Adam’s eyelids were growing heavy as he continued to follow the narrow trail to the west. In the darkness, seeing the road was such a strain, he was afraid he might crash at any moment. At least he’d had the opportunity to talk to Rain. Now, if he was to fail in his mission, at least he knew she was okay, and he’d had a chance to say his goodbyes.
In the distance, the rumble of artillery and gunfire was growing closer. It seemed like the Mothers could be right on top of him at any moment. While it was difficult to look to the sky for drones and steer the bike, he had to keep an eye on what was happening above him because if the Mothers got a clear picture, they’d know for sure that Mist and Rain were not with him, and if that were the case, there was a good chance they would give up their pursuit of him and concentrate on the place where the tracker first started sending its signal, which would put them exactly where they needed t
Rain checked Esther’s phone one more time before she gave it back to their hostess. It would be difficult to be without a lifeline to Adam, but he hadn’t called since the night of the dance, and now, when they were packing up the truck to leave, she wasn’t sure what to think. She did know she couldn’t take Esther’s phone with her.Seth had tried to call Adam a couple of times but hadn’t gotten ahold of him. They knew from the Oklasaw militia that the tracker had made it into the river and was flowing at a rapid pace away from their location, but no one had seen Adam since right before he’d tossed the tracker. At the time, a few sharpshooters who had been concentrating on taking out drones had seen him, but then the Mothers had arrived in their larger transporters, and a fight had broken out. They didn’t think that any of them had made it past their line of defense where Adam was riding away from the river,
Nothing was going to plan--not at the moment anyway. Not since he’d tossed the tracker into the river and taken off for Louis City. With a barrage of gunfire to his back, Adam had driven north, going as fast as he could in any direction that wasn’t deadly.He knew he needed to go northeast, but he hadn’t had a chance to fiddle with the navigation as he’d fled the area, just doing whatever it took to get away from the Mothers that suddenly seemed to be bearing down on him, despite the fact that he’d already dumped the only device that should’ve been sending a signal out to them. It seemed as if they were on his tail for quite some time, though, as if they hadn’t been thrown off by the signal moving down the river. He’d ridden north through a forested area, dodging trees and stumps, occasionally nearly wiping out as he hit big rocks, until finally, with the sun almost straight overhead, he could no longer hea
The ride through the tunnel in the mountain had taken hours, which was a surprise to Rain. She’d had no idea they were so entrenched in the mountains, but she had been asleep the first time she’d gone through a similar tunnel. Still, Seth had explained that their location was as far south as possible so that they’d have access to the river border to protect against any assaults. There was a different way out, one closer to Judea, one many of his friends had taken so that they could make sure the Mothers were preoccupied, if there were any, but it would make more sense for them to go as far north under the mountain as possible. Seth told her that Adam had taken that other exit when he’d left on his mission.Some of Seth’s friends that had gone out to help had spotted Mothers on top of the mountain, combing the area, looking for traces that Rain and her party had been there. So far, they hadn’t engaged with them. Not a s
Casualties were starting to add up. Reports continued to come in of Mothers who’d fallen victim to sniper fire, explosions, and the occasional combat death. Jaguar wasn’t in charge of the mission anymore, not since President Violet had sent Mother White in, just as she was about to lead her forces across the River Red, over a week ago, but she knew enough to understand that the situation was not working out the way the Mothers had hoped. Now that she was in charge of the detail meant to ensure that any surviving members of the rebel party could not proceed any further north, she felt as if she had a small amount of power restored, but it seemed to be too little too late to actually accomplish what they’d set out to do.She’d known the importance of catching them before they crossed into Oklasaw, probably better than anyone. White was fooling herself now, if she thought they could actually find them. It was like searching for a spe
The movement of the truck coming to a stop brought Adam’s eyes flying open, and he realized he'd fallen asleep. Looking around, he wiped his mouth and tried to decipher where he was. Seeing Naomi behind the driver’s seat reminded him of what had happened, that the bike had wrecked, that his phone was broken, that he was far off track from where he was meant to be. Rain’s face came to mind, and he sighed, wishing he could find a faster way to get to her.“We’re here,” Naomi said with a small grin on her face.Adam raised an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?” he asked, not sure if he should laugh along with her or be offended.“Nothing,” she said, throwing her hands up. “It’s just… did you know that you talk in your sleep?”“What? No, I don’t.” Well, he hadn’t, anyway. The medicine the Mothers gav
