Worlds Collide: Sunset Rising, Book Two

by McEachern, S. M.

  “I might be able to help with that,” I said. All attention was on me. I didn’t want to tell them Jack was part of the plan. I’d lose their confidence. And I wasn’t even sure if he was still part of the plan, or if he was in custody. “Captain Kenner is here to fix the comms and I might be able to get access to his computer when he’s in the shower or something.”

  “You know how to use a computer?” Terran asked.

  Of course I didn’t know how to use a computer. No one from the Pit did. But I didn’t think they were ready to hear that Jack was an ally. “Yes.”

  For just a moment, my mother regarded me with surprise. I wondered if anyone else noticed.

  “I haven’t seen my daughter in a few months, so if you’ll excuse us we have some catching up to do.” As my mother stood, she pulled me with her.

  “Shouldn’t we talk about this a little more?” Goldie asked.

  “She already said she’s going to try. I’ll work out the details with her and let you know. In the meantime, try to come up with a way to get into the Dome.” She turned her attention to me. “Where’s your bunk?”

  My mother always was a take-charge woman, but she was being particularly spectacular tonight. No one questioned her when we walked away. I ducked under the top bunk and crawled onto my bed, my mother right beside me. She leaned back against the wall and I rested my head on her shoulder.

  “You’ve been through a lot lately, haven’t you, honey?” she asked. I nodded. Her arm came around me and she stroked my hair. “Tell me everything.”

  And I did—the whole, pent-up story. A logical voice inside my head warned me that I should be more restrained, but this was my mother. If they did have Jack and I was next, someone out here had to know the truth. But more importantly, I needed to confess about the role I played in her husband—my father’s—arrest. I needed to confess because I needed her forgiveness.

  She was crying too when I finished my tale and we held each other for a little while. It finally sank into my numb brain that C Block was quiet. Had everyone gone to bed? I had no idea what time it was. And Jack still hadn’t come for me.

  “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. “Your father had…problems that would be difficult for you to understand. He was never your responsibility. I should’ve insisted you married that big oaf Reyes before I left the Dome.”

  “How can you say that about Dad? Of course he was my responsibility. If I had just refused to cooperate with Leisel—”

  “—then you and Summer would both have paid the price.” She squeezed me tight. “Your father was a grown man capable of making his own decisions. He should’ve been taking care of you.” She kissed my forehead.

  I sniffed away my tears. “He might still be alive though.”

  She gave me a look—the same one I gave Gaia when she told me her husband was still alive on the range. “You’ve been through a lot for one so young, and I’m proud of you. You stood up for what you believed in and that takes a lot of guts. I wish I had been more like you when I was your age.”

  “Why?”

  She rested her head atop mine. “Because maybe I could’ve made a difference, too.”

  It was an odd thing to say. I mean, it’s not as though I chose to be part of the wedding; it chose me. Life-changing moments like that were beyond rare in the Pit. “How?”

  “Missed opportunities.” Was she deliberately being evasive? I wanted to press the matter, but she changed the subject. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” she asked quietly.

  My feelings for Jack were private. I hadn’t even shared them with him. He and I had grown so close that telling someone else first seemed unfaithful. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes, it does. Because no matter how good you think he is, he’s still a bourge and you can’t trust him.”

  I shook my head. “You’re wrong. Jack Kenner has done more for the Pit than anyone I know.” My voice caught on a sob. “And I’m so scared they might have him.”

  Someone coughed from a few beds away and I was alarmed by how well the sound carried. Could they have overheard my story? So what if they had? I didn’t care anymore. If Jack had been arrested, I was next.

  Oddly, acknowledging the futility of my situation eased the anxiousness that had gripped me all evening. I allowed myself to relax against my mom, taking a moment to appreciate this second chance with her.

  The door flung open, startling everyone. A woman stepped inside. “Soldiers!” she hissed.

  Heavy feet hit the floor followed by a “Crap!”

  My mom and I scrambled off the bed. Flint was already disappearing into the hole when we got there. Terran grabbed the food and followed him down.

  “Help me,” Goldie said, trying to rearrange the floorboards. My mom went to her aid while I helped push the bunks back into place. We had just enough time to get everything straightened when two armed soldiers burst into C Block.

  “We’re looking for Sunny O’Donnell,” one said in a loud, clear voice.

  My heart pounded. This was it. Jack had been arrested and they had come for me.

  “No!” my mother cried. The soldiers stepped toward her.

  I moved in front of her. “I’m Sunny,” I said. She grabbed my hand. “It’s okay, Mom.” I hoped the encouraging smile I forced hid the fear in my eyes.

  “But…” Her panic-stricken eyes strayed toward to the soldiers and back to me.

  I needed to reassure her that even if this was the end for me, I was strong enough to face it. “I did what I could, and now I leave it with you, right?” I could face what was coming as long as I knew someone else was ready to take up our cause.

  One of the soldiers sighed loudly. “Can we dispense with the drama and go?” He pointed to the door.

