Eve of Tomorrow (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 3) Page 21

  “I leave for Floridaland in the morning,” I say.

  Adrian seems surprised by this, but he nods his head, allowing me to continue.

  “And I will need every truck you can muster in two months,” I say.

  “I understand,” he replies, standing and extending his hand. “Good luck General.”

  “Adrian,” I say, taking his hand.

  “Yes, General?” he asks.

  “If Gabby and her squad are too late, if Kearn sets off the weapon, all hell will break loose and he could very well turn back toward you and Vicksburg. Are your people loyal to you? Will they fight?” I ask.

  Adrian tilts his head and looks me straight in the eye. “Let’s hope we don’t have to find out.”

   Chapter 81: Gabby

  Lee’s hand makes circles on my back while I sit next to him in the empty room. Drew, Jeremy, and Dawn are up on deck, giving us a rare moment of privacy.

  “What are we going to do when this is all over?” he asks absently.

  “Dawn says New Penn will need us,” I say, not wanting to answer his real question. He wants to know what will become of the two of us. “We’ll spend our days working rather than training. On laundry day we’ll wash our normal clothes, because we won’t be living in uniforms anymore.”

  “I’ll hunt, and you can cook,” he says, his voice as wistful as mine.

  “Like hell I will!” I interrupt.

  “Okay, you can hunt and I’ll cook, or we both can hunt and Dawn will cook,” he says with a laugh.

  “That sounds more like it,” I say. “We won’t keep losing friends.”

  “No, that we won’t,” he says, growing quiet, and neither of us talks for a few minutes.

  “There’s still so much more to do before we get to all of that,” I say, breaking the silence. “What if we’re too late? What if Kearn unleashes the bio weapon on the evacuees?”

  Lee doesn’t answer because we both know where that question leads. He turns to look at me.

  “I love you,” he says.

  He’s said this a few times since he thought he was going to die in Mexico and he’s never expected me to say it back. Instead, I close the small gap between us and kiss him deeply. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from all of our dead friends, it’s that anything can happen, and tomorrow, that anything will begin.

  Chapter 82: Gabby

  Floridaland.

  I hate the sight of it. I hate the smell of it. I even hate the sound of the word.

  And yet, here I am back on its shore.

  “You ready for this?” Jeremy asks as he steps next to me at the rail.

  “No,” I say honestly.

  I don’t have to look at him to know he feels the same way. Jeremy was born and raised in the Floridaland slave camp. He suffered more than most. His mother and sister died here.

  I remember the day so clearly. Claire had just died from illness and Jeremy brought me here to the shore to mourn her. We watched the waves and talked and then he kissed me. In that moment, we wanted each other. We needed each other. Then they came. The British soldiers and their dogs. Jeremy was caught, but I made it back into camp.

  I’ve been holding onto the rail so hard my knuckles are turning white so I loosen my grip. Dawn steps next to me so that helps. Her strength has been returning and she is almost herself again. I don’t know if I could face all of this without her by my side.

  Our local contact reported that Joseph Kearn and his men are at the plantation, so that’s where we’re headed. Carlos bids us farewell and good luck as we climb into the boat.

  When we reach the beach, Jeremy bends down and scoops up a handful of sand only to let it fall through his fingers. “We shouldn’t linger here,” he says.

  “You’re right,” I say, knowing what’s going through his mind. “Let’s go.”

  I lead the group toward the woods.

  “Drew, I want you at the back to watch out for British or Mexican soldiers. Lee, up with me to do the same. Safeties off. Everyone stay on alert,” I say.

  I brace my arm in my gun sling, ready for anything, and keep going. The path begins to climb through the dunes and the thick underbrush.

  “Stop,” I whisper, holding up my fist when we reach the crest of the dune overlooking the camp. “The guard tower is empty.”

  “Maybe Kearn and his men took them out,” Dawn says.

