Learning the Truth (Fighting for Freedom Series Book 1)

by Clay, Jennifer

  Fight for Freedom: Learning the Truth

  By Jennifer Clay

  A Ten Twenty Three Publication

  Copyright 2014, Ten Twenty Three, LLC.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior permission of the publisher and author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, organizations, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Don’t Forget To…

  Chapter 1

  Even though Louise knew it was coming the explosion still made her jump. She picked up her bow and quiver of arrows before making her way to the position that she’d been given when they first realized they would soon be under attack. As she was one of the best shots in the group it was inevitable that she’d be up in one of the towers, along with Cameron and Frank. They all knew it might well be their last battle. Rumors about their attackers had arrived at their stronghold months before, so they knew how difficult it would be to survive the next few hours. Maybe the fear they all felt would help them to fight them off. Breathing deeply she looked at the horde outside the walls, trying not to let the sheer number of them get to her, unable to believe that anyone had managed to gather that many people together.

  Of course they’d heard rumors about him as well. Scott was said to be charismatic and that was why those who survived his attacks chose to go with him. Louise thought they were just doing the most logical thing they could after their own groups had been beaten - following the person who proved he was the strongest. When she fired her first arrow someone dropped, but that was one out of… she believed there had to be at least four hundred fighters out there, which was more people than she had seen since the apocalypse had happened. Before it had been normal for there to be hundreds of people to gather together, for numerous reasons, but afterwards they hadn’t even known that many people had survived.

  It was good to see that they had, although Louise would have been much happier if they weren’t all attacking at the same time. She fired a second arrow, dropping another person, trying to work out who might be Scott. Taking him out would mean bringing an end to the attack without too much bloodshed. Not seeing him wasn’t a surprise, as she couldn’t imagine he’d be stupid enough to put himself where someone would be able to kill him, not when it was becoming more and more obvious that he was attempting to take over the world, for reasons only he knew, unless he had someone he trusted enough to talk to. Another shot caused someone else to drop, although she didn’t know if they were dead or not. Her hope was that she wasn’t killing them, when they were just following orders, but her group would want everyone she hit to die from that one arrow.

  Louise knew she was safer than those on the front line. They were the ones who were most likely to die and she didn’t blame them for wanting some of their attackers dead before they started fighting. She was more likely to survive, which was terrifying. If she survived she knew she wouldn’t have any choice but to stay with Scott’s group, especially as they would have seen how skilled she was in advance. Convincing Tristan to take her on had been much more difficult as he’d wanted proof of what she could do, which meant going out hunting and taking out as much as she could, including a deer they hadn’t been expecting. When she saw the surprise on their faces she couldn’t help smiling, because she knew what it meant. As she wanted to work alongside Tristan it was a relief more than anything.

  That had been five years before and one year after the end of the world. Like a number of people she still had nightmares about it. Louise had first heard about the meteor on the news, the same way almost everyone she met had, and no one believed it was actually going to hit Earth. All of the scientists that were interviewed said it wasn’t going to, so they were believed, because they were meant to know these things, but it turned out they were very wrong. She remembered looking out of her window to watch as it got closer, knowing that when it hit something very bad was going to happen, although there was no way she could have know how bad. It really did start off as a psychological apocalypse - some even went as far as shooting their entire family before killing themselves so they wouldn’t have to live through the end of the world.

  She fired again. There were days when she thought she was over it all, when she thought the nightmares would stop, but then they’d return, reminding her that her father, of all people, had been one of those who believed it would be better for his entire family to be dead before the meteor hit. Louise shuddered at the memory, firing another arrow at someone who dropped before standing again, the shaft sticking out from his back. A tear trickled down her cheek as she saw it happen all over again at the most inopportune time - unfortunately flashbacks didn’t pick the safe moments, instead attacking at times when she needed to be focusing on something else. It didn’t stop her from shooting though, as she was able to see through the hazy memories that were trying to take over, thanks to long hours of practice. Letting them get the best of her would have meant her death numerous times before.

  Chapter 2

  Everyone was there when Louise walked through the door. It was a surprise to see Stephanie, because she’d moved to Australia, but with the end of the world coming it made sense that she would have made the trip. They hugged. “How have you been?”

  “Until the news of the incoming meteor I was doing well.” Louise smiled at her oldest sister. “What was it like in Australia?”

  “Perfect.” Stephanie sighed. “Dad rang me and asked me to come home, so I did, because if it’s going to be as bad as they say it is I’d much rather be here with you.”

  “It’s wonderful to see you.”

  “Did Dad tell you why he wanted us all here?”

