Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1)

by Jessica Miller

  Where was the ticking clock? David walked halfway down the middle of the aisle. He turned around and got onto one knee. He aimed it at my head. "One. Two. Three."

  I panicked. I threw myself backwards as the bullet flew out of the shotgun. The chair fell back and snapped. Gasps filled the room. That's when we all heard it. A massive explosion. The entire church shook. The woman screamed. Everybody ran to the church window and looked outside. I twisted until the ropes slid off of the broken chair legs. There was a fire up the hill. David's house was on fire. In the distance, I could hear another helicopter.

  "The Unit!" Someone shouted.

  Everybody began to panic. David looked back at me. I got onto my knees. I could barely get to my feet with my hands cuffed behind my back. This was my moment. I wanted to live. I couldn't give up so easily. I ran out the exit door onto the side of the church. Soldiers were marching down the hill, guns aimed and ready to shoot. I slid behind the church.

  Screams and gunshots filled the air. I needed the handcuffs off. I groaned in pain when I attempted to slide it off of my wrists. It was hurting me. I looked right as a soldier turned the corner. He was wearing a gas mask. He raised his weapon.

  Without thinking, I kicked the dirt from the ground onto his face. He lowered his weapon slightly to get the dirt off of his mask. Charging at him, I set us both tumbling to the ground. His AR 15 slid out from under his hand. With his left fist, he punched me in the face. I fell to the side. When the soldier stood over me, I kicked him. I was not going down without a fight.

  He kicked me in my rib cage. I cried out in pain. Out of nowhere, he dropped on top of me. I panicked. I couldn't push him off of me because my hands were handcuffed. Something wet was seeping onto my shirt. He got thrown off of me.

  I stopped breathing. Seth was standing over me. Seth. Seth who I had shot. Seth who was announced dead over the radio. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His copper hair fell into his face when he bent down and helped me back onto my feet. My legs almost gave out. He was alive.

  "I don't have time to explain. Come on." Seth's warm hands wrapped around my elbow. He was leading me towards the fire.

  It was a battlefield. Rebels on one side and The Unit on the other. I didn't expect the rebels to have a uniform, but they did. It was all black. They all wore black boots, black cargo pants, and black fitted tee shirts. They were loaded with weapons. That's what Seth was wearing right now.

  Seth shoved me behind a tree as someone shot at us. He poked a tree branch out from behind the tree and it snapped in half. "They brought snipers." His voice was deep.

  I touched his arm. I wanted to make sure he was real. That I wasn't hallucinating. Seth grabbed something out of his pocket and threw it. Smoke filled the air. He led me through it with ease. I kept stumbling. I was in shock. All that guilt I felt over him dying was for nothing. I cried for him and he was alive. Suddenly I was angry. I didn't know what to do with all the anger. It was consuming me. When we reached the burning house, I slammed him into the wall with my shoulder.

  Surprise lit Seth's deep eyes. "What the hell are you doing alive?" I demanded.

  Seth gripped my shoulders. "Brianna we are in a war zone. There is no time to explain. Control your anger and follow me."

  After we ran around the side of the house, I realized what he had called me. He called me Brianna. My stomach sunk. How could he know? I never told him. I never told anybody. We saw David and Adam taking shelter behind a military SUV. They looked at Seth and I and stopped talking. They couldn't tear their gaze away from Seth.

  Adam took a step forward and David pulled him back. Bullets stormed into the ground where Adam was just standing. David looked at me for a moment. He made eye contact with Seth and tossed something over. It was keys. Seth picked it up from the ground and uncuffed me.

  I rubbed my wrists. I squeezed my hands into fists to keep myself from punching him. I was furious with him. Why hadn't he let anybody know he was alive? Seth pushed me back against the wall and aimed his automatic rifle. Bullets flew out of it. Three soldiers dropped to the ground.

  David aimed over the SUV and shot a few times. David and Adam waited a few seconds before running over to us. Adam wrapped Seth into a huge hug. He held onto him tight. The sight made my eyes water, but I didn't say anything. They were reunited.