  “Something isn’t right here,” Jeremy says in a hushed voice. “We need to get out of these woods and down there to find out what’s going on.”

  “Lee and I are going to scout up ahead,” I state. “The rest of you take cover and watch for us”

  We slip silently down the path to the fence.

  “Do you hear that?” I ask. “There’s no electric hum.”

  “The fence isn’t on,” Lee responds.

  We run silently to the tower. There’s no one there. Moving back, we signal to the others who come silently to join us.

  “The guards are gone and the fence is off,” I explain, looking at each of them. “Time to go inside.”

  “We could get trapped in there,” Dawn says.

  After everything she’s been through I don’t blame her for not wanting to go there.

  “Not everyone is coming,” I say. “Some of you need to scout out the plantation.”

  “Gabs,” Dawn begins, “If you’re going in, we’re all going in.”

  I open my mouth to say “NO” but she keeps going.

  “This is bigger than any one of us,” she says, putting both hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye. “Let’s go.” She takes off in the direction of the fence.

  I stare after my sister for a moment in stunned appreciation before catching up to her. We get to the strangely quiet fence and I cautiously reach out my hand. The cold wires bend to my will as I push them down so everyone can get through.

  We round a cluster of huts and I’m lost in the scene around me when I run straight into Jeremy who has stopped dead in his tracks.

  “What are you...?” I begin to ask, but then follow his line of sight.

  There are bodies scattered across the camp.

  Jeremy crouches down to examine the face of an older woman. No bullets. No sign of struggle.

  “Everyone stop!” I yell, suddenly sure of the events that took place here. “Don’t touch them!”

  They all freeze as awareness comes to them as well.

  “This was Kearn,” Dawn says with certainty.

  “Do you remember Raf’s description of the attacks on Carlita villages?” I ask. “They tested their virus on them. Don’t touch any of the bodies.”

  Jeremy is now kneeling beside another dead woman with tears rolling openly down his face. I move closer and see Amanda’s still face. The woman who took care of me when I was here. The woman who practically raised Jeremy after his mother was killed. She was his last link to his past and his family. He looks up at me desperately as I drop down beside him and wrap my arms around his neck.

  “I tried to get her to escape with us,” I whisper.

  “She wouldn’t leave everyone else behind,” he says, sobbing.

  Forgetting myself, I reach out to wipe the dried blood from her face, but Jeremy catches my hand.

  Amanda should still be here. Her and Claire. They were good. How are the rest of us screw-ups still alive but they’re dead?

  Jeremy looks towards the sky. “It’s a beautiful day,” he says. “How is that right?”

  “I don’t know,” I respond. “I don’t think the sun cares about what’s going on down here.”

  I think of all of my days in this place. The sky was blue and the sun was warm, but that didn’t matter. All hope is now gone from this place. Maybe it was never here. Maybe it was just a figment of our imaginations. Something we made up just to keep us going. I got out but the bad things don’t end when you leave the camp. It’s not that easy to just move on.

  “We need to kill them all,” Jeremy states.


  “Every last one of them,” I agree. “Starting with Joseph Kearn.”

  Chapter 83: Dawn

  We leave the camp behind us as we head toward the plantation. The once beautiful lawn is overgrown and the well-kept flowerbeds are riddled with weeds. No one has taken care of this place in months.

  “Why would they just abandon all of this?” Drew asks.

  “I don’t think they did,” I say. “We know that the Rebels in England have been winning their battles for a while now. The troops here probably stopped getting reinforcements and supplies. They would have left a skeleton crew to guard the camp and make sure the harvests were done, but not to take care of the grounds.”

  We’re about to cross the lawn when we hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire and bullets start penetrating the ground around us. We take off running toward the barn for cover. I’m the last one to dive in through the door, and by that, I mean actually dive. I land on my stomach and roll to my feet in one quick movement. The firing stops.

  “Did anyone see how many there are?” Gabby asks, trying to catch her breath.

