Read Online Pickers 4: The Pick by Garth Owen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Garth Owen
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stock of her gun against her shoulder and picked a target in the middle of the crowd. She fired, and he fell. She picked another target.
Armed men and women appeared on the roof tops either side of the street, firing down into the Raiders below. More gunfire came from the windows at street level. There wasn't going to be any chance for surrender. But these were the crazies, the hardcore of the Raider army that had been forming. Few of them would have considered giving in, anyway.
Georges had clambered across the cupola, to lean over the back edge and fire down at any Raider who tried to climb up. There was a gap on the left hand side of the truck, where it was pressed up against the wall on its right. Sarah was out of her cupola and firing on any Raiders who tried to escape down it.
Maxine emptied a magazine. She fed another one in, and raised the gun. She couldn't find anyone to shoot at. Georges fired another couple of bursts, then stopped as well.
It was quiet. The memory of the last hours' of gunfire played a soundtrack in Maxine's head, completely at odds with what she could hear. Relaxing, she let the harness take her weight. Something else held her, and she realised Georges was at her side. They both stared at the knife stuck into her thigh.
"Can I have a medic up here. Quickly." Maxine said.
"I'm on my way." Remy replied.
"Papa. Next time you have a stupid idea, I'm going to poke this hole in my leg and tell myself to say no to it. Okay."
The relief map was no longer in the room. Of all the changes to the Scouts' headquarters, that had been the hardest for them. But it gave them the space that was needed for the audience they now had.
The walls had screens hanging on them now. Each one could display separate information, if needed. For now, they were all hooked up to the same- currently blank- feed.
Standing in the middle of the room was the whole town council, and as many other interested folk as could fit. No matter which way they looked, they would be able to see the images to go with the presentation.
Veronique had a tablet at the ready. She could flip through pictures and graphics as the presentation went on. Luke tried to lean across from where Tony held him, reaching out to touch the tablet and make the images move. Tony teased him by moving closer, but never close enough, and then back again. "The show's about to begin, kid." he said in response to the squirming. "Look at the big screen."
A temporary stage had been constructed from benches tied together. Georges stepped up onto it, then helped Maxine up. Her right leg was still stiff, but she didn't need a stick as much any more. Testing the stage as he went, Georges walked to the front. "Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen!" The noise of conversations stopped almost immediately. "Thank you."
Veronique tapped the tablet, and an image appeared on all of the screens. A view from far, far above.
"This was the Valley, yesterday." Georges announced, pointing at all the screens. He had expected a response other than the awed silence that greeted his announcement. He carried on, "The image was shot by a satellite passing overhead, and shows a lot of detail." Veronique moved fingers across the tablet, and the image zoomed in, until the town square filled the screen. Fuzzy dots that could only be people walking across the open space could be seen.
Veronique tapped the tablet, and a short, repeating video clip of golden wheat swaying in a light wind played. "We went over the hills to find a supply of heritage seeds that might be immune to the blight starving the rest of the country. We brought those, and more, back, and I think you all know about the progress that has been made in cultivating batches from them. It's going to take several years, but we're going to get them out there and create a crop diversity that will, hopefully, protect us from the danger of disease."
"But that wasn't all we found. The equipment being used to put on this
Armed men and women appeared on the roof tops either side of the street, firing down into the Raiders below. More gunfire came from the windows at street level. There wasn't going to be any chance for surrender. But these were the crazies, the hardcore of the Raider army that had been forming. Few of them would have considered giving in, anyway.
Georges had clambered across the cupola, to lean over the back edge and fire down at any Raider who tried to climb up. There was a gap on the left hand side of the truck, where it was pressed up against the wall on its right. Sarah was out of her cupola and firing on any Raiders who tried to escape down it.
Maxine emptied a magazine. She fed another one in, and raised the gun. She couldn't find anyone to shoot at. Georges fired another couple of bursts, then stopped as well.
It was quiet. The memory of the last hours' of gunfire played a soundtrack in Maxine's head, completely at odds with what she could hear. Relaxing, she let the harness take her weight. Something else held her, and she realised Georges was at her side. They both stared at the knife stuck into her thigh.
"Can I have a medic up here. Quickly." Maxine said.
"I'm on my way." Remy replied.
"Papa. Next time you have a stupid idea, I'm going to poke this hole in my leg and tell myself to say no to it. Okay."
The relief map was no longer in the room. Of all the changes to the Scouts' headquarters, that had been the hardest for them. But it gave them the space that was needed for the audience they now had.
The walls had screens hanging on them now. Each one could display separate information, if needed. For now, they were all hooked up to the same- currently blank- feed.
Standing in the middle of the room was the whole town council, and as many other interested folk as could fit. No matter which way they looked, they would be able to see the images to go with the presentation.
Veronique had a tablet at the ready. She could flip through pictures and graphics as the presentation went on. Luke tried to lean across from where Tony held him, reaching out to touch the tablet and make the images move. Tony teased him by moving closer, but never close enough, and then back again. "The show's about to begin, kid." he said in response to the squirming. "Look at the big screen."
A temporary stage had been constructed from benches tied together. Georges stepped up onto it, then helped Maxine up. Her right leg was still stiff, but she didn't need a stick as much any more. Testing the stage as he went, Georges walked to the front. "Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen!" The noise of conversations stopped almost immediately. "Thank you."
Veronique tapped the tablet, and an image appeared on all of the screens. A view from far, far above.
"This was the Valley, yesterday." Georges announced, pointing at all the screens. He had expected a response other than the awed silence that greeted his announcement. He carried on, "The image was shot by a satellite passing overhead, and shows a lot of detail." Veronique moved fingers across the tablet, and the image zoomed in, until the town square filled the screen. Fuzzy dots that could only be people walking across the open space could be seen.
Veronique tapped the tablet, and a short, repeating video clip of golden wheat swaying in a light wind played. "We went over the hills to find a supply of heritage seeds that might be immune to the blight starving the rest of the country. We brought those, and more, back, and I think you all know about the progress that has been made in cultivating batches from them. It's going to take several years, but we're going to get them out there and create a crop diversity that will, hopefully, protect us from the danger of disease."
"But that wasn't all we found. The equipment being used to put on this
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