No one comes near me. I look at my sister who’s standing there in shock. Lee is leaning against the wall catching his breath, and Drew is on the ground. He’s been shot in the calf, but he’ll survive.
“We need to find the weapon,” Dawn says finally, tossing me a rifle.
Lee and Dawn have Drew slung between them as we exit the room, guns ready.
Chapter 88: Gabby
“It has to be here,” I say, tossing aside an empty crate.
“We’ve searched every damn room in this house,” Lee responds.
“I have a question for you guys,” Dawn chimes in. “Without Joseph Kearn, does the weapon really matter?”
“Of course it does!” I snap.
“But who’s going to use it now?” she continues. “And maybe Kearn has hidden it so it can’t be found. He might have been our only chance of finding it.”
“He wouldn’t have told us anything!” I snap defensively.
“We know that Gabs,” Lee says passively.
“Let’s stop for the night,” Dawn says. “We can look with fresh eyes tomorrow.”
“Shite,” I say, my shoulders sagging in defeat, “okay.”
I sigh and walk away from them. They don’t follow me. There’s only one person I want to talk to right now.
I climb past the demolished truck and out across the lawn strewn with Moreno corpses before slipping into the barn and walking on silent feet to where Jeremy still lies, or his body does anyway. I kneel beside him and take his cold hand.
“I’m so sorry, Jeremy,” I whisper as the tears run down my face. “We started this together, you and me. Do you remember? In Floridaland? I wish you were here to help me now.”
I don’t say anything else for a while. I’m spent and lost in thought. When my eyes finally dry, I stand. “You were a good friend, Jeremy. You deserved better than this,” I say.
I look around for something I can wrap his body in to take it out of this barn for burial.
I pull on a tarp that covers a stack of crates nearby. It comes free, and I’m about to bring it over to Jeremy’s body, when I see the glint of a metal canister between the wooden slats. I reach in and pull out a cylindrical metal tube.
“My God, Kearn,” I whisper. “Thank you, Jeremy.”
I run out the door of the barn, screaming to Lee and Dawn.
“I found it!” I yell. “The damned thing was in the barn!”
I expect to hear Dawn respond in excitement or to see Lee run to me. Instead, I hear Lee scream.
“Gabby! Get down!”
Chapter 89: Dawn
They come in firing as soon as they see the smoldering house and Gabby running across the courtyard. Two truckloads of Moreno men send Gabby scampering back toward the barn. They pile out and surround the barn. There’s a burst of gunfire and several of them storm in through the doors. Then there’s more gunfire and shouting before everything is silent.
I look at Lee in terror and disbelief.
“It’s Gabby. She’ll figure out a way out of there,” he says, but his voice is not nearly as confident as his words.
We are no match for their truck-mounted machine guns, so we stay hidden.
After a few long minutes, the soldiers begin carrying crates from the barn and loading them. It doesn’t take me long to figure out what’s going on.
“They’re taking the weapon,” I say, drawing in a sharp breath.
“We need to do something and fast,” Lee says. “Drew, how’s the leg?”
“I can help,” he says through gritted teeth. He’s in pain and has lost a lot of blood.
“They’ll be coming in here next. We need to get out of here and help Gabby,” I say.
I help Drew to his feet and he winces as he puts weight on his shredded leg.
“I can run,” he promises me.
I nod and open the door. Drew, Lee, and I make our way down the back staircase and into the brush. From there we wait and watch as some of the soldiers finish loading while several others cautiously make their way to the house.
Just as they approach the front door, an explosion rips through the first truck, sending truck and body parts flying across the lawn.
Dazed, the soldiers loading the other truck back away before being cut down by a machine gun and a second explosion slams the remaining truck.
A huge fireball envelops the grounds around the barn as the artillery shells holding the virus explode in succession. We are in shock until a few moments later when a troop of soldiers step out of the darkness to finish off the last of the Mexican men.
More troops, trucks, and then my father appear. His weapons are drawn and he’s shouting commands. I can’t wait another second. I spring up and go running for the barn, shouting my sister’s name.
“Gabby!” I scream, but there’s no answer.
The soldiers take aim until Drew shouts, “General Nolan! It’s Dawn, Drew, and Lee!”
