"My turn," Connor sounded bold. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He couldn't believe he asked her. He had no right, but the question burned in him just the same.
Lawton laughed. "No. I just transferred here from Northwest a month ago. I don't even have any friends here yet, and I think Webb is a traitor." She coaxed as she took a sip.
Connor felt loosened by the alcohol and seriously pissed off. "Fuck it. He completely works for Kain. The asshole is the reason I'm here."
"Why didn't Webb just pass off the info himself and be done with it?"
"You're smarter than that, Lawton. Answer it for yourself."
She took a drink. "So after I take the fall as a traitor, he can be reassigned to another Division as a hero and do the same thing there."
They shared a knowing gaze and kept it locked.
"You got a girlfriend?"
"You know Sov rules - not until I'm thirty. If I live that long."
"You just called them Sov," Lawton smiled.
"Well, I've been hanging out with you haven't I?"
Lawton's smile grew, "I guess you have."
"Do you know where you were born?"
"Somewhere in the Far North. They called it Alberta. But the region was all swept by the Sov and the citizens were transported south." She explained. "Where were you born?"
"In a building Selection - I'm not sure what the area would have been called. It was in the Midwest Territories. I've never seen an old map. They've all been removed from the Selections along with the books…" He added bitterly as he pointed to her bookshelf that held at least fifteen books.
Lawton got up, disappeared into her bedroom and came back out carrying a scroll in her hand. She set it on the table and leaned in close to Connor's face - so close he could feel her breath.
"I dare you to look,"
He was captivated by her nearness. "But it's my turn," he breathed her in.
"But it's my rules," and with that she spread the old map over the table. It read North America - Canada and the United States. He studied it for a minute and pointed to the Canadian province of Alberta. "This is where you were born?"
"Mm-hm."
"I would have been born here. Wisconsin." He touched the map on the brightly colored state. "The Selection has good access to timber for building material and quarries for stone."
"Did you like building, Connor?"
"Yes, I did." He replied thoughtfully. "Now I get a double."
"Oh yeah," She said a bit nervously, "I suppose you do."
"I dare you to drink your glass empty."
"Oh - So you're going to play that way. Okay." Lawton put her head back, emptied her glass and set it hard on the table with a smile and a buzz on.
"Have you ever been kissed?"
"Not by a Sov soldier," Lawton teased.
"Good answer." He smiled because she really only half answered.
"And it's back to my turn. Now to retaliate over the drink dare…" she poured herself another and refreshed Connor's. "Follow me." She got up from the table.
He was starting to think he would follow her anywhere.
She stopped and waited for him by her bedroom door.
"You're bringing me into your bedroom?" his body got excited before his brain could react.
"Come in, turn and face the west wall." She ordered.
He turned and faced the west wall. His eyebrows creased when he saw what was there. The Sov in him bent the littlest bit out of shape - the real him burst out laughing.
"So you like my little game." On her west bedroom wall was a life sized picture of Alistair Kain and it was peppered with hundreds of gashes.
"Here is your dare," Lawton put a throwing knife into his hand.
"You're kidding right?" He said incredulously. "I'd have my veins pulled out for doing something like this!"
"Then it's a good thing for you that I won't tell." She flirted.
He contemplated the photo. He had given the past eight years of his life in service to this man. He had done so many things he was ashamed of, that he could never take back or make right - all under orders. Kain owned his body and soul.
"It's really therapeutic, Connor." Lawton whispered in his ear.
He gazed down at her. She was so close he could feel her heat. He was going to hell anyway. He reached up with his left hand and stroked her cheek. She didn't pull away. He caressed his thumb across her soft pink lips and sighed.
Then he cleared his head, took a step back from her and threw the knife with swift accuracy. It stuck in the wall right between Kain's eyes.
"You're right," he said. "It is therapeutic."
"Told ya," she sang.
"You know what else would be therapeutic?" he asked.
"What?"
"I dare you to kiss me." Connor didn't wait for a response; he pulled her into his chest and came down over her. Damn her mouth felt amazing - so did her body pressed into his!
Her body wanted him. She caved into the strength of his arms. Lost her self in the hardness of his build. But his heart… he seemed to do and say all the right things. But his heart… he still planned on carrying out his orders.
She pulled away breathless. His smell was in her senses; his taste lingered on her tongue.
She had to look away when she spoke. "Game's over."
"Lawton, I'm…" he began.
"Sorry? You're still one of them. You're still a Sov, and you still have orders to obey." Lawton's voice shook. "I hate everything you stand for… which means I still hate you."
Connor backed up, his mind still buzzing from the alcohol, his body on fire from his kiss… and his soul, torn in half.
CHAPTER 6
Day 2
The next morning Lawton wouldn't look at or speak to Connor.
After they met in Webb's office for the final briefing and the soldiers dispersed, she hung back.
"I did say dismissed, didn't I Lawton?" Webb quipped.
"Yeah, you said it. You can keep your friend here. I need a day to put my shit in order." As she walked out of the office she called over her shoulder, "Don't like it? Write me up."
Both men faintly heard the word, "assholes…" as it trailed into the air around them.
