Unrest

by Wendy Higgins

  Well, at least I wasn’t smiling like a dumbass anymore.

  My shift was almost over when a soft knock revealed Rylen’s face. My tummy swirled with thoughts of making out at work again, but his face was tense. He came in and shut the door.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Captain King . . . they’ve got us working together. Flight simulations.”

  My stomach plummeted. “For the fighter jet?”

  Rylen nodded. “I’m copiloting.”

  Copiloting? I pinched the skin between my eyes the way Dad used to.

  “No, Ry. It’s too dangerous. He’s a loose cannon.” Being in the fighter meant Rylen and Michael would be flying at the enemy, while the rest of us were flying away. “If DRI attacks, they’ll bring fighter jets of their own. And those big ass guns that can shoot down planes from the ground.”

  “Shoulder-fired missiles,” he said, almost to himself.

  “Can’t one of the other pilots do it? You can fly a passenger plane.”

  “Pepper.” He stepped closer and took my clammy hands. His gray eyes held mine with sincerity. “I would be doing it to steer them away from you. To keep you safe.”

  “No!” I pulled my hands away and backed shakily into the counter. “I need you to be safe too!”

  Rylen moved forward and enveloped me in his strong arms. I held him around the waist, breathing him in, squeezing him like I could keep him safe by sheer willpower.

  These aliens were determined to break us before they exterminated us. “I hate them,” I whispered.

  Rylen held me tighter. We stood there clinging to each other until my shift ended.

  Remy

  At nine o’clock, excuse me, twenty-one-hundred, Linette opened the hatch door for me like she’d done every night I worked. We both wore coats with scarves wound around our lower faces and necks as we climbed the cellar-like stairs into the freezing, starry night. She checked all around with her eagle eyes, a big gun over her shoulder, while I made a beeline for the greenhouse thirty steps away. My feet crunched over old snow, now hard and icy as I speed walked, praying I wouldn’t slip like I did too often.

  When I made it inside and shut the door, Linette sank back down into the hidden entrance and shut the cellar-like door. She would open it again for me in three hours.

  The greenhouse was just warm enough from residual daylight heat to make me take off my jacket and scarf. I hummed while I made my way down the long length of the room, my eyes adjusting to the dark as I went. Several veggies were ready to harvest, and my fingers itched to pick them. I pulled the crates out from under the table. I had to lean down and take the cherry tomatoes in my fingers to gauge their darkness against my pale skin. I picked from all six bushes until only half-ripened ones were left. I would get those in two days.

  Next I picked curly-edged romaine lettuce and cucumbers. I could not wait to see everyone’s faces tomorrow when we fixed these salads with diced canned ham and croutons I was making from scratch. I wouldn’t have touched canned ham six months ago to save my life, but now it was a delicacy.

  Once everything was picked, I walked the length of the greenhouse to see if there were new sprouts, and to reseed any pots that weren’t growing. The feel of soil on my fingers soothed me, and I found my mind wandering to the conundrum of Matt and Jacob. I hadn’t had a chance to tell Amber what happened that afternoon while she worked. A bunch of us were hanging out in the lobby. When it became loud and crowded, Matt pulled me into the grief room to “ask me something.” I should have known better. He’s a guy, and I knew guys. As sweet and kind as he’d always been, he was bound to take advantage of a moment alone, and he did. He kissed me, and for one second, I let him. Then I pulled away, and I didn’t have to explain why.

  “Tater,” he said with an uncharacteristic, sardonic laugh.

  “Don’t say it like that,” I whispered. “I know he’s . . . messed up. But he’s been through a lot.”

  “So have you, Remy, and you’re not being a bitch to everyone you care about.”

  “Everyone reacts differently to tragedy.” I didn’t have it in me to fight, but I needed him to understand. “Matt, look. I’m glad to have you—”

  “As a friend.” He shook his head. “I got it. Thanks.” I’d never seen him get upset with anyone. It was unsettling. Had I led him on by being too nice? That was the tricky thing with guy friends. But it was unfair. I was sick of feeling guilty. Guilty for drinking too much, hooking up too much. Now guilty for being too nice. Screw that.

