Chapter Twenty Seven
As the group moved through the trees with stealth, Adam tried to convince me to stay behind. He stopped me when we could see the lights from the house in the distance.
"You can barely walk, Brianna. Remove your brave face and stay behind." Adam pulled me to a stop.
He was right. I could barely walk, but I needed to see Stephan go down. I needed to witness the life leave his eyes. After everything he has put me through, I needed this. I shrugged Adam's hand off of my shoulder and continued to limp with the group. Their steps were silent. My feet dragged on the ground making a lot of noise.
He walked in front of me this time to block my way. "I can't let you go. Remember what happened the last time you didn’t listen to me? I specifically told you to stay up on the roof and you came down anyways." His tone held a little bit of an accusation.
I took a deep breath in, only to have his musky scent surround me. When did he start smelling so good? I took one step back and crossed my arms. He was right. He did tell me to stay up there, but if I had not come down then we wouldn't have known where Stephan was.
I pushed him back a step, feeling every muscle in my body protest in pain. "You, my friend, are not the boss of me."
Adam touched my bruised cheek softly. "Is that what we are? Friends?"
I wasn't sure where that came from or even how to respond. My heart beat picked up a little bit and I broke eye contact. How did things even work here? The law said you couldn't date, stay out past dark, and you had to marry the person you had sex with. I gave him a curious look. Was he a virgin? Heat rose to my cheeks at my inappropriate thoughts. It's not like you could go on dates here. There were no movies and most people didn't have a car. What did people even do for fun?
I was about to walk into a battle and here I was contemplating the ways that people had fun. What was wrong with me? He was making my hormones shoot through the roof. Maybe I was about to start my period. I tilted my head slightly. I hadn't had my period in a while.
Adam placed both his hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. "This is why I can't let you go. You are not thinking straight. You just faced a traumatic experience and you appear slightly amused. You should be having a break down right now, not getting distracting thoughts. Your clothes are ripped, it's freezing out here, and you don't even appear cold. You are in shock."
Adams word rumbled around in my head. I couldn't keep up with what he was saying. What if I met him before? In my other life. Would we have gone on a normal date and did normal things? Maybe we would have gotten married, had two point five kids, and had a house with a white picket fence. Would he have wanted those things? What did he want out of life? Why was he such a good person? I placed my hand on his heart and felt the steady thud of it. My hands tingled where they came in contact with his skin. I felt his heart beat pick up.
His mouth was moving. He was still talking. He talked so much. If I was sexist and stereotypical, I would say he talked as much as a woman. My trance broke when I heard bullets fly past our head.
Adam covered my body and shoved me behind a tree. He was wearing all black. He easily blended into the dark. His body radiated heat onto my skin. Did he say I was cold? I felt cold now that I got a touch of his heat. Shouting surrounded us. I was lost in a daze. Adam's lips kept moving. He kept talking. I couldn't hear him. I just watched his mouth move. He had plump lips. I got a sudden urge to kiss him. He looked perfect. He looked like a warrior. A fighter. He was my fighter. Ever since I met him, he has been fighting.
Adam pulled away from me. I instantly missed the warmth from his body. My teeth began to chatter. Out of nowhere, I felt a sharp sting on my cheek. Noise flooded my ears. Overwhelming noise. Everything was clear now. I looked around. Lifting my hand to my cheek, I realized Adam had slapped me.
"Down! Get down!" Someone screamed in the distance.
Adam had a handgun out and ready. He looked all around, in battle mode. "Are you back?" He asked, giving me a fleeting look.
I nodded my head. I scooted closer to the tree when more bullets whizzed past us. Adam crouched down on one knee and leaned to the left and took a couple shots. His face was determined. He was in battle mode now.
I didn't have a weapon. I was marching in this field unarmed. Maybe I was in shock. Stephan was out there somewhere. He was out there shooting. Trying to kill us. I looked at the people blending into the dark. There were some bodies on the ground. There would always be bodies. The body count just got higher and higher. When would there be time to mourn all of these lost lives? Even the lives of The Unit deserved to be mourned. They were fighting for what they thought was right just like we were. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
When would it end?
Adam looked at me from his spot on the ground. "Can I trust you to stay here?" His voice was different, distant. He sounded like a robot. A killer. He was ready to march in there and take lives. I could lose him. He was all I had. He was the only person I had. My father left me easily. He knew who I was, yet he up and left. Seth didn't come to save me. I just had Adam and it made me want to hold onto him. I couldn't do this without him.
I nodded my head and watched as he slid between trees. I was here alone now. No weapon. The rebellion was pressing in on the house. The Unit did not expect to get caught here. Stephan got cocky. He basically broad cast to the country where he was. It wasn't like him to slip up like that.
I slid down the tree and sat on the wet grass. I was shaking from the cold. My body was beaten and bruised. The energy from earlier was fading. I listened to the gunshots, the shouting, and the screaming. A body thumped on the ground two feet away from me. I looked at the soldier. His eyes were blank, but his face was turned and staring at me.
