by K. A Knight
Ground Day Eight
I watch as we break up and they start spreading the word to our people. As I expected, the vote was ‘closed,’ as Harron called it. He explained he would take their concerns and thoughts into consideration before deciding on a course of action, one that would be beneficial for Colony 43 and their future. It was very diplomatic and if you didn’t know him, it would sound like he actually cared, but the hard edge to his eyes let me know he wasn’t happy with the fact that people didn’t immediately jump on his bandwagon and agree with him. He doesn’t have as much power as he wants and that will work in our favour. As the crowd disperses, I nod at people and greet them as they pass.
“We won’t let it happen,” someone whispers to me.
“We are with you,” another says softly, their voices of support rising up until I’m smiling.
“He won’t hurt him, not while we are here,” another adds.
“Colony 43 forever! Fuck the rebels,” someone shouts and Harron steps up, his eyes zeroing in on the crowd as he tries to find who yelled, while his goons push through the horde, but it’s too busy and they can’t figure out who said it.
“Fuck the rebels,” I whisper with a smile, before turning away. I have my own jobs to do and it’s time to get to work.
I spend the rest of the afternoon getting everything ready and checking in on people until there is nothing left to do…apart from talk to Cain again. I find him in our tent, sitting on his bag and staring at the floor like he doesn’t know where else to go or what to do. Sighing, I close the flap behind me and step inside. He looks up at me and I freeze at the pain I see on his face.
“It’s time for whatever you want?” he asks, turning away from me, and I watch as he rebuilds himself before my eyes.
“Cain—” I start, but I don’t want to see him in pain as much as I should. I guess I am not that type of person and part of me still loves him…I just don’t trust him and yeah, I’m still hurt.
“I’m fine, what do you need?” he inquires, still looking away from me. I can feel distance between us and it’s killing me, but do I really want to cross that? If I put myself at his mercy again, aren’t I the fool? That old saying goes, fool me once, shame on you… fuck. Why is this so hard?
“Indy, what do you need?” he repeats, finally looking at me. His face is blank, making me flinch.
“I need you to get into an argument with your dad,” I reply.
He snorts bitterly. “Shouldn’t be hard,” he mutters. “Fine, when?”
“When I give the signal.” I tap my chest before making a fist and he nods, and then gets to his feet and brushes off before facing me.
“Is that everything?” he asks coldly.
I incline my head, confused at his one-eighty.
“Are we done?” he questions, and for a moment I see that ice thaw and Cain peek out before he covers it up. I freeze at the words. Does he mean us, or is that all I needed? Either way, the truth is I don’t know. I don’t know if I know how to walk away from Cain and not love him, but I also don’t know if I can forgive him…that leaves us here, facing each other, both not knowing how to fix this.
He laughs bitterly and goes to step around me before stopping beside me. Leaning down, his lips brushing my ear, he whispers, “I love you, Indy Stewart, always have, always will. Remember the promises you made me…” Then he kisses my hair. “Always look for the truth,” he whispers, and then disappears like he didn’t just rock my world.
My promise…not to leave him? Or that I know everything he does is for me? What does that mean? My mom’s voice comes to me then, echoing the very same words he just told me. Always look for the truth…is there something I am not seeing? More secrets? How does he link to my parents, to the rebellion? The plot is only getting thicker and thicker, winding around me until I don’t know which way is up.
“Indy, you ready?” Riley hisses from outside the tent.
Licking my lips, I nod, even knowing she can’t see me. “Yeah,” I croak. I have that feeling again, that one of impending doom, and somehow it has to do with Cain. Have I been wrong all along? Is he….is he not a rebel?
“Come on, it’s almost time,” she mutters, and I turn and leave the tent. Riley glances over at me and frowns. “You okay?”
Blinking at her words, I suck in a breath. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I mumble, the lie flowing from my tongue.
Always look for the truth…have I not been doing that? Have I been fooled? I have a feeling I am going to find out and soon, but will I survive the price it costs to understand?
