Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1)

by Jessica Miller

  Dr. Lynn stopped once we reached the highway. He turned and looked at me. His flashlight blinded my eyes.

  "Nothing is as it seems is it?"

  I shoved the light out of my eyes. "What’s wrong with you?" Ice slide down my spine. He was losing his mind in fear.

  Dr. Lynn dropped the flashlight to the ground and it rolled down the gravel. "I'm the same as you."

  My legs tensed, getting ready to sprint away. What if he was secretly apart of the rebels?

  "You died you know." He laughed, but without humor. "I watched the life leave your eyes. I watched your heart stop beating. I begged you to come back, not to die. Your life was in my hands and I knew Stephan would blame me for your death. I did everything I could. Everything! You died anyways." Again he laughed, but this time he was choking on it. Saliva sputtered out of his mouth and got all over my face.

  I opened and closed my mouth a few times. I was at a loss for words. Dr. Lynn reached behind him. I saw a flash of silver metal. He pointed a pistol at me.

  "This is not the place for you Brianna. I'm sorry." Remorse filled his words.

  I used to imagine what I would do when a gun was pointed at my face. I imagined I would fight back and win. Me against a gun. When I was in the woods and that girl pointed a gun at me, I could not bring myself to care. I felt like I had nothing to lose, but now I realize I had the most precious thing in the world to lose. Life. There were so many things I had not experienced. Things I may never get to experience. I was not ready to die.

  "My name is Evelyn." I despised the tremor in my voice.

  Dr. Lynn stared at me, gun unwavering in his hand.

  "My name is Bryan. I was born in 1975. I died in 2015. I woke up in 2075. It was me, but it wasn't me. My hair was different. I was married to a different woman. I lived in a different house. My life was different, but the body. The body was just like mine." His voice broke on a sob. "I died from cancer, yet here I am."

  I knew I was looking at him like he was crazy, but I couldn't help it. The man just told me he died and came back to life in another body in the future. What even makes him actually think I wasn't Evelyn? One time I said my name was Brianna and now he is rambling about this crazy stuff? He must have cracked under pressure.

  Even though I wanted to scream and run in the other direction, I spoke to him with a soothing voice. "Everything is going to be okay. Lower your weapon."

  Dr. Lynn gave me a sad look. "I am sorry that I have to do thi-"

  Before he could finish his sentence, I grabbed onto his arm and pushing it towards the sky. He pulled the trigger. I jabbed him in his stomach as hard as I could. The moment his fingers slackened on the gun, I quickly removed it from his grasp.

  The gun was in my hands now. It was me versus a man with a gun and I won. I aimed the gun at him and backed up out of arms reach. He dropped to the floor sobbing. I had never seen a grown man cry before. I felt something tug at my heart, but I ignored it. He spoke crazy and he was going to murder me. He was going to murder me after he made me think he was leading me to safety. I couldn't trust anyone.

  I kept my voice neutral. "I am going to leave now. If you follow me, I will shoot." I warned.

  He didn't say anything. He just sat on the ground crying his heart out. I pressed my lips together and shook my head. Without a backwards glance, I picked up the flashlight and jogged back to the secret tunnel. All this time I was planning my escape, and here I was running back into my prison. I needed so many answers and I had a feeling staying here would get me the answers I needed.

  I felt suffocated when I entered the tunnels. The walls were closing in on me. The roof was getting shorter and shorter. My breathing was getting short. It was hard for me to intake air. I was running out of air. Sweat dripped down my face and my shirt was sticking to me. My heart was beating too fast. I was dying. I was running out of oxygen. I was not going to make it out of the tunnel alive.

  I fell to the floor. My breathing was harsh, not enough air. Black danced across my vision. I was going to die in here and nobody was ever going to know. I brought my hands to a gunfight, won, and now a tunnel was going to take me out. Tears leaked from my eyes and my nose started to run.

  All this for nothing. I dragged myself across the cold floor. I only made it a few feet before my arms gave out. My ribs ached where they were bruised, the cuts on my feet and palms were on fire. I was going to die a painful death. The pistol was a few feet in front of me. I reached my hands out and dragged it closer. It made me feel safe.

