We started quickly and easily picked up momentum.

Our plan was to attack Wither Gate in the early hours of the morning tomorrow. So that meant we would have to make all of the chemical weapons today and also fortify the front loader. And by that I mean we, or Charles more specifically, would reinforce the glass walls around the driving seat by fuzing metal sheets, that we'd picked up from a home appliance store, into a protective box.

We'd gone on a quick errand run for extra materials, including extra flares and styrofoam, which I planned to use later.

Presently, I was more focused on creating a super vat of flammable chemical weapons. We had picked up more bleach and even found some methyl ethyl ketone, also known as butanone, which is typically mixed with paint so that it dries quicker.

However, a lesser known use of butanone is that it is a key element in creating genuine hydrazine. The hydrazine I had been using before was more of a crude imitation yet still effective. But including butanone made it twice as volatile and flammable. I can't explain the exact chemical process but it had something to do with pairing the hydrogen atoms together so that the chemicals didn't decompose as quickly.

Eli came up with the premise of filling empty whisky bottles with gasoline, which he took from some of the abandoned cars in the neighborhood, and stuffing the bottleneck with fabric to make a fire bomb. I offered him some advice in that he should mix styrofoam into the gasoline since the gas would dissolve the styrofoam and essentially create homemade napalm.

Along with our numerous list of chemical preparations, we also had to prepare several getaway and pursuit vehicles- almost all of which were trucks. The idea was that Charles and I would approach from the front of Wither Gate, with Charles driving the front loader and me driving a dually truck, the kind with two back wheels and a bullbar.

Meanwhile, Eli would have his own getaway vehicle and be our eye in the sky as a sniper from a nearby building that had an excellent view of the apartment complex. We also needed a main get away vehicle that would be our regroup point after Wither Gate was aflame. Said vehicle would be stocked with any guns or ammunition we couldn't carry into Wither Gate and all the remaining food in the pantry and some from other apartments.

Thankfully, both Charles and, not quite surprisingly, Eli, knew how to hotwire most kinds of cars.

We'd lowered the front loader's giant yellow bucket to the ground so it would be easier to pour stuff into it. I had already dumped thirty gallons worth of ammonia into the bucket. The noxious scene permeated the air but the gas mask kept out the fumes with ease.

I added several gallons of water to the ammonia and three liters of butanone before preparing for the dangerous part which was adding the bleach.

I requested Eli's assistance in the matter since I would need to use both of my hands for pouring.

"Ok, so all you gotta do is keep stirring" I told him as he stood on top of the bucket, holding a long metal pole used for shower curtains. He was protectively clad in a hazmat suit which I thought was over kill since I was only wearing my normal kevlar suit and gas mask.

He swallowed anxiously. "Uhm ok, but what would happen if I stopped? T-theoretically?" He asked, gazing down at the clear liquid.

"If you stopped then the bleach and ammonia would jus' sit on top of each other and eventually decay. Stirrin' them make sure that the combine correctly and actually become a compound so we aren't just left with ammonia and bleach soup," I replied while unscrewing the cap to a bottle of bleach. "Or at least I think that's how it works, sort of."

Eli retracted the pole away from the front loader. "Sort of?" he asked with wide eyes.

I shrugged. "Look it's hard to remember after takin' eleven vicodin k', but I am like ninety-four percent sure that is how ya' do it," I replied.

"You better not blow us up," Charles said with bleak sarcasm from his perch atop the front loader.He held a rifle in hand as he diligently kept watch for any infected.

"Look, it's not rocket science guys," I replied as Eli lowered the pole back down.

"Yeah, it's only rocket fuel,' Charles countered smoothly. His mood was still bleak and sort of cold but he was starting to come around.

I huffed in slight irritation. "Just trust me," I insisted and could only see Charles nod once in reply after a moment.

"You ready?" I asked Eli.

He wiped at the top of his hazmat suit, which was surely stifling in this weather, and then nodded.

"And... go!" I announced before tilting the container of bleach so that its contents could spill freely.

Elijah hastily began stirring in large counter clockwise circles and the liquids sloshed together. We continued the process repeatedly until a total of twenty two and a half gallons of bleach were successfully mixed into the front loader's bucket which was now a little less than 3/4ths of the way full. The clear mixture sat non threateningly in the massive bucket yet it wouldn't take much more than a spark to ignite the liquid.