  "Evelyn said she shot you." Adam mumbled, letting go.

  He was embarrassed about the affection he just showed. Seth patted his shoulder. "I don't have time to explain much. I was shot and injured, but someone saved me. I was unconscious for a few days. After I woke up, I got word that The Unit knew about this place. Yesterday, news about Evelyn's trial got out and The Unit knew there would be a big group of rebels. I brought as many of our soldiers as I could. We can't stay and fight. More of The Unit will come. We need to run."

  David took in what he was saying. I could see the urge to stay and fight on his face. David looked at me again. His hazel eyes held no emotion, no fear.

  "Then let's run. We already have the woman and children in cars heading down the mountain. Soldiers are trailing behind them on foot covering their path. They are heading to the safe haven. We need to pull our troops back but keep The Unit off of our trail. Any ideas how we should do that?" David inquired.

  I looked at all the parked SUV's. "What if we took their ways by transportation and left? We could all go separate directions and meet somewhere." I offered.

  The helicopter above us went spiraling down to the ground. Flames flew into the air and the forest floor vibrated beneath our feet.

  "Good idea. You guys stay here and guard the SUV's. I'll spread the word." David took off running.

  Seth placed a Glock in my hand. "I'm sure you know how to use it." The muscle in his arms flexed as he aimed his gun and looked around.

  The gun felt heavy in my hands. I hated it every time I had to carry one of these. Adam gave me a confused look and covered his brother's back. I aimed my gun at the ground and followed them. When I heard another explosion, it scared me and I pulled the trigger and shot the ground.

  Amusement danced across Seth's face and quickly disappeared. "Don't leave your finger on the trigger, Brianna."

  I took my finger off.

  "Who is Brianna?" Adam asked opening the SUV door.

  We didn't explain it to him. I didn't know how and I didn't know how Seth knew who I was.

  The gun slipped from my sweaty grasp and clanked onto the floor. I dropped onto my belly to retrieve it from the ground. I stopped breathing. A little device was blinking underneath the car.

  "Bomb!" I screamed, pushing myself up.

  We quickly ran around the corner of the house. This explosion was the biggest one. It was explosion after explosion. All of the cars were blowing up. There went my plan.

  I coughed from all the smoke filling the air. I could barely breathe. Seth pulled a gas mask off of a dead soldier and put it on me. It made my skin crawl.

  "We need another plan." Adam shouted over the noise.

  "How about we get away from this burning house?" I asked.

  We ran into the forest away from the gun shots. We were all separated and had no way of communication. The Unit had the upper hand in the situation.

  Seth was calm while Adam was nervous. He kept looking all around us. The battle seemed like it was going on from down the hill.

  "What now?" Adam ran his hands through his buzz cut hair.

  Seth held up a hand and disappeared. He came back with The Unit's uniform. "Now we pretend to be one of them."

  Adam caught on quick. They both put the uniforms on and the gas mask on. They were ready for battle. It was weird seeing Seth back in uniform. He looked good. Confident. My stomach tightened and I looked away.

  "Stay here." Seth and Adam ran off into the line of fire.

  They could both die. They could get shot by the rebels or have their cover blown and I was just meant to wait here? I was not going to sit here and look pretty.

  I
searched for a dead soldier's body. My stomach twisted at the sight and I fought back nausea as I stripped him of his uniform. It was way too big for me. Something told me people were going to be paying attention to how my clothes fit at this time.

  I ran down the hill hiding behind trees every so often. When I saw two soldiers shooting at something, I shot them from behind. They thumped to the ground.

  The AR 15 wobbled in my hands. There was no going back. I crawled on the ground to try and stay out of sight. I did not want to get shot.

  It was quiet now. Gun shots rang out every few minutes. Nobody was in sight. Just as I was about to stand a voice spoke.

  "Well what a sight."

  I looked up. A woman was in the trees with a sniper rifle. She wasn't wearing one of The Unit’s uniforms, but she also wasn't dressed as a rebel. She wore black leather pants and a leather tank top. Her hair was a strawberry red with blond highlights. She tilted her head as she watched me.

