Rebel Heart

by Lizzy Ford

  Chapter Sixteen

  THE BOMBING OF THE town of Randolph stopped an hour before dawn. At the first drop of laser missiles, Brady had figured there was one thing that would make the fed jets target the inconsequential town, and it was Lana.

  “I called it off,” Tim said. “You have no idea what that took.”

  “I imagine knocking off a few more people allied to Greene. I don’t think you called in this strike,” Brady answered, looking over the flattened city grimly.

  “No one we’re supporting did. Brady, I don’t need to tell you that there are more rats in the fed ranks than I can find. Assume you’re being tracked as well and act accordingly.” The frustration and anger was back in Tim’s voice. Along with it was another emotion: worry.

  “If she’s here, we’ll find her,” Brady assured him. “At least we know she’s alive.”

  “Or was.”

  “Brady out.” He motioned the PMF members behind him towards the city.

  At his request, Charlie had called in everyone in the area to help the survivors. Dan and Elise rolled up on a military transport, and Brady waited for them as the others moved into the town.

  “There’s nothing left,” Elise said, distraught.

  “Not above ground,” Dan replied. “You’re forgetting the underground railroad.”

  Elise appeared relieved then frowned. “Why hasn’t she contacted any of us on her net?”

  “Because this is what happens when she does,” Brady said. “Tim confirmed she’d logged into a database from here. One of Greene’s moles caught it.” He started forward, anxious to see if the underground railroad survived the onslaught.

  “Entrance here,” one of the soldiers called, looking up from the subsurface monitoring device in his hand. Several more joined him to clear out debris and the remains of a building.

  Nothing stood. Brady repositioned his weapons so he could help and began slinging debris away. His body was starting to feel the strain again, but he pushed himself on. Within half an hour, the metal door leading to the tunnel system was cleared away. One of the soldiers blasted it with concentrated laser. It took four strikes before the door caved with a crunch.

  Brady was the first in. He dropped to the ground. Two soldiers stood near the tunnel entrance nearby, weapons raised. He lifted his hands.

  “Everyone alive down here?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” one answered and lowered his weapons. “Is it over?”

  “For now.”

  Dan dropped beside him, followed by Elise.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked, taking in the underground structure. The room beneath the collapsed building was empty.

  “We heard the laser and cleared everyone out,” one of the soldiers answered. “They’re this way.”

  “We’re looking for this woman,” Elise said, striding towards them. “Have you seen her?”

  Brady glanced at Dan. Elise had a one-track mind and less diplomacy than either of them. Dan snorted, and Brady joined Elise as she held out her micro.

  “She’s here,” one of them said. “Refugee. She came in a few days ago with a dog.”

  Brady’s heart quickened. Elise tucked the micro away and started down the hall ahead of the soldiers.

  “Pardon our friend,” Brady said, forcing himself to stay with the soldiers instead of racing down the hall with Elise. “I’m surprised the underground held.”

  “Me, too,” one of them agreed. “Though I’m grateful it did.”

  “Brade,” Charlie called.

  Brady turned to see his friend leading three medics.

  “We’re opening another entrance. You find your girl?”

  “She’s here, sir,” the soldier beside Brady said.

  “Good. Will keep everyone off my back,” Charlie said.

  They walked through the tunnel to a large room, where people sat and whispered. The room fell silent as their group entered. Elise was walking among the survivors, her features growing irritated.

  “Is there another room?” Brady asked, reading the blond woman’s face.

  “There are a few. Let me find Mike,” one of the soldiers said. He trotted down another hallway.

  “Who is Mike?” Brady asked the remaining soldier.

  “He was nominated by the town to lead them and interact with us,” Charlie said. “Good man. Real sharp.”

  “She’s not here,” Elise complained, joining them.

  “I’m working on it already,” Brady told her. “Go stand by Dan and keep quiet.”

  She looked ready to argue but obeyed. Brady couldn’t help but hope not all elite security forces were as high-maintenance as this one. It would make for an aggravating experience, if Tim was serious about assigning him to manage the battlefield from afar.

  A few minutes later, the soldier reappeared with a tall man with a sharp gaze and quick smile.

  “Good to see you, Charlie,” he said, shaking hands with the local commander.

  “You, too, Mike. This is Brady. He and his team are looking for this little girl,” Charlie said, holding up his micro.

  Mike hesitated long enough for Brady to assess the civilian knew where she was.

  “We’re the good guys,” he supplied. “She’s my personal charge. I lost her when our helo went down.”

  “She’s a good girl,” Mike said. “But she’s not here anymore.”

  “Where?” Elise demanded, stepping forward again.

  “She crossed the river.”

  “What, did she swim or something?”

