When Charlie returned to the gates of New Hobart, Fred Bentleigh stood there waiting for her. “What have you done?” he said. “I knew you were up to something when you went missing. How many people did you drag with you?”
“I’m sorry,” Charlie said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I screwed up, bigtime. This is all on me, and now the Little Men are coming for us. They have something against raiders and want to finish us for good. You were right. I poked the hornet’s nest and now we’re all going to get—”
“Charlie, it’s okay,” Fred said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “What’s done is done. All we can do now is prepare for a fight and defend ourselves. As a wise car mechanic I used to know in Melbourne once said, sometimes things get worse before they can get better. This is our chance to take out those little devils for good, so let’s make the most of it.”
She wiped the moisture from her face and looked up at him. “I just feel awful. You warned me this would happen but I did it anyway.”
“That’s true,” he said. “I thought it might. You’ve always done whatever you thought was best, no matter what others said. Truthfully, I’m not at all surprised this happened. Now let’s go back inside and get ready.”
“Did the car mechanic who told you that thing work at a car service centre near Moorabbin? I knew a wise mechanic based there, once.”
Fred Bentleigh shook his head. “No, he was from Hampton, actually. Ran one of the finest auto shops I’d ever seen.”
“Maybe when this is all over, we can pay that wise, guru mechanic a visit together,” Charlie said, heading back into New Hobart.
“I’d like that,” said Fred, as the gate began to close behind them. “But let’s just get through the night first. We’re going to be in for quite the battle.”