  Louise shook her head. “He did say it had something to do with what was coming. I assumed he’s planning for the worst like almost everyone I know, even though the scientists are still debating whether or not it is going to hit us.”

  “What do you think?”

  As she looked up to the sky, the same way she had hundreds of times before, it was hard to believe there was a meteor out there that might change her life forever. “I hope it’s not going to hit, but I can’t help thinking that it will, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people panicking.”

  “Panic, sadly, is something that the human race is very good at, Lou, and this could well end up being nothing more than a psychological apocalypse. The end of the world as we know it caused by our race acting like idiots.” Stephanie shrugged. “I almost want it to hit, just so that there’s some reason for everything that’s happened.”

  “You mean the murder suicides?”

  Stephanie nodded. “I don’t know how anyone could make that choice.”

  “Maybe you don’t, love, but it is the most logical option.” Louise couldn’t stop herself from screaming when she was covered in her sister’s brains. “You’re the only one left now, my darling.” Her father took a couple of steps closer to her, their eyes meeting for a moment. “I know this won’t make sense to you. I jus
t want to protect you from what’s coming.”

  Running was impossible. He fired the gun and she felt the bullet, but she knew she wasn’t dead. She heard him fire the gun one last time, killing himself. After what felt like hours, she heard sirens. It couldn’t have been, because she survived. From the day she was shot to the day the meteor hit she was at the hospital, her life in tatters, so it was almost a relief that the world would had come to an end and her father’s decision to kill his entire family hadn’t been for nothing.

  Chapter 3

  It was hard to stop herself from shaking. Louise watched as the attackers got close enough to start taking on the first defenders, able to see properly again instead of carrying on through that memory for what had to be the hundredth time. She didn’t want it to happen again, but she knew it would, as her doctor had told her that she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. There was nothing she could do about it in the new world, apart from keep forcing herself through it, so that was exactly what she did, no matter how hard it was. When she looked back at her quiver she saw that she was running out of arrows.

  “What are our chances?” Frank fired another arrow. “I know Tristan was worried this morning, thanks to what our scouts had told us, so if he’s worried…”

  Cameron nodded. “The logical thing is for us all to worry. A few people defected before this morning.” He shook his head. “My brother was one of them, sadly.”

  “They might have made the right choice.” Louise reached for her penultimate arrow. “When I heard the reports I thought the scouts were exaggerating the numbers, because I didn’t realize this many people had survived the meteor and everything that happened after.”

  Frank was one of three people who knew what happened to her before the meteor. The only reason he knew was because he’d been with her after several of her nightmares, guiding her through the panic attack that followed, before going off to make her a hot drink to help her cope with the shock of seeing it all again. Dealing with them at night was much easier than it was during the day, as she dared not show certain people that she had weaknesses. They would take advantage of the times when she was at her worst, getting rid of someone who was closer to Tristan than they were in the hope that they’d fill the space that was left.

  “Last time I spoke with Tristan he was hoping the same thing.” Cameron sighed. “I think we need to make a decision and we need to make it before Tristan falls.” He looked at Frank and Louise. “Do we go down fighting or join with Scott?”

  “Going down fighting is the only thing we can do, if we’re truly loyal to Tristan. It’s not the logical thing to do, not if you want to survive another day, but I don’t think I want to be a part of that.” Frank gestured out of the window. “Join with Scott and you become a part of the horde that’s trying to take over our county.”

  “Was there ever a point when Tristan could have joined with Scott of his own free will?” Louise knew Frank was even closer to Tristan than she was, so if anyone would know the answer to that question it was him. “Could he have stopped this from happening?” Silence followed and that told her all she needed to know. “I don’t think he’s any better than Scott, then, as he made us a part of this battle without asking us if it was what we wanted.”

  “He made the best decision he could with the information that he had.” Their eyes met when Louise looked over at him. “If we weren’t fighting Scott we would have been fighting Damascus and Septimus, because neither of them were willing to work with Scott, so the only sensible thing he could do was turn down the offer that was made to him, even though he didn’t really want to. From the moment he made it he knew it meant his death and I will go down with him.”

  “Making that decision did mean we had more time to prepare.” Cameron sounded uncertain. “Why didn’t they send us some of their people?”

  Louise couldn’t help laughing. “They’re both too busy shoring up their own defenses to help us with ours, Cam.”

  Chapter 4

  A hand pushed Louise forwards. Frank had done exactly what he said he would do and gone down fighting, but before she could make her own decision someone had grabbed hold of her. She knew that she’d been seen. She knew that all of her arrows had hit their targets even when she was having a flashback. They wanted her, so they weren’t going to let her do something stupid, and that was why she found herself standing in front of Scott, who appraised her in such a way she felt more like a piece of meat than a human being. When their eyes met she did her best to hide her emotions, even though that was something she’d never been all that good at.

