ide pouch on his pack. "You know
how to use one of these? Here, catch." He tossed her in his spare
furnace beamer.

She almost missed it. She caught it awkwardly and held it gingerly
with both hands, looking first at the gun and then him. Then, still
gingerly, but with a certain willingness, she took the gun by the grip
and pointed it to the ground, her eyes shut hard. Then, suddenly, her
expression changed and she glanced up at him, worriedly.

"Oh, you said they could tell if we fired one of these."

"Don't worry," Nelson said. "The safety is on. Let me show you." He
took the gun and explained to her how to use it. "Now then," he
concluded. "When we get to the depot you stay outside the alarm
system. I'll go in, leaving you to guard. Try not to use this unless
you have to, but if it is necessary, don't hesitate. If you fire it,
I'll know. My job will be to slip past the alarm and get inside to the
food. If you fire, that'll be a signal that you've been discovered by
the guards and we have to get out of there."

"Won't this give us away the same as shooting game?"

"Sure, but we get more food this way and maybe some other stuff.
Especially reloads for the furnace guns. And, if we're lucky, we can
ground the patrol. One more thing, Glynnis," he added. "Are you sure
you can kill a man?"

"Is it hard?" she asked innocently. Nelson was rattled only for a
second.

"No, it isn't hard, except that he'll probably be trying to kill you,
too."

"I've hunted some game with this." She held up her hunting knife so
that the blade caught the sunlight. She had kept it clean and sharp.
Nelson could see, but there were places where the blade had been
chipped.

"Well, maybe there won't be any need to kill anyone at all," he said,
a little more hastily than he intended. "I guess you'll do fine,
Glynnis, I'll feel a lot safer knowing you're out there." He would
feel as he had felt when Edna had gone with him on raids.

* * * * *

Toward evening they came to the depot Nelson had picked out. They were
on a high although gently sloping hill, among the trees that crested
it, looking down at the depot about a quarter of a mile away. There
was still enough light to see by, but the sky was darkening for night.
For the past two or three hours, Nelson had been repeatedly drilling
Glynnis over her part. It was simple, really, and she knew it
backwards, but she patiently recited her role when he asked her