he couldn't help but think that it looked more like the Alamo than a castle. In the center of the compound was a nice three story pre-blackout house with a pre-blackout chain link fence. Outside of that there were barracks set up around it and surrounding all of it was a wall of brick with only one gate. They had been laying up there for hours going over and over the plan, adapting it as needed. The plan was to send Monroe in first. He was to create a diversion, so he could place the explosives. Once the explosives went off and blasted a hole in the wall it would allow the small army entrance to the fortress, and Monroe the option to sit the fight out. Monroe noted the armed guards that were patrolling the wall. He lowered the binoculars and slid down the hill. The others followed.

"You think you can handle it General?" Max sneered. His tone making his view on the plan plain; he still didn't like Monroe having any part in it.

"Maybe you would like to try it yourself?" Monroe replied back coolly. Max took a step towards him but Nahla pushed him back in the direction of the horses.

"Ok that's enough." She said shaking her head as she continued to push Max away from Monroe. "Try not to get yourself killed." She called over her shoulder to him as her and Max disappeared into the trees. That left him and Joan alone. He turned to face her.

"Go ahead say something smart, everyone else is." He growled at her. To his surprise she walked straight to him and stood in front of him, looking into his eyes as if searching for something. The corner of her mouth twitched and without a word she kneeled down on one knee. He saw the flash of a knife and watched as she raised his pant leg up, securing the knife on the inside of his boot. She fixed his pant leg and stood back up.

"Good luck Monroe." She looked him in the eyes again before starting to walk in the direction of the horses.

"What's with the knife?" He asked before she got very far. She stopped and half turned to him.

"I doubt it if Sinclair will let you keep any weapons and once you get in you will be on your own. The knife is so you have a weapon to defend yourself just in case things don't go as planned."

"So you don't think things will go as planned?" He asked with a frown. That was not a comforting thought. Joan glanced at the bag at his feet.

"If something goes wrong, go to the main house. I will meet you there." Monroe was still frowning as he walked to her. She didn't turn to look at him though.

"What's wrong? You have been acting strange ever since we left." She looked away.

"Its nothing." Monroe turned her to face him.

"Is it?" She swallowed hard before crashing her lips against his. She broke the kiss and let her forehead rest against his for a second.

"Be safe." She said barely above a whisper. Then she was gone, disappearing into the trees. Monroe was tempted to chase after her and demand an explanation but knew she probably wouldn't give him one. He sighed and turned to walk in the opposite direction, towards the compound.

As soon as Joan was in the darkness of the trees and was sure that Monroe couldn't see her, she turned and watched him walk away.

"Did you tell him?" She jumped at Max's question and turned to glare at him.

"Of course not." She replied, a hint of sadness in her voice as she glanced back where Monroe had now disappeared from sight.

"I never know about you around him." Said Max watching her through troubled eyes. "You once told me that he meant nothing to you. Then you told me that you were over him. I wonder sometimes if anything you say about him is true."

"Don't Max, just don't." Said Joan, an edge to her voice as she brushed past him. Max shook his head as he watched her swing up on her horse, kicking it into a gallop in the direction of their camped army. Nahla led both hers and Max's horse towards him a frown on her face.

"What did you say to her?"

"Something she didn't want to hear." He mused.

Short chapter :P Hopefully I will have the next chapter up Thursday. Thanks for reading!