The sun is getting lower in the sky while we are all in position around camp. We are waiting for it to get dark. An hour ago there was an announcement that at midnight they would be executing Barrott. There was an uproar, but Harron ignored it all, meeting my eyes in the camp and grinning. Now, he’s sitting at his table, laughing and joking with men as they eat the food they never offered to half the camp, who are watching them with hunger. Twat waffles.
The time drags on, each laugh and word I hear from their table grating on me until I am wound up so tight I feel like I might explode. Craning my neck, I watch the sky as it slowly deepens from blue to orange, and then finally…to dark blue and black. Dragging my gaze back down, a smile curls my lips. It’s time. I check in with Riley, Auden, and Eldon, and they all nod so I turn and find Cain. He is sitting near the firepit, his eyes on me over the flames, so I give him the signal. He looks away for a moment before looking back at me, and I frown at his expression. He looks…worried? “I love you,” he mouths, and it hits me like hammer. Why does that feel like a goodbye? I start forward, but he is up before I can make it two steps and striding towards his dad and his goons.
His head is held high, his shoulders loose, and he has his swagger back in his walk, and it’s then I realise I haven’t seen this side of Cain since the news about his mom. The upper is back and ready to cause chaos…for me. He reaches his dad’s table, bends over, grabs a cup, and throws the water right over his dad. My mouth drops open as people whoop and laugh, gathering around, all part of the plan, and blocking their view of the command centre. I force myself to turn away as Cain starts arguing with his dad, reminding myself that he is a big boy, he can take care of himself, and they won’t hurt him since he is one of them. Eldon, Auden, and the builders are all ready near the gate as the guard there swears, and heads over to try and break up the crowd and argument. They instantly rush in, starting on getting rid of the fence and gate there, giving us a way out.
I watch the guard get lost in the crowd, the numbers consuming him easily, and as I pass by his weapon is pushed into my hands. I sling it over my shoulder before heading over to Riley, who is sliding up to the guards at the door to the command centre. One is watching the crowd with a frown and whatever she says works, because he jogs over, intent on stopping it, leaving just her and the second guard. I reach her side just as she licks up his neck and whispers in his ear, before grabbing his head and smashing it back into the building, knocking him out cold. She grabs his weapon as he falls to the floor and grins at me.
“That was both hot and scary,” I comment, as I grab the keys from my pocket and quickly unlock the chains, dropping them to the floor before pocketing the keys again. Pulling open the door, I grin at a shocked looking Barrott. “Hey damsel, your knight is here,” I tease.
He grabs me, swinging me into his arms, and kisses me. I moan into his mouth, pulling him to me as I kiss him back before Riley interrupts.
“Not that this isn’t entertaining, but we have a camp to flee,” she reminds us, and I pull away, winking at her.
“We can’t leave.” Barrott frowns.
I turn back to him and glare. “We have to, they are going to kill you,” I snap.
“And if we leave? What do you think they will do to everyone else? You think us going to the aliens will stop them?” he gently points out and I swear. He’s right.
I look at Riley, a new plan forming. “Spaceba
lls, I have an idea.”
“Fuck yes, I like that look on your face. Please tell me I finally get to shoot some bastards,” she begs and I laugh.
“Hot, but scary,” I remark. “How about letting you threaten them?” I grin and she laughs.
“I’m listening.”
The crowd is tight around the table where Cain and his dad are still arguing when we head over. I notice both guards knocked out, gagged, and hogtied near the firepit, and laugh. Jim hands the other weapon over to Barrott when we get there.
“Nice to have you back.” He grins.
Barrott claps him on his back as him and Riley head into the trees to sneak up on the guards still surrounding Harron, while a path clears through the crowd for me. I stroll up to the table and clear my throat. Harron looks at me with a snarl. “What the fuck do you want, bitch?”
