Revolution (48 page)

             
"No one could have done it but you." He let me down and looked me in the eye. "You deserved to be the one set these people free. They'll thank you one day."

             
"Aahhh
," I groaned. "They do all know what I look like now, don't they?" I hadn't thought of that. I peeked back at Merrick who was coming to the same conclusion I was.

             
I was now a target.

             
Then the last sentence played, "We are the revolution. Join us and take back what was yours in-"

             
They cut me off. So they finally found it and stopped
it
, but it was way too late. The news had gotten out, the word received, the message out to the masses. I could have kissed someone! So I did.

             
Merrick's warm arm held me captive and I relished it. I knew he now had a new thing to worry about, but this was our small victory, our rebellion, and we needed to take them as they came. Jeff soon joined our hug and the whooping and hollering continued for a long while.
             

             
Calvin and Frank stopped their victory jig long enough to talk to me. Calvin said, "Sherry, you were great! How does it feel to be a celebrity?"

             
"I'm not a-"

             
"Shyeah, you are!" Frank cut in.
"Everyone is going to know
about
that hot chick who stopped the Lighters!"

             
"Dude!" Calvin hissed.

             
"What? She's hot. What?" he yelled when Calvin punched his shoulder.

             
"Don't talk about her like that!" I wanted to giggle. Even Calvin was in for the
Sherry Protection Detail
. I smiled at them both.

             
"It's all right. Thanks, Frank…I think. And thanks, Calvin."  I slung my arms over their shoulders. "What do you say you help me make some lunch?"

             
"That's chick's work," Frank complained.

             
"Oh, really?" I scoffed. "Just for that, you can do the dishes, too."

             
"Oh, come on! I take it back!"

             
"Too late," I drawled and dragged them to the kitchen with me. "Open these cans and then I'll show you what to do next."

             
"You and your big mouth!" Calvin hissed. "I swear, you're not gonna make it in the real world."

             
"Uhuh!"

             
I tuned them out and started the noodles. Things were looking up and the bunker was alive with excitement and happiness.

             
Though I knew it wasn't going to last, I was surprised by how quickly things went downhill.

             
The TV had been left on and the fuzzy screen played for hours before their regular program finally turned back on. But it was
n't
the regular program. One of the reporters was in the streets and zooming the camera right and then left to show all the chaos.

             
People weren't looting like Miguel had expected, but they
were
fighting. You could see the people fighting each other, but you could also see a few cornering an invisible body. Finally,
finally
, people were realizing that things were different about the Lighters. They didn't know how to fight him properly, but there were so many of them that the Lighter eventually went down I guessed
, though the Lighter was invisible to their cameras,
because they stopped fighting him and moved on.

             
Once again we sat stunned and I realized then why Merrick had told me that no matter what happened, that it was worth it. Things had to get worse before they got better. I tried to remember that as I ached for all those people who had just learned the awful truth.

             
Merrick and Jeff stood at the same time. We knew
i
t was time to go. We couldn't let those people just run around like chickens with their heads cut off. We'd said the rebels would be there
for them
and we needed to be.

             
Everyone that was going
started getting ready to go
. Some of us needed to stay. I wondered about that.

             
But as everyone was running around
we began to hear this loud noise. It sounded like footsteps. Big ones. Kay and Max were in the kitchen with me when the first one struck and both looked at each other. I
waved my hand at them. "No. No Keeper talk. What's going on?"

             
"Don't know," Max said and turned his ear toward the ceiling. "A helicopter maybe?"

             
"That's a big helicopter," Kay mused. "It's moving to
o
slow to be that."

             
Merrick blurred in and looked around. "What was that?"

             
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Max told him.

             
Miguel walked in ready for a fight, all tensed and muscles rolling.

             
"What's the matter?" Merrick asked.

             
"That's the Graphter," Miguel said and Key gasped. Max nodded and Merrick's eyes got wide. "I'd remember that big boy from anywhere."

             
"Then they're here," Merrick said solemnly. He looked at me for just a second before kissing the corner of my mouth. He whispered, "Remember what I said."
             
Then he yelled, "They're here! Let's go, people!"

             
Everyone scrambled around to arm themselves. Pap
was handing out the few rifles we had, while everyone else took the guns from the crates. Guns were useless against their kind, but it felt like you were actually doing something to have a weapon in your hands.
Miguel was loading every limb of his with straps and stakes
and Rylee was helping him, strapping some to the holster for his back. He looked like Van Helsing by the time they were done.

             
Merrick was loading up his weapons, too. He kept looking up at me, trying to see what my decision was going to be. Lily shook in my arms as she watched everything happen around us.
I shook my head at him. I wasn't going…this time. He looked relieved and came to us. He hugged us both and smiled at Lily. "Mommy's going to stay with you this time, but I've got to go."

             
She
pouted
,
but nodded. "I know. Mommy has to stay anyway."

             
I frowned. "Why's that, bug?"

             
"To stay with me, of course!"
             
I smiled. "Ok. Glad we got that straight." I looked up to Merrick. "You better go," I commented, noting that half the others were already loading up in the elevator.

             
"I know." He leaned forward and captured my lips, holding my chin. "I love you."

             
"Love you," I tried not to croak, but did.

             
"Take care of Mommy, Lily."

             
"Ok. Bye, Daddy," she spouted easily. "See you soon."

             
"See you soon," he repeated and walked backwards to the elevator.
He mouthed 'Always' to me
and I tried to smile for him. H
e hopped on with the others. Danny came and gave us both swift kisses on the cheek
before he, too, was gone. So were
Miguel, Jeff, and Ryan.
W
e watched as the men in our lives
left for war.

             
Lily was calm and serene. It was a little eerie. She helped me with the dishes.

             
Dishes. That seemed so stupid and mundane aft
er what had happened and what
they
were
doing out there now. I felt torn in every way. But then Lily
looked up at me from out of no
where. "Mrs. Trudy says it's time to go now."

             
I felt all the breath leave me in a rush. "What?"
             

             
"Mommy, let's go!" she urged and pulled me toward the elevator.

             
"What's going on, Lily?" I said harder so she'd stop.

             
"Ellie's already out there! Now it's my turn. We have to go."

             
"Lily, stop," I told her and grabbed her upper arms. "Tell me what you're talking about."

             
"I'm the key," she said softly. "Mrs. Trudy told me. I have to go out there and be with Daddy."
             

             
"No," I said and shook my head. "No, Lily."

             
"Mommy-"

             
"You're not going out there!" I huffed. "I stayed behind to keep you safe, so why would I-"

             
She touched my cheek with her little hand and there she was. Mrs. Trudy was there and she was smiling the smile I remembered.
I felt a tear escape me. All those dreams…all those visions… "It was real?" I asked.
             

             
"Honey child, I can't leave the kitchen until the casserole's done." She smirked. "This casserole is almost
cooked
."

             
"You mean-"
             
"This is going to work? I sure do. But you have to have some faith. Faith that's the hardest kind to have."

             
"And what's that?" I asked, but knew.

             
"The kind where you take your little girl up topside and let her finish her task."

             
"No," I told her, just like I told Lily. "No."
             
"It's time for the Specials to do what they were made to do."

             
My lips parted, but no words came. I couldn't…
could I?

             
"She's only four," I argued.