Sarah and I feel relieved to arrive back when we park up the car, and the family we rescued look relieved too but still stunned by what has happened. We take them inside and another freedom fighter called Kat, who works as a nurse, quickly checks them over for injuries. She’s sweet and kind and gives the family blankets and warm drinks, “it’s best to keep warm after a shock like that,” she advises them.
The mother wraps the little girl in a blanket and the girl looks up at me and smiles, her face still stained with tears. I smile back at her and feel happy to know she’s safe.
“Thanks for helping us,” the sixteen year old boy says to me and Sarah.
“It’s no problem,” says Sarah with a smile.
He smiles back at us, “are you really freedom fighters?” he asks in awe.
“Yeah, we’ve just finished training,” I answer.
“Cool, I want to be one too,” he says. “My name’s Josh.”
“I’m Sarah,” she says and shakes his hand, “and this is Star.”
“I think it was so cool how you fought that police officer,” he says to me and I can’t help grinning.
“Star’s good at fighting and self-defense,” says Sarah. “I’m training to fly a helicopter so I can be a pilot one day.”
“Cool,” mutters Josh. “I’ve always wanted to be a secret spy. Can a freedom fighter be one of them?”
“I suppose so,” I answer, considering it, “if you don’t mind spying on Lord Snider.”
“I hate him,” he says, his eyes darkening. “He threatened my family because my father refused to work for him and then he sent those police officers to come and arrest us.”
“That’s awful,” says Sarah sympathetically.
“Don’t worry, he won’t be able to harm you or your family now you’re with us,” I reassure him.
He smiles and all his fear and anger seem to wash away.
Carl soon arrives and he talks to the family, arranging shelter accommodation and provides them with emergency rations and essentials.
“You’ll need to stay hidden away from Lord Snider and the police,” he advises them. “The best thing is to stay in your new placement, don’t go near the city or anywhere public. We might even have to arrange moving you to another safe location away from here, that way no one will be able to find you.”
The family looks upset but grateful and Sarah takes them in the car to where Carl has arranged for them to stay.
“Good job Star,” Carl tells me, looking pleased. “You and Sarah did well for your first mission alone.”
“Thanks,” I smile, feeling proud.
Rescuing people really did make me feel happy, especially at knowing we had prevented an innocent family from being imprisoned or executed, and now they were safely away from Lord Snider’s reach.
The next day I’m about to meet Mick for a self-defense lesson when I see the teenage boy from yesterday.
“Hi Josh,” I smile at him. “What are you doing back here?”
“I really want to be a freedom fighter so I’m coming to join.”
“Cool, well I guess you’ll be seeing Carl?”
He nods.
“Good luck, I hope you get in.”
“You have to be accepted?” he looks a little shocked and disappointed.
“Yeah, but don’t worry, they just do a background check,” I explain. “It’s just so people who are working for Snider can’t join and then report information to him.”
“Oh, okay.”
Carl walks over to us and smiles at Josh, “Good to see you back. Come through to my office.”
Josh follows Carl, but looks around at me and waves, “bye Star.”
When I get out of self-defense class, I go to the cafeteria for lunch and see Sarah sat eating at a table. I go over to join her and slip into the seat opposite.
“Hey, you’ll never guess what. You know that boy Josh we rescued yesterday? He came to join as a freedom fighter this morning.”
“Really? That’s sweet,” Sarah smiles. “We must have made a big impression on him.”
“I suppose it would if we saved him and his family,” I say, thinking about it.
“Oh look! Here he comes,” says Sarah, spotting him as Carl is showing him around. Josh grins when he sees us and comes to join us at the table.
“I guess you got accepted?” I ask him.
“Yeah, I did,” he smiles happily. “Carl says I’m starting training next week and once I’m done I can work as a spy. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah it is,” Sarah smiles. “How’s your family getting on?”
“They’re fine,” he answers and looks a little sad. “It just sucks having to move to a new place, I liked living in the city in our own home.”
“I’m really sorry,” says Sarah. “At least you’re safe. It’s better to stay hidden right now.”
“Do you think the police are still out there looking for us?” he seems anxious.
“Probably, but they’ll forget all about it in a few days or so,” I answer. “They’ll have other families they want to threaten and arrest.”
“So you think we can return home eventually?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” says Sarah uncertainly. “You don’t want to risk nearly getting arrested again.”
“Okay,” he looks upset. “I’d better go back to my family anyway.”
Me and Sarah say goodbye and watch him leave.
“Poor Josh,” she says sympathetically. “It must be hard for him.”
I nod in agreement and feel horrible knowing that there are so many families out there going through the same thing, but unfortunately some aren’t lucky enough to have our help the way Josh and his family had.
Chapter 18
The next few weeks fly by. Sarah and I are really busy with freedom fighter work and Josh starts training and soon fits in as our new friend. When he eventually finishes the training we’re really happy for him and he’s eager to get started on real freedom fighter work.
The day after he’s finished, Carl sends him out on a mission in the city to spy on a few of Lord Snider’s workers and Josh is really excited.
“Good luck,” I tell him before he leaves.
“Be careful, okay?” says Sarah and looks worried.
Josh blushes and looks shy, “I will, Sarah.”
I look at Sarah. I’m sure something’s going on between those two but she just avoids my eye contact.
When he’s gone I grin at her, “looks like Josh has a crush on you.”
Sarah brushes a little too and smiles, “do you think so?”
“It’s obvious,” I say, which makes her look happy and excited.
“He finally asked me out for a date tonight,” she tells me. “I thought he wasn’t interested at first.”
I giggle, “I think he’s just shy around you.”