CHAPTER 7
Day 1
The trucks pulled out at midnight under the cover of darkness. The drivers wore night vision glasses turning everything they looked at a ghostly green. Hundreds of Rebel soldiers were crammed into carriers - each truck was a Sov delivery unit emblazoned with the Sov symbol - two crossed swords in front of a standing bundle of wheat that was on fire.
They would radio on the secure lines when they got closer into range and would come together with the Rebels from the Midwest Division. Joined together, the Rebels outnumbered the Sov forces in the remaining Selections. They would attack and overpower them.
Lawton had made sure she missed the truck with Connor and Webb. She would quickly meet with Midwest officials and expose their plot. Then they'd be taken into custody and questioned. The Midwest Division might even decide the protection of the Northeast Territories should be priority one, and haul everyone back to Old Manhattan.
Lawton took a little comfort in the bulletproof armor she was wearing, courtesy of Smithy. It lined her body under her uniform like a wetsuit. Before leaving, she had confessed to Smithy that she believed the mission could be a double cross — which Sov forces would really attack in the Northeast while its forces were depleted; and that Connor would assassinate her. Smithy tried to talk her out of going, but she still thought there might be a way to turn the tables. She had to find a way to bring down Webb and Connor. She accepted the armor gratefully and left Smithy with some specific instructions.
Once they reached the inner city the driver spoke to those in the back through an in truck radio - "Five minutes to drop." Lawton checked her rounds. A moment later they all heard a whistle.
"GET DOWN!" Lawton shouted. A hole tore through the front truck panel as the cab was completely blown
apart.
"OUT - GET OUT!" Lawton ordered.
The heat was immediately unbearable. A soldier closest to the doors got them opened, Lawton and about twenty other soldiers had already jumped out when the next missile rocketed through the sky.
"RUN!" Lawton and the others ran for distance. Lawton turned and watched the missile hit the truck killing at least forty soldiers. "NO!" she screamed.
Her mind reeled. She hadn't expected that. She forced herself into survival mode. If the Sov were using heat seeking missiles they'd be screwed. "Split up and meet at Midwest base camp!" she shouted at those left around her. Each soldier knew the coordinates to the underground here.
Lawton ran and used a broken building for cover. She leaned her back against it, steadied her breath, and listened for their next advance. They had walked right into a trap. Her hands were shaking. She had watched the soldiers waiting for their turn out the truck door and in the blink of an eye she had seen the fire consume them.
She couldn't let the images stay - she had to keep moving. Lawton's heart pumped with adrenaline. Had Kain's forces beaten them to the underground? She had expected a blood bath because of the numbers without extra reinforcements from the South and West Divisions and she had expected a siege on Old Manhattan while the soldiers were depleted fighting here, what she had not suspected was a full on ambush. She shot up a prayer for Smithy and that he had been able to carry through with her instructions.
If Sov forces weren't here in the thick of things yet, they were damn close! She hoped Midwest patrols had heard the explosions and alerted command. She ran. Whenever she came near another Rebel soldier she would wave them away. Two bodies were too much for the heat seekers. Soon she passed four of the other trucks that had been in the convoy. Three were in flames one was empty.
A horrific scene unfolded before her, three hundred feet from the mouth of the east entrance to the underground base. The Sov had to have been here for hours. Cattle trucks were packed with human beings. Children were screaming, as they were herded into trucks without their parents. Couples were pulled apart and pushed by gunpoint into a fleet of separate Sov cattle trucks, thousands of men, women and children.
Helplessness swelled inside of her. If she could even steal one of the trucks… the thought crossed her mind. No, they'd be blown off of the face of the earth. The Sov missiles would be trained on any misstep.
She wondered about the secondary entrances and exits into the subway tunnels. But sixty miles of tunnels wasn't hard to contain. Ancient foxhunters would trap the fox in its den then build a fire at the escape hole. They simply had to wait at the first hole for the fox to come up and meet them.
"Drop it you stupid Rebel bitch," said a gruff voice behind her.
Lawton set down her gun, stood up slowly and put her hands up. If she were captured there would be no Sov "reprogramming," she would be executed.
"Turn around slowly." He ordered.
Lawton faced her enemy.
"You're hot!" The Sov soldier exclaimed. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had a woman?"
"I'm rather surprised you've had any woman,"
"I'm going to know you!"
"That might not be so bad," Lawton said and the Sov smiled. That was what she was hoping for, because in that moment he lowered his gun in anticipation. Swiftly, Lawton kicked it from his hand and landed a heavy punch to his throat, he folded to his knees.
"I love that steel fist cylinder," Lawton said gratefully as she looked into her hand with the four - inch solid steel cylinder that her fingers curled around.
She retrieved her weapon, grabbed the Sov's radio, and ran hard until she came to a husk of a building's foundation and wedged herself between the low portions of standing walls.
She turned on the radio as low as the volume could possibly go and held the small speaker up to her ear. Her worst fears were confirmed. The entire system had been flushed out and was now a grave to over five hundred Rebel fighters. She hugged her knees to her chest trying to keep the pain and panic at bay.