  “You’re good.”

  “I know I am.”

  He smiled. “Normally we give people a choice at this point, but you aren’t going to get one. I’m sure you’re not surprised by this.”

  She managed to summon her own smile. “I’m not.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you’re not going to be surprised by my repeat attempts to escape.”

  “Do you really think I’m going to be stupid enough to let you out of my sight? You know what I look like now and you’re the sort of person I’m certain would try to remove me before I can do any more damage.”

  “You have no idea what sort of person I am, Scott, or what I’d do if I had the chance.” Louise shrugged. “Maybe you think you do, but I’m quite certain that you’re wrong.”

  “I remember seeing your face in the newspapers, Louise, after your father made the decision to kill his entire family.” Scott stood and walked towards her. “There were a couple of interviews that you gave, to those same newspapers because you refused to go on television, and I remember thinking how brave you were.” He brushed the hair off her face to show the scar that was there. “Give me a chance to prove to you I do have a reason for what I’m doing. You never know, the time might come when you actually come to agree with them.”

  “Brave?” She laughed. “I wasn’t being brave when I gave those interviews - I was just determined that the people who were talking about my father actually knew what he was like. Even though he made a terrible choice he was still a loving parent and I wish he’d given us a chance to talk to him before using his gun to ‘protect’ us. We might have been able to convince him that we could survive the end of the world, which might well have been a lie, because I’m not certain that we could have done, no matter how hard we tried. Being alone meant I made certain choices I knew they wouldn’t have approved of. I had no other option.”

  Chapter 5

  Going to sleep next to Scott wasn’t easy. Louise spent what felt like the whole night tossing and turning before waking up sweating, knowing that she’d dreamt of her father again. On the nights she didn’t remember the dreams it felt like an achievement, but she knew it wouldn’t last, and all she could do was hope she’d managed to escape by then. The last thing she wanted was for him to know of her weaknesses. Breathing deeply she slipped out of the sleeping bag he’d given her before making her way to the opening of the tent, hoping she could convince his guards to let her go for a walk, as that was the only thing that would help. If she didn’t she’d end up sitting there, remembering it all over again. She blinked away tears.

  “It’s okay.” Scott’s voice was unexpected, as she’d checked to make sure he was asleep before moving. “They’ll go with you, but you are permitted to leave the tent at six o’clock in the morning.”

  “How do you know what time it is?”

  “Batteries are one of the things I hoard, so I can make my clock work. I don’t know how I’d survive without it.”

  “So what is the time?”

  “3am. This might have happened earlier if you’d been able to fall asleep sooner, but obviously having me there made it difficult, because you’re scared of me.” He sighed. “I know you’ll have heard plenty of rumors about me, Louise, and the only way I can show you they aren’t true is if you give me a chance.”

  “Why should I?”

  A long silence followed, before he laughed. “I hones
tly have no idea.”

  Louise studied him, only just able to see his silhouette because there was a new moon and it wasn’t until the end of the world that she realized how dark it could get then. “Well, that’s a step in some sort of direction.” She shook her head. “At least you didn’t come up with something that didn’t make any sense.”

  “Making things up would be stupid. I want you to trust me, so I have to begin with the truth, otherwise I’m never going to get anywhere.”

  “Until we met the only reason you could have wanted to keep me was my ability with a bow and arrow.”

  “People with your skills are rare and I wasn’t going to lose anyone who could do what you can. I don’t have PTSD myself, but I’ve known people who have, so in that sort of situation you could easily have been having a flashback at the same time, and you still managed to kill twenty of my men.”

  “How do you know about that? I didn’t mention it in any of the interviews.”

  “You were screaming in your sleep, Louise. If you hadn’t stopped I was going to wake you up, but you did, and then you started moving, so I wanted to make sure that you were… okay? It’s a stupid word to use in this situation, as you obviously aren’t okay - unfortunately it’s the only one I can think of.”

  “Screaming in my sleep once doesn’t mean I have PTSD.”

  “No, but it is the most likely explanation, especially as a couple of people who joined us from your group mentioned hearing you screaming in your sleep before. I talked to them as soon as I found out who you were, because I wanted to be prepared for any issues that you might have. Having been through something like that I’m not surprised that you’re still dealing with it now.” Finding a reply to that was more difficult than Louise wanted it to be, so she walked out through the tent flaps, hoping that Scott would stay in the tent, but he followed her instead. “Would it have been better if I asked you directly?”