  “Don’t be like this,” I told him. “All I can offer is friendship. Take it or leave it.”

  I stormed out with him shouting an apology behind me, only to run straight into Tater, who’d apparently seen us go in and was coming to . . . I don’t even know what. I stopped, and Matt nearly ran into my back. We both looked up at Tater’s locked jaw and crazy eyes.

  “You guys finally together?” Tater asked with faux calm.

  “No,” I said, feeling more and more pissed off. This game Tater was playing with me had my emotions in turmoil. He didn’t want me with Matt, but he wouldn’t talk to me or look at me most days, even though he’d taken such good care of me while I was sick. He had no right to be angry. “You know what?” My hands made little fists as I swiveled my head between them. “I’m not with anyone, and that’s how it’s going to stay.”

  I don’t know how they responded, because I’d pushed past them and didn’t look back. The whole thing had left me feeling like crap. Honestly, there was too much going on to be worried about guys, but I couldn’t help it. Relationships were what life was about. And when I looked at Tater I saw all aspects of him: the boy he’d been with his family growing up, the laid back, funny man he’d been before the war started, and now the standoffish man he’d become after seeing our families murdered and getting blood on his own hands.

  I knew him. I knew what he was capable of, and I couldn’t help but hope he could have that life back when all of this was over. I wanted us to laugh again, for him not to be afraid to embrace the love he felt, instead of denying himself and living in fear of losing again.

  I swiveled my wrist to catch the moonlight on my watch. I had an hour left. Time to water everything and clean up. I lugged the first crate of veggies in my arms and quickly brought them to the door. Then I went back for the second. As I was picking it up, and pivoting to turn, a head-splitting sound blasted through the air, like a horn blowing straight into my ear. I screamed and turned too quickly, trying to run, but tripping over my own stupid feet. A nasty pop sounded from my ankle as it twisted, and pain ratcheted up my leg, stunning me. With the heavy crate in my hands, I fell sideways, banging my hip into the side of the crate and whacking my head on the table ledge. All I saw were stars as the bleating siren continued to fill my ears.

  Amber

  It happened while I was playing Yahtzee in the lobby with Tater and Josh. Sean and J.D. had left minutes before, arguing about something. I was pretty sure by now that their constant bickering was foreplay. Or foreplay to future foreplay.

  While Josh was grabbing water, Tater whispered to me, “Hey, did, uh, Remy say anything about earlier?”

  I peered at him. “No, I haven’t talked to her. Why? What happened?”

  He shook his head, and Josh jogged back, sitting with his legs spread wide. Tater’s mouth was clamped shut now. I’d have to ask Remy later.

  I rolled the dice. Two sixes along with my other three sixes. “Yes!”

  “You’re cheating!” Tater said to me. “Chuleta! There’s no way you can get two Yahtzees in one game when none of the rest of us got any!”

  I smacked my thighs. “I cannot cheat at throwing dice! You watch me like a hawk the whole time.”

  “What’s chuleta?” Josh asked.

  “It means porkchop,” I said. His eyes scrunched, and I laughed. “Don’t ask. Our grandma always used it like an expression.” I looked at Tater. “Stop being a sore loser.”

  H
e opened his mouth to retort and the strangest sound came out, so loud I flinched. The guys were on their feet in half a second, their faces suddenly sober and frightening to see. I was half a second behind them processing what was happening before I jumped up too.

  The siren. We were under attack.

  I imagine if I were in a civilian place, like a mall or something, there’d be somewhat of a stampede. Mass hysteria. And although I definitely felt near hysterics on the inside, the calmness of the soldiers around me quickly put me in check. We moved as one, exactly how Top had instructed, and we moved fast.

  It was a blur. Leaving the lobby, sprinting through the halls, down the stairs, through the tunnel. Sean was just ahead of us, pulling J.D. by the hand.

  “Remy,” I said when we burst through the tunnel. “Rylen!”

