Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1) (25 page)

Adam leaned against the wall. The muscles in his biceps flexed as he crossed his arms. Tilting his head back, he took in a deep breath of air. "They won't wonder. They are going into evacuated houses and using them as homes. The soldiers know we don't want to kill them. We aren't as ruthless as Stephan's men."

My heart stopped. I killed that woman in a heartbeat. Was I as ruthless as the bad? Had I changed that much? I thought back to the person I was when I woke up. Before I wouldn't have killed her. I would have ran. Before. That was before. She was just another number on all the lives I have taken. I was different now. Weaker now. The light I once held was dwindling down to nothing. The world was changing me and I knew I needed that for survival.

I broke the silence. "What do we do now?"

Adam stood up straight. He blanked his face and turned to walk away. "Whatever Seth tells us to do."

I followed Adam like a lost puppy. I wanted his warmth back. His acceptance... His love. I've grown fond of him through the past month or so that I have known him. He was always there whenever things were at the lowest point. All he ever showed was warmth to me and I made him this cold man walking in front of me. I wanted him back. He wanted nothing to do with me. His spine was rigid, but he walked with confidence.

We made it to the side of the tunnel with the injured rebellions. It was quiet. No shouting. No fighting. No cursing. The ones that were in pain weren't even groaning. The atmosphere was depressive. Sad. What had changed since I left?

I looked to Adam for answers, but he was back to pretending I didn't exist. I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort. I was cold and alone.

It took me a few moments to notice Seth. His lips were turned down in a deep frown. He had a map bunched up in his hand. His copper hair hung in his face blocking his dark eyes. Everything about him seemed dark and sinister. He was the moon while his brother was the sun.

Seth spoke, his voice was deep and calm. I had a feeling he wasn't feeling very calm. "As you all know they are using the diseased against us. The diseased will kill us, will infect us, so we have no choice but to execute the threat." He looked around at everyone making sure he had their attention. His eyes hovered over me long enough to make me squirm. Adam took a step away from me. Seth continued to speak. "I understand that you may know some of the diseased, but we have no choice but to kill them. Right now it's killed or be killed. I'm going to send troops out and on top of our priority list will be to take out the diseased."

Whispers filled the tunnel. I saw disagreement on everyone's face. Seth watched with a calm and collected look. Nobody wanted to follow his order. Nobody wanted to obey him. I understood where he was coming from. We can't fight a war against soldiers and the diseased. If we didn't kill the diseased, they would either kill us or infect us. Is that what being a leader was like? Making tough decisions that would make everyone hate you?

Adam turned and walked down the tunnel. I glanced back at his retreating figure. Something overcame me and I followed him.

"Leave Brianna." He demanded.

I didn't say anything but continued to follow him. I was going to make him talk to me. I was done with the silent treatment. He or I could die any moment. Then one of us would be living our life with regret.

"I remember the first time I met you." The random thought escaped my lips. "In the forest. I was so lost and so confused."

Adam picked his pace up. "Sleep Brianna. I need to patrol."

"I'll come with you."

Adams back tensed. "Just leave. I don't want you here."

My step faltered, but I pushed myself to keep going. He was probably my only real friend here. I was not going to let him get rid of me that easily. Feeling like a puppy that kept getting slapped in the face, I fought back my hurt. He was hurting. I was hurting. We were all hurting right now.

We were quiet as we slid out of the tunnel again. Adam led us to an abandoned building. Chills slid down my spine when we went inside. He ducked by a window, aimed his gun, and took watch. I watched him watch everything. His eyes were alert. He was completely focused on his task. It was like I wasn't here. In his mind, I did not exist.

I flinched when he fired his gun. My stomach turned when I heard a body drop to the ground. Looking, I saw it was a diseased. I would have thought he was unaffected by taking her life if it wasn't for the slight clench in his jaw.

Sitting on the ground next to him, I put my hand on his arm for comfort. I had expected him to pull away like my skin was acid, but instead, he seemed to almost lean into my touch.

Maybe eventually, things would be okay. For now, all aspects of my life was a disaster but somewhere deep down inside I still held hope. That's what kept me going every day. That little light of hope. 

The sun had gone down. That's when most of the crazies came out. They were ransacking the broken city. Their laughter was malicious. Random ear shattering screams filled the air.

The rebels had to stop shooting. The noise from the guns attracted them here. It had to be hand in hand combat. I stayed at Adam's post. I watched him carefully every time he left our hidden spot. If one got close to hurting him, I would shoot. I couldn't imagine being trapped in this world if he was no longer here.