  “Elise,” Brady growled. He pointed to the wall far enough behind him to prevent her from butting in.

  She went.

  “Smuggled her via the subs across the river,” Mike said. “We thought she drew the jets here.”

  “You tossed her out,” Dan said.

  “She begged me to let her leave,” Mike replied, unaffected by Dan’s tone. “When I saw why, I finally listened. I have thousands of lives depending on my decisions. I’m certain you can respect that.”

  “We can.” Brady managed to keep his voice level. “Take us to the sub.”

  Logically, he understood Mike’s decision. But the emotional side of him wanted to wring the man’s neck. Who threw a vulnerable woman—his vulnerable woman!—to the wild to fend for herself? No one would survive the attack that leveled the city.

  Mike obeyed, and they walked through the myriad of tunnels until Elise began grumbling about the distance and Brady became disoriented. At last, they arrived at a metal door that Mike swung open to reveal a tiny submersible docked. The soldier Brady took to be the pilot by his uniform glanced up from his micro.

  “I have a feeling these folks would like to cross the river,” Mike said and motioned to Brady. “They’re looking for the girl you took over earlier.”

  “I can take one of you at a time,” the pilot said. “Mike, you’ll have to call Jim and let him know to meet them. He’s not expecting me for another couple of hours.”

  “Will do. Who’s first?” Mike asked, turning to them.

  Elise started forward, until Brady leveled a glare on her. She frowned but stopped. He stepped forward instead, following the pilot into the sub. The screen lit up in front of them, and the door closed. The sub’s motor hummed quietly and the pilot guided it deftly. Brady gazed at the screen in front of him, unable to decipher the symbols and colors.

  The smooth ride grew bumpy suddenly, and Brady braced himself against his seat.

  “That’s not good,” the pilot said. “Felt like a missile almost grazed us.”

  A sinking feeling filled Brady. The sub bumped against a dock, and the door opened to reveal the man he assumed was Jim, dressed in his workout clothing with mussed hair.

  “I’ll bring the others over,” the sub pilot said.

  Brady heard without responding, striding away from the sub.

  “Sir, you may not want to go above ground just yet. There are missile strikes on this side now.”

 
; His heart dropped at the words. He touched his net implant but found the network scrambled, indicating the jets were sending out electromagnetic pulses in addition to the missile strikes.

  “I need to go to the surface,” he said. “I can’t stop the strikes if I can’t get through on my net.”

  “Very well, sir.”

  They went through another maze before Jim reached a metal door. Before he opened it, Brady could feel the walls shaking from the missile strikes. He smelled the burning trees and metal when Jim opened the door and saw lasers streak through the skies.

  “Tim,” Brady said as soon as he stepped into the open. “Strikes due west of my last position.”

  “I know.” Tim sounded frustrated. “I’m working on it. This is the kind of thing Lana could figure out. It’s taking three so-called experts way too long to figure it out. And the damned comms are down east of the river. So-called experts can’t fix that either.”

  Brady could picture the politician glowering at the three men he towered over. Jim closed the door behind him, and Brady stayed where he was for a long moment, watching the laser strikes. He calmly interjected himself with more drugs to supplement his waning strength then stripped out of the heavier weapons, opting for a knife and small laser gun.

  “Angel, tell me you’re alive over here,” he said.

  There was silence. He hid the rest of his weapons under some bushes near the entrance to the underground world and drew a deep breath.

  “Brady.”

  Her voice was so faint, he thought he’d misheard. He held his breath, waiting for her to speak again.

  “Brady, I’m here. I set up my micro to draw their fire. I shut down the satellites supporting comms on the East Coast, but it’ll only take another two or three minutes before the backups on the sats are enabled.”

  He wiped his face. “Where are you?”

  “Near a large rock.”

  “That doesn’t help me.”

  “You can’t miss it. But wait until—”

  “I’ll be there in a few.”

  “Brady, you can’t cross with the missile fire!”

  “Guardian out.” He closed his personal net, needing to concentrate. Brady set his micro to track any laser fire before pulling his mask over his face. He counted to three then ran.

  The micro warned him of incoming fire, sending the visuals to the implant in his brain. He darted and dashed, stopped and sprinted at its commands, focused on navigating the dangerous territory.

  If Dan were with him, he’d agree: this was the fun part of their job. Brady’s body soared with adrenaline as he silently defied death and reach his goal.

  The sound of a helo broke his concentration, and he glanced upward before the micro warned him of another incoming strike. Brady threw himself down, rolled, and ran, taking cover behind a boulder as the laser missile exploded the ground in front of him. He looked again for the helo and spotted it flanking the area of destruction from a short distance away, traveling the same way he did.

  The micro vibrated, and he bolted up and forward, determined to find Lana before someone else did.