by Summer Lane
“Aside from myself, of course,” Manny interrupts.
“Of course, dear.” Arlene pretends to be irritated with him, but I see nothing but affection on her face. “As I was saying, Lieutenant White and myself come from Sky City. At this point in time, it is the most secure Underground base on the entire West Coast – possibly the entire country.” She folds her arms across her chest. “I escaped to Halo Point, right after Omega raided my safe house in the Tehachapi Mountains. After it became too dangerous to stay at Halo Point, I was relocated to Sky City.”
“Sky City,” Anita states. “I’ve heard of it. I thought it was just a rumor.”
I look around the room, confused.
“Where is Sky City?” I ask.
“The high mountains,” Arlene replies. “Very high. We are beyond the trees, in the snow. Most of our facility is based completely under the ground, invisible from satellites and Omega observation. We are burrowed deep into the side of a volcanic mountain, in the clouds.”
“How is that possible?” Vera wonders. “How did you build an underground base in the high mountains?”
Arlene takes a deep breath.
“Sky City is part of an organization known as Unite,” she explains. “They are an off-branch of what people once considered to be paranoid doomsday prepper organizations. Only their work was funded by the Federal Government.”
“Omega had infected every level of government before the EMP, according to Harry Lydell,” I tell her. “How do you know Omega doesn’t already know about this?”
“Because I’ve helped build it,” Arlene answers. “Unite was originally created during World War Two, when everyone was afraid that the Nazis were going to get the atomic bomb first.” She shrugs. “Obviously they didn’t, but our facilities were already built by that point. Sky City has only gotten bigger since then. I have been helping Unite these last three decades, and our top priority has always been secrecy.”
“Is it a safe haven?” Chris asks. “Do you shelter survivors?”
“No,” she says. “We make soldiers.”
Anita inhales sharply.
“How many men do you have?”
“Three thousand,” she replies.
I bite my lip.
Omega has millions. We are still outnumbered.
“I began working for Unite when I was just twenty years old,” she says. “We have grown from a small facility to a massive underground network. We are, in essence, exactly what our name says: a city. We in Sky City have been anticipating an invasion like this for years. We’ve always known about Omega, and we’ve been preparing for it.”
“You knew about Omega?” Vera asks. “You knew the EMP was coming? Why didn’t you warn people? Why didn’t the government say anything? Why didn’t the media—”
“Because Omega was too deep into the government,” Arlene says. “There was nothing we could do. To reveal ourselves to the public or to anyone would have meant exposing ourselves to the enemy and therefore compromising our security. Because we played it smart, we are still intact. We can offer hope.”
Chris sits down on a chair, leaning his forearms on his knees.
“Why did they send you here?” he asks Arlene.
“Sky City is the epicenter for all Underground operations,” she replies. “It has been since the beginning. The militia movement was organic, but we have always been in the background, helping recruit, helping guide the remains of the United States Military forces. Some of the brightest and most brilliant minds are in Sky City.”
“So why are you here?” I ask, echoing Chris’s earlier question. “Why leave the safety of such a secure facility and risk exposure to come to Monterey, when Omega is getting ready to send a hundred thousand foot soldiers into the West Coast?”
Arlene smiles.
“We want to help,” she says. “We’ve been working in the background for a long time, but we’d like to offer our recruits to the militias. Our soldiers are some of the most highly trained units in the world. They are skilled in guerilla warfare and they know more about Omega than anyone else. We may not have a hundred thousand men, but we are just as strong.”
I take a seat beside Chris, overwhelmed by this information.
“We’ll take all the help we can get,” Chris says at last. “We need more recruits – now more than ever.”
“Good.” Arlene looks at Manny, and then she looks at me. “However, there is a catch.”
I knew it. Nothing this good could be free.
“Our recruits are somewhat hesitant to leave Sky City,” she says. “Some of them don’t believe that it’s the right time. They think we should wait for a more opportune moment.” She shakes her head. “They don’t understand that the opportune moment is now. We need someone from the front lines to speak with our Commander and convince him that now is the time to move.”
“Who is your Commander?” Chris asks.
“It would be wiser if I didn’t give you his name,” she replies. “But he’s known as Freebird on the Underground radio waves.”
“So you want one of us to come to Sky City and convince your Commander to give the green light,” I say. “Sounds fair.”
“I don’t know about you,” Manny replies, “but I’m beginning to think that Sky City sounds a little too good to be true.”
Arlene snorts.
“You’ll see,” she says, lifting her head. “You’ll all see.” She looks at us. “So which one of you is going to Sky City with me?”
No one answers.
Somehow, I know before anyone says a word that it is going to be me.
*
“I can’t go with you,” Chris says.
We are standing near the tide pools in the curve of the Monterey Peninsula. The air is sharp and cold, but it heightens my senses and keeps me alert. The ocean beats against the rocks, sending sprays of water in every direction. Seagulls fly over our heads and crabs scuttle through the shallower pools.
“I know,” I tell him.