  “I saw three,” Lee replies. “All on the second floor of the main house.”

  “Do you think it’s the Mexicans or the British?” I ask.

  “My guess is Kearn,” Lee says from across the barn. “The British are long gone.”

  “I think so too,” Gabby says. “And Kearn’s men will be here soon. Our top priority is to find Kearn. You can bet he’s heavily guarded by Moreno men, and you can bet the weapon is here as well. We need to split up. Dawn, Drew, and Jeremy, swing around front and create a diversion. I want you to pull as many soldiers out of the plantation house as you can and set up a kill zone. Lee and I will come from behind and clear the back hallways before we meet up with you all inside.”

  “We’ve got trouble!” Drew yells from his lookout point as three men sprint across the grounds, their guns drawn.

  They burst through the door with wild abandon. The first one aims his gun at Gabby, but Lee takes him out. Jeremy surprises a second by jumping out from his hiding spot and burying a bullet in his belly. A third man knocks Drew out of his way and then backs away from Lee who has already finished off his fellow soldier. His gun is raised, but he is outnumbered. He starts firing wildly, but only gets a few shots off before he gets one right between the eyes, point blank.

  No one moves. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jeremy stumble backward and slide to the ground. He removes his hand from his side and stares at it in a daze. It is covered in blood.

  Chapter 84: Jeremy

  Strangely, there is no pain, just a dark circle closing around me. Dawn and Gabby are holding my hands and talking, but I can’t make out the words.

  “You guys will be okay,” I try to say, but my lips aren’t moving. “Hold on to each other.”

  And then I think, I’m going to miss kicking Joseph Kearn’s ass, the bastard, and it makes me laugh. That only makes me choke, and the girls look frightened.

  I hear a flurry of action and the distant sound of my name, as the circle continues closing around me, my eyes barely open.

  And then the circle is complete and my sister, Claire, is reaching towards me.

  Chapter 85: Gabby

  I wipe my hand across my eyes and stand. No one has said a word in the time between Jeremy’s last breath and now. My whole body trembles as I look down into his face.

  They’ve taken another person that I care about.

  “This has to stop,” I say, steeling myself. “Joseph Kearn is within our grasp.”

  “We’re hugely outnumbered,” Lee says matter-of-factly.

  “We are soldiers!” I bark, grabbing a rifle, and tossing it to Lee. “This, right here, is how we get our vengeance. This is how we mourn our friends.”

  I look at the brave faces around me and then down at Jeremy’s blissful face as I swing the rifle off my back.

  “Let’s go,” I say as I brush past Dawn and head for the door with Lee by my side.

  He opens it and all four of us step outside.

  Lee and I draw fire just long enough for Dawn and Drew to make it to the side of the plantation house. Pop goes a grenade into a window, and then another as Drew makes a run down the side. Now it’s our turn to get around back. As I switch my clip, I place my hand on Lee’s chest. He looks at me and smiles, just a little.

  “Just so we’re clear, before we do this, I love you,” I say.

  His smile fades and he runs his fingertips along my jaw.

  “Say that again when all of this is over and we’ve made it. Say it when we’re living that boring, normal life we dream of,” he responds.

  Pop! Pop! It’s time to run.

  My arms and legs pump as fast as they can. Dawn and Drew are laying fire on the Moreno men as they pile out of the house, bloodied and dazed from the grenades.

  In seconds we are at the door that leads toward the prison cells. I run my palm over the bloody handprints before tossing in a grenade and barging through.

  The hallway before us is empty except for the guard lying dead at the door. A second later, we are going room to room, shooting everything that moves. They’re all running to the front of the house, not expecting us from within.

  But where is Kearn?

  Chapter 86: Dawn

  Drew tosses his last grenade into the open window and scrambles back toward me as I empty bullets into the mess of soldiers coming out the front door. As I reach down for another clip, I squeeze my eyes shut for just a moment and hope that Gabby and Lee are okay.

