'How good are the coordinates that Adam gave?' Evie asked.
'They were for an army base,' Kit said. 'Part of the FSA that's a little more liberal than their overhead's, they would let us enter if we request sanctuary.'
'How far are they from here?' Evie asked.
'Maybe an hour if the Interstate is clear,' Kit said.
'I'll drive,' she said. 'Will you be able to hold out till we get there?' She asked.
Kit thought for a moment as she assessed how she was feeling. She could feel something coursing through her arms and felt as though something wasn't quite right, but couldn't explain it. 'I'll be all right,' she said. 'You'll just need to keep driving, whatever happens,' she told Evie.
'I can do that,' Evie said.
'Are you sure? Because we're now up against the Empire, who can attack with drones, hybrids, jets and who knows what else.'
'I got this,' Evie assured her. 'Now do you want to keep standing around talking about it or do you want to get going?'
Kit couldn't help but smile at her and opened the truck door, ready for whatever would come at them on the road.
***
The Stacks had fallen. Adam emerged from the Mermaid Inn and saw fires burning around him. He held in his hand a bloody steak knife as he tried to regain his breath. The man had come from nowhere, dressed in an Armistice guards outfit and was ready to take him back to the Shard.
As he regained his senses, he quickly wrapped the knife in a cloth and stowed it behind some crates and began to walk through the wreckage. Families were fleeing from the fires, the bombs had stopped falling but the death toll would keep rising. He walked around the corner towards Kit's barracks. The building she had commandeered when she first had taken up the position as Commander of the Army for the sprawling neighborhood and he saw it destroyed and ruined. He saw Rook first, she was covered in soot and ash and looking at the building with heartbreak.
Adam hurried over to her, 'Are you all alive?' He asked.
'Kit and Evie escaped,' Rook said, although she was vacant in her response. 'Lil escaped with me but I lost her.'
'We'll find her,' Adam said. They made their way forward, careful to avoid falling debris and covering their mouths, so they didn't inhale the smoke.
They walked round the back of the barracks when they found Lil lying under crates that had fallen on top of her. 'Help me get these off her,' Adam said as they moved the boxes away.
'She's not...?' Rook asked. 'She can't be, not after Kingsley and Shep,' she said and day thought for a moment that Rook was about to break, her expression soon turned to joy when she saw Lil cough and try and move. Rook came back to life at that moment and began to move quickly to free her friend.
Adam watched as she knelt over Lil and placed a hand on her cheek. 'Lil?' She asked. 'You're okay,' she said. 'A little beat up but it's going to be okay,' she assured her.
'Kit?' Lil asked.
'Is fine,' Adam told her. 'She's heading to Fort Isa,' he said.
Lil motioned for them to help her sit and they nursed her upright, Rook took her weight and half cradled her as she looked around them confused.
'They broke the ceasefire,' she said as her voice croaked.
'It would appear so,' Adam said.
'We're officially at war,' Lil said as she tried to comprehend what had happened.
'Without our General,' Rook added.
Lil struggled to her feet and Rook helped her stand. 'We're not going to abandon her,' Lil said. 'Not now, if Galen started this, then we're going to be the ones who help end it.'
'I think you may have hit your head,' Rook commented.
'I've never been able to think more clearly,' Lil said. 'We need to get to the council, assemble the troops and get mobilized,' she said as she began to walk away from the barrack. 'The time for mutants to be attacked and not fight back is over.'
***
The hallway was empty. In the distance, the sound of a drill sergeant floated through the air. Juana Hawk had walked this corridor many times before but had never felt as apprehensive as she did now. The order had come as if from nowhere, as though Galen had finally started to listen to her and she couldn't help but wonder why. She stopped outside a gray metal door and took a deep breath before she opened it and stepped into the situation room. Inside the long round table had men in each of the seats. The only exception was Galen who was at the head of the table. Hawk was used to this, she and Galen may be the face of rule, but she knew that the men in front of her, members of the Alliance, were the ones who had the power, the looks on their faces were enough to tell her that they expected her to fall in line.