  "Who are you?" I asked, taking the gas mask off.

  The woman smiled and jumped down from the tree. She landed gracefully. "I am Jessica. Evelyn would know that."

  She knew I wasn't Evelyn. She watched me with her cat eyes. She walked around me in a slow circle. "You sure did ruin her body."

  "How do you know I'm not Evelyn?" My tone was worried. She was the second one now.

  "Dr. Lynn and I had a long chat." She smiled at me like a cat who just caught a mouse.

  My mouth felt dry and I was beginning to get dizzy. I felt way too hot in the uniform.

  "Dr. Lynn?" I haven't thought about him in a while. He knew about me. He put it together. He was the same as me.

  I fell to the ground as another explosion shook the world. The trees caught on fire and it was spreading rapidly. The woman looked at the fire as if she was fascinated.

  "Evelyn would love this." She smiled.

  In that moment, I knew she was crazy. Her eyes ate up the sight of the flames. She was enjoying this.

  "Come. I should probably lead you to safety before you get yourself killed." She gracefully walked down the mountain side.

  I didn't know what else to do, so I followed. I stumbled and fell a lot. There weren't any more gunshots. I knew deep down inside, the battle was far from over.

  The flames were following us. I started coughing and put the mask back on. The girl had short hair cut in a sharp a line. She sauntered when she walked. A sniper rifle was strapped to her back and another gun was strapped to her leg. On her left leg, she had a huge knife strapped to it.

  We made it to a dirt road on the mountain side. The rebels were all there crossing the road. I could see Seth peering up at the mountain. He was looking for someone. When his eyes landed on me, and he looked relieved, I knew he was looking for me.

  I felt awkward. I didn't know how to act. He knew who I was. Him and this girl. I felt like I didn't know who I was. I was unsure of myself.

  David watched Seth as Seth watched me.

  The woman smirked at me. "Seth likes you. He won't admit it, though. Probably because he is dating Chantel."

  I had forgotten about that. I suddenly felt guilty for admiring his good looks. I didn't want to admire another girl's man. Chantel was hanging on his arm and staring at him like he was a God sent from heaven.

  "Oh." What else was I supposed to say?

  When we reached the group it got quiet. The rebels were staring at me. Seth and Adam were no longer in The Unit uniform, but I was.

  "You abandoned me." I accused both Seth and Adam.

  "I sent Jessica back to get you. I knew you would be safe with her." Seth nodded towards Jessica.

  "She didn't need my help. She was running through the forest like a mad woman shooting all the soldiers." Jessica exaggerated.

  I looked around at all the faces. All of these people had voted for me to die. Now here I was, living and shit. "Where did The Unit go?" I wondered out loud.

  "They pulled back for more reinforcements when they realized we had our own soldiers with us. We need to get moving." David commanded. He crossed the road and began to head down the mountain.

  Nobody was questioning why I was allowed to follow. Nobody was questioning anything.

  Some of the rebels spread out to keep watch as we walked down the mountain. Everybody had their weapons raised and ready to fire.

  Chantel couldn't stop touching Seth. It was like she couldn't believe he was real. Seth would reassure her and hold her hand, but he seemed distant. Off. Something was on his mind.

  "We need to split up now." David stopped walking and looked at everybody. His tone held authority.

  "Will we meet?" Jewel asked from the back of the group.

  "No. We will split into groups and go to different locations. When you get there, I want everybody to report to the seeker of that town." David started listing off names of groups. When he was done listing the group, the group would meet, and leave.

  The only names David didn't call was Seth's, Adam's, Chantel's, Rugter's, Jewel's, and mine. He separated Bret from his brothers. Bret came over and give the group man hugs and went off on his way. He didn't seem worried. He seemed sure he would see them again. In a world like this, I wouldn't be too sure.

  Chapter Fourteen

  David easily led the way through the forest. He knew it like the back of his hand. Everything looked the same to me. I was stressed out and nervous. Three hours ago he attempted to blow my brains out and now he was just letting me tag along. Seth didn't explain anything to anybody. Whenever he got asked a question, he said he would explain later.

