Jaxon shrugged. “I thought you had it all planned out.”
“I just had the plan to get there. I haven’t thought that far.”
“Well… Texas and Mexico share a border. Maybe we should head to Mexico. No one from the American government will be able to touch us then. And then we’ll find a way to get to Hawaii.”
Olivia grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
Aurora
Aurora was curled up in the corner of her cell. She wasn’t afraid of what was to come. She didn’t fear death. The fear of death had been pushed out of her mind when she had been training for the military.
She was, however, freezing. The Dungeon was all cement, and it had no heaters. The prisoners weren’t given blankets or anything to keep warm. It was inhumane.
Albert had come down earlier in the day to tell Aurora that she would not be executed after all. He smirked as he told her that he wanted to see how long she would survive.
Aurora thought about it now, as her teeth chattered, and she couldn’t stop shivering. That bastard, he wanted to her die down here. He was going to keep her here until she died. And she knew that she would die eventually. A few prisoners had already died from hypothermia. And Aurora knew she wasn’t far behind. She was too skinny to survive the cold. She didn’t have enough body fat. Albert would have divorced her if she would have gained more than ten pounds.
If I ever get out of here, Aurora thought, I’ll gain those ten pounds on purpose.
Aurora froze as she heard footsteps coming up behind her.
“Hey,” A man’s voice said.
“Go away,” Aurora growled.
The man threw something. Aurora only knew because it landed on her. It was soft.
Aurora looked at it. It was a blanket.
She turned to look at the guard behind her. “Why?” She asked.
The guard shrugged. “Just… Just don’t let anyone else see it, alright?” Then he hurried away as if he didn’t want anyone to see the encounter.
From then on, Aurora sat on the bench in her cell with the blanket wrapped around her. Every time she heard someone coming, she’d hide the blanket behind the toilet.
A few days later, Aurora was eavesdropping on the guards. She had nothing better to do, so she figured, why not?
“Did you hear about the Ribelles?” One of the guards asked.
Aurora moved closer to the door of her cell.
Another one nodded. “Yep. Heading to Texas.”
The first one nodded. “Yeah. And no one’s telling President Franch.”
“Why not?” A third one asked.
The second one answered, “They say they just don’t want to bother him with it. Secretly? I think everyone’s rooting for the Ribelles.”
Aurora moved away from the cell door. She was coming up with a plan. She had to get out. She had to help those people. She knew they had been heading to Hawaii. How could she help get them there?
“I wonder what’s in Texas?” The third guard asked.
The first one paused before saying, “Who cares? I just hope they don’t get caught.”
Chapter 11
Jaxon
Jaxon and Olivia stepped off the bus in Texas. It had taken a few days, but they were finally in Texas.
Jaxon looked around, confused. Where were all the taxis? How were they going to find one?
“There are no taxis,” Olivia said.
Jaxon smiled. After twelve years together, it was as if they could read each other’s minds.
“This isn’t New York,” She reminded him.
“No, I know. It’s just,” Jaxon tried to find the right words. “I didn’t realize that it was this bad in the rest of the world.”
“Well, other countries are doing better. They’ve managed to rebuild themselves. It’s really just the United States.”
Jaxon nodded slowly. He was still in shock.
“Well, come on!” Olivia started walking. She was walking slowly, though. Zoe had grown frustrated with sitting for so long and now wanted to do some walking herself.
“How are we getting there?” Jaxon asked.
“Walking,” Olivia answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
And perhaps it was.
After walking for nearly two hours, they came across a blue, one-story house with the windows boarded up.
“This is it,” Olivia said, examining the paper in her hand.
“What, are we supposed to just go up to the door?” Jaxon asked.
Olivia nodded.
Jaxon, in front, nervously lead the way up to the front porch. He stopped in front of the door.
“Knock,” Olivia said.
Jaxon was frozen.
Olivia sighed and knocked and the door.
A few moments later, the door opened slowly.
A woman with short blonde hair stared at Jaxon, Olivia, and Zoe. “May I help you?” She asked.
“Jessica?” Olivia asked.
“Yes?”
“We were sent here by Travis. He told us you could help keep us safe.”
Jessica’s green eyes lit up. She threw the door open and hugged Jaxon and Olivia. “Oh, it’s you! We all thought you were dead! You had me scared to death with your hats and sunglasses! I thought you were coming to rob me!”
Jaxon laughed. He was still cautious. “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you. We just didn’t want anyone to notice us.”
“Oh, of course not!” Jessica said. “Now, come inside. Todd!” She lead them inside and shut the front door. “Todd, the Ribelles are here!”
A round man with an old-timey mustache, which included the curled tips, walked into the room.
Jaxon and Olivia had removed their hats and sunglasses by now, as well as Zoe’s hat.
“My god, it is!” The man, who was apparently named Todd, cried. He held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Jaxon and Olivia shook his hand. “We’re sorry to be a bother,” Jaxon said. “But Travis implied that you had a way to keep us safe.”
“Oh, yes!” Jessica said excitedly. She began walking into another room. Jaxon and Olivia followed as she said, “It’s so nice to see people who are fighting this government. These executions are a terrible thing.”