'Corporal,' Galen said. 'Thank you for joining us at short notice, I know you need to be with your troops.' Galen had fallen into her pattern of diplomacy in front of the men, Hawk had seen this side of her before, and she felt a sense of pride and admiration rise in her.
'We've heard of the attacks in the Spire, and the declaration of war,' Hawk said. 'I just want to be the first to congratulate you on your decision.'
'Today's not the time for congratulations,' one of the men said. As Hawk took her seat she looked around at the table and tried to recall the last time she had been in a room with the Alliance. The men who had formed the birth of the new nation. It must have been when they were trying to control the Alto sector decades ago. Being summoned to a room with them was unusual.
'We're here to debrief on Valletta,' Galen said. 'She was the first mutant to escape from our labs and we've held back from capturing her for so long. We can no longer let this continue if we want to look competent at our jobs.'
'You know why she has been allowed to be free for so long,' one of the men said. Hawk looked over to him, Ryiah Frankstone had a determined look on his face, and his white hair glistened against the gray of his suit. In his top pocket was a slim leather case, Hawk shifted with slight discomfort at the thought of what tools the doctor might be carrying with him.
'We've had news that she has left the border of the Stacks, and the last interception is that she is sick, possibly due to contracting the virus,' Hawk told them causing the men to murmur in surprise.
'How?' Frankstone asked.
'Her DNA is susceptible to it and has been triggered by interacting with one of ours,' Hawk said. She glanced over to Galen before she said anything else, unsure of how much the men knew.
Galen cleared her throat as she got to her feet. 'Our lead scientist has defected,' she said. 'Along with one of our top soldiers.'
Frankstone thought for a moment. 'Yes, the Fox siblings,' he said with a note of disappointment. 'You let them escape the compound?'
''Let' isn't the word that we'd choose to use,' Hawk said.
Frankstone glared at her. 'You're one of the most senior leaders of our army, how could you let this happen?' He asked.
'It may have worked to our advantage,' Galen interrupted. 'Evelyn Fox has had the virus in her for years. We believe her DNA holds a strand that could be cure, something she was never made aware of when we performed our tests on her, but because of her... relations with Valletta, she may have given her the virus to her for us.'
'Given her?' Another man asked.
Hawk saw Galen blush as she answered. 'Through intimate relations,' she said. 'We believe that Evelyn and Valletta have become a romantic item.'
Frankston got to his feet. 'This is unacceptable,' he said. 'You cannot run this Empire if you're letting our core people defect and then sleep with the enemy. This Evelyn woman, does she not know of the laws of this land?' He asked.
'She does,' Hawk answered. 'But it's not stopped her in the past.' Frankstone looked at her, demanding an answer. 'Lux Delamore,' she said. 'Was sentenced to death by us because of intimate relations with Fox.'
'You knew back then and you did nothing to prevent it from happening again?' Frankstone asked.
Hawk saw another man watch the argument with curiosity, Hawk had only come across Judd Polskin a few times. The Head of
Diplomacy was known for shutting himself away from other government officials as much as he could, his black suit clung to his thin wired frame, his black moustache wired above his upper lip and his black eyes put Hawk on edge. 'Might I interject?' He asked. The three of them shot him a look. 'I don't care who some random woman is sleeping with, what I care about is what's happened as a result. Fox and Valletta's union has forced Valletta to leave the Stacks, she's separated from her army, she's sick and Fox will have no clue of how the world works outside of this compound. They are vulnerable and will want to go somewhere for protection.'
'Where would provide them such protection?' Hawk asked.
'Fort Isa,' Polskin said. 'Valletta will know it well, she won't want to go there through choice but they will be able to help them both.'
'So we attack the base before they can get there,' Hawk said, excited by the idea of a plan forming.
