Day of Reckoning (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 2)
Page 24
I wish I could be with Lee. He was sent to the Mexican front as part of a peace delegation and is due here any day now. Jeremy requested to be sent to St. Louis. He didn't want to face the capitol or me. Nothing is ever going to be right with us again. I take a deep breath and push him from my mind. It's time to move on.
I walk a little further and suddenly find myself where I always seem to end up, the steps that lead into the place that I never wanted to see again. The labs. I was held here. Drew was tortured here. Adrian killed his mother here.
I want to tear it apart, brick by brick. I've confronted Adrian about it a million times. Each time, he tells me that I just don't understand. I tell him to make me understand but he says to forget about it. That's not very likely. If Adrian really wanted to shut it down, he could. The people here hang on his every word. I've watched their faces as he makes speech after speech about rebuilding and rejoining the world around them. He tells them that an isolated Texas is a weak Texas and they believe him. They forget Adrian’s ruthless aunt Tia, “the prophet”, and his uncle Darren Cole, the bastard torturer.
The Texans think that both Darren and Tia Cole are dead. They're right about Darren. Adrian shot his uncle. I was there. Tia is alive, for now. She is being held at the Rebel compound. As much as Adrian fights it, the people now see him as “the prophet”. I don't believe in all that shite but I am the minority. Adrian refuses to speak in church as his aunt did but that doesn't lessen his power. These people need a prophet to tell them what to do. You can't just dissolve a cult and expect the followers to suddenly be able to think for themselves. General Nolan understood this.
“Gabby.” I turn as Adrian walks towards me, his arms clasped behind his back. It hasn't been that long, but Adrian is not the same person I knew before. He seems older; more serious; more full of himself.
“How did you find me?” I snap at his unwelcome presence.
“Where else would you be?” He responds calmly. “You're here a lot. Have you gone in?”
“No,” I snap again as I turn away from him and stare up at the building. “I don't have access.”
“I know, but I wasn't sure if that would stop you,” he says. “There is a reason that I haven't given you access. And no, we are not going to have this argument again.”
I turn my head to glare but, to my annoyance, he isn't bothered by my obvious hostility. “Come on. There is work to do,” he says as he holds out his arm, expecting me to take it. Instead, I brush past him and he has to leg it to catch up.
“More interviews today?” I ask sullenly. For weeks we've been interviewing people again and again. Most of our interviewees were involved in the government or the church when Tia Cole ran things. We're trying to gauge their levels of loyalty to her and the old ways. So far, we've found that most of these people easily transferred their allegiance to Adrian but we still don't trust any of them.
“Not today,” Adrian answers. “Our envoy to the Mexicans returned this morning.”
“Good,” I reply. I can only manage a single word as relief rushes through me. Lee is here. In this whole messed up world, Lee has become one of the only people that I can count on. I have felt so alone here over the past weeks. No one to trust. No one that I even really want to talk to.
It's not far from the labs to the government building. I reach the door first and swipe my card. I've been given a key card that can pretty much get me in anywhere, except for the labs. Adrian likes me to snoop and find things out about people. My first instinct is to distrust people and he uses that.
I don't hold the door for him, so it shuts in his face but I don't look back. I use my card again to gain access to the upper floors of the building. Adrian catches up and we ride the elevator in silence. We stop on the top floor and the door slides open, revealing a travel weary group of people sitting around the table. They don't stand as we enter the room. That's the difference between Rebels and Texans. Texans would be fawning all over Adrian; the Rebels know better.
One man does rise from his seat and walks over.
“Gabby,” he says in his serious way. “It's good to see you.”
Before the words pass my lips, I reach my arms out and hug Lee tightly. He is surprised as he pats my back. Lee and I aren't exactly the hugging kind of friends. After a few uncomfortable moments, I back away.
“I'm glad you're here,” I say.
About the Author
Michelle Lynn graduated from Muskingum University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and has battled illness and disability since then. She started writing as an outlet and fell in love with it immediately. She has always been an avid reader and was able to draw insight from some of her favorites like George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, Robin Hobb, and countless others.
Lynn believes that ideas and motivation can come from the most unlikely of places such as a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game, scuba diving, or even just an average day at home. One of the characters in this story was even inspired by a bird.
Michelle and her bird now reside in Venice, Florida.
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