by ID Johnson
“Get up!” she heard a woman shout. Rain ran into the room where the noise had come from. A Military Mother stood in front of the closet, her gun pointed inside.
Two construction workers stepped out, unarmed.
Rain swallowed hard. What could she do to help them?
Any opportunity she would have to help the men faded away as the Military Mother pulled the trigger on her gun twice. Both men groaned as they hit the floor.
“What are you doing?” Mist shouted, bursting into the room.
“You heard our orders! No prisoners!” the other woman, someone Rain didn’t think she’d ever seen before, shouted back.
“But, they could’ve told us where the others are!” Mist screamed back. She looked at the men for a moment, and Rain thought she saw a tear in her eye. She had been the one to kick the door in, after all.
Deciding it would be best to move along, Rain tried to echo the short, deep sound of the Military Mothers. “I don’t see anyone else. We better get moving,” she said, hoping to get the others to move on.
“I think this dump is clear now,” the woman who’d taken the shots said. She seemed to be a higher rank, though it was hard to tell since all of their uniforms looked nearly the same to Rain. “Come on!” Had she usurped Mist’s authority?
Rain went with the others outside, and as the women headed off into the woods, she and Mist slowed. Was that what they were supposed to do? Take up a perimeter in the woods?
Mist followed them for a few moments but then spread to the right and eventually circled back toward the house, Rain with her the entire time. They were back in the clearing. “Where are the other armed women?” Rain asked.
“Ours? They went back to check on the rest of the men. We’re still missing a lot of them.”
Rain took a deep breath. Adam was one of the missing. She hadn’t seen him. Mist hadn’t either, or she would’ve said something. Unless Mist just didn’t know what he looked like. Rain didn’t know if Mist had ever been with Adam, but even if she had, she wouldn’t have seen him well enough to pick him out of a crowd. She wouldn’t have ever seen his face without it being obscured.
“How do we know who’s on our side and who isn’t?” Rain asked.
“Assume everyone isn’t,” she replied. “Damn. I can’t believe they killed Kyle and Nash.”
Rain’s mouth dropped open at the realization that Mist knew those men--by name. Did all the men have names? Adam hadn’t had one. She shook her head to clear it. “Why did they try to hide in there?”
“I don’t know. It was stupid,” she admitted. “But they helped us a lot. Seeing them gunned down like that….”
She stopped talking and walking at the same time. Shouts from the woods on the side of the clearing closest to town alerted them both. “Come out, now!” she heard a woman shout. “Or I’ll blow your damn head off!”
Mist took off running in that direction, Rain on her heels. She had a feeling that woman was not on their side.
They ran between the trees and saw three Military Mothers, guns drawn, pointed at two men in gray shorts, one wearing a white shirt, the other with nothing else on, not even shoes. The shirtless one was bleeding badly, blood streaming from his side down his leg.
Even though his back was to her, Rain recognized Adam immediately. He had his arm around the injured man. Her last experience told her these women would shoot either way, whether the men complied or not, though it looked like they were trying to do that.
“Shit,” Mist whispered. “That’s 37W!”
She must’ve been talking about the other man, the wounded one. Mist lifted her rifle, and Rain did the same, knowing what Mist was thinking. If they were going to save these men, they’d have to act now. Knowing Mist, that meant shoot first, ask questions later--or never ask. Just as the Military Mothers were planning to do to the two men in front of them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“That’s him!” Mist shouted loudly, drawing the attention of the group in front of them. Rain caught Adam’s eyes as they bulged in recognition. “Don’t shoot those two!” Mist sounded authoritative, even though she wasn’t in the least.
“Under whose authority?” one of the Military Mothers asked.
“Mother White,” Mist replied. Rain fought to keep her mouth from dropping open. Mist knew Mother White? “This is the one suspected of leading the rebellion.” She gestured at Adam with the tip of her gun. Now that they were standing right next to the group, Rain wasn’t sure what to do. Her heart was beating out of her chest.
“I didn’t hear any orders to….”
Before the Mother could finish her sentence, three sharp pops cut through the silence. Rain jumped. Mist had fired so quickly and accurately, all three Mothers fell dead to the ground from head wounds. The crack of the rifle was deafening. How had Mist just killed three women…?
There was no time for Rain to contemplate that as there was more shouting in the woods behind them. “Are you okay?” Mist was asking 37W. He was hit in the side, but it was impossible for Rain to tell how deep it was at the moment.
“I will be,” he said. Somehow, he managed a smile. Did he recognize Mist, or was he just happy to be alive?
Adam hoisted his fellow IW up, practically lifting him off the ground. “We need to take cover quickly. There’s a whole lot more coming.”
“We’re almost there,” Mist assured him. “Come on.”
“Almost where?” Rain asked, but they had moved on. Surely, Mist wasn’t thinking of taking them down the stairs. What had happened to covering the exit?
That was exactly where she was headed, though. She made a bird call, waited a second, and then opened the door to the stairs. “Cover us, Rain,” she said, as if Rain was even capable of that.