  Jessica, his friend, would smirk every time he dodged a question. She knew everything. I could tell.

  The temperature dropped along with the sun. I was glad I kept the uniform on. It kept me somewhat warm.

  We could hear helicopters in the distance. They were looking for us. David didn't seem worried at all. Nobody did, but me. The trees easily gave us coverage over our heads.

  "Where are we going?" Chantel spoke, breaking the drawn out silence.

  David didn't turn around. "You will know when we get there."

  "Why can't you answer a basic question, David?" Chantel let go of Seth's hand and walked faster to keep up with David.

  "If The Unit catches us, he doesn't want you to be able to tell them the location we are going." I spoke out loud, assuming.

  Chantel whipped her head around and glared at me. Her dainty hand curled into fists at her side and her brown eyes blazed. "I was not talking to you, now was I? Why don't you do us all a favor and shut your mouth before I blow your brains out."

  "Behave." Seth ordered Chantel. He looked at me. "She is right anyways, Chantel. You should know not to ask by now."

  That is where Seth went wrong. You never take another woman's side in an argument unless you want to face the rath of a dragon. Chantel gave him a cold look and stomped ahead of the group. Adam clapped him on the back and laughed under his breath.

  "Anyone want to tell me what Evelyn is still doing alive? I know we got attacked by The Unit, but we can still execute her." Jewel was directing the question towards David.

  I didn't realize she wanted me dead too.

  "I have to go through her charges again sense we can take one murder off the list." I could sense David was lying.

  "So one murder is off the list and now she is forgiven for the rest of her murders?" Rugter seemed irritated. "The people want justice."

  "Well, the people need to be here for another trial since ours got interrupted and right now we are all scattered around. Until we can all get together and be organized there will be no execution." David's voice held a final note.

  Nobody spoke another word about it. Chantel was still fuming at the front of the group. Rugter and Jewel were whispering things back and forth together. Seth and Jessica kept making some sort of eye contact. For a group this small, there was a lot of secrets.

  I was just thankful to be alive. My luck ran deep. A lot of unfortunate things ha
ppened to me, but I was still here. I was still breathing. I was thankful for the sharp pain in my ribs. It let me know I was alive. The pain from walking so much on my feet didn't bother me at all.

  An easy smile slid across my face. Every time I stared death in its face, I won. I have not died.

  I was done taking things for granted. I enjoyed the natural smell of the earth. I loved the way the pine needles cracked under our feet. The crickets in the grass played a beautiful melody. The breeze in the air was refreshing. It could be worse. Everything could be worse.

  Adam slowed down and walked side by side with me. It was odd to think twelve hours ago he was pointing a gun at my face. I kept looking forward. It made me feel a little bitter even though I understood why he did it. I told him I murdered his brother.

  "I'm sorry." His tone held regret.

  Forgiveness overcame me. "It's okay. I would have done the same to you."

  "If I shot Rugter?" Adam asked.

  I don't think I would shoot Adam if he pointed a gun at Evelyn's brother. I didn't respond.

  "It just wasn't what I expected to hear after I said that to you."

  He was talking about how he confessed his love for Evelyn. I felt uncomfortable now. I didn't like that he thought he loved me. I looked at Adams' face. He carried himself so well for a man so young. His jawline was soft. Stubble was beginning to grow on his jawline. Adams' nose was a little crooked. It had obviously been broken a few times. Thick black eyelashes framed his emerald green eyes.

  As I stared at him, he stared right back at me.

  "I am not Evelyn. I may look just like her, but I'm not her." I whispered.

  "But you are. I know your memory is gone, but you're different now. Improved. That bomb knocked some common sense into you."

  I thought about the first time I saw him in the forest. He held himself with power and authority in his group. In this group, he was a follower. He adapted to situations well.

  Adam towered over me with my four foot eleven frame. Whenever I looked at him, I had to crane my neck up. He had a thin build, but it was fit. He made me feel tiny.