So many people slaughtered. All of the civilians gathered.
She was alone.
She was in a geographical area she only had study knowledge of.
Daylight would be on her soon.
She couldn't save any of these people… just like she couldn't get all of the soldiers out of the truck.
This place would be hot and activated for weeks. She had to run far to get out of the area completely and hide until the danger passed.
The barrel of a cold hard gun touched the back of her head.
"If it isn't the Rebellion’s golden prima donna… And to think, I'll be the one to turn you over to the Rebels as the one who orchestrated this entire siege. Are you upset about the - what did you call it? Blood bath?"
"Get it done with, Webb and cut the monologue. You're sounding too much like the bitter asshole you are." Lawton qualified.
"Quite the opposite. I'll be celebrating the Sovereignty’s unprecedented victory over the Rebel forces. While you're dangling from a noose with the knowledge that two underground territories were seized and conquered in one day. Now stand up, Lawton." Webb demanded.
She stood.
"Old Manhattan is no more," Webb jeered. "It looks just like this place."
"Fuck you, Webb."
Webb laughed and lifted his radio to his lips. "This is Webb. Tell Kain I have …"
Lawton heard a cracking sound and whirled around. Webb had hit the pavement like dead weight.
Standing over him was Connor.
CHAPTER 8
The Reckoning
It had been too late when he had learned of Webb's plan to take out both Rebel compounds. He had tried desperately to get word to Lawton, but he hadn't been able to find her anywhere. She never even went back to her apartment. When the trucks were loaded he had been filed in with Webb.
It was the truck explosion that had drawn him. His ride had been in the lead of the convoy and had already stopped and emptied when the missile hit its target. Webb knew which truck she would be in. Connor guessed it was his insurance plan.
For the first time, Connor felt the pangs of panic grip him as his eyes searched for her. He started to run over to the disaster - despite Webb's close presence - but then he saw Lawton escaping the wreckage. Connor slipped away from Webb and followed her from a distance.
She had taken care of herself with the son-of-a-bitch Sov soldier, but Webb's interference was bad.
"I know this area, we have to get out of this onslaught." Connor pressed.
"Then go, Connor!" Lawton seethed between her teeth.
"You can't do anything dead - and that's what you'll be when the Sov catches you - and they will, there are patrols everywhere!" He warned.
Connor's eyes scanned over the landscape and rested at the horizon that was already touched with the dawn. "Everything you said was right! Let me fight with you!"
"You just destroyed all of these people…" Lawton accused.
"No! It wasn't me - it was all Webb! I had no idea this was going to happen here."
"And what happened to Old Manhattan?" She hissed.
"I never made contact with Sovereignty officials and when I was being brought to Main Rebel Headquarters I showed them the tracker had been placed in my leg so they'd remove it. I never sent the coordinates for Northeast or MRH." He confessed.
"You're supposed to kill me!"
"I could never hurt you,"
"How can I trust you?" Lawton demanded.
"Take the risk if you can. Believe… but we've got to get out of here now!"
Noah Connor held out his hand, and Rachel Lawton took the risk.
They ran a short distance before Connor pushed aside a large circular metal disk.
"What is it?" Lawton asked.
"Just hurry up," Connor rushed her.
She was concerned it was another trick or trap but her options were limited to none. Lawton saw the descending ladder and climbed down
quickly into the dark.
"Keep moving," Connor's voice said urgently.
She hit the bottom, looked and saw a series of tunnels, much tighter than the subways and with no rails.
"What is this place?" Her voice was shaking from adrenaline and mistrust.
"Used to hold sewage for the city several decades ago. The city had flushed them out to use as bomb shelters during the Great War."
"How did you know?"
"My grandfather's stories when I was young." He qualified. "We've got to get distance put between us and them."
So they ran.
"Do you know where we're going?"
"Not a clue," he answered truthfully. "But I'm using a compass."
After four miles of steady running, and Lawton broke.
"I need a break," she breathed hard.
"It was only four miles," Connor had seen her running skills.
"Yeah, but I'm exhausted. I only had three hours of sleep last night."
"Before an op?"
"I had things to take care of!" Lawton bristled.
"I tried to find you the entire day!" He verified. "I finally waited for you at your apartment - you never came back."
"No, I never did."
"You know, I had made up my mind back at the soccer field."
"You had?" Lawton was stunned.
"Being sent to Headquarters and the Northeast Division was the only out from the Sov I had ever had offered. I had no idea how to play it out, which to trust, or what I was going to do. I still don't know how to rescue my sister." Connor continued. "We're also not entirely safe down here either. If they think anyone escaped they may purge it like they did the subway. I moved us west away from the design of the subway tunnels… but we're still only five miles out of the attack zone above us, I've seen mezzanine doors. I don't know if they open to rooms or control panels, or equipment. But I'll climb up and see what it is."
Connor climbed a latter that went midway up the side of the sewage tunnel and climbed over the waist high metal railing. An old red fire extinguisher sat behind a glass cabinet. Connor smashed the glass with his elbow, removed the extinguisher and used it to bust off the door lock.
Enemy Lines Page 4