I heard a rattle behind me. Pulling my eyes away from Adam, I turned around and aimed my gun at the noise. It was dark in here. The moonlight barely lit the dark store up.

Squinting my eyes, I searched for any sign of movement. Was a diseased in here? Was a soldier in here? The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I knew I was not alone. I could feel it.

The screaming from the diseased sounded far away. Almost like a distant memory. I should have checked to see if there was a back entrance to the store.

I jumped when a glass bottle rolled across the floor to me. I was now a hundred percent sure someone was in there with me. They had the advantage. They could see me from the moonlight and I couldn't see them.

I had two options. Stay and fight or try and get out of here without being detected by the diseased. Earlier I had seen four of them tear apart a rebel. I had a new sense of fear for them.

Fight or flight.

I chose fight. Bending down with my gun aimed, I picked up Adams flashlight. Hoping the diseased outside wouldn't see the light, I flashed it through the store. The store was littered with garbage, torn up clothes, and dead rats. I crinkled my nose. That's where that scent was coming from.

Quick movement shot across the store. I attempted to keep up with my flashlight. If I shot whatever it was, all the diseased outside would hoard around me.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped when I heard Adam's voice, but I kept moving my flashlight around vigorously.

"Brianna stop. You're going to give away our location." Adam whispered furiously, snatching my only source of light away.

I scooted closer to him. "Something is in here."

Adam kept the flashlight off, but I could feel his eyes gazing through the dark. "Are you sure?" He asked.

I nodded forgetting he couldn't see. "I saw the shadow and it kicked a glass bottle towards me." I breathed out.

My skin began to crawl. How long did it sit there and watch me? Hours? Minutes? Seconds?

"It's too dark in here. The only option we have is to evacuate this building and find a new one."

I shook my head no and grabbed onto his arm. "What if it already has diseased people in there?" The image of the rebel getting his flesh torn off jumped to the front of my mind. My knees started shaking with fear and my teeth began to chatter.

Adam turned me to face him. The moonlight glinted off of his green eyes. "I will never let anyone or anything harm you." His eyes were earnest.

Had he forgiven me? Was his silent treatment over now? Deep down I knew I did not deserve his forgiveness. If the roles were flipped, I would not have forgiven him. I pressed my lips together and nodded. He was the soldier, not me. I had no choice but to listen to him.

Adam took my hand and led me outside. We stayed close to the walls. He navigated easily without any light. It was like he knew the streets from the back of his hand. He led me down an alleyway. I stumbled into him when he stopped walking.

He was looking up. Following his gaze, I saw a ladder leading to the roof top.

Adam got behind me. "Jump," he ordered.

Without a second thought, I jumped reaching for the bottom of the ladder. He lifted me by my hips helping me up. When I got a good hold, I lifted myself up and began to climb. The metal bars felt like ice against my hands. The wind got stronger the higher I climbed.

Once I got to the roof top, I looked all around me. I could see fires in the distance. Diseased running around in the streets. The rebellion fighting against them. I walked to the side of the roof and looked down. Coming from the building we were just in, a person walked out. The person was wearing a dark black cloak. I couldn't tell if it was a diseased or human. The person tilted their head back and turned their head towards me.

I chill slithered down my spine. I was right. We were not alone.

"Adam." I turned around and motioned for him to come.

By the time he made it to my side of the roof, the person was gone.

"You need sleep." Adam dropped his backpack and pulled out a blanket. "You’re getting delirious. Rest."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, then clamped it shut. I couldn't force him to believe me. Snatching the blanket from his hand, I wrapped it around me and curled into a ball.

My eyes snapped open. Sunlight was beating on me and I was sweating. Sitting up, I realized what had woken me.

The barrel of a gun was pointing down at my head. Chantel was the one standing behind it. I looked to my right. Adam was leaned back against the roof wall sound asleep. He had gone to sleep when he was supposed to keep watch? That didn't sound like him.

I lifted my eyebrows at Chantel and spoke loudly. "What are you doing?"

Chantel's brown curls fell around her face as she bent down to be at eye-level with me. "I gave him water and drugged him. He won't be waking up just yet."

I shot her a look. "What are you doing?" I thought she got over the whole wanting to kill me. I saved her life.

She cocked the shotgun. "Where is Seth?"

I stared at her for a few seconds confused. "What? You drugged Adam to ask me where Seth is?"

Something wasn't adding up.

Chantel pushed the gun further into my face. "He disappeared last night and I know you know where he is. I know you know who he is."