Contrary to popular belief, hydrazine does not eat through metals like steel and aluminum, which is what the front loader bucket is made out of. Granted, it is a reducing agent that can make metal brittle but I'm not even using real, authentic hydrazine so the odds of the liquid chewing through the bucket are pretty low.

The mixture I'd created was more akin to a hybrid chloramine and hydrochloric soup. I wasn't even sure of it's exact chemical formula. Regardless, I still placed a safety tarp at the base of the bucket to keep the chemicals from coming into contact with the metal.

Eli wiped his brow once he stepped down from the front loader with cautious steps as he minded the large vat of liquid innocent looking chemicals.

"So now we just leave it out here?" Eli asked, glancing at the front loader skeptically.

"Pretty much," I replied while setting a tarp over the bucket and weighing it down with workout weight to protect it from any natural elements. "As long as no one light a match next to it and it doesn't get struck by lighting, it should be fine."

Eli shook his head in disbelief but didn't argue as we started walking back to our safe house since we'd moved the front loader a safe distance away. Charles followed us with a stiff expression.

"I still don't get how we're supposed to put that stuff in balloons," Charles said.

"Oh that parts easy," I replied with a wabe of my hand, "You just pour it in with a measuring cup and call it a day."

"How do balloons hold that stuff? Don't t-they get corroded?" Eli asked as we neared the door.

"Well, A: They're manufacturing balloons so they're made from stronger stuff than normal balloons and B: Hydrazine isn't an acid, it's a base," I replied casually. "If anything, that front loader's bucket is at the highest risk since hydrazine is a reducin' agent."

Eli's brows furrowed in confusion and Charles expression matched.

"Which is code for the bucket has a higher chance of reactin' to the chemical's in a non-positive way than the balloons would. Which is precisely why I put the tarp in there," I added.

Charles nodded vaguely. "We'll just pretend to understand that as long as we don't blow up," He said.

I would have retorted if Eli didn't speak first.

"I know we need to get all t-these preparations done but doesn't it bother anyone else t-that we haven't done a proper recon-mission yet?" Eli asked as I reached for an unopened package of balloons.

"A recon of what? Wither Gate?" Charles asked and Eli nodded.

"Why? You guys were there only days ago?" I replied, quickly realizing the danger of such a mission. We could be seen or initiate an unwanted fight.

"You're right but who knows what they've changed since then? We left the place after a massive gun fight so there must have been repairs. They could have changed something," Charles considered, taking a sip of water as I picked at the plastic packaging.

"Yeah, it's like, if your gonna break into a house t-then you have to scout the place first, you know?" Eli claimed metaphorically, I think. "At least th-thats what I've heard."

Something told me that statement wasn't theoretical.

"I see your point but it's dangerous. We can't jus' drive up and check it out," I said and Charles shrugged in agreement.

Eli nodded his head in slight defeat but quickly looked up.

"Aren't there two BMX's down in the garage?" He asked suddenly. "Those are quiet."

I quickly thought of the two dusty bikes that had been sitting in the garage since before I had come.

"Yeah, they probably need some air in their tires though," I replied, following his point. We would be able to sneak up to Wither Gate without making a sound. That way we only had to worry about being seen.

"Wait a second,"Charles said, halting the conversation. I instantly seized my progression in opening the stubborn balloon package. "Did you say there were only two bikes?"

I nodded slowly, quickly realizing what he was hinting at.

"T-thats ok, I can just go with Sage," Eli replied.

Charles didn't seem to approve of the suggestion as his expression shifted. He was already upset from last night and this wasn't helping.

"Look, she needs to actually see the place if we're gonna attack and you know I used to w-work at the wall as a 'watch' so I know what blind spots they can't see and we can use those to stay hidden," He said confidently.

"I don't doubt you it's just-" Charles stared and made a darting glance at me. "It's just, what if- what if what happened at that store happens again?" He asked with no accusation.

Eli didn't reply this time and instead looked to me.

I looked down as brisk memories of the fear I'd felt yesterday at the store when Eli had his back turned resurfaced. If it hadn't been for Charles, that day could have ended very differently.

Yet, even though I knew that that moment had occurred only twenty-four hours ago, I didn't feel as though I was still the same person who froze up in panic.

I reached across the counter for my AR, picking it up by the shoulder strap. It's familiar weight and feel gave me a boost of confidence.

I looked up in determination, meeting Charle's steady, pale blue gaze.

"It won't"