Rain’s eyes bulged, and she caught Adam’s glance as he hurried 37W down the stairs. He was trusting her. If Mist could kill three people, maybe Rain could, too.
Or maybe she could accidentally shoot herself in the foot.
A form came out of the trees to her left. Rain swiveled. The woman running at her was in a Military Mother uniform, but she made the same sound with her mouth that Mist had made. It would’ve been nice if Mist had told her the call. “Go!” she shouted. “I’ll re-cover the door.”
Rain realized it was Sunny she was looking at. Thank goodness she hadn’t been as quick on the trigger as her roommate. “What about you?”
“I have other plans.” Something about the way Sunny said the words made Rain think whatever it was Sunny was about to do, the Motherhood would be sorry.
Rain headed down the stairs as Sunny closed the door. The sound of leaves and other debris hitting the doors let her know they were as safe as possible now. She couldn’t think the same for Sunny. Would that be the last time she ever saw her friend?
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rain was shocked to see only the three who had come down right before her were in the cellar. “Where is everyone?” she asked.
“I’ll explain later. Help him,” Mist said, handing Rain a medical kit.
“Right.” She was a medical student. She could do that.
Mist held a flashtube while Rain examined the wound. “It’s not too bad,” she assured 37W. The bullet had grazed his side. Behind her, she heard Adam doing something--what, she wasn’t sure. She needed to hurry and stop the bleeding so they could get on their way, assuming that was the plan.
First, she cleaned the wound, then she used a healer wand to close up the bleeding vessels. It would take longer for the flesh to heal, but he would be feeling better soon.
She gave him some pain medication and then wrapped the wound to keep out bacteria or any other irritants. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” he said, some color back in his cheeks already. He was a handsome man; Rain could see why Mist liked him. He had dark hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t quite as muscular as Adam but he had a nice build and was tall.
“You’re welcome. Do you… have a n
ame?” Rain asked, not wanting to call him by his number anymore.
Looking off in the distance, he shrugged. “You know, I never thought it would do me much good to choose a name. But… I once read a book about this guy who did all these things to make other people happy, especially children. He drew pictures and made rides for kids to feel like they were flying. He seemed like a cool guy, and since his name started with a W, I thought, maybe that’s what my name should be.”
“What was his name?” Rain asked.
“Walt,” he replied.
A smile came over her face as Rain realized she knew who he was talking to. “Walt Nisdey?”
“Uh….” Walt began, looking at her oddly.
Laughing, Mist said, “Disney, Rain. It’s Disney.”
“That’s the guy,” Walt said, smiling at Rain in a way that let her know he wasn’t as amused by her mistake as Mist was. “Thank you, Rain.”
“How did you know my name?” she asked, packing up the rest of the medical kit.
“I heard Mist say it, when she told you to cover the door.”
“Oh, right.” She shook her head. For a moment, she thought maybe Adam had mentioned her. But then, why would he? It wasn’t as if he’d been spending time thinking about her, the way that she had him….
She turned to stand up but lost her balance halfway there, and it was Adam’s strong grip that kept her from stumbling. She looked up into his bright blue eyes and caught her breath. Mist was right--he did smell different than other men. He smelled like the woods, like light, like life.
“Hi, Rain.” He smiled at her, and no words would form in her mind. He was here--outside of IW. She had so many questions for him. What had he thought about the sky? The forest? The grass?
But there was no time for that now. “We need to go,” Mist was saying. She handed Walt some more suitable clothes from the stash and found him some shoes as well.
Adam let go of her, and Rain remembered that she had a question about that. “Where did everyone else go?”
“There’s a tunnel. Construction put it in. They went that way. We’ll follow them.” She helped Walt put the shirt over his head without disturbing his wound. Rain realized Adam was wearing a long-sleeved shirt now and long pants, both in dark colors. He also had on boots similar to the military ones she was wearing.
She looked around and saw her bag still sitting against the wall. She needed to pack the medical kit and a few other supplies she hadn’t had access to until they got down there, including a fire starting stick, a foil blanket, and some of the food supplies the others hadn’t grabbed. She also spotted another medical kit.
Adam found an empty bag and did the same, tossing important items in. He was clearly intelligent enough to know what things were, even if he’d never seen them before. Once Walt was ready, Mist hurriedly packed a few things for herself and tossed a second bag together for him. He was moving now, still a little weak, but he would be better soon, Rain thought. The wound was mostly superficial after all.
“Are we ready?” Mist asked.
Rain still had no idea where the tunnel might be. Everything looked the same to her as it had before. But she nodded. Then, she spotted something on one of the shelves. “Hold on,” she said, shooting across the dark space.
“What are you doing?” Mist asked.
She came back, unscrewing the lid off of a bottle of water, and thrust it at Adam. “Here.”
He raised an eyebrow but quickly realized what she was doing. He didn’t hesitate to let the cool liquid run down his throat. The sound he made was a little bit like the noise that came out of his mouth when she was on top of him. After a long swig, he handed it to Walt, who finished it off. “Thank you, Rain.”