It was starting to get dark. Rain thought that might be helpful, keep them from drawing attention from the Mothers, until Seth flipped on the headlights. She hadn’t thought about those. Maybe that would make it easier for the truck to be seen by unwanted eyes.For the last few hours, his friends had been calling in to let them know that they’d been engaged with the Mothers. The initial altercation had started when his friends on the main road had been stopped at a roadblock where the Mothers demanded they all get out of the vehicle and that the truck be searched. His friends had refused, saying they had no authority in Oklasaw territory. Shots were fired; three Mothers were killed, and one of Seth’s friends was wounded. After that, there’d been no holding back the others. They’d opened fire on the Mothers in the mountains, who’d also returned fire. As of the last report, three of Seth’s friends had been killed an
It was dark. That didn’t seem right. Adam opened his eyes, remembering instantly where he was--in Naomi’s garage--but he didn’t think it should be dark outside if he’d only slept for a couple of hours.Jumping up, he looked around and saw Naomi still working by lamp light at the other end of the building. She had her hair tied back, her face scrunched up in frustration as she worked with what he thought might be a wrench on the front tire of the bike, which was tipped up in some contraption so that the wheel was in the air.Grabbing his backpack, Adam headed over, wondering what time it might be but also afraid to find out. “I guess things aren’t going well,” he said.She didn’t take her eyes off of the piece she was working on as she answered. “No, it’s not. I mean… it’s better now. For a while, I was having the hardest time repairing the brake l
How Seth was still driving, Rain wasn’t sure, but he had to be exhausted. After she’d woken from a nap of about three hours, she’d offered to let him pull over and sleep while she watched out the window for any approaching threats, but Seth had refused. Now, two hours later, she could see he was struggling to keep his eyes open. They were on hilly roads with large drop offs on either side. While they hadn’t seen anyone coming in the other direction for most of the day, Rain was still worried.“Really, Seth, the sun is going to be up soon,” she said, reaching over and touching his arm. He jumped, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “You need to get some sleep.”“I’m fine,” he said again.“I don’t believe you,” she replied, tugging on his sleeve. “Pull over! You’re going to wreck and kill all of us.”
The view out the kitchen window was beautiful. Snow capped mountains in the distance, open fields full of green grass and brightly colored flowers in the foreground, with plenty of trees and bushes throughout. No matter how many days Rain stood in that room, doing what some might think as mundane tasks, like doing the dishes or cooking dinner, she would never, ever get tired of that view. To Rain Blue, that view meant freedom. “Mama! Come outside and play catch with us!” her daughter, Misty, shouted as she came flying through the backdoor. “Dad is gonna teach Wally how to throw a curveball!” “Oh, wow!” Rain said, drying her hands on a dishtowel as she turned to see her daughter’s bright red hair fly by on the other side of the table. Misty was a little blur and had been the entire four years of her life. Luckily, her cousin, Wally, who lived next door with hi
Rain stepped inside the large circular room along with about thirty of her fellow soldiers from the Quebecian army. She glanced around at the faces of her fellow soldiers and saw the confusion and uncertainty on all of their faces. Adam was just a few people away from her. They caught eyes for a moment, but then Rain focused on the center of the room where President Violet was standing.All around her, large boxes marked as explosives were stacked on top of one another, the highest stacks coming about to her waist. She was a short woman, with short dark hair and a swath of purple in the front, sort of like Mother White’s stripe, though Rain had assumed that that was natural.Next to Violet was a pillar of some sort with what looked like a golden button on top. Wires from each of the boxes were wound around one another, creating one thick wire that was con
Being back in the air was a sensation Rain couldn’t quite get used to, but this mission was different. The first time she had flown, the flight had been long, and she’d been nervous for far more reasons than she was now. This time, she was on a small plane with a select group of soldiers who were being moved to the front to help complete a mission that was almost done. All eight of the soldiers on board the flight had recovered enough from their wounds during various other attacks that they could now go back into active duty. Rain was ready to storm the fort where President Violet was reportedly hiding, and she was glad to have Adam by her side, not only on the flight but also when they landed.It was loud inside of the plane, so no one could truly talk, and despite their relationship status, Rain didn’t dare touch Adam with her hand while they were in uniform and active. But the fact tha