Polskin gave her almost a sympathetic look. 'No my dear,' he said, causing her to frown. 'Fort Isa is like the Stacks, one of the few places where mutants have sanctuary, we've never been able to claim it because Evans' army is almost as strong as ours. We want to be able to bring down both the base and Valletta. If we can make her think she's responsible for the capture of innocent mutants, then it will destroy her.'
Galen smiled at the idea. 'She would despise the idea of people being captured, potentially killed because of her,' she said.
'If we're able to capture her, then we may have a chance of bringing her back to our side,' Frankstone said.
'How?' One of the younger men asked.
Hawk looked across from her to Larken Walker, who answered, 'Give her information,' he said. The man narrowed his piercing blue eyes at her, his wrinkled face appeared hollow with age but his frail demeanor certainly invoked a small sense of fear in the pit of her stomach. 'We have something she wants so desperately, something that she's spent years wanting to know, ever since the night she escaped.'
'We have her family,' Hawk said.
Walker gave her a thin, wiry smile. 'Yes,' he said. 'If she's given enough information to believe, then she'll come to us willingly.'
'And what happens when she returns?' Frankston asked. 'We can't have her return as a hero, it would be a national embarrassment and could inspire mutiny.'
'We cage her, cage both of them, show the people of the Empire what happens when you cross this government, we'll enact new laws as a result, crank down on killings, put up taxes, and it will all be because she escaped. With any luck, they'll hate her enough to kill her for us,' Walker said. 'In front of the cameras, we'll make her look like she's joined our side, that she's our ally.'
Galen smiled at him. 'I've always loved how your fiendish mind works,' she said.
''I'll take the lead on this ma'am, we can monitor Fort Isa and plan our attack for the right moment,' Hawk said to Galen, then turned to the rest of the men. 'Be assured gentlemen, we will not less this embarrass our government and we will win this war.'
'Good to hear,' Frankston said as he got to his feet. 'Otherwise, we'll be looking at revaluating both your positions,' he said to her and Galen.
The rest of the men rose and began to walk out the door. When they left Hawk sighed in relief. 'Well that could have been worse,' she said.
'Were we witnessing a different conversation?' Galen asked. 'They're looking for a reason to end both of us if we don't get those women back,' she said. 'We can't let this go without a victory, my family's legacy cannot end because we were incapable of doing our job.'
Hawk went over to her. 'We won't fail,' she said and placed a hand on Galen's for a brief moment before she realized what she had done.
'Good,' Galen said. 'Because your success is tied to mine and I know you don't want to fail,' she said.
'I'll assemble a small team and move out,' Hawk told her and began to leave the room.
'Juana?' Galen asked and Hawk turned back to her. 'What's your thoughts on Valletta? Really?'
Hawk took a moment to consider her answer. 'She's brilliant,' she said. 'She was the best soldier we had and losing her...her escape is something I regret deeply.'
'You allowed her to leave,' Galen said. 'I've kept that information secret from the men who we were just with.'
'Which I appreciate,' Hawk said quickly.
'But I can't keep your secret forever,' Galen said. 'If you fail to bring her back, then those men will know what you did, and more importantly, why you did it.'
'They can never know,' Hawk said.
'So you best do your job,' Galen said. 'I'll wait for communications from you once you're beyond the wire.'
Hawk nodded. 'Yes ma'am,' she said and walked out of the room with a burning fire in her stomach. She closed the door behind her and took a moment to compose herself. She brought out her tablet and brought up a picture of Kit, the last one she had before she had escaped. Deep down inside of her, she wanted to protect her daughter so badly, from the moment she had been born and taken from her, she wanted to protect her on the day that her adoptive parents had been killed and she wanted to protect her now. But she couldn't, that time had passed and she had a job to do to bring her home.