I scrunched my face in confusion. "I'm lost. Can you move the gun before you accidentally blow my brains out?" My tone was icy.

"You're really not lost. Before David left, I heard him and Seth talking to you. You knew that he was working for Stephan. You knew David was your father. You always seem to know. Don't play stupid with me. Did he switch sides again?" Chantel's voice shook with anger.

I blinked. "I knew he worked for Stephan the day we got taken by The Unit. I didn't know David was my father. I honestly don't know anything. I'm as lost as you are."

Chantel's eyes brimmed with tears. "Do you not get it?"

I gave her a look that said obviously not.

"If Seth ran back to Stephan we are going to get slaughtered out here. We can't do this without him. He is too smart. He is too good at strategizing. He knows too much. He either needs to stay with us or we have to kill him." Her voice broke on the words kill him.

I sat up a little straighter. "He went missing last night?"

Chantel nodded but didn't lower her weapon.

I squinted my eyes from the sunlight. "Last night when Adam and I got up here I saw someone in a cloak. They looked right at me. The person had been watching me." I remembered.

Chantel froze.

My heart beat picked up. She lowered her gun and fell to her knees.

"What's wrong?" My hands started shaking at my sides. Her reaction scared me more than her pointing a shotgun at me did.

"That was the assassinator." She lowered her head.

"The what?"

"The assassinator. The freelanced person who blows everything up and assassinates people. He's on neither side. He just assassinates and does stuff for money. He's only been seen a few times but every time he wears a cloak."

I caught up with her. "You think he took Seth?" Why would he kidnap Seth? What would that do?

She gave me a broken look. "I think he assassinated Seth."

I vaguely remembered hearing about that person over the radio when I was with Jewel and Rugter.

"Why would he do that?"

Chantel gave me a confused look. "I don't know. He normally doesn't go for people high up in power." Chantel dropped her head in her hands. "What are we going to do? We don't have a leader."

I looked at Adams sleeping face. Could he lead? What would he do if he woke up just to hear of Seth's death... He had already been through this. I stood up. We had no proof that Seth was dead. As far as I was concerned, he was out there somewhere.

"What does the assassin usually do with the body?" I asked.

Chantel looked at me with fearful eyes. "He normally displays it out in the open so everyone can see what he did."

I looked around. I saw dead bodies littering the streets. "Have you seen his body?" I asked.

She shook her head no.

"Then he's not dead." My voice sounded sure, but I felt unsure. He couldn't be dead. He was too smart for that. Too calculating.

Adam stirred but didn't wake up.

"What do we do now?" Chantel's lower lip quivered.

I looked down at the broken girl before me. "We fight. We fight for our freedom. We fight for our brothers and sisters. We fight to take this country back."

I glanced at Adam's sleeping form again. He didn't have what it took to be a leader, but maybe he could do it with supportive people by his side.

Adam lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes. He tried to speak, but his voice was scratchy. When he stood to stand, he wobbled to the side. She meant it when she said she drugged him.

I helped him stand straight.

"Did you drug me?" He slurred.

I glanced at Chantel.

She stood up and pulled her shoulders back. "No, I did. I thought Brianna betrayed us and I knew you wouldn't let me do anything about it."

Adam gave her a faint smile. "You look funny."

All his weight landed on my shoulder when his knees gave out. I put my hand over his mouth, "Sleep." I ordered him much like he did to me last night. Adam leaned back against the wall and passed out.

"Who will be in charge now?" Chantel wondered out loud.

I kept my gaze on Adam.

"He can't lead us to victory. He is too soft."

I gave Chantel a look. "He can do it. He just needs the chance. He's as intelligent as Seth, just not as ruthless."

Chantel laughed without humor. "He can't do it."

Adams stirred in his sleep. "I have faith in him. I thought we wanted peace." I pointed out.

Chantel tilted her head back to the sun. "It's too quiet."

I listened to the birds chirping. She was right. It was too quiet. There were no gun shots, no screaming, and no shouting.

"Maybe we won this town." My stomach sank. I had a feeling that wasn't the case. "What did you drug him with? We need him awake."

Chantel swiped off invisible hair from her shirt. "I'm not sure. Found some pills in a rundown drug store. It said night time sleeping aid. I gave him half the bottle."

Running my hands through my hair, I sighed heavily under my breath. Walking over towards Adam, I shook him. Adam stirred and lifted his head. Looking up at me with his hazel eyes, he gave me a lopsided grin. Bags clung underneath his eyes. He looked beyond exhausted and sleep deprived. I felt guilty for waking him up, but we needed to find his brother and to see where everyone went.