“We’re not trying to fight,” Olivia said. “We’re just trying to survive.”
Jessica nodded. “Of course. Others might not see it that way, though.”
Jessica stopped in front of a bookcase. “Here is how we’re going to keep you safe,” She said excitedly.
She pulled a book off the shelf, and the shelf swung forward. Behind the shelf was a room.
Jaxon stepped into the room. “Amazing.”
Todd grinned. “Thank you. I built it myself. In case we ever had an incident like the one you two are in right now.”
“What a great idea,” Olivia said. “I wish we had thought ahead like that. However, we must admit that this was a very spontaneous thing. We hadn’t decided to resist until a couple of days after the election.”
“You can stay here for as long as you need,” Jessica said kindly.
Olivia and Jaxon both smiled. “Thank you, we appreciate it,” Olivia said.
A few days went by, and everyone adjusted well to each other. Jaxon and Olivia helped Jessica and Todd out with things around the house. They all ate dinner together every night. Jaxon and Olivia felt like they finally had friends again.
And Jessica and Todd’s kids, Jasper and Alison, loved Zoe. They liked to play games with her and dress her up in clothes that Jessica had saved from when they were babies.
One night, Jessica asked, “So, what’s your plan?”
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked.
“Are you going to join the resistance, go on to Hawaii, or stay here a little while longer?”
“There’s a resistance?” Olivia asked eagerly.
Jaxon looked at her. She almost seemed like she wanted to join this resistance.
Jessica nodded. “Todd and I are kind of the leaders of the one in Texas. You two would be a great addition.”
“Sorry,” Jaxon said before Olivia could say anything. “We’re heading to Hawaii, once we figure out a way to get there. Our number one goal is keeping Zoe safe.”
Jessica nodded. “Of course. Understood. If you want to get to Hawaii, I recommend going to Mexico first. They can’t touch you once you’re in Mexico.”
Olivia grinned. “Those were our thoughts exactly.”
“We know of a truck transporting members of the resistance to Mexico in two months. Would you two be interested in being on that truck?”
Jaxon and Olivia looked at each other and grinned. They didn’t need to say anything.
Aurora
It had been a month since Aurora had overheard the dungeon guards discussing the Ribelles. She had learned even more since then. Apparently, the Ribelles had been spotted getting off the bus in the same town the leaders of the Texas resistance lived in. Also, Albert apparently had the leaders’ address in his office.
And tonight was the night. Aurora was going to break out of the dungeon and find out where these people lived. Then she was going to help the Ribelle family.
Aurora stood at her cell door. She had been pretending to be in pain all day. She couldn’t just suddenly act as if she was in pain. She was worried the guards wouldn’t fall for it if she did things that way. “Guards!” She called. “Someone help!”
A guard walked over to her cell. “What do you want?” He asked.
“I’m in so much pain,” Aurora whined. “I think I need a doctor.”
The guard laughed. He turned to the other guards. “You hear that? She wants a doctor!”
Aurora grabbed him by the shirt collar. She pulled him forward with all the strength she had in her. His head slammed against the cell bars. He went unconscious and fell to the ground.
Before the other guard could react, Aurora had grabbed his gun and keys off his belt.
“Drop your weapon!” One of the other guards yelled, pointing his gun at Aurora.
She shot him, then the other guard. She unlocked the cell door and ran out of the dungeon.
Once Aurora had arrived at the White House, she managed to sneak into the Oval Office through an open window. She began rifling through Albert’s desk until she found what she was looking for. The names and addresses of every single suspected member of the resistance. She looked through the lists, looking at every name that had ‘leader’ written in all capitals and underlined in red ink. Once she found the leader in Texas, she grabbed the paper.
She picked up the phone.
“Yes, Mr. President?” A voice asked.
“This is Aurora Franch. I have Albert here at gunpoint. I will kill him if I do not get access to a helicopter right now.”
“Yes, ma’am. Right away,” The voice said nervously.
Aurora waited in the office until she saw the helicopter landing on the front lawn of the White House. She ran out of the White House and climbed into the helicopter.
She pointed the gun at the pilot. “Take me to Texas. Now.”
Chapter 12
Jaxon
There was someone frantically ringing the doorbell. Jaxon sat up. It was the middle of the night. What was going on? Jaxon started to get out of bed.
“Don’t,” Olivia put a hand on his arm. “We don’t know who it is. It could be anyone. Let Jessica and Todd handle it.”
Jaxon realized Olivia was right. He laid back down and hoped that no one was in trouble.
He suddenly heard Jessica shout, “First Lady Franch! What are you doing here?”
He knew that she was shouting for their benefit. So that they knew what was going on.
It was quiet for a moment before Jessica said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but why don’t we move into the study so we can talk?”
A moment later, three sets of footsteps moved into the study. “Now, what’s going on?” Jaxon heard Todd ask.
“I want to speak to the Ribelles. I want to help them,” Someone said.
Jaxon looked at Olivia. Whoever it was really did sound like Aurora Franch! Was it really her? What was going on?
