“You were going to blow us up?” Cameron’s eyes widened.
“Was,” answered Joe, “but she couldn’t do it.”
“Because of me?” asked Cameron.
“No, because I didn’t want the deaths of those innocent people on my hands. I didn’t want to be like the MMC.” I rose to my feet. “But the bomb is still there. I was going back to get it when… when… well I didn’t. You’ll have to find it and disable it.”
“I’ll get Tech onto it. Sounds more like his forte.”
“Does he do anything himself?” Joe whispered out of the side of his mouth to Sarah.
“Tell Tech to be careful. It’s pretty dodgy,” I said.
“Do I even want to know where you got a bomb from?” he asked.
“No, you don’t,” answered Joe.
Ignoring Joe, Cameron changed the conversation. “So, what do you think? Do you want to steal the canisters from the truck?”
“If Amelia’s in, I’m in,” answered Joe.
“As am I,” said Janine.
“Me too,” said Sarah taking my hand.
“Give me your contact details, and I’ll let you know what truck and when. It’s up to you guys to stop the truck and get the canisters off. Afterwards, we’ll work on the next part of the plan,” said Cameron.
“Of course. Now you’re calling the shots,” scoffed Joe.
Sarah and I slid into the backseat of the car while Joe and Janine swapped details with Cameron.
“You okay?” she asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know. It’s so much to process.”
“I bet. Please know I’m still here if you want to talk, or yell, or whatever you want.”
“Thanks, that’s why you’re my best friend.” I lay my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes.
“Do you think it’s maybe time for you to ring your parents and let them know you’re okay?” she asked.
“I told myself I was going to keep them out of all of this from now on. You didn’t tell them I’d disappeared, did you?”
“Of course I did. They’re your parents. They deserved to know what’s happening. They want to know.”
“But I need to start standing on my own two feet, stop relying on everyone else,” I argued.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You have us. You don’t need to be all rogue and do this on your own. And your parents want to support you too,” she said.
“Have you told them I’m safe? They’ve probably been worried sick.” The guilt at not contacting them brought tears to my eyes.
“When we got you out, I called and let them know you were safe and with your friends. Of course, they were still worried. They’ve both had the vaccine and the virus hasn’t reached Montville yet, so they’re safe for now.”
“It’s spread further than the city?”
“Right after you were kidnapped, there was an outbreak from the city. It was too hard for them to contain and neighbouring towns started falling ill. So many Dreamers have died or are still sick, and the MMC has control of many non-Dreamers’ dreams and desires now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’ve been so caught up in my own problems.”
“Because we weren’t sure you could handle it yet. You were grieving, and we didn’t want to add any more stress.”
“I can’t believe things have become so bad.”
Joe and Janine climbed into the front of the car, and we heard Cameron’s car leave.
“Are you okay?” asked Joe.
“Yes, but I can’t believe no-one told me how bad things had gotten with the virus.”
“We didn’t want to-“
“Worry me, I know. But now I know, and we have to work out what to do after we release this anti-virus. How do we get to the big guys, you know, the ones who are running this freak show?”
“I know where they are,” confessed Janine.
The three of us looked at her.
“The last place anyone would suspect,” she said.
“The MMC building in the city,” I said, remembering the glass building I’d been held in against my will by Janine.
“They still run much of their business from there. The facility out in the middle of nowhere is for experimenting and, apparently, prisoners. But the system they use to control people, and the business side still happens in the city,” she revealed.
As we pulled off the highway towards our rainforest camp, I wound down the window to breath in the fresh air. The smells of the rainforest relaxed the muscles in my neck, and I lay my head back onto the seat. We bounced and bumped our way down the narrow track until we arrived at the four-wheel drive.
“Amelia, you’re in front with me. Our luck we’ll get you back this far safely and you’ll bounce off and hurt yourself.” Joe smiled.
Janine and Sarah laughed as they climbed onto the tray.
“Funny guys,” I said climbing into the front.
The ute shuddered as Joe started it up, and we bounced off towards camp.
“You ready for this?” he asked.
“No and yes. I think you should explain everything. I’m still trying to get my head around it.”
“So much has changed in the last twelve hours, hasn’t it? Of course I’ll tell them for you.”
“Thanks. Let’s hope Laina doesn’t still want to kill me.”
“Kill you? What do you mean?”
“Nothing, let’s get this over and done with.”
As we pulled into the campground and came to a stop, everyone approached the ute. They must’ve heard us coming up the narrow drive. Upon seeing me in the passenger seat, they began clapping their hands and yahooing. I looked over at Joe for support, and he squeezed my hand before climbing out of the car. Laina ran towards him, wrapping him in her arms.
“Okay you guys need to chill out. Things didn’t go to plan, but don’t worry, because we have a lot to tell you,” said Joe.
Laina looked at Joe curiously and back at me with a slight glare. She’d seemed so friendly when we first met at the Dream Circles.
Harper opened my door and pulled me into a tight hug. “It’s so damn good to see you. We’ve been worried sick.”