  “They’re both working,” Tater said through panting breaths. “They’ll get there before us.”

  “Oh, God,” I said, nearly panicking now. “Rylen’s going to the jet! We have to stop him!”

  Tater broke formation, yanking me to the side against the wall as everyone sprinted past.

  “Don’t, Amber!” He shook me. “¡Cálmese!” Calm down. “He has a job. Let him do it! Now, come on.” He yanked my arm and we slid back into the running ranks.

  The worst, most sickening sense of fear entrapped me as I ran. I never got to say good-bye to my parents. And now I wasn’t going to see Rylen before he boarded that jet to try and give us all a chance to escape. A sob broke from my throat, but it was a dry, fearful sound. Even my tears were too afraid to come out.

  We filed smoothly into the forbidden door and someone at the exit stairs ahead shouted, “Five minutes! Move your asses!” Another man was shoving guns of various types into soldiers’ hands as they ran past. Tater got one. I didn’t.

  We picked up speed, slowing the slightest bit as we all had to sprint up the steps and out into the night. A blast of cold air slapped me, but I barely felt it. My eyes went straight to the greenhouse where Remy would have been working. To my relief, it appeared empty. Tater was right. Since she’d been out here, she was probably one of the first ones to run to the aircraft hangar.

  It was a dead-on open air sprint the rest of the way to the hangar. We burst through the tall, metal doors, which were being opened from ground to ceiling. Engines were roaring and propellers were whirring. Top was at the bottom of the stairs of the first plane, waving people up.

  “Is Remy on this one?” I shouted to him.

  He shook his head, circling an arm to tell everyone, “Go, Go, Go!”

  Tater and I ran to the next airplane.

  “Did Remy Haines board?”

  The man shook his head. “No women onboard yet.”

  Tater and I shared a look of confusion that turned to panic. We looked all around us at the people spilling into the hangar, running up the stairs. We ran to both the choppers, no Remy. I shook out my hands at my sides.

  “Tater, where the hell is she?” We were back to Top’s plane now.

  “Thirty seconds!” he shouted.

  “Still no Remy?” I asked. Top shook his head.

  Tater motioned something to the First Sergeant, and shoved me forward. Top grasped my upper arm hard. And then Tater was running out of the hangar.

  “Wait!” I screamed and tried to yank away, but Top literally picked me up off my feet and carried me, kicking and screaming, up the stairs.

  “Tater! No! Tater, come back!”

  “Don’t let her off!” Top told the people on board as he unceremoniously dumped me inside. Devon’s arms wrapped around me, not leaving a single crack for me to pry myself loose. I sank into the floor of the plane as the doors closed, wracked with violent sobs.

  Rylen

  I didn’t like the look in Captain King’s eyes when we got to the jet. He wasn’t focused. He looked fucking insane. We didn’t have time for this.

  “Dude,” I said. “Are you up for it?”

  He blinked, but his eyes still freaked me out. “I can fly.”

  “I know you can fucking fly, but can you focus on this mission?”

  His jaw locked. “I’m not afraid to die.”

  “Good for you, man, but I have no intention of dying today.” I grasped my helmet and shoved it over my head. “Do you?”

  He put his on too. “We might have to.”

  What the fuck. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him into the leg of the jet. “This isn’t a fucking kamikaze mission, King. You’re not gonna throw our asses at them.”

  His lips pursed. “If you’d seen what I’d seen—”

  I shoved him harder. “This isn’t time for your personal revenge!” Fuck this. “I’m flying. You’re copilot.”

  I shoved away and sprinted for the stairs.

  “You can’t do that!” he shouted behind me, but I was already jumping into the cockpit.

  “Watch me.”

  Remy

  I blinked and pushed up, then screamed when I tried to stand. The siren was still ringing in my ears, and the direness of the situation hit me with a surge of panic. How much time had passed? I turned onto my hands and knees and crawled. A rush of adrenaline drowned out the pain in my knees, head, and legs as I scrambled down the concrete path to the door. I grabbed the handle and pulled myself up. I couldn’t see from one of my eyes, and when I reached up I realized I’d cut my head. Blood covered my eye. I wiped it with the back of my hand and blinked.