“Gabby!” I yell again as I approach the barn. “Where are you?”
I fling open the barn doors and plead into the darkness.
“Gabby, are you in here?” I ask.
A muzzle flashes and Lee drops one last Mexican hiding inside.
I don’t turn around as I yell, “Someone get me a light!”
Lee appears beside me, torch in hand, and we enter together. Jeremy’s body is lying where he fell, against the far wall half covered in a tarp. We step closer and that’s when we see her. My sister’s lifeless, bloody body is sprawled in the dirt in front of the last crate of biological weapons.
“No,” I stammer, trying to remember to breathe. “No!”
I take Lee’s hand as we kneel beside her. There is no pulse.
“You can’t leave me, Gabs,” I say, reaching for her hand.
Suddenly there is more light around us, and soldiers are coming in the barn, but they don’t make a sound.
“You found the weapon,” Lee says to Gabby, leaning down to look directly into her face. “You did it. You saved your people.”
He kisses her forehead and flattens her hair as I sit motionless.
“I love you,” he says, sobbing, “so much.”
I reach out to cup her chin and then wipe away the slow trickle of blood streaking down her beautiful face.
“What am I supposed to do without you?” I ask her finally.
I lift my teary gaze to the weapon Gabby died to find.
“She completed her mission,” I say to Lee.
“Of course she did,” Lee responds. “Was there ever any doubt?”
We are surrounded by a reverently silent group of Rebels, to whom Gabby is now a legend. They bow their heads and move back as Drew limps forward. He wraps his arms around me and I bury my face in his chest and sob.
“Your father is here,” he says softly.
I lift my eyes to his and then get to my feet.
I grab Lee’s torch and scan the faces surrounding me.
He steps out of the shadows, tears streaming down his face. He holds his arms out to me and I start to cry all over again as I run to him and he holds me tightly.
“Shhhhh,” he whispers into my hair, rocking me gently. “Shhhhh.”
Chapter 90: Dawn
We buried Gabby and Jeremy the next morning.
How do you say goodbye to someone you loved with every inch of your being?
They called her and Jeremy “heroes,” but that doesn’t make it any easier.
I miss you, Gabby, terribly. And I wish you could be here to see the results of your sacrifice.
Chapter 91: Dawn
We’ve been in New Penn for about two months now, and everywhere I go, people ask me about my sister. They want to know the tale of the girl who led an unlikely group of people to save everyone.
The weapon was destroyed, leaving the way clear for the English to come here, and come here they did. They’ve been arriving in droves and I’ve been told it’s going to take over a decade for the English migration to be complete
. Everyone is working hard to get them set up in their new lives. Hell, we’re still working on our new lives. I wish Gabby were here to help. I talk to her daily.
I tell her all about this new world we’re creating, the one that she made possible. I tell her about what it’s like to have a father again instead of just a general. How he spends his days working in the garden or in the smoke room. I’ve found him cooking in the kitchen and once he was even doing laundry. Riley is the unofficial leader here, and my father has gladly ceded all power to him.
“Jerky!” my dad calls as he enters the house, balancing a platter of meat.
I can’t help but smile when he’s in a mood like this. He sets the plate down as Drew and I sit with him.
“Hope you like jerky,” Dad says, winking at Drew.
“Again?” Drew and I say simultaneously before laughing.
Jerky was our first meal together as stowaways aboard that British transport plane. We weren’t too fond of each other then.
“Hey guys,” Lee pops his head in. “Jerky! I love Jerky!”
He sits down and helps himself. This is how most evenings go. We pick up our meals from the kitchen and then we end up here, eating together, a family. Lee doesn’t talk about Gabby much, but I know it still hurts. We have an unspoken agreement that we don’t ask each other how we’re doing. We already know the answer. It’s going to take time.
Ryan and his kid sister Emily wander in next. Ryan was already here when we arrived. His family lost their fight in Cincinnati, but the survivors were allowed to leave. They came to New Penn for a fresh start.
Corey drops by most nights as well, and tonight is no different. He never had much of a choice in becoming a Rebel after his parents were killed in their Texas home. He could never bring himself to go back. He says that none of us are Rebels now. He says we’re not even British, or Texan, or American now. Colonials maybe? I don’t know. We have a lot to figure out in this new world.