  Without another word or another look, I left C Block, flanked by my military escorts. I didn’t need to turn around to know that everyone was at the door, watching me go. Squaring my shoulders, I held my head high and did my best to walk in spite of my shaking knees.

  The soldiers exchanged baffled expressions. “What the hell was that all about?” asked one of them.

  “I don’t know,” said the other.

  I climbed into the back seat of the jeep, the driver revved the engine to life, and we drove out through the gates. They went in the direction of town and within minutes we reached the rutted tracks through the forest. I suddenly felt very isolated, alone with two bourge, in the woods. I glanced at them, but the driver was concentrating on navigating and the other one was scanning the forest.

  “It gives me the heebie-jeebies driving through here at night,” said the one in the passenger seat. “What if the heathens are watching us? They could be right there, in the trees, with arrows pointed at us.”

  The driver took his eyes off the road momentarily to look at the trees too. “Or the boogieman. He’s scary too.” He laughed.

  Neither one of them showed the animosity I expected of soldiers apprehending a criminal. And not just a criminal, but an urchin criminal.

  We broke out of the forest and wound our way through the ghost town of empty houses. Finally, they pulled up in front of the house I shared with Jack. The lights were on inside and his security stood at the door.

  Jack was home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Jack opened the door, my escorts snapped to attention. “Sir!” they said in unison.

  He reached out, grabbed me by the arm, and yanked me inside. He shut the door.

  “Where were you?” I demanded.

  “Are you okay? Nobody hurt you, did they?” He smoothed the hair back from my face, looking at it closely.

  I brushed his hands away. “I thought you had been—” I paused, looked
at the door, and lowered my voice. “…Arrested.”

  “I was kidnapped.” He pulled me against him and hugged me tight—almost too tight.

  “Jack, you’re hurting me.” I smelled alcohol on his breath.

  “Oh, sorry.” He dropped his arms and picked up my hand. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

  “Someone kidnapped you and made you drink?” I asked in confusion.

  “I didn’t want to drink,” he said. “Last night they had a surprise party planned for me but I didn’t end up going to the mess, so tonight they weren’t taking any chances. Alex and some of the other guys showed up at work and dragged me there. And I’d been so close to figuring out the tagging system when they took me.”

  My heart leaped at the news. “Can you shut it down?”

  “I’m pretty sure I can, but we need to get word to everyone once it’s shut down so they know to run.”

  “I kind of prepared them tonight. I found my mom.”

  Jack looked surprised. “You did? That’s incredible! Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

  “Because this is the first chance I had.”

  “Okay, start from the beginning.” He held up his hand to stop me from talking. “Wait. Let’s go to bed and you can tell me all about it. It’s been a long night and I could use some therapy.”

  As I curled up next to him in the big bed we shared, I felt my tension begin to fade away. He was snoring before I even finished telling him about meeting my mother.

  It was bright in the room. When had the sun come up? It must have risen during the one hour I was actually asleep. Jack had been restless last night and snored loudly. Stretching, I shifted onto my back, trying to jolt my foggy brain into consciousness.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” Jack said. He rolled half on top of me and buried his face in my neck. “It was so stupid. I just didn’t know how to get out of it.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.” I rested my hands on his back. The contact felt good. “I guess if we’re going to stay, we have to be prepared for things like that to happen.”

  He raised his head and looked at me. “Maybe we shouldn’t stay, Sunny. Being separated that easily scared the hell out of me.”

  “It scared me too.” He ran his finger along the side of my face and traced the outline of my lips. My breath caught at the pleasure it sent rippling through me. He kissed me lightly on the lips. “Mmmm,” I said. “I thought we agreed no romantic stuff.” My voice sounded low and husky. I cleared my throat.

  He smiled. “I wasn’t being romantic. If I was being romantic, I would’ve done this.”

  He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me. It started off as a gentle kiss, but grew with such intensity I found myself clinging to him. Winding my hands through his hair, I pulled his head closer. As our breath mingled and our hearts pounded, the world faded away. It was an intoxicating sensation. I never wanted it to end.

  When he lifted his head away from mine, a moan of protest escaped me. He held my gaze, his lips curving in a lazy smile. His hair was tousled from my exploring hands and his eyes smoldered. He had never looked more beautiful.

  “Did you see the difference?” he asked. He gave me an expectant look. The difference? What was the question? “If you’re not sure, I could show you again.”

  Oh yeah…romantic kiss versus non-romantic kiss. What ever made me come up with that stupid policy? “I think you better show me again.” As I pulled his head down to mine, a loud banging on the door jolted us apart.

  “What the—” Jack threw back the covers and ran out of the bedroom.

  I sucked in a deep breath in an effort to slow my heartbeat.

  He came running back into the room and picked up the bedside clock. “We are so late. Get up!” He opened the closet door and pulled out his uniform.

  Unhappily, I got out of bed and searched for clean work clothes. “I thought the heir could do whatever he wants.”