I knew this. I knew that when I told Arlene that I would go to Sky City to talk to the Commander there, I would be alone. Chris cannot abandon Monterey. He must protect it until I can come back with more troops.
“Why?” Chris asks.
“Why what?”
“Why does it have to be you? Every time?”
I shake my head.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t ask for this stuff.”
“You just volunteer for it.”
“You would do the same thing.” I fold my arms across my chest. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t. Because that’s a lie.”
Chris looks at me long and hard, then drops his gaze.
“I would,” he says. “If you weren’t here.”
I close my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I reply. “But this is the right thing to do. I know it is.”
“Your instinct is usually right.” He grins halfheartedly. “There’s a reason people listen to you, you know. It’s because you’re believable. You’re real. You don’t pretend to be something you’re not, and people can relate to you. They like seeing an honest fighter.”
“Apparently.” I sit down on a splintered, wooden bench. He joins me. The steady rhythm of the ocean waves beating the rocks is soothing. “Listen, Chris. I love you. Me doing this has nothing to do with me not loving you. I’m doing this because I think it will help all of us.”
“I know it will.” Chris puts his arm behind me, draping it across the bench. “I just wish we could go together.” He kisses the side of my head. “I don’t like being separated. Things change so fast, staying together has always been our best shot at surviving this war.”
“I know that, too,” I say quietly. “But I have to do this.”
“Yes,” Chris says after a long pause. “You do.”
I lean my head against his shoulder and hold his hand. The sun sinks slowly into the distant horizon, burnt orange and then blood red.
“You know,” I whisper,
“I always loved going to the beach when I was growing up. My mom used to take me all the time. It was our favorite thing. We’d put our feet in the water, lie in the sun for a few hours, bring a picnic. It was so nice. No worries at all.”
Chris smiles against my hair.
“And I used to surf in every wave up and down the coast.” He laughs. “After Jane died, I lived in the water. It saved my life.”
There is an awkward pause after he mentions his deceased wife’s name, but I relax into the silence. The past is the past, and Chris’s marriage to Jane is part of what makes him who he is today – the man that I love now. And I guess I should be thankful to her for that.
“The end of the world brought us together,” Chris says at last. “But it won’t tear us apart.”
I smile.
No. Regardless of what happens, it never will.
Chapter Five
I’m nervous. I look at the small plane on the freeway-turned-tarmac and try to loosen the knot in my stomach. There are guards everywhere. Above my head, an American flag snaps in the sharp ocean breeze. I’ve got my duffel bag over my shoulder, my rifle across my back and my Beretta handgun strapped to my hip. My mouth is dry.
“Cassidy.”
Chris stands beside me, pressing something into my hand. My fingers close around the smooth handle of a knife. My knife. My name is carved into the handle, a gift from Chris’s brother Jeff, killed in action months ago.
“Where did you find it?” I ask, shocked.
“I forgot to give it to you earlier. Harry had it on him when we brought him in.”
I nod. Of course. Harry took it from me several days ago.
I’m glad I have it back.
“Thank you,” I say.
Chris pulls a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and hands it to me.
“What are you, the giving tree?” I smirk. “What’s this?”
“Mission roster,” he replies.
“Ah.” I hold it out, reading the names.
Manny Costas
Arlene Costas
Vera Wright
Uriah True
Elle Costas – K9 Unit
“You’re sending the whole team with me?” I ask. “You can’t do that.”
“I didn’t do it,” he replies. “They volunteered. They love you, Cassie. They want to make sure you come back safe – plus they want this Sky City thing to work out for us. We need the recruits, and if Arlene is right, this could be a pivotal move for the Alliance.”
“What about Andrew?” I ask. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Andrew is fine. By the time you’re back, he’ll be operational.” Chris flashes a sad smile, touching my cheek. “I love you, Cassie. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Please,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “I haven’t done anything stupid in at least three days.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and he folds me into a strong hug.
“I love you, too,” I whisper.
He kisses me, and his touch is warm and wonderful and it makes me ache, knowing that I will be separated from him again. I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this. But none of the heartbreak will end unless we defeat Omega, so this is my fate.
I kiss him one last time, drawing my thumb over his whiskery cheek.
“Stay safe, Chris,” I say.
Tears burn like acid in the back of my throat. This hurts.
To me, this is more painful than being shot. And I have the experience to make the comparison. I blink back the tears, stuff the mission roster into my pocket, strap the knife to my belt, and touch Chris’s hand one last time.
“Good luck, Commander,” he says softly.
I accept his farewell with a tip of my head, and then I am walking across the tarmac, not daring to look back. Because if I look back, I know I will cry, and I cannot allow that. I keep my eyes on Vera. She is standing near the front of the plane, hair slicked back into a tight ponytail, expression steely.
“Vera,” I say quietly.
“Commander.” She folds her arms. “You’re doing the right thing.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “I know.”
“And Cassidy?”
I wait.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “About what happened with Sophia.”
I force myself to remain stoic.
“So am I,” I tell her.