  I yanked the door open. In the distance, I saw one person running, and a plane was pulling out of the hangar. They were leaving! Sheer, blood-stopping panic filled me.

  “Wait!” I screamed.

  The person running, who was now halfway to the hangar, spun and looked at me. I couldn’t make them out with one clear eye, but I definitely heard her voice say, “Fuck!”

  I tried to run to her, but oh my gosh, that foot—I couldn’t put pressure on it without collapsing—so I dragged it as I moved forward. Linette got to me and shoved a hand under my arm.

  “One of the choppers is waiting for me. We’ve got to move!”

  We’d gone about five quick steps when she halted and my breathing stopped. On the left, a group of people in all black with dark weapons were coming around the side of the old bio warfare building, all stealthy-like. I knew instinctively they weren’t with us. Linette yanked me back against the side of the greenhouse. We stood there two seconds, hoping they’d move along, but they didn’t. I think we both came to the same conclusion. There was no way we could get past them to the hangar. And it would take less than half a minute for them to shift this way and see us.

  “Psst.” The quiet sound came from the side of the building across from us. A shadowy figure stood with his back against the wall, gun up. I froze until his head peeked out to glance back at the DRI figures in black.

  Tater! Why wasn’t he on a plane? He motioned to the bunker’s cellar doors.

  “Back down,” Linette whispered. And although her voice and body were fluid and confident, I saw a shadow of fear across her face when she turned back to the bunker doorway and moonlight hit her.

  An ear-splitting whoosh vibrated the air around us—our fighter jet taking off like a rocket. A blur.

  The three of us rushed forward, crouching, and were down the hatch in seconds. Linette locked the door and we followed her as she ran down the once-forbidden hall. The farther we went, the more trapped I felt. Our situation came crashing down around us. We’d missed the planes, and Baelese were swarming the area. How could we possibly survive this?

  A blast shook the ground beneath us and I choked on a scream.

  “Bye-bye spaceship,” Linette said.

  I followed blindly through the twists and turns of the underground maze. Linette whipped a door open and shoved me in. I stopped, stiff at the sight of jail cells before us. I looked and saw a man in a pile on the ground in the last cell, lying in a puddle of blood.

  “Go! Come on!” Linette rushed me into a cell and I
backed against the wall, holding myself around the waist.

  I tried so hard not to look over at the man in the other cell. Who was that? The blood was shiny and fresh. Linette handed her gun to Tater, who ran over and put both their guns on a table, before running back to us. Why were they getting rid of their guns?

  Tater closed us into the cell, locking it with a click, and then stood, listening.

  “Why are you locking us in?” I hissed.

  Linette crouched before me and took my chin. “Listen to me. You’re about to have to put on the best damn act of your life. The three of us are prisoners of the troop that was here, prisoners because we were on the side of the DRI. We were on the side of change. We didn’t want to go against them. We didn’t believe they were bad, and so we were locked up. Following me so far?” I was too stunned to nod.

  “They’re coming,” Tater whispered. “They’re opening and closing doors down the hall.”

  Linette never looked away from me, and I swear it was her steadiness that kept me from crumbling in panic at that moment. She spoke faster.

  “We are brainless. We’re going to be fucking thrilled they’re saving us. We’re going to swear allegiance and do whatever we have to do to be found useful to their cause. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open. And then we’re going to take those bastards down from the inside while the others plan an attack from the outside.”

  I managed a tiny nod.

  Linette turned on her knees and grasped the bars. I couldn’t move. I felt trapped in the spiral of a twilight zone. This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.

  The door flew open, making me jump, and three men filled the doorway, dressed in what looked like SWAT team uniforms. They spread out, guns pointed at us. All three of us raised our hands. I was still on the floor, my legs feeling like jelly. A well-dressed woman in a black pantsuit sauntered in and her eyes took in everything. A creeping sensation overcame my flesh as I watched her jerky movements, knowing what she was.