“We need to get out of here,” she says. “It’s only a matter of time before they find us. We’re going to start evacuating people using the crank lift. Captain Collins says his boat isn’t far.”
“We’re just leaving?” I ask.
“Those who aren’t soldiers are leaving. The rest of us have a job to do,” she says as she reaches down to help me up.
I gently place Connor’s head on the ground and grab her hand before she says, “Dawn, I want you to go with them.”
“Not gonna happen,” I state matter-of-factly as I walk past her toward the officers and other soldiers.
Gabby doesn’t try to stop me. She knows I won’t just leave.
Officer Lincoln is in charge of the evacuations and as soon as they leave, we split up into three groups, each with a job to do. Officer Mills leads my group towards the control rooms. She carries a flashlight we found in the lab so we can find our way. Our group is the smallest. Lee and I are the only soldiers who might be able to figure out the controls. Officer Mills and a soldier named Kris are our backup.
“Won’t the control room be messed up without power?” I ask as we round the corner.
“The control room is protected,” Lee explains. “It runs off its own power source. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have oxygen down here.”
“It’s probably being guarded,” Officer Mills tells us.
We cut through one of the training rooms and open the door on the other side, slamming it shut just as two soldiers spot us and come running. Kris opens the door only enough stick the nose of his rifle through the opening and fire. We hear screaming on the other side as he fires again. When there is no more noise, he opens the door and we step out into the hall. The two traitors have been shot in the head. I’m glad I’m on the same side as Kris with a shot like that, especially since I’m just now realizing I don’t have my gun. I try not to panic but that only makes it worse.
Officer Mills turns the light off so that we can’t be seen. We have to use our hands to feel along the walls for the right door.
“Hey!” someone yells as we are caught suddenly in a flashlight beam. A door to our left opens and more people begin piling out. Without even thinking, Lee and I run at two of them before they can even draw their guns. Lee drops his guy to the floor while I claw at the eyes of mine. He finally throws me off of him just in time for me to see Kris hit the floor.
The man lifts his gun from its holster and trains it on me. He hesitates. I don’t know why he does, but it gives me enough time to reach for my knife and plunge it into his foot. He screams as a bullet ricochets by my ear, and his gun clatters to the floor. I reach for it without thinking and lean back, taking point blank aim. I pull the trigger and the man falls at my feet. When the fight is over and Officer Mills turns on her flashlight, I see that his face is twisted into a mix of pain and surprise. It is a face I know. Clay.
Still on the ground, I scramble toward the far wall to get away from him.
“Dawn!” Officer Mills is yelling.
I can barely hear her above the rest of the noise in my head. I feel myself lifted and placed into a chair in the control room.
“Dawn,” Lee says, shaking me.
I look at him and reality comes rushing back. Officer Mills stands guard while Lee and I stare at the controls in front of us.
“Oh wow,” I whisper.
“What is it?” Lee asks.
Lee is a soldier but he worked on supply which means he understands more about this place than most. That is why he came with me. I stare at the lights in front of us.
“Every room in the place can be controlled from here,” I answer.
“What does that mean?” he asks.
I look up at the screens overhead. They are connected to the security cameras and I can switch between every room. There are soldiers everywhere. I switch to the command offices and inhale sharply when I see Jonathan Clarke and Allison. Most of the rooms are dark so I can’t make out who is in them but my father’s office is well lit.
“It means,” I begin. “That we can make people go where we want them to go.”
I find the chart that tells me the number for each room. The Command offices are 1, 2, and 3. There is a knob marked O2.
“Let’s see what we can do,” I say as I push the buttons for 1, 2, and 3 while turning the O2 knob.
On screen, we see people beginning to struggle as the oxygen leaves the room. Jonathan Clarke clutches at his throat as he follows his people out into the hall. That will teach him to stay out of my father’s office.
There’s no time to pat ourselves on the back as Lee switches between views of the halls. He’s looking for Gabby’s group. We find them in the middle of a fight. Gabby is losing. Lee turns the sprinklers on and Gabby is able to use her attackers’ surprise to twist out of his grasp. Lee smiles like I’ve never seen him smile before.
I look back at the screen that shows the control room hallway.
“Incoming!” I yell as I see two of Jonathan’s men running down the hall.
“Finish up!” Officer Mills yells. “I’ll hold them off.”
She slams the door, closing us inside the room. We don’t have much time. I press the number 8 for the prison cells and then the button that says Doors. On the screen, we can just barely see the doors swing open in the dark. Okay, one more thing.
“Where are the ramp controls?” I scream as we hear gun fire on the other side of the door.
Lee and I scour the entire control board and find nothing.
“I don’t see them,” Lee yells frantically.
We need to get out there and help Officer Mills, but not before we do this. I start to feel hopelessness creep in until my knee hits something underneath the control desk.
“Of course,” I say, getting to my knees. “They wouldn’t make it obvious.”
I shine the light under the desk and see a small wheel. I begin to turn it and before long, it’s turning on its own. I hit one last button and jump to my feet.
