Zak opted to take the easy route back up. His concentration had been shattered, and he couldn’t risk another attempt on the cliff. He finally reached the others, who were waiting at the castle, lying down behind a snow bank scouting the scene.
‘That’s the thing I hate about team missions,’ said Van, ‘waiting for the slowcoaches to catch up.’
‘It’s your own fault Zak,’ said Tom grumpily. ‘If you stopped doing stupid things like prancing around at the top of that cliff, you’d be in the top 10, not just the top 250.’
Zak didn’t reply. He wasn’t in a particularly good mood either.
As he laid down in position behind the bank, he heard his name being called, from a distance. It was a female voice. Then he felt his body shake, even though he wasn’t moving. He knew what all this meant, but ignored it.
The others waited to let Zak survey the scene ahead. The castle was at the top of the mountain on a plateau, and he could see that behind it, the forest fell away down the other side. Nevertheless, there was still room for a moat, with a drawbridge lowered over it. A few armed guards patrolled the area, while other uniformed soldiers supervised activity. A truck turned out of the East gate and made its way along a narrow track to the North. Zak deduced the paths taken by the guards from the trails of footprints in the lightly falling snow.
Tom shifted, ready to issue commands again.
‘Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. Van, you go round to the South side and scale the tower. Zak, our job is to make a direct attack on the castle, and create enough of a distraction to give Van a clear run to the top. We’ll approach the castle through the East gate, and there’s an entrance just beyond it. I reckon the Communications room won’t be far from there. You need to cover me as I go in, then I’ll do the same for you.’ He smiled. ‘We’ll have that cheat turned on in no time.’
Zak observed the way Tom constructed a plan and led the team. Zak was undoubtedly the most physically talented player among the three, but had never led an assault. He intended to learn that side to the game.