I wanted to reach over and close his eyes. How many battles have I been to now? How many dead bodies have I seen? Why am I here? Of all things to happen to me when I died, how did I land here? What were the chances I would be reunited with my father? Is this where lost lives went?
Before I could think my actions through, I laid low on the ground and slid closer to the body. I felt guilty calling him that. 'The body'. He used to be a breathing man with feelings. Now he was just a corpse on the ground. He would be forgotten. In a hundred years nobody would remember him. Nobody would remember me. It was crazy how we all lived our lives wanting to make a difference just to be forgotten. Did these people even know who Barak Obama was? Did he ever make it into the history books? Did they know anything about Isis?
I grabbed his automatic gun and hid behind the tree again. It was now or never. I stood on shaky legs. I was going to be breaking my word with Adam. He would forgive me. He always did. I darted between all the trees pressing closer and closer to the house. Would a rebel accidently shoot me thinking I was a part of The Unit? Would the Unit shoot me knowing I wasn't on their side?
I wasn't here to kill The Unit. I was here to kill Stephan. I wanted him to die by my hands. He did this to me. He hardened my nice soft heart. He hung me from a ceiling and beat me senseless. He ripped every single finger nail I had off. He whipped me. He made me scream and made everyone listen to it. He took away lives form innocent people. He destroyed families. He was a power tripping asshole and I wanted to strip him from his power. I wanted him to hurt the way I did. I wanted him to feel everything I felt.
I made it to the house safely. My back was pressed against the wall. I stared out into the dark forest. Anyone could be behind those trees watching me. I slid along the wall until I made it to a window. I could see soldiers behind furniture aiming their guns to the windows. They were surrounded. There was no way out.
How would Stephan react? What would he do next? I thought for a few seconds. In the distance, I could hear a helicopter and it clicked in my brain. He was on the roof. He was going to escape! I looked around for a way up. There was a tree right by the house. All I needed to do was safely make it up the tree and onto the roof.
Looking around, I
quickly ran to the tree. Strapping the automatic gun onto my back, I began my climb. The branches felt unsteady beneath me. I had a fear of falling and paralyzing myself. I climbed higher and higher until I made it to the second story. I was right. Something shifted in my stomach at the sight of Stephan standing with his back turned to me. He was looking out into the distance. The helicopter was getting closer and closer. This was my chance. There was a two feet jump from the tree branch to the roof.
I took the chance and jumped. My feet landed on the roof with a soft thud. Stephan didn't turn to face me. I think he knew it was me. He just continued to watch. The sky broke out into red as the sun began to rise. Shouts and screams still surrounded us.
"You are as intelligent as your father." Stephan's dark voice made chills crawl across my skin.
I didn't respond. The smart thing to do was to shoot him now. I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. He may not have been my father by soul, but he was my father by blood. My hand shook as I watched him. All my rage from earlier disappeared into thin air. My imaginations of killing him left my mind.
Stephan looked behind him and made eye contact with me. "You predicted my next move. Just like I predicted yours." He turned back to the approaching helicopter. "I knew you would come back. I knew Seth wouldn't come to save you. He is out on a mission of his own. He's been trying to fulfill his mission since he was sixteen."
I knew Stephan wanted me to ask. I tried not to, but the question escaped my lips. "What mission?" What was more important to him?
"I can't answer that. I knew Adam would come to save you. I knew he would bring an army. What I did not predict was you escaping. Silly of me to leave the keys. I underestimated you."
If he knew Adam would bring an army, why wait? Why all this bloodshed? Nothing he was saying was adding up. It didn't make sense. I watched his posture. He was relaxed. He almost appeared content. He looked like a man with no regrets.
I looked back at the approaching helicopter, then back at Stephan. Stephan was unarmed. Although it was cold, he wore a fitted long sleeve shirt and fitted jeans. Why would he be up here with no weapon? Unless he expected to die. Maybe he knew his death was inevitable.
No. It still didn't make sense. Stephan was winning at this mind game. I couldn't keep up. He had an ulterior motive. Bright light broke out across the sky. The sun had officially risen. It was a new day. The helicopter was now a couple of minutes away.
It made sense. It finally made sense. Stephan wasn't up here to be saved. He was up here to kill us all. His soldiers, the rebellion, me, and himself. The helicopter had a bomb.
I gasped.
"It's too late, Brianna. The blast will be too big. There is no chance of survival." Stephan's voice was calm and steady.
I dropped my gun. "Stephan?"
He turned around. He sensed something odd in my voice. I was going to die and I knew it. He knew it. This was it. It was over.. I couldn't evacuate everyone fast enough. I couldn't save myself. I couldn't save Adam. There was no chance of survival. Tears blurred my vision. It was over. It was going to be over.