I look at the plane. The door is open, and there is a narrow staircase leading inside. I can see Uriah walking toward us. Arlene stands at the top of the staircase, dressed in dark fatigues and a loose jacket. She looks calm and serene, her gray hair knotted on top of her head in a loose bun.
“Are you ready, Commander?” she asks me.
“How long will it take to get there?” I say.
“Not long.”
Great. I love the detailed answers.
“With me flying,” Manny says, descending the staircase, his gray hair in a ridiculous tumult, “we’ll get there in no time at all.” He winks at me. “That is, of course, if we don’t go sightseeing along the way.”
“Oh, Manny stop,” Arlene tells him, but there is a smile on her face. “We all know you’re the best pilot.”
“Ah, except for Alan White.” He rolls his eyes. “Apparently he’s the new breed of pilot.”
“Once a pilot, always a pilot, my love,” Arlene grins, disappearing into the maw of the plane.
“She’s obsessed with me,” Manny shrugs. “She married me for my charm and good looks, as you can plainly see.” He wiggles his eyebrows, forcing a weak smile out of me. “Ah, a smile. That’s the Cassidy Hart I know.”
Vera makes a face.
“I can’t take all the sentimentality,” she says.
She walks up the staircase in a huff, which only makes me smile wider.
“Thank you for flying us, Manny,” I say.
“My pleasure, as always.”
I hug him briefly and put one foot on the stairs. I pause, look behind my shoulder, and see Chris at the end of the tarmac. He is standing there, watching me, a sad expression on his face.
Don’t look back, I think to myself. Don’t do that to yourself.
I take a deep breath, climb the stairs, and then I am inside the plane.
I am as good as gone.
*
When I am asleep, I dream of happier days. I see myself with my mother and father – before their divorce – walking down the streets of a busy Los Angeles boulevard. I see myself reading a book in the window seat on a rainy day. I see myself making dinner for my father on a Saturday night, and reading the newspaper on a lazy Sunday morning.
Before the divorce, my mother would make a pot of coffee on Sundays, turn on the television and watch whatever romantic comedy was on. She would sit there in her pajamas, a pensive expression on her face.
“Cassidy,” she’d say. “I want more for you. I want you to really be able to take care of yourself. I don’t want you to be dependent on anybody – not even me.”
Growing up, it was the one thing that my mother said that I took to heart.
The rest of it was, in my mind, irrelevant. She left me, she moved away, and therefore she was the enemy. I barely saw her. She was the manager of a hotel – or so she’d told me. Whether or not that was true was up for debate. Dad and I never talked about her, I was alone with my thoughts on that one.
“If anything ever happens to me,” Dad would say, “Mom will take care of you.”
In my heart, I knew that wasn’t true.
I would always have to take care of myself.
It was my fate.
It still is.
*
Something shoves me. I wake up, hitting the floor on my shoulder. My heart rate skyrockets and a burst of adrenaline fires through my system. The small cabin of the little plane is shaking badly. Uriah comes up behind me and pulls me to my feet, his strong arms steadying me.
“It’s okay,” he tells me. “It’s just turbulence, according to Manny.”
&nb
sp; I look at my seat, still shaky and breathing hard.
“Okay,” I reply. “I’m okay.”
I touch Uriah’s hands.
“You can let go of me, Uriah,” I say.
“Oh, yeah.” He steps back, still watching me closely. “Sorry.”
I sit down in the chair. The cabin is painted in muted blue and white tones. It reminds me of a hospital, and I don’t like it. Elle Costas is sitting at the front of the cabin, silent in her seat, stroking Bravo’s fur. Behind me, Vera is staring out the window.
“Don’t worry!” Manny calls from the pilot’s cockpit. “I’ve got it all under control. If we’re about to die, I’ll be the first to tell you!”
“Freaking maniac,” Vera mutters under her breath.
Despite my racing heart, I laugh a little.
Uriah sits down in the seat across the aisle. His dark hair is combed back, and I notice that he’s got a scar on the left side of his neck.
“How’d that happen?” I ask, touching my neck.
“I don’t even remember anymore,” he says.
I look out the window. The Central Valley is a tiny blur of yellow and green beneath us. Clouds wisp by outside, and up here, suspended in the air, I feel immune to Omega’s effects. I can understand why Manny loves flying so much.
It is freeing.
“Do you really think this is going to change the way things are going?” Uriah asks suddenly.
“Yes,” I say.
“Three thousand troops,” Uriah goes on. “That’s nothing against Omega.”
I look him in the eye.
“We have to try,” I tell him. “It’s the best we can do.”
“But Omega will come back with millions.”
“They’ve been coming at us with millions,” I say. “But we’ve been pushing them back every time. We just have to pray to God that Chris and the Alliance can hold Monterey’s defenses together long enough to keep Omega from charging up the West Coast again.”
Uriah folds his long, slender fingers together.
“And if our defenses don’t hold?” he says.
“Then we stand,” I conclude. “And we deal.”
A smile spreads across his lips.
“You,” he says, “are the strongest person I know.”
I turn my gaze to the window.
