Page 77 of Resurgent

“I am. And I love you…polka dot outfit and all.”

She mutters “Bitch,” under her breath as we round the corner leading to the Strategy classroom just before I spot Matt.

He’s leaning against the stone railing outside the doors with Sasha beside him, both of them talking over each other.

He catches sight of us and immediately grins. “There they are.”

Emily throws an arm around my shoulders as we approach. “Your brother is obnoxious.”

“True…but endearing,” I say as he passes me a steaming cup of coffee.

Matt smiles down at me. “How was Environmental Tactics? Didn’t I tell you the paintball course was amazing?”

“What? You got a warning and you didn’t tell us?” Emily shrieks.

“You were there!” I laugh, pointing at Emily. “Remember, you were talking about how you grew up shooting paintball guns and the rest of the class better watch out.”

“Well…he failed to mention the part where Clowessian artillery is multi-colored and leaves bruises.”

“That would be because I didn’t get shot,” he says with a wink.

Sasha folds her arms, “Thanks for not bragging or anything,” she deeply sighs, though to be fair, I’m not sure if it’s because I spent over an hour putting a healing salve on her bruises yesterday, or because it was, and I quote, “So easy you could make it, Lee,” and yet she still wasn’t allowed to make her own batch.

“It was supposed to simulate a northern push,” Matt tells us. “They've been adapting their tactics.”

“What do you mean?”

He glances toward the doors. “Inside.”

We follow him, and only once we’re seated does he lean forward, elbows on his knees.

“The simulation wasn't just an ambush exercise,” he says quietly. “It was modeled after what Clowess has been doing along the eastern front.”

I straighten.

“They're pushing farther north?”

Matt nods.

“That's why they had us move through the ravine instead of taking the ridge. The ridge would've been the obvious defensive position, but Clowess has been baiting Thandroanian units into taking elevated ground.”

“How?”

“They've been leaving it lightly defended.”

Ian's brows draw together. “To make us think it's safe.”

“Exactly.” Matt points toward the table between us. “You take the high ground because that's what you're taught. Better visibility. Better defensive advantage. Except if they've already anticipated that, the high ground becomes a trap.”

Sasha nods. “They've been using small infantry units to draw soldiers into position, then hitting them from the flanks.”

“And the east coast?” I ask.

Matt's jaw tightens. “They've started pushing farther inland.”

The words settle over us as I remember the maps from Strategy earlier in the year. The towns along the eastern coast. The supply routes. The narrow stretches of defensible terrain.

“Why?”