  Suddenly exhaustion overcame me. I was tired. I did not know the last time I fell into a deep sleep. Now seemed like a good time.

  Shoes appeared in my vision. I recognized them. Adam. The guy who led the rebels. I looked up to see his stone face looking down on me. Adam didn't like Evelyn very much. Through my heavy breathing, I gave him a small smile. His green eyes practically glowed in the dark. He looked like a lion ready to pounce. He was the hunter and I was his prey. His dirty blond hair was cut in a buzz cut, giving him the look of a tough man. I saw through it, though. His face was youthful. Adam was probably twenty at most.

  "Run." I panted. The tunnel had no air. I did not want him to die with me. He probably had so many things in life that he wanted to experience too.

  He squatted down so he was closer to eye level with me. "What do you mean?"

  Adam's breathing was perfectly fine. I pressed my hands into my throat looking at him with wide eyes. "No oxygen. No air. Run before you die too."

  Many emotions flashed across his emerald eyes. He sat me up and leaned my back against the wall. Adam pushed my head down between my knees. "Breathe. Only when I tell you too. Breathe in. Breathe out."

  Adam's voice soothed me. In a couple minutes, my heart rate slowed down and I was breathing normally. A flush filled my cheeks. I was having a panic attack. I looked up at him through my eyelashes and laughed softly to myself. He was here to kill me, but I was the one who almost ended up killing myself. The pistol was still in the grip of my hands.

  Adam gave me a curious look. "What are you doing in here alone?"

  I tried not to stare at the gun on his leg, nor the AK47 strapped to his back.

  "I was heading back to the house." I chose the honest answer.

  He rubbed his hands over his jaw thinking. "You are under attack, you escape, and then you run back to the house. Now, why would you do that?"

  I was going to die at his hands. He may have helped me, but now I realize he needed answers. Just like me. We were both in the same boat.

  I had nothing to lose. I chose the honest route again. "Truthfully?" I sighed. "I just wanted answers."

  Adam frowned. I was being vague. I froze when I heard footsteps. Fear took over again. I don't know where my fear was when I was talking to Adam, but it was back. I gripped the pistol tighter in my hands and aimed down the tunnel where the footsteps were coming from. Adam pushed my arm down making me lower my weapon. We were not on the same team, but he made me feel like we were.

  It was Sanchez. His hand was pressed into his stomach and blood as seeping out from his fingers. He looked shocked to see me sitting in here with Adam. He opened his mouth to speak, but blood sputtered out and he started choking.

  Something tightened in my stomach. Adam watched, his face stone cold. He did this. I was comfortable with him one moment, and now I wanted to get as far away as possible. It was one thing to hear about something that somebody does, but it was different to see it with your own eyes. To experience it.

  I slipped the pistol into the back of my pants and sprang to my feet. Sanchez dropped to his knees first, then face planted the floor. I ran over to him and flipped him over. His eyes were blank. He was gone. I pressed my fingers into his throat searching for a pulse.

  "No!" I screamed. There was nothing there. I pressed my head on his chest hoping to hear some kind of heartbeat. "Save him!" I screamed, looking at Adam.

  Adam just stared at me. He said nothing. He did nothing.r />
  "Don't you get it? This is a life! This was not your life to take! Who gave you the power to steal him from someone? Someone out there loves him and now you took him away!" Tears were streaming down my face.

  My words did not affect him. "Don't you get it? He is a part of the problem. He takes children away from their parents, puts them in a system, and executes their parents. He strips people of their dignity, searches their homes, steals their rations, and then laughs as they struggle. He has murdered. He takes away the freedom from the people. He is a part of the problem, not the solution. He had to go. We did not want to use violence, but we were left with no choice."

  I shook my head back and forth. He was lying. The law protected people from that. The constitution was there to protect the people so the government never got too strong. Adam was just a cold, blooded murderer.