  “I have a meeting with Powell and Colonel Anderson in fifteen minutes to go over the plans for the city. I don’t want to miss it. I might learn something important.”

  It looked like Jack was going to strip right there in front of me, so I hurried to the bathroom. I changed, cleaned up and put my hair back in record time. When I came out, he wasn’t there.

  I went searching for him. “Jack?”

  “In here,” he called from the kitchen. He handed me a protein shake as I joined him. His was already half gone. “I meant it when I said we should leave. The risk in staying is too much. I’ll download as much as I can onto my tablet and then we’re out of here.”

  Relief flooded through me. I didn’t want a repeat of last night. “How do we ditch your security?”

  He shrugged. “Same way we did before. I’ll pick you up at the corral and we’ll take off from there. We’ll find a safe place to hide until we can figure it out.”

  I was terrified and elated all at the same time. “Okay. But if you don’t come—”

  He touched a finger to my lips, cutting off my next words. “I will. No matter what.”

  Another loud bang on the door reminded us we were late. I took a few gulps of my protein shake, and Jack downed his. Just before he opened the door, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “Stay safe.” I watched him get into the waiting vehicle and drive away.

  Across the street, Gaia was already seated in the jeep. Wearing an angry scowl, our driver still stood beside the vehicle, and pointed at me and then to the back seat. Fear tugged at me. If I was in the Pit I knew I would be in for a beating. But I still wasn’t quite sure if that happened out here or not.

  I hurried into the backseat beside Gaia. She barely acknowledged my presence. Our driver, on the other hand, was still glaring at me from outside the jeep. He looked from me to Gaia and back. My stomach clenched as I waited for a blow.

  “Screw it.” He sat behind the wheel, slamming the door behind him, revved the engine and threw the jeep into a U-turn. If I hadn’t already been bracing myself, I would have been thrown against Gaia.

  He raced toward town, in the opposite direction from the corral. I looked at Gaia, silently questioning if she knew what this was about. But she was looking at me with the same confused expression.

  We sped through town and took a right turn just before the paved road ended, and drove through a section of town still under construction before turning onto a dirt road that wound its way toward the mountain that hid the Dome. We had to hang on to the roll bar for support as the jeep went off-road. The pitching and rolling was nauseating. I was actually relieved when we came upon a work gang and the jeep came to a halt.

  A soldier with more stripes than our driver stomped toward our vehicle. “You’re late, Jenkins! And we can’t afford that with all these urchins.” He motioned toward a group of men digging into the ground. “I need every available gun watching them.”

  “Sorry, Sarge. It’s not my fault,” Jenkins replied, getting out of the jeep. “Captain Kenner was late leaving the house and I’m their assigned driver.”

  “You’re only on driving duty until 8 am. After that, you belong to me. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes sir!” Jenkins snapped to attention.

  Sarge turned his attention on us. “Looks like we have two more volunteers. Get ‘em a shovel.”

  Reluctantly, I left the jeep. This was not the way today was supposed to go. I needed to be at the corral by the end of the day for Jack to pick me up. There wasn’t any reason for Jenkins to take us to the corral now.

  Someone handed Gaia and me each a shovel with a flat edge and pointed to where we should start digging. Most of the diggers were men, although I saw a few women working down the line. Armed soldiers were everywhe
re, pacing and watching. This had a familiar feel to it. This felt like the Pit.

  The dirt was dry and hard, and despite my best efforts, the shovel didn’t go in very far. Gaia was having the same problem. She looked at me for suggestions. I shrugged. I didn’t know what I was doing either.

  Gaia positioned the shovel straight up and jumped on it with both feet. It went into the dirt only slightly farther and she teetered for a moment before it tipped. Unable to get her balance, she went down. I smirked at her failed attempt. A few soldiers were in stitches.

  “That worked well,” I said, helping her up.

  She rubbed her knees, giving me a dirty look. “And once again I have you to thank for a lovely day.”

  The soldiers laughing at her finally lost interest and wandered away. “How are they allowed to do this to us?” I asked in a low voice. I needed to get to the corral and was still hoping to find a way there.

  Gaia drew her eyebrows together. “They can do whatever they want to us.”

  “But I thought because we’re mistresses that we’re treated differently.” There had to be some kind of recourse with Jenkins.

  Ignoring me, Gaia struck the ground with her shovel and managed to sink it into the ground by a few inches. She levered it out.

  “But if we told them Captain Kenner and the general would be upset with us shoveling, they’d take us to the corral, right?”

  She sank her shovel into the ground again, but stopped to give me an angry glare. “You want to get yourself in trouble with Sarge over there, go ahead. But don’t you dare bring me into it.” The tone of her voice made it clear she was not my ally.

  Was there really no way? I wasn’t tagged so I could run. The trouble was there were too many armed soldiers. The beginning of panic stirred in the center of my stomach.

  Two soldiers were staring at me and I realized I was the only one not working. I struck the earth with my shovel, and after a few attempts, I managed to scratch out some dirt. The soldiers turned their attention elsewhere.