A part of my felt relieved, then I had that other part of me that couldn't give up. I had to keep trying. I didn't give up before and I could not give up now.
I walked to Stephan with slow and steady steps. He looked a little puzzled. I was unarmed just as he was. He looked at the gun behind me. He knew I had no intention of hurting him. I couldn't lose the good in my heart. I couldn't die angry and bitter. By now the tears were constant. I wrapped my arms around him and I hugged him. He stood there stiff as a board.
"I forgive you." I choked out.
I didn't know why he did the things he did. I didn't know why he was the way he was but everyone deserved forgiveness. He was a monster, but something had to have happened to him to make him this way. I took lives. I was just as guilty as he was. I couldn't go out this way, not with all this hate filling my heart. Stephan wrapped his arms around me tight. It hurt. I was surprised he did. He didn't seem like a man in touch with his emotions.
"I miss you, Evelyn." He breathed.
He wasn't seeing me as me. In this moment, he was seeing his daughter. I backed out of his arms. I walked away from him. I left the gun up there with him. I knew he wouldn't shoot me. He wasn't angry anymore. He was lost. I think we all were. In a world this destructive and destroyed, where did people find the good? Was there any good left? I thought of Adam. Yes, there was good left.
I dropped down from the tree and screamed at the top of my lungs. "Bomb! The helicopter has a bomb and it's going to drop on us!" I was in the middle of The Unit soldiers. They looked at me like I was crazy.
I pointed to the helicopter that was getting closer and closer by the second. They must have recognized what kind of helicopter it was because their eyes widened.
"Get everyone to safety! We can't all die" I cried.
I just kept screaming the word bomb over and over and over again. The battle stopped. Everyone stopped fighting. Once they saw the helicopter, they all simply watched it. It was like nobody knew what to do. Running was pointless. Run where? Into the trees that were fifty seconds away from bursting into flames? I looked up onto the roof. Stephan was standing there, head tilted back facing the sunlight. He was ready for death. None of us were.
I watched the faces of everyone around me. Some were full of fear, regret, and sadness. I think that's what we all were. Sad. Fighting this battle that had no end. Killing each other instead of living in harmony. Accepting our differences.
I found Adam in the crowd of people. He had been watching me.
"There is a bomb shelter beneath the house. Run everyone!" A soldier shouted through the front door.
It took a second for people to react. I expected everyone to push and shove and force their way into the house, but that wasn't what happened at all. People filed inside in a single line. It was like Elementary school all over again. Adam approached me and gave me a little push towards the front door.
What were the chances that the rebellion and The Unit would come together in peace and attempt to survive together? I looked at the roof at Stephan again. He was watching me. My heart panged with pain. He didn't want to live. Adam took my hand and led me into the house. Nobody was carrying weapons anymore. We walked down steps that led into a basement, then more steps that led underground.
It was a tunnel. Stephan always chose houses with secret tunnels.
Whispers reached my ears all around me. Everyone kept walking through the tunnel. Further and further away from the heart of the house. The bomb would be landing any minute now.
I looked up into Adam's eyes. I don't know why I said it. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, maybe it was because we were five seconds away from death, or maybe because it was true.
"I love you," I said.
I felt it in my heart. This man was willing to die for me, to kill for me. Whenever I was lost, he guided me. He was there since the beginning. I remembered the night he opened up to me about his past. I remembered all the times he protected me, all the good I have seen him do, and the way he could always find a reason to smile.
He was truly a phenomenal man and I was lucky to have met him. I suddenly felt lucky. To be here with him in these last moments. The flashlights people had aimed away from his face, so I could no longer see his facial expression.
I didn't mind not knowing how he felt about my confession. I embraced him in a hug. He hugged me back. His warmth surrounded me. His scent enveloped me. At least at the end of all this, I had him.
Adam brought his lips down to my ear, "I love you too." He whispered just as the bomb dropped.
Chapter Twenty Eight
"I found another one!" That voice was far away.
Everything sounded far away. I felt far away. I couldn't feel my body. My thoughts wouldn't process. Where was I? Who was I? Why was there a tight constriction on my chest? I couldn't breathe. Air. I needed air. I tried to take in deep breaths only to have littl
e particles fly into my mouth.
I began to choke.
"We got a breather!" I was floating. Something was underneath my legs and back. My head was dead weight. I couldn't lift it up.
My eyelids turned bright red. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. Air that once felt dirty and moist turned fresh. I took in big gulps of air and began to cough. I still couldn't lift my head. I still couldn't feel my body. It was okay, though. I could breathe. I could finally breathe.
My body gently touched the ground. Something cold touched the pulse at the base of my neck.
"This one is alive." The voice called out.
It sounded oddly familiar. I tried opening my eyes, but my body just wasn't cooperating. My fingers twitched at my side. What was going on? Why was I immobile? Was I dead? Was I in the arms of an angel?
Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1) Page 27