“We don’t know anyone named Ribelle. Unless you’re talking about those people running from your husband? I think I’ve heard about them on the radio,” Todd said.
“Which radio?” First Lady Franch asked. “The normal one, or the one you use for the resistance?”
No one said anything for a moment.
At last, First Lady Franch said, “Look. I didn’t come to cause any harm. I want to help. I do not agree with what my husband is doing. Do you know where I have been? Why I have not been seen in public for a month? It’s because my husband has kept me in The Dungeon for speaking out. And I’ve escaped. I’m here, and I want to help in any way that I can.”
Jessica and Todd were silent.
“Please. I swear on my ability to have children. I just want to help.” First Lady Franch said softly.
Olivia and Jaxon looked at each other. It was well known that Aurora Franch wanted to have children.
Jaxon kissed Olivia and Zoe on the foreheads, just in case this was goodbye. Before Olivia could stop him, he opened the secret door and stepped out from behind the bookcase.
“Mrs. Franch? I’m Jaxon Ribelle. You said you wanted to help?”
Aurora
“Yes. Yes, I would love to help,” Aurora stated. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
“My family and I are trying to get to Hawaii,” Jaxon explained. “We have family there. They’ll keep us safe.”
Aurora grinned. “I came in a helicopter. I can set up a boat to meet us once we get into Hawaii’s waters, and you’ll be able to get to safety.”
Jaxon nodded. “We’d really appreciate that.”
Aurora looked past Jaxon, at his wife and daughter, who had just come out from behind a bookcase. “Hello. You must be Olivia and Zoe, right?”
Jaxon turned toward his family as Olivia nodded.
“That’s right,” Olivia said. “Thank you so much for everything you’re going to do. But I have one request.”
Aurora nodded. She would do anything to help these people.
“Will you make sure these two and their kids are safe?” Olivia asked, pointing to Jessica and Todd.
Aurora nodded. She had everything planned. “Yes. I have set up a safe house for these two and their family.” She turned toward Jessica and Todd. “If you two would like to go, I can give you the address. And I do recommend that you go. The government knows exactly where you live.”
Jessica looked at Todd, who nodded. “We’ll go,” Jessica agreed.
Aurora grinned. “Fantastic. Let’s all leave right now. I don’t know how long we have until we are found.”
And with that, everyone grabbed what they could carry and evacuated the house.
Aurora watched as Olivia stopped to hug Jessica before they went their separate ways. “Thank you,” Olivia whispered to Jessica.
Jessica smiled. “Anytime.”
Albert
“Mr. President?” There was a knock on the bedroom door.
Albert stood up. “This better be important,” He growled as he stalked toward the bedroom door. He yanked the door open. “What? What do you want?” He yelled.
Edwin stood on the other side of the door. “Mr. President, we didn’t want to tell you until morning, but your wife escaped The Dungeon.”
“Find her and kill her,” Albert demanded.
He was about to shut the door when Edwin continued, “That’s not all, though.”
“What do you mean that’s not all?”
“She took one of the helicopters. We put a tracker on it. It’s in Mexico now. There’s a weight of two more people on board. Or perhaps two adults and a baby.”
“What are you saying?”
“We believe that the Ribelle family could be on board.”
A
lbert didn’t hesitate before saying, “Take me to them.”
Chapter 13
Albert
The helicopter had moved around north Mexico, but it hadn’t gone very far. Albert’s advisors told him that whoever was in the helicopter was probably stopping for the night and preparing to leave in the morning.
Where were they going? No one knew.
Albert arrived in Mexico by helicopter at seven in the morning. His helicopter landed next to the one Aurora had stolen.
Albert got out with a grin on his face. The Ribelles and Aurora were all standing next to their helicopter, staring at Albert.
Albert grinned even wider. This was the moment he had been waiting months for.
Aurora turned to the Ribelles. “Get inside.”
They did as they were told.
Aurora grabbed a gun from her waistband. “Don’t come any closer, Albert.”
Albert laughed. “I’m the President. You have no power over me.”
Aurora smiled. “We’re not in America anymore. You can’t have us arrested.”
“That won’t stop me from killing you.”
Aurora disabled the safety on her gun.
“Of course, I didn’t come here to kill you. You’re my wife.”
Aurora kept the gun steady. She didn’t say anything.
“Come on, hunny. Let’s kill these fugitives. Then we can go back to living our lives together. We’ll forget all about you defying me.” Albert paused. He wasn’t sure if he could say the next words. “I love you,” He managed.
Aurora shook her head. “I’m not falling for it. Not this time.” She turned and shouted to the helicopter pilot, “Let’s get moving!”
The helicopter started up. Aurora climbed in without looking back.
Albert watched the helicopter take off. He got into his own.
“Sir? What now?” The pilot asked.
“Kill them,” Albert said calmly.
Aurora
Albert was following them. If Aurora had to admit it, she was nervous. This was not a part of the plan.
“Mrs. Franch, he’s following us,” Olivia pointed out nervously.
“I know,” Aurora said.
The Ribelles didn’t need to know this, but Albert was using his personal helicopter. And his personal helicopter had missiles attached to it.
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