“It’s good to see you too. We kind of got held up,” I replied. “I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
“Of course we won’t be. Come on, you lot deserve a cuppa. I even baked a cake with Rose and Ethan. You can tell us what happened.”
The tea warmed my insides and the peppermint aroma eased my mind, allowing me to relax. Twenty-four hours ago, I’d thought I may never have another tea. Now my whole world had shifted once again, and I was headed down a completely new path. No wonder my head constantly felt like it was spinning and my stomach felt as though I was in free fall. You’d think I’d be used to it, but I wasn’t sure I ever would be.
“Do you still want me to tell them what happened?” Joe offered with a whisper.
Laina, who sat on the other side of Joe, grabbed a hold of his hand with a possessive glance towards me. I felt like telling her, ‘yeah I know he’s with you. I’m not a threat.’ But Joe would think I’d lost it.
“It’s okay. I think this is my story to tell,” I answered.
“If you’re sure, I’m here if you need help.”
I took another sip of my tea before clearing my throat. “I guess I better tell you what happened in the MMC building."
Each of them turned, putting down their mugs and wiping the crumbs from their faces with napkins.
“Everything was going to plan, we’d picked up the bomb. By the way, Harper. Your guy. He was totally weird and gave me the creeps.”
“Weird is an understatement, your guy has issues,” added Joe.
“Sorry, I should’ve warned you he was strange,” she said. “He’s not someone I would normally deal with.”
“After we got the bomb from your strange friend, Joe and I managed to sneak into the facility. The catch was, Joe’s pass wouldn’t allow him to go any further than th
e ground floor, so I had to take the bomb down to level three on my own. I found the room Janine had suggested and planted the bomb. I had the detonator in my pocket, and headed back towards the stairs to leave. As I was leaving I looked at the faces of the people in the building, I couldn’t help but think about their families and friends. Because of me they’d never see them again. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill those people and be like the MMC. Deciding to pull out, I turned to go back for the bomb when a voice caught my attention… Cameron’s voice.”
Their eyes grew wide, and Rose covered her mouth with her hand.
“Cam’s alive?” Ethan asked with a grin. “Mum, Cam’s alive.”
“You shouldn’t be listening, Ethan. Go play your game.” She pointed towards the hut.
Ethan rolled his eyes before turning them to his game and walking away. Rose was crazy to think Ethan didn’t know what we were doing. She still saw him as her little boy, but it was obvious how much he’d matured while living in the rainforest.
“Yes, Cameron’s alive,” said Janine. “But that’s where things changed.”
I nodded in her direction and continued with my story. “Cameron caught up with me and asked me to meet him later so he could explain his plan. His plan is good, but dangerous. He’s created an anti-virus which, when released, will spread to cure everyone who’s infected. The catch is, we have to steal it from a truck on route to its next destination. Thanks to Tech, the MMC will think they’ve loaded the virus, but it will in fact be the cure.”
“Wow, that’s so clever. Is he sure it’s going to work?” Harper beamed.
“Cameron is good at what he does. He wouldn’t have gone to this trouble if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure it would work,” replied Janine.
“Very well. I guess this means we need to start planning. Can we get into contact with him?” asked Harper.
“We gave him a contact number. He’ll call us in the next day or so with more details,” said Joe.
“Great, well, we’ll wait for his phone call and go from there. Thank you again for what you guys did. You made the right decision. It was easy to say we’d be okay with what we were going to do, but I don’t think I could’ve lived knowing blood was on our hands. The whole time you were gone I felt sick, like we’d made the wrong decision.” Harper’s sad eyes found mine. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if Amelia hadn’t made it back. We’ve already lost her once.”
As everyone began to clear out from the undercover area, a couple of them coming over to give me a hug or pat on the back, Harper waved me over to her cabin. Making my way inside, I pulled out a stool from under her kitchen bench and sat on it.
“Water?” she asked.
“No, thank you. I think I’ll have a wash and an early night after the last few days.”
“I bet you’re exhausted. I just wanted to see how you were feeling about the whole Cameron situation… you know… now he’s alive?” She sat in front of me on another stool, leaning forward on her elbows.
Hurt, confused, sad, happy, excited, lost. I felt so many emotions swirling inside me. Where was I supposed to start?
“He said he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. At first I was angry, but going over his words, I can kind of understand his reasons. It doesn’t stop it from hurting though. I spent so much time beating myself up and grieving over his death.”
Harper stretched across the bench to pull a tissue from a box and passed it to me. She sat in silence for a moment, trying to work out the right words to say. She mustn’t have found them because instead she squeezed my hand.
Later, when I’d left Harper’s cabin to return to my tent, I felt lighter somehow. Trying to explain how I felt to Harper, and knowing the animosity I’d been holding for her was gone, had rid me of some of what I’d been carrying. And knowing Cameron was alive and hadn’t died while attempting to rescue me lifted another burden.
