directly under the Council since he was a child. With Noah being at the heart of the Order and military’s secret alliance, I have to ascertain whether or not he’s a threat. It could be the Order’s downfall otherwise.
12
ERIK
TO LEAVE THE rebels’ underground headquarters, we take a tunnel that snakes up—turning into full-on stairs a few times—before ending at a thick metal door set in the ground amid a bunch of boulders. The place looks just like everywhere else Outside. Barren. Full of rocks. If you didn’t know exactly where to look for the door, you’d never find it.
As nice as it is to be aboveground again, I don’t get the chance to enjoy it. As soon as we’re topside, we’re moving.
Our team consists of five people. There’s Joan, of course, plus Siobhan, Jared, and Lily. I don’t know Siobhan that well, but Jared and Lily are a pair of siblings who’ve talked me through a few stories about my past life with the rebels. It’s nice having some familiar faces around.
Joan leads the raid. I’m really only here to follow orders and provide support since Ellis didn’t give me a specific role. Mostly, I just hope we don’t have to kill anyone. I don’t think I can slaughter a bunch of defenseless Etioles.
The rebels don’t have a lot of technology, and what they do have, they save for more important missions. Which means our group moves out on foot.
The moon hangs overhead, a sliver of orange. We don’t risk lights, so even though the thin moonlight sucks, it’s all we’ve got. I stick to the back and make sure no one can get the jump on us.
It feels like we sneak around for hours before Joan finally holds up her hand for us to stop. We crouch in the cover of some boulders without speaking. With everyone dressed in all black, in the dead of night, even knowing where to look, I can barely see some of my teammates. They don’t budge an inch.
And then we wait.
I watch the moon as I fiddle with the power crystals on the silver chain Ellis gave me. I’ve added a couple more since joining the rebels. Apparently it’s pretty common to trade them. It’s like a wish, Gabriel said as he gave me his own neutralization crystal before we left earlier. I felt guilty accepting it, adding more pressure to him, but as bad as I felt, I don’t want to die. His hand lingered over mine. A wish for someone to come back safely. Everyone has friends they want to return alive, so we’re all trying to increase the odds of that however we can.
A wish. I’ve gotten so many of those from strangers over the last two and a half weeks it doesn’t feel worth counting them all. But looking at my string of crystals, it’s weird to think of each one as someone wishing for me to make it back okay. I guess there’re a lot of people watching out for me, but it doesn’t really feel like it. If anything, they’re weights dragging me down. A reminder. A curse. The person they really want to protect is the old Erik. The real Erik is selling all of them out. It’d be better for them if I didn’t make it back alive.
A murky green one stares me down. Lai’s. Above all else, you have to live.
I close my eyes. Don’t think about it. Everything will be fine. Everything is fine.
No one says anything, but there’s a shift. Everyone stiffens. The air hums. A buzzing crawls up my skin before it reaches my ears. They’re here.
The actual appearance of the trucks follows after the rumblings of their engines. There’re three total: one supply truck and two smaller armored trucks on either side of it, lights flashing over the dead, empty landscape.
We wait as they drive toward our hiding place. My muscles groan from crouching for so long. My heart is about to break some ribs as the trucks get closer, closer, almost on top of us.
They pass us.
Siobhan jumps out behind one of the armored trucks, and with an upward swipe of her hand, thick vines break through the ground to wrap around it. The wheels screech as the truck tries to keep going forward and fails. The vines tighten.
“Don’t damage it too much,” Joan orders crisply as Jared and Lily sprint to deal with the second armored truck. “If we get rid of its occupants, we can take it