“Time to go! We need to get out of here,” Lee says, both of us not wanting to face what’s in the hall.
It has grown eerily quiet. I open the door slowly and a man’s body falls into the room. I scream and jump back. Lee helps me through the door, but I stop in my tracks. There is another dead traitor and next to him, Officer Grace Mills, my friend. She saved my life once and has done it again.
I crouch down to look into her vacant eyes.
“You’re with Lucas now,” I whisper as I close her eyes and straighten up.
There will be time to mourn when this is all over.
“Let’s go,” I say.
Chapter 45: Jeremy
“Hurry up!” I yell as we run down the hall.
We don’t have far to go. The fire needs to start near the labs. Once it reaches the labs, with all of the explosives and extra gasoline stores in there, the whole place will go up in flames. I look back down the hall as I wave my group into the open training room.
I follow them in at the last minute before a squad of traitors step into the hall. I watch from my hiding place as they enter the labs. They’re looking for us. Dammit. We barely made it out.
I look around the training room… it’s perfect. There are so many things in here that can feed the flames. Mats, ropes, and wooden targets.
I point to Drew and motion for him start pouring the gas around the perimeter of the room. He nods but doesn’t move. I crawl across the floor to see what his problem is.
“If we start this too soon, they might not make it out,” he whispers urgently. “We need to give them time.”
“You are letting your feelings interfere with the mission,” I say, grabbing him by the shirt collar and pulling him close.
“Pour the gasoline,” I growl, releasing him and shoving him into the wall.
He glares at me, but when I reach for the can to do it myself, he grabs it and starts to pour.
I run a hand through my sweaty hair as my squad douse
s the room. This plan is crazy. It’s risky and relies on guesses rather than facts. The underground base has to be getting oxygen from somewhere. Officer Mills thinks the control room is the key, but if she’s wrong, we’re all screwed. We might still be screwed even if she’s right.
I pace back and forth and shine my flashlight along the walls so that we can all see. A soldier brings me a rag. I walk to the other side of the room and dip it in the gasoline. Then I wait. Please, Dawn, give us time to get out before you flood this place with oxygen and turn it into an inferno.
A door bursts open across the room and traitors begin piling in. It’s now or never. I light the rag and throw it into the pooling gasoline. The gas vapors explode into a fireball as we dive for the exit. We run down the hall to the chorus of screaming traitors behind us.
Chapter 46: Gabby
We took out the guards, but it cost us. We lost two soldiers. There are probably more guards coming and we have no idea where Jonathan and Allison are.
“Turn off your lights,” I whisper urgently to the rest of my crew.
Lights go off one by one until we are in complete darkness waiting for Dawn and Lee to open the doors. I press myself against the wall and crouch down. I run through every scenario that could have happened to my sister. I worry about Dawn every second of every day. I can’t help it.
I suggested Lee go with her. No one actually believed that he would be able to figure out the controls, that was all Dawn. I wanted Lee to be with her because he is the only person I trust to protect my sister when I can’t. She has to be okay. Lee wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
I hear something on my left. The doors to the cells are beginning to open.
“Shay!” I whisper urgently to her crouched figure across the hall.
“Yeah?” she responds.
“Take your squad into the second cell. Get as many people out as you can and head for the ramp.”
“Sure thing,” she says as I take my soldiers in the opposite direction, further into the cell block.
I turn my light on before stepping through the doorway and see some familiar faces staring back at me. They’re frightened.
“Soldiers, follow us towards the ramp,” I order.
They completely snap to and make their way past me at the door.
“Is anybody hurt?” I ask.
“Gabby,” Miranda says in a small, pained voice.
I shine my light on her and rush over. The General is slumped against the wall covered in his own blood. I think he’s dead until he coughs weakly.
“We need to get him out of here,” I say, putting one of his arms over my shoulder, but Miranda doesn’t move.
“Miranda!” I yell, but she stills doesn’t move.
“Mom, please,” I stammer.
The words stick in my throat but seem to snap her out of it and she helps me get the General to his feet. We leave a smear of blood behind us as we carry him down the hall.
“Stay with us, dammit,” I say to him.
We slow down as his weight becomes too much.
“I need to stop,” Miranda says.
“Don’t you dare,” I say, gritting my teeth as I strain to keep going.
There are explosions behind us. Soldiers rush by and one stops to help. When we finally reach the car park, it’s full of flames. Miranda is near the point of collapse when another soldier steps up to help out.
As we cross the car park toward the ramp, a voice screams at us from behind.
“Stop!”
I turn my head and see Jonathan catch up with us. We keep moving.
“I will shoot!” he yells.
Miranda wheels around and a shot rings out. Her knees hit the concrete first and then she falls to her side. It happens so suddenly. My mother is dead.
A loud cry rises up from my father and he lurches towards Miranda, taking me with him. We tumble to the ground and I am pinned beneath him. Jonathan stands over us.
“You ruined everything!” he yells, pointing his gun at my head. “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me!”
Suddenly, Allison runs up to Jonathan and pulls on his arm.