  "You are a murderer. Do not try and justify taking a life!" I looked at him with hatred. My heart hurt for the dead body lying under my hands. I had never seen someone die before. There was no coming back from that. I did not even like Sanchez. I wanted nothing to do with him, yet here I was crying for him.

  Adam appeared in front of me. His hands wrapped around my throat and he lifted me until I was pressed against the wall. I started coughing and scratching at his hands. He was too strong. "This innocent act you have going on is not going to fool me, Evelyn. I know you. I have seen the things you have done. What? Your head gets blasted in a bomb so you want to play stupid?" Rage filled his green eyes. "You cannot fool me. I should have shot you in the forest."

  He lowered one arm to reach for the gun strapped to his pants. I closed my eyes. I seemed to be playing a game with death the past two weeks. I was going to lose this round. I saw the look in his eyes. He was going to pull the trigger. My tears were steady. I stopped attempting to breathe. His hand was too tight around my throat. He was too strong.

  "Open your mouth." He instructed.

  I pressed my lips together in defiance. That's when he made a stupid, stupid mistake. He let his anger overrule his common sense. Adam took his hand away from my throat and pressed his fingers on my jaw to get my mouth to open. My mouth opened and he aimed the run towards my mouth. I got the pistol out of the back of my pants and pressed it underneath his head. It was fair game. If he shot me, my finger may twitch, and I would blow his brains out. If I shot him, his finger may twitch, and he would blow my brains out.

  Adam's gaze connected with mine. He would kill himself by killing me. He had a decision to make. I would not be the first one to pull the trigger. I may have threatened to take Dr. Lynn’s life, but it was one thing to say something, then one thing to actually do it.

  "I should have taken that gun from you." He seethed.

  I was still crying. Snot was coming out of my nose and I hiccupped around the gun. I was a mess. I remember when I used to never cry. I would especially not cry in front of people. I did not like appearing weak.

  Adam thought for a few seconds, then sighed in defeat. "I am going to remove the gun from your mouth and at the same time you will lower yours. You will head back towards the house like you originally planned and I was head back to where I was going. If you follow me, I will shoot you. Deal?"

  Some strange part of me trusted him. I nodded my head. At the same time, we lowered our weapons. Adam turned on his heel and walked away. He did not seem afraid that I would shoot him while his back was turned. I slid to the ground and stared at Sanchez's body. I started crying even harder. What did I do to deserve this?

  That's the way Stephan found me. Blood all over me, a pistol gripped in my hand, and Sachez's dead body in front of me.

  Chapter Five

  Stephan's gray eyes looked from me to the body on the floor. His face gave nothing away. He was wearing a business suit. It had splatters of blood and dirt on it. He watched me cry. I'm not sure for how long. I was like a damn that had too much water pressure and finally broke. Now the water wouldn't stop coming.

  Eventually, I did stop crying. I sat there completely spent and exhausted. I do not remember the last time I had ever cried so hard. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and dropped my head onto my knees.

  Stephan sat down next to me. I was surprised. I would never think a man like him would sit down on a dirty floor. "Why are you crying?"

  My head whipped up so fast it made me dizzy. "Did you really just ask me why I am crying? Look!" I pointed to the body on the floor, but not daring to look at it.

  "Sanchez did not make a good soldier anyways." Stephan's voice held nonchalance. "I am assuming you did not mean to shoot him?"

  Now I was confused. "Shot him...?" I realized now how it must have looked. I held a gun between my nimble fingers, Sanchez's blood was all over me, and his body lay right in front of me. "I did not shoot him."

  Stephan stood, pulling me up with him. His hands felt like ice on my burning hot skin. "He was of no importance. We need to leave now. Where is Dr. Lynn? He should have led you to safety."

  Everything was happening too fast. I kept my mouth shut about Dr. Lynn and how he pulled a gun on me. I did not say anything. Stephan was unfazed about everything that was going on around him. His movements were confident. I could tell he has walked this tunnel a million times. He moved with ease through the dark. I was too numb to grab the flashlight. I let his soft footsteps guide me.