Chapter Eighteen
THE FIRST TIME KIT had fallen asleep, Evie had panicked. She glanced at her as she continued driving but gave a small smile when she heard Kit snore lightly. Exhaustion had finally taken its toll, and Evie was glad she was resting. The quiet of the car allowed her to think for the first time in what felt like days. So much had happened since she had left the Shard. So much loss and heartbreak, but with Kit there had been a newfound sense of hope. She felt different outside the walls of her former home. Driving down the Interstate, with nothing but the empty land surrounding her, she finally got a sense of what it must be like to feel freedom. The weight of the world had become a little lighter. Growing up with Jack always hovering over her and the strict rules of living in Volt's compound, she had almost forgotten what it felt like to make her own decisions. She had grown so used to doing what she thought was expected of her it was like she was finally discovering a new sense of self. She could feel her powers rising inside her, an energy that she couldn't quite explain, but she felt like she could now control them. More importantly, she felt as though she wanted to master them, rather than fear them as she always had done. As the feeling grew, she knew she finally had something to her advantage.
An old plastic figurine on the dashboard caught her eye, it was an old army action hero and seemed a little out of place. Evie looked at it while keeping one eye on the road and it shuddered under her gaze. She kept concentrating on it, willing it to move and moments later she was making it dance across the dashboard and made her smile.
Kit woke to the sight and smiled. 'That's impressive,' she said.
Evie broke concentration, and the army figure fell to the floor. 'Compared to what happened earlier, it pales in comparison,' she said.
'But it shows you can control it,' Kit said. 'That's progress.'
'It would have been progress if I hadn't killed people first,' Evie said.
Kit took her hand, and she saw the pain on Evie's face. The strain of guilt that would nestle inside her and find a place to rest unless Evie was able to face it.
'We're resorted to killing people when we have to fight to stay alive,' Kit said. 'They'll kill us in an instant the moment they get the chance to.'
Evie was quiet. 'I guess I'm just not used to being the enemy,' she said.
Kit let go of her hand and turned to look out of the window. 'That's how you all see us isn't it?' She asked. 'Anyone who is different is considered the enemy, and needs to be controlled.'
'We were raised to think that, yes,' Evie told her. 'And most in Volt don't have freedom over what they're allowed to think, if you say anything against the propaganda then you can end up in camps or killed. Thinking like the government keeps you alive.'
'But is it a life when you're not allowed to live it how you want?' Kit asked.
'
Which is why so many try to escape,' Evie said. 'I've been kept to the confines of Volt and Jack's protection for so long that it was only Lux who made me feel like I was my own person. Once you get a feeling like that, it's hard to ignore. My superiors sensed something was different, and that's when the control tightened.'
'It's like when you're a soldier,' Kit said. 'I was a good runner growing up, and I loved chasing friends around the compound. Then it changed, and running became about survival.'
'I remember seeing the soldiers growing up,' Evie told her. 'Walking in formation around Volt, sitting in classrooms reciting rote like a machine. We thought it was so different to how we were, but maybe it was all the same, just different variations.'
A moment of silence passed between them, and Evie found herself wondering if they could ever be a genuine couple, if it were something she would ever have, or if they were from worlds that were too different. Evie could see Kit out of the corner of her eye, a young woman trying to survive in a world that didn't want her. She looked human, acted human but under the surface was what made her different. It was compelling. Evie had grown attracted to her kindness, determination and confidence that the world could be different. That had to be enough for them to work, she was sure of it.
Kit began coughing, and Evie saw her shake. She slowed the truck. 'Keep driving,' Kit coughed but as her symptoms overtook her Evie pulled over and walked round to Kit's door. She opened it and Kit fell into her. Evie caught her and sat her down on the ground below. She felt her forehead and Kit's skin burned under her hand.
'How far away from Fort Isa are we?' Kit asked.
'About an hour,' Evie said.
'I can make it,' she said as she tried to stand but couldn't pull herself up.
'You can't,' Evie said. 'The virus is getting worse.'
'There's a medical kit in the back,' Kit said. 'Fetch it.'
Evie hurried to the back of the truck and pulled open the doors. There wasn't much they had managed to bring them and she pulled out a small green bag and took it to Kit. 'There's a transfusion instrument,' she said and Evie saw the needles and plastic wire.
Rogue (Convergence Series Book 1) Page 19