Taking in a deep breath, I took in my peaceful surroundings. The delicate ferns and towering palms, the moistness of the soil at my feet and the grey and white of the clouds drifting above me. Out of the handful of places I’d been trapped and forced to hide in, this was by far the most beautiful. I was in paradise. I wanted to remember to enjoy it while I could.
As I walked around the corner, I heard hushed voices before seeing Laina and Joe involved in a heated discussion. I stopped in my tracks, unsure of what to do. I realised they’d spotted me when Laina scrunched her nose and eyed me, before letting out a loud huff and storming off towards the tents. I stayed firmly in place.
“Laina…” Joe took a step in her direction but didn’t take chase. Instead he lowered his arms and head in defeat.
Looking up, he discovered me still standing like a statue, afraid to make a noise.
“Amelia? How long have you been there?”
“I arrived when Laina took off,” I said.
“So, you’re telling me you didn’t hear that whole argument?” He raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
“Is everything okay?” I relaxed my stance as he approached me.
“Sure, everything’s amazing. Oh, except apparently I can’t do anything right.” He sighed.
“You are male.” I tried to make him smile and it worked for a moment.
“Really funny. I’m being serious.”
“Welcome to my world. My dead boyfriend just dumped me, remember.” I gave him a side smirk.
He managed a small laugh. “Now I know how you felt with Cam. You’re trying to do the right thing, and be a good person. But the one person who you think would understand doesn’t.”
“She doesn’t want you to help with the truck, does she?”
“No, she says I’ve risked enough and it’s someone else’s turn.”
“She might have a point. She wants you to be safe.”
“Like Cam wanted you to be safe?”
“Touché.”
“I’m like you. I can’t sit on my hands while everyone else does the work. It’d drive me crazy. I want to be a part of this, for myself, and for Dawn too.”
“I guess it’s hard for Laina. She hasn’t gone through what we have. She even left before we started the dream circle sessions. Nothing drives her to want to take them down.”
“But if she cares about me as much as she says she does, shouldn’t she support my decisions?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess. Guess it’s the same reason Cameron doesn’t want to be with me anymore. He couldn’t support my decisions. To be honest, he was probably right to fight me at every turn. Look where my decisions got me.”
“You did what you thought was right, what I thought was right. Are you trying to tell me I should break up with her?”
“No, that isn’t what I’m saying. Sorry, this is too close to home for me. I’m the last person who should be giving relationship advice. Maybe you should talk to Sarah or Rose.”
“Rose’s ex was a creep and Sarah is way too in love to give any decent advice.” He trailed off for a moment. “She’s jealous, you know.”
“Sarah?”
“No, Laina.”
“Of what?”
“She’s jealous of you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, of our relationship. How close we are. If she had her way, we wouldn’t see each other again.”
A lump formed in my throat at the thought of it. Joe was one of my best friends. I’d hate it if I couldn’t see him, talk to him, laugh with him again. Maybe she should be with Cameron instead. They could spend time together getting their issues about mine and Joe’s closeness off their chests.
“Did you tell her we’re just friends?”
“Of course. I’ve explained to her we went through something difficult together so we have a close friendship.”
“Do you want me to try to talk to her? Would it help?” I had no idea why I was offering. The thought of talking to her when she hated me so much curdled my stomach. It must’ve been the sadness and hopelessness in Joe’s eyes. I c
ouldn’t stand seeing him hurting. Is this how he’d felt when I was mourning Cameron?
“Would you? I mean, you don’t have to. But it might help. I really like her, but we keep finding the same things to argue over. And I don’t want to have to choose between the both of you.”
“You won’t have to choose. You’ll never lose me, Joe. No matter how hard you try.”
Chapter Thirteen
Word of mine and Cameron’s breakup spread in whispers through the camp. I was relieved I wouldn’t have to explain it to everyone, and was more than happy for them to discuss my private life where I couldn’t hear them. Janine had been nominated as the liaison between our group and Cameron, and together they’d been working out the details of our truck hijacking. Joe and Laina seemed to have worked out their issues for the moment. Laina wasn’t glaring at me as much anymore, so I convinced myself we didn’t need to have a talk after all. After a week of Janine organising and communicating with Cameron, Harper called a meeting under the covered area to talk over what was going to happen.
“In two days’ time, Tech’s going to change the cargo to be put onto a truck. Cameron’s canisters, which he has been sneaking down to the virus chamber, will be loaded instead of the virus. The truck will be heading north from the facility, which means by the time it reaches the rendezvous point where we’ll intercept it, it’ll be dark. That’ll make it easier for us. There’ll be two groups. Group one will be Joe, Amelia, Sarah, Laina, and Byron. Group two will be Wade, Kaelee, Janine, and myself. Obviously Ethan is too young to be part of this, and Rose has to stay with him.”
Rose looked at me with a guilty apology in her eyes. I shook my head at her. There was no need for her to feel bad. Ethan needed her. She was doing such a great job trying to keep him both educated and entertained in an environment that wasn’t suitable for kids his age. She’d need a night off once the MMC were gone.
Rise of the Dreamer Page 10