  “You good?” Drew asks.

  “Yeah,” I say as I open my eyes and empty another clip into the front of the house.

  Drew motions to a truck parked behind us, mutters something about “Gabby’s diversion”, and takes off toward it. He flings open the door, puts a bullet into the chest of a stunned driver who has been hiding inside, and yanks him out.

  Climbing in, drew starts the truck and careens toward the front porch into the group of Moreno men we had pinned down. He rolls out as the truck plows into the front door, sending gunmen flying in all directions.

  One. Two. Three. I have become a killing machine. These are for Jeremy.

  Drew calls me to the front door. A soldier pops up and then a shot rings out and he is dropped from behind as we scurry over the bodies and into the gaping hole made by the truck. The shot was Gabby’s, no doubt. I only hope this is the diversion she needed.

  Chapter 87: Gabby

  What the hell was that?

  I look down the hall and see a truck through the dust. A soldier turns and I drop him before running down the back hall again.

  The smoke has entered the house but that’s the least of our problems.

  “Where is he?” I scream. “Kearn! I’m coming for you!”

  “Look,” Lee says, pointing toward the back staircase. “He’s probably up there. That’s where the command center is.”

  A gunman appears at the top. He sees me and yells just as I pull the trigger.

  One more for Jeremy.

  I duck back along the side of the staircase as another soldier comes running at me, firing. His bullets ping off the metal banister and past my head.

  Lee darts out and drops him, then rushes up the stairs.

  “All clear,” Lee yells, motioning down to me.

  At the top of the staircase is a long hall with the front staircase leading to what’s left of the front door at the other end.

  “I guess Dawn’s diversion was bigger than we thought,” I say.

  Suddenly we both stiffen as the door next to us begins to creak open and then I’m staring down the barrel of a gun. Then the door flies open wider, and a hand pushes down the rifle aiming point blank at my face.

  “Gabby! I almost shot you,” Dawn says as she and Drew emerge from the room.

  I put a finger to my lips. There’s a sound as a door down the hall opens, and then closes. I head that way. Lee and I stand on either side of the doorway as
Dawn turns the knob. The door slowly swings open wide. No one is there. We enter the room, guns drawn.

  As soon as we do, men pour in from an adjoining room. My rifle jams, so I grab my hand gun and pull my knife. I thrust my arm out and catch a man in the gut, while firing blindly in close quarters.

  A female soldier has fallen in front of me and I have my gun to her temple when I see him coming through the door.

  Joseph Kearn.

  I quickly pull the trigger and jump over the woman’s body toward him. .

  I grab him by the shirt and pull him toward me, as the others finish off his bodyguards.

  “Where is it?” I scream. “Where is the weapon?”

  “You’re going to have to kill me,” he answers, his eyes lighting up with defiance.

  “Tell me where it is,” I growl.

  “Do you know what the virus does?” he asks, smiling like a man who knows he’s going to die. “The worst part is the boils. They burn and there is no relief. They will twist your pretty face into something grotesque. The fever comes and goes, but the hallucinations will persist. You will all die. And you won’t even know your own face when you do.”

  I plunge my short blade into his leg and twist it. He screams.

  “Where is it?!” I yell.

  He doesn’t respond because he has nothing left to lose and he isn’t going to tell us shite. I pull the blade free of his leg and stab him below the ribs.

  “That’s for Linc,” I spit.

  He grasps for my arm as I do it again and blood splatters my face.

  “That’s for Shay,” I say.

  “Gabby!” Dawn shouts.

  At this point, the fight is over and they’re watching me in horror as I slay Joseph Kearn. Tears stream down my face as I stab him again.

  “That’s for Raf,” I say, my voice growing quieter as it is invaded by sobs.

  His eyes roll back into his head as I stab once more.

  “And that one is for Jeremy,” I say finally, letting his lifeless body fall to the floor with a loud thump.