  I tensed when we left the tunnel. Would Dr. Lynn still be there falling into pieces? The air was wet with morning dew. Sunlight was peeking through the top of the trees. I shivered and my teeth started chattering. The soggy pine needles felt nice on my burning feet.

  Stephan led me to an SUV. Just like the one Dr. Lynn took me too. It was parked next to a Honda Civic that was flipped upside down. I expected him to open the back door, but he led me to the front seat. The beeping from the car getting unlocked sounded a lot louder than it really was. Everything was still. The world had paused. No birds were chirping, no crickets singing, and no leaves rustling from the breeze.

  I wanted to ask what happened, but I just found myself resting my head on the window as we drove down the destroyed highway. We passed so many cars. They were all in shambles. Bones. There were a lot of bones. I did not feel like I was in my world. I was somewhere completely different.

  I closed my eyes. Peace. All I wanted was peace. I dreamed of a faraway place. A place where I was safe and loved. I imagined what it would be like if my parents were still alive. I imagined them hugging me and loving me unconditionally. I wanted to feel safe. Protected. Valued. I dreamed of happiness. Rain always made me feel joy. I dreamed of sitting on a beautiful front porch watching the sky cry. I was wrapped in a soft blanket, drinking comforting tea.

  I imagined how crisp and beautiful the air would smell. I would burrow further into the blanket. After the huge storm, the sun would begin to peak out from the storm clouds.

  Too soon, I was pulled out of my dream. Stephan shut the engine off. I kept my eyes closed, wanting to fall back into bliss. Reality was too cruel. I was too weak to handle it. Stephan opened his door. An ice, cold breeze slid into the car making me shiver. A foul smell was in the air. It smelt like sewage and garbage.

  Plugging my nose, I opened my eyes. We were in a parking lot. It had trash all over it. Empty shopping carts littered the entire parking lot. Cars were all over here too. The vehicles had obviously not been driven for years.

  I stepped out of the SUV. The road was deserted too. I looked all around at all the shopping stores. Every single one of them had broken glass like they were all broken into. Everything was in ruins. There were no animals. No signs of life except for Stephan and I. When the wind blew again, empty trash bags flew across the street. I looked up towards the sky. Not one bird in sight.

  Stephan walked over to me, his eyes a steel gray color. He placed both of his hands on my shoulders and gave me a serious look. "This is the world we live in. I know you do not remember anything, but I wanted you to grasp onto what is going on around you. The pe
ople are far too weak to be making decisions for themselves. Once, many years ago, we lived in a country of freedom, and look at where it got us. America fell just like the Empire. A war broke out within the country. Each state became its own country and we all fought with each other. Diseases broke out, many people died. Our leader at the time, failed his job. He gave up and blew his brains out. We had no leader for many years. People from our country fled to other countries spreading disease. Soon, the entire world was in shambles." Stephan let go of my shoulder and started pacing. He was thinking. Eventually he looked at me again. "That's where I come into the story. I claimed a town as mine. Trained men to be soldiers. I had strict laws for people to abide if they wanted to join. I created The Unit. Brave men protecting the people in our town. Eventually it grew and soon, all of what used to be America united. There are no states, we are all one. All of our history textbooks are gone. It is against the law to own any kind of documentation from the past. People should not have ideas of 'freedom'. Freedom is just an idea. Something that doesn't really exist. People do not have the right to carry a weapon, people do not have freedom of speech, and nothing is the same as it was."

  I looked at my dirty feet. Everything he was telling me scared me. Freedom. No freedom. No rights. No freedom of speech. People could not speak their mind. I looked back towards Stephan and suddenly everything made sense. I had died and gone to hell.

  "Are you the president?" Of all the questions that I could have asked, I do not know why I picked that one.

  Stephan stopped pacing and looked at me with a sharp stare. "Where do you know that word from?"

  "I don't understand." I muttered, feeling like I just walked myself into a ditch.

  Stephan masked his face into emptiness. "As I told you, all documentations of history is gone. Nobody knows of a president."

  "The rebels said something about a president." I lied on the spot. The words left my lips easily as if they were the truth. Something told me the rebels would have something illegal like a history document.