“Come on!” she yells desperately. “We need to go!”
Then, as if in slow motion, Jonathan takes a blade from his belt and plunges it into her stomach. There is shock and betrayal on her face as she stumbles backward, falling to the ground as blood pours from her body. Then Jonathan turns toward me once again. As he glares down at me, he doesn’t see a large man walking up behind him. He doesn’t look at anyone but me until he feels the rope around his throat. He struggles, but it’s too late. His eyes bulge and his mouth opens but nothing comes out. A moment later, he stops struggling and his body goes limp as he drops to the floor.
The weight of the General is lifted from me and then, just before I pass out, I see the face of the man as he bends down to take hold of me.
Lee.
Chapter 47: Dawn
Smoke is rushing up from below. Lee and I made it to the ramp in no time, but there’s no sign of Gabby or the others.
“Do you think something went wrong?” I ask Lee.
“They’re running out of time,” he says, just as worried as I am. I’ve never seen Lee so scared before.
“The oxygen that we released is pouring into every room now, feeding the fires. It’ll be hard for them to escape the fires once they’re going,” he says.
“Any word?” Officer Lincoln, asks as he walks up to us.
“Not yet,” I say before turning when we hear screaming.
It isn’t our people. Terrified traitors are running up the ramp.
“I’ll take care of this,” Officer Lincoln says as he goes to round them up.
Lee and I follow his lead. The traitors drop to the ground with their hands in the air, blubbering about a fire. Jeremy and Drew aren’t far behind. Choking, they come running up the ramp.
“We lost three,” Drew says, heaving and hacking.
“We lost Kris and Grace,” I respond.
He looks away so that I don’t see his pain. We all loved Officer Grace Mills.
The smoke coming up the ramp thickens as it billows around us. Officers and Rebel soldiers and traitors alike are running out. By this point, everyone has realized that the base is a total loss. I search the faces. Gabby, where are you?
“She’d better not have pulled some idiotic hero shit,” Lee says as he frantically searches for her.
We can no longer see down the ramp. I find Shay all but collapsed on the ground, coughing and trying to breathe.
“Have you seen Gabby?” I ask her.
She nods, unable to speak through her coughing. She points towards the ramp and Lee takes off running.
“Lee!” I scream after him.
He won’t be able to find her alone in all that smoke. I try to follow him but Drew holds me back.
“Let me go!” I kick and claw at his arm.
“You’ll get yourself killed,” he yells back.
I turn to face him, tears in my eyes.
“Drew, she’s my sister,” I say.
At that, he loosens his grip for just a second and I take off.
“Dawn!” I hear him yell as he runs after me.
Down into the smoke and heat, among all the bodies, I go…running bodies, collapsed bodies, and dead bodies. I look around in a panic and then see Jonathan across the ramp. He is clawing at his neck and when he falls to the ground, I see Lee standing over him. Drew has caught up and we rush over. Gabby is trapped under a body and our mother is lying dead next to her. Drew rolls the man off of her and I gasp in recognition as he lifts my father. Lee bends down and lifts Gabby into his arms.
I follow them but stumble in the dense smoke and confusion. Someone grabs my foot and trips me. It’s Allison and she has a knife sticking out of her stomach. I get to my feet. No time to think. I drag her by her shirt as the ramp starts to collapse, drowning out the screams of those who didn’t make it. We leave a trail of bloo
d and it takes all of my strength but I keep going as the ground becomes unbearably hot.
“You are not dying here,” I say, clenching my jaw as I strain. “You saved me once. This is payback.”
After going a few more feet, I realize her twitching has stopped and her eyes are vacant.
“No!” I scream.
Drew has run back to help me and he tries to pull me away from the dead traitor.
“She’s gone,” he says as I fight to drag her anyway.
Allison was good once. We all were.
Drew’s grip around me tightens as he whispers into my ear, “your sister needs you.”
I stop fighting and let him lead me away from Allison and above ground. Out in the open, Gabby is lying down but her eyes are open. She’s okay. Lee is kneeling by her side with tears running down his face. I’ve never seen him cry. He reaches toward her and strokes her hair, only stopping when I come running up beside him.
“Gabby,” I whisper, flooded with relief as her eyes focus on me.
“Hey Dawny,” she says as she tries to smile but ends up coughing instead.
Lee helps her sit up to keep whatever she is coughing up from going back down. She falls back but Lee and I catch her.
“The world is spinning,” she says faintly.
We keep her upright because we don’t want her passing out on us.
“It isn’t safe here. We need to get going,” Jeremy interrupts. “Captain Collins says his boat has dropped anchor near here.”
We lift Gabby to her feet. She tries to help us but she’s too weak.
“Whoa!” she grunts, grabbing on to us. “It feels like someone is spinning my head.”
She is too weak to walk so Lee lifts her gently into his arms.
As we follow the group toward the river, I look back one more time and watch the flames near the ramp before focusing ahead, unsure of what comes next for a fractured Rebel force without a home.
Eve of Tomorrow (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 3) Page 13