I catch my father’s eye and he gives me a sad smile. We are both missing the people that will never come through that door.
“Who’s up for hunting tomorrow?” Ryan asks.
That’s the turn the conversation takes. Although we joke and laugh and smile, none of our thoughts are ever far from everyone who isn’t here at this table. After losing so much, we’re all trying to figure out how to go on, together. We will never forget the people that got us here, but, one day, maybe it won’t hurt so much.
Chapter 92 : Epilogue
10 years later
Dawn
“How’s the expansion going in the west?” I ask Lee as we pour over a map of the rapidly growing New Penn.
“Everything is on schedule,” he answers.
“Good,” I respond. “We need to come up with a name for the new town.”
“I’ll get some people on that,” he replies, scratching his head. “Storm season is coming and the northern silos are a bit low on grain.”
“The southern fields had a great crop this year. See what they have to say down there,” I tell him.
“Yes ma’am,” he says, turning to leave.
“Lee,” I say, irritated. “Can you please stop that?”
“You’ve been elected,” he says, a glint of humor in his eyes. “I’m just showing you the respect our leader deserves.”
He bows and I swat at his head.
“Just go,” I say with laugh.
“Will I see you tomorrow at your father’s?” he asks.
I nod and he gives me a small hug before heading out to complete the tasks I’ve given him. Lee’s my resource manager, in charge of food stores, energy, and water, and he’s really good at it. He seems content.
I sit in my oversized chair in my oversized office and lean back with my feet on the desk. How did I get here?
New Penn has branched off into other towns as more and more people have immigrated. We’re expanding as fast as humanly possible and our population has reached the thousands.
Peace has been the name of the game for the past ten years, so people are having children and carving out lives for themselves. It took me a while after Gabby’s death, but I eventually moved on as well.
I play with the bracelet on my wrist that I still wear most days. Gabby stole it, for me. That’s how I got here. I laugh at the absurdity of it all, and then sigh as I focus on the report in front of me. I crumple it up and toss it in the dustbin as there is a knock on my door.
“Yes?” I answer.
Drew pokes his head in and smiles.
“Hi,” he says. “Can we come in?”
“Of course,” I answer as I stand and move around my desk.
Drew comes in, hand-in-hand with the most precious girl I have ever seen.
“Hi Gab,” I say as I reach down to pick her up.
She grins and wraps her chubby arms around my neck.
“Hi mommy,” she says as I kiss her head and smile at Drew.
He gives me a quick kiss before saying, “I wanted to do that before I give you news that will keep you from coming home to us early tonight.”
I groan. If I could, I would leave with them now.
“What’s happened?” I ask, bracing for bad news.
“Nothing bad,” he says quickly. “Adrian Cole, Mya Moreno, and Carlos Carlita have arrived for the trade summit.”
“Oh,” I say.
We weren’t expecting them until two days from now.
“I guess I better go welcome them to New Penn,” I say.
“Your dad wants to know if we’re coming over for dinner tomorrow,” Drew says before I go.
“Tell him I wouldn’t miss it,” I say, pausing. “And I’ll bring Adrian with me.”
“You know what tomorrow is, right?” he asks.
I sigh and nod my head. I’ve been doing my best not to think about it.
“It’s my sister’s birthday,” I answer, my voice coming out quietly.
Before coming to the colonies all those years ago, Gabby and I always did birthdays together, just the two of us. She would be thirty tomorrow. We still celebrate it every year even though she isn’t here to join us.
Sensing my mood change, Drew takes our little girl from my arms and gives me another kiss before heading for the door.
“I’ll see you at home, Mrs. President,” he says before closing it behind them.
Thank You
Thank you for reading Eve of Tomorrow! I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing it with you! Your support and encouragement is invaluable and very much appreciated. One of the most important tools for authors today are your reviews. I would love for you to leave your honest feedback at the online retailer where you bought this book.
-Michelle Lynn
About Michelle
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, Diana Gabaldon, Robin Hobb, Brian Herbert, 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 now resides in Venice, Florida, being inspired every day.
Connect with Me
Author Michelle Lynn
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Eve of Tomorrow (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 3) Page 22