The smile that parted her lips was the most genuine she’d worn in as long as she could remember. To see him that incredibly happy was worth the crazy, dangerous situation they were all in.
Or was it?
The sound of gunfire overhead had Mist hurrying across the space. “Come on!” she shouted. Mist pushed a particular spot on the wall. A small opening come into view in the darkest corner of the room. She motioned for the men to go through first, but Adam wouldn’t budge until Rain kneeled down and crawled into the narrow space. Mist made that bird call, and Rain did her best to echo it, letting anyone else in the tunnel know who they were.
Walt was behind her, then Mist, and Adam. Rain kept crawling, glad when it widened slightly. She heard the entryway thunk closed behind her and hoped that meant they were safe, at least for the time being, but as she crawled through the dark tunnel, with only Mist’s flashtube from far behind her to lead the way, Rain knew the danger was just beginning.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The alarms were no longer blaring, but Mother White knew the threat wasn’t over. Even though her forces had managed to shut down much of the insurrection, it hadn’t come without a price. Death counts continued to roll in. How the rebels had gotten access to weapons was beyond her, but she did know that the breach in Communications had come from the same women that had caused the problems the other day when the Medical student had been shot for trying to destroy the Bridge. She’d been assured all of the guilty parties had been dealt with, but after this unfathomable offense, it was clear that hadn’t been the case. They’d missed one. An important one.
“Mother White, we’ve uncovered a concrete room in the ground, one where it appears the traitors were keeping supplies. We also found more bodies near that location. Three Military Mothers, shot with rifles at close range.”
White held her info tab up to the other Mother’s device, letting the report transfer. She’d read it in detail later, but for now, she needed to know what had been done with the cellar they’d found. The concept was so foreign, this Mother, a woman by the name of Peach, one she’d worked with for years and knew to be fairly intelligent, didn’t even know what it was called. “What was found inside?”
“A few odd supplies, but it looked as if there had been more kept there. We are continuing to track their progress from that point. We believe this was the group helping the Inseminators escape from the gym.”
“How many of the thirty have we tracked down?” She began to walk toward the command post she’d set up in the office area of IW. It was important for her to stay at the heart of the infiltration, at least until she had more of a grasp of everything that had transpired.
“Fourteen are accounted for, Mother White. Ten dead, four captured, including the one that stayed behind.” Peach walked along beside her, leaving a step to show respect.
“And where are they being held?”
“In the cells with the others who were strapped down when the problem began.”
“How many of the men were actively in session when the rebellion began?” She turned the corner, her boots continuing to echo of the tile floor.
“Sixteen. Only four of them were able to get away, though, Mother White. The other twelve were shot down fleeing, along with eight women.”
White sucked in a deep breath. She hated to think of the women that had died, not because she was upset they’d been killed but because she couldn’t believe anyone would dare to raise arms against the Motherhood. “And the men from the cafeteria?”
“Eleven escaped. We brought down five. Four didn’t make it out of the building. We are tracking them, though. We have a better chance of catching up to the ones who went through the woods, the ones that took shelter in the concrete room. We believe there are Construction workers helping them as well. Mother Tiger shot two down in a house near the room. Six more were rounded up in the woods and are being transported back now. Shall we put them in holding, too?”
“Yes, we will need to question them. Any idea on the number of women that are still missing and unaccounted for?”
“No, Mother White. The buildings are still reporting. We believe the number of dead women is around twenty so far. We have fourteen others in custody with evidence that they were involved in pl
anning and beginning the insurgence, including the woman we think may be the leader.”
“And what is her name?”
“Lightning, Mother White.”
Using her scanner, she opened the door to the main control room of the medical building and walked inside, glad to see some of her most trusted Military Mothers watching monitors and giving directions to the women in the field.
Hearing that the woman who was likely the leader of the rebellion was named Lightning made Mother White’s stomach tighten, though she didn’t let her face reveal her trepidation. “Get me a list of who is missing from Weather House,” she instructed Peach.
“Yes, Mother White.” She hastily punched buttons on her info tab, gathering the most recent data and sending it over to her superior.
Mother White didn’t look at it right away. She’d need a moment alone to examine the information, just to make sure any reaction she had wasn’t noted by the other Military Mothers. Showing any sort of weakness at this moment wouldn’t due.
“President Violet is on her way from Judithtown. She should land in about an hour.”
Drawing in a deep breath through her nose, Mother White nodded. “See that she’s well protected when she lands. Take every precaution. It seems as if all threats have been moved out of the city proper, but if anything happens to President Violet, this town will burn.”
“Yes, Mother White. Anything else, ma’am?”
“Not now.” She brushed the subordinate away and sank down in a chair in the back of the room. Around her, the buzz of orders going out and intel coming in let her know that her troops were continuing to work. Soon enough, they’d hunt down every single last one of the bastards who’d dared to mess with the Motherhood, and the fate that awaited them would be far worse than the measly Bridge.
With a lump in her throat, she looked down at the information Peach had just given her, the list from Weather House. With any luck, she wouldn’t see the name she was looking for, but she only had to drop her eyes a few lines for it to jump out at her.