“Why is it always bitch?” I grumble, before pulling back my arm and punching him straight in his smug face. “Fuck, you deserved that,” I moan, holding my hand, as Barrott and Riley emerge from the trees and point the barrel of their guns at the two guards who were about to take aim at me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Riley really wants to shoot someone and Barrott likes to hurt people,” I offer with a shrug.
Cain steps closer, grabbing my hand and turning it over to check for damage, but I tug it back with a strained smile. “I’m fine.” Turning to the crowd, I face the people of Colony 43, knowing some of them are rebels. “The rebellion is over, anyone working with or who is part of the Saviours will be detained. We will have peace on this planet,” I yell and I watch a few people trying to get out of the crowd, but a whistle cuts through the air and we all turn as people seem to dissolve from the trees themselves. I’ll admit, even my mouth drops open.
Lee is at the front with a gun in his hand, and at least twenty people are behind him, all survivors of Dawnbreaker. They all look a little worse for wear but alive. He heads over, stopping and pointing the gun at the fleeing rebels. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He grins, before glancing at me. “Hey Indy, need a hand?”
“It looks like you have some to spare,” I joke, and then look at Barrott and he nods.
“Put them in the command centre,” he orders, leading the guards over and throwing them in, before snatching the comms unit and map out of it. Lee leads the other rebels, and the rest of the camp helps push the people who assisted Harron inside. I look over everyone here to make sure I don’t see anyone from the meeting, but they are all in the command centre—it’s a tight squeeze.
“Oh, Barrott, thought you might want to know that bastard hit Indy,” Auden adds gleefully and I groan.
Barrott turns to Harron, his face like thunder, and the upper stumbles back in fear. Barrott keeps advancing and I don’t even see it coming, he knocks him out and lets him fall to the floor. “Anyone touches Indy and they will have me to talk to!” he shouts, before looking at me. “Which hand did he slap you with?” he asks, his voice deadly and serious.
“Big guy—” I try, but he shakes his head.
“Tell me,” he growls.
“Left.” I sigh.
My eyebrows raise when he grabs Harron’s left hand while the man is still unconscious. Crouching there, he keeps his eyes on me as he squeezes. I hear the bones break as he snaps his fingers before letting go and Harron comes to, screaming while Barrott steps back and kicks his side. “Shut the fuck up, you are lucky I didn’t chop it off.” With that, he hauls him up and throws him inside the command centre, still blubbering about his hand.
“Big guy.” I laugh. “What am I going to do with you?”
He walks over, his lips twitching as he thumbs the cut in my lip. “Love me forever?” he offers.
I grin. “You’re fucking crazy, he won’t forget that.”
“I don’t care, no one touches you,” he growls, and he goes to kiss me but someone calls his name and he snarls, yanking himself away, but not going far while he listens to them.
I walk over to Lee with a smile and he grabs me in a hug before letting go. “Am I glad to see you.”
“We’ve been watching for the last two days. We saw Harron and didn’t want to just walk in, we wanted to see how it all went down,” he admits and I sigh.
“Thank you for helping.” I squeeze his arm and frown when I hear yelling. I look over my shoulder to see someone in Cain’s face. Rushing over to his side, I separate them although Cain doesn’t seem to be yelling back, merely standing there and taking it.
“He’s a fucking rebel, he should be in there with the rest of them,” the man sneers, glaring past me to Cain.
I step in front of him, facing down the man as Barrott heads over with a frown. “He is,” I admit and the camp stirs again. “We can’t put him in there, he helped us,” I argue.
“Indy,” Barrott mutters with a sigh.
“He helped us!” I scream, looking at him for help, but no one else says anything, no one speaks up for Cain. A hand lands on my shoulder and I whirl to see a distraught looking Cain, but he quickly masks it with a cocky smile.
“It’s okay, speed demon, don’t fight over me, eh?” He winks but it falls flat.
“You promised me the truth, and I can’t get that if you are in there,” I rush out, desperate.