Weeks of healing for Rain, Adam, and Mist brought their bodies back to full strength, or close to it. For Mist, there would be no returning to the battlefield, not now that she knew she was pregnant. Rain and Adam both wanted to return to the ranks and help defeat the rest of the Mothers that were still fighting near the center of Michaelanburg. With every passing day, their ranks dropped, but as long as President Violet and her cabinet were still at large, the Quebecians would not back off.Saying goodbye to Mist had been difficult, but Rain was also relieved that she no longer had to worry about the safety of her best friend. Fighting alongside the woman she loved most in the world and the man she wanted to marry had been weighty, and she was thankful at least one of those people was now out of harm’s way for good.Rain had different roommates in
Adam was awake when Rain made it back to the room they were sharing together. He’d had multiple surgeries over the last several days, so he’d been asleep a lot, but she was pleasantly surprised at how well he was recovering.Cheryl helped Rain back into her bed and put her leg up on a device that would help it to heal. The technology was a little behind what Rain was used to in Michaelanburg, but she trusted the doctors and the rest of the medical team that had been working on her since the attack.“How’s Mist?” Adam asked with a smile on his face. He was propped up so that she could see him. Rain adjusted her pillows and used the button to move the back of her bed up a bit so she could more easily see him. “She’s good. And you’ll never guess what she found out before her surgeries.”
Walking was hard. It had been a few days since Rain had gotten out of bed. After several surgeries on her leg, she knew that all of the bones were fused back together with a substance just as hard as the bone itself, so it would hold her, but it was still scary.She had a walker to lean on, just in case she lost her balance, and one of the medics from Quebec was alongside her. All of the injured had been moved back to a building in Oklasaw. It wasn’t under the mountain like Judea, the town that Seth had grown up in, but it was still a quaint little village, and Rain was glad they’d get a few weeks there to recover.She just wished she could get back to normal more quickly.She’d seen Adam quite a bit since they were moved, but she hadn’t seen Mist. Her friend was still in pretty bad shape and
Adam had no idea how he was alive.He remembered handing Rain off to Seth, and then, the next thing he remembered, the world was on fire, and the sky was falling down on him. Every single cell in his body was in agony. He couldn’t move, couldn’t lift a hand to try and push his way out, and the smoke was enough to keep him from even wanting to suck in a breath. He was certain he was about to die.Adam had let himself drift on then, feeling like it would be better to die unconscious than to be awake while he was breathing his last.But here he was now, lying in a hospital bed in a makeshift hospital near the Oklasaw border. All around him, doctors and medical students were hustling around, doing their best to help the injured.He had an IV in his arm and knew t
The sensation that she’d been moving had jarred Rain awake for a few moments, but she hadn’t been able to open her eyes, and then, she’d suddenly been aware of the fact that she wasn’t quite as hot, and the air that she was sucking into her lungs wasn’t burning her from the inside out anymore.But she had failed at opening her eyes, so she had no idea what the situation was. The thought that she could’ve died and was now in whatever world came beyond this one had crossed her mind. She didn’t believe that The Bridge was a way to start one’s life over, but she did think there had to be something after life as they knew it.She certainly believed in death.People shouting to one another registered in her mind as she tried to open her eyes again. She could feel something s
Where the hell had she gone?Adam had ridden the motorbike back to camp to deliver the message to the commanders. Luckily, he’d found one fairly quickly upon reaching the forest. He’d told the man, Lt. Brason, what Mother White had told them and then handed over the thumb drive. The commander had attempted to tell Adam to stay there, that he was done, and while it would’ve been a relief to go find his tent and take a nap, Adam couldn’t possibly do that. He wouldn’t be able to rest until he was certain that Rain and the others were back in camp safely.He had immediately turned the bike around and sped back toward the medical center. Even before the building came into view, he saw soldiers running from that direction. That let him know that Lt. Brason and the others had taken him seriously and were in the process of evacuating the b