“I will tell you, but everyone is wound up right now, okay? It’s been a hard day. I will go in there if it makes them feel better. If that’s what they want, what you want,” he reasons.
“I don’t know what I want,” I whisper and he nods, looking away before grinning at me again.
“I’ll be there waiting when you figure it out, I could do with a good nap.” He winks before stepping closer, dropping a soft kiss on my forehead like he couldn’t help himself. “I’ll wait for you, Indy, forever if I have to, you’re worth it.” He steps away, heading to the command centre without any prompting, and closes the door after him. The chains are put back on and Barrott holds his hand out for the keys. Swallowing hard, I pass them over with shaking fingers. He locks it up and pockets the keys before pulling me into his arms.
“He will be okay. Let the tension die down and we can talk about what happened, and then you can get whatever you needed to know from him,” he whispers, before pulling back, his arms still wrapped around my shoulder. Auden and Eldon run over, checking me over for injuries.
“You okay, Good Looking?” they both ask and I nod, trying to stay strong.
“You?”
“Like anyone could hurt us,” Eldon scoffs.
“Yeah, look at us, Good Looking. We are way too pretty for them to harm us,” Auden jokes, both grinning so hard they show their dimples.
“Alright people, let’s get this camp back in order. Those who haven’t eaten, have at it. Then let’s get some shut eye,” Riley hollers then claps, and people start moving again. She heads over to us. “We need to sort out a watch rotation for the prisoner cells.” She frowns and Barrott nods, before stepping away after squeezing me. I need to check on the camp then go and make sure Jolp is okay, and that the jinum isn’t angry and blaming us...that the peace isn’t broken.
“I’m going to check on everyone,” I call and he nods, smiling at me softly as he and Riley sort out the logistics. “Come on guys, I can’t wait to sleep tonight,” I tell them, and they grab my hands as we help get the camp sorted.
It’s hard work. In the short time he had power, Harron really messed things up and worked his way through our stores without a thought for stockpiling. I check in with everyone and am just approaching Lee to figure out where they came from when I hear Barrott.
“Indy!” Barrott yells, interrupting a conversation I was having with a camp member. I look up and see him watching me with a concerned look. Excusing myself, I jog over but his words stop me. “Howard is awake.”
Ground Day Eight
I don’t even remember leaving. I’m sprinting to the alien camp. Barrott is swearing behind me, and I hear him yelling to Riley as he chases after me, with Auden and El
don on his heels. Although I can hear his voice as he barks orders, all I keep hearing are his earlier words—Howard is awake—like a mantra, with every step my foot makes on the packed earth until the alien camp comes into view. I race through it, straight into the building, skidding down hallways until I stop outside of the medical room. The door is up and I stop there, breathing heavily as I debate knocking before it dissolves and a teary, smiling Effie is revealed.
“Babe,” she cries and flings herself in my arms. I catch her, wrapping my arms around her as we both laugh and cry.
“Cupcake, that you?” I hear a weak voice coughing, and I pull back from Effie and she grins, nodding as we step into the room to see Howard propped up on the bed. He still looks weak, but he is awake and smiling at me like nothing has happened or changed. “Hey, Indy.” He grins and I laugh, throwing myself onto his bed size, with tears racing down my face.
He frowns. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” he asks and I shake my head.
“I was so worried,” I whisper and he smiles softly.
“Like that daughter of mine wouldn’t save me.” He grins and I laugh. “So, what did I miss?”
I suck in a breath, my gaze drifting to Barrott, and Effie looks at me from the other side of the bed, obviously reading something in my face. “Babe?” she prompts.
“Long story.” I wince, before looking back at Howard. “For another time, all that matters is that you are awake.”
His eyes narrow but he lets it go. “Are you okay?” he inquires, pointing at my lip. I had forgotten all about the split lip from Harron, shit.
“Fine, so, hero Howard, eh?” I joke and he lets me change the subject, but I catch his narrow-eyed look at my lip.