“Hopefully things will work out,” she looks blissful.
“Are we going over to the rescue centre? Carl said we need to be there soon, remember?”
She stops daydreaming, “oh yes, I forgot. Let’s go.”
The rescue centre is a secret location in the city used for people who need help or to bring in children and babies that need safety and protection.
Sarah and I make sure we haven’t been spotted by any police officers before entering, and once we’re inside we see that five children have already arrived and Kat is looking after them.
“I suppose you’ll be taking them over to the sanctuary later this afternoon?” she asks us.
“Yes, they’ll be expecting us,” answers Sarah.
I look around at all the children playing together and smile. At least they’ll be safe once we get them out of the city.
“This is my little sister Lulu,” Kat tells us and points over to a seven year old girl. “I always bring her here with me because she loves playing with all the other children.”
“Why isn’t she at the sanctuary with the others?” asks
Sarah.
“I can’t bear to leave her,” says Kat and sighs. “I’d rather have her here with me so I can look after her myself.”
I start packing bags of supplies and food that we’re going to take over to the sanctuary, but I stop as I see Rickie run inside.
“Hi…” I start, but then the words seem to evaporate as I notice that something is wrong.
“Star, get everyone out of here!” he calls to me urgently.
Me and Sarah exchange glances, wondering what’s going on, and quickly help the children outside. Luckily it doesn’t take long to round them up and get them outside.
“What’s up?” I ask Rickie. “Is there going to be a raid?”
“It’s worse than that,” he tells me, looking anxious. “Snider has somehow found out the location of some of the rescue centres and planted a bomb inside them. He was obviously hoping to kill anyone inside.”
My eyes go wide with shock. I can’t believe anyone could be so evil that they would plant a bomb at a place where young children were staying.
“How do you know?” asks Sarah.
“Josh found out this morning, he did an urgent call to Bryan who told us to get everyone to safety. There are five other centres at risk.”
“That’s awful,” I say, feeling worried.
“We’d better get all these kids over to the base, they’ll be safe there,” says Rickie.
Kat appears beside us looking anxious, “Has anyone seen Lulu? She was right beside me a second ago.”
Sarah looks around, “No,” she answers and looks puzzled. “Where did she go?”
“I don’t know, she must have gone back inside the building for some reason,” she tries to run back inside but Rickie stops her.
“It’s too dangerous to go back,” he insists and then seems to weaken. “Don’t worry, I’ll find her for you,” he runs back towards the building.
Anxiety runs through me as I watch him disappear inside. What happens if there is a bomb planted here? And if there is, what if they both don’t make it out in time?
“They’ll be fine,” Sarah reassures us both. “Lulu will be coming back here anyway and Rickie will easily find her. They’ll both be out in no time.”
“You’ll have to take the children to the base,” I tell her, feeling nervous. “If there is a bomb here we really need to get them far away.”
“Okay, are you two staying?”
Kat and I both nod in answer. Sarah rounds up the restless children and gets them all into the car. We hear her drive away, but I’m too busy looking out for Rickie and Lulu.
Kat and I both wait anxiously, keeping our eyes on the entrance and willing them to come out. The seconds drag by like hours and we wait and wait.
Suddenly there’s a deafening bang and the blast knocks us both to the ground. I cough as the smoke showers over our heads, and look up and see the building come crashing down as the explosion rips through it. My heart stops with fear as I see it and I feel my eyes sting with tears thinking of Rickie and Lulu.
“Lulu!” Kat screams and starts to cry.
I feel like someone’s stabbed a knife right through my heart as I think of Rickie and how much I love him. He can’t be gone, I need him and I can’t live without him. I start to cry too, feeling stunned and devastated.
I see something ahead behind the rubble of the fallen building and hold my breath.
“Kat, they’re over there!” I say as I realise I’m right.
Relief rushes through me as I see Rickie getting up from the ground, his body shielding Lulu who’s looking scared.
“Lulu!” Kat runs towards them, lifts Lulu in her arms and cries tears of happiness and relief as she hugs her tight. Lulu smiles and hugs her back, happy to be safe.
“Rickie, we thought you were still inside,” I run into his arms and hug him tight, still feeling tears in my eyes.
He smiles at me in relief and holds me close. “We had to get out the back way, I didn’t want to risk wasting time going to the front. Luckily we managed to get a safe distance away before it exploded,” he explains, but he rubs his back looking in pain.
“Are you hurt?” I ask concerned.
“I’ll be fine,” he reassures me, “I guess some of the rubble hit me, but at least Lulu’s fine.”
Lulu comes over and gives Rickie a hug, smiling up at him, “Thank you.”
He smiles and ruffles her hair.
“Why did you go back, Lulu?” Kat asks her. “You should have known it wasn’t safe.”
“I left my special dolly, the one our grandma made us when I was little,” Lulu answers and hugs it proudly. “I didn’t want it to get ruined.”
Kat smiles a little, “let’s go back to the base, there might be other people injured who need my help.”
Lulu holds her hand and walks away with her excitedly, “can I help play nurse?”
Rickie puts his arm around me and we follow them.
“I’m sorry I worried you.”
“It’s okay,” I reply. “All that matters is you’re safe,” I give him a kiss because I’m so relieved.
When we get back to the base Carl looks relieved to see us.
“Is everyone okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, we managed to get everyone out in time,” Rickie tells him. “What about the rest?”
“We managed to evacuate the other centres too so luckily everyone’s safe. We got lucky though, if it wasn’t for Josh it would have turned out very badly.”
Rickie nods, “Snider’s really low for doing this. How did he find out where they were?”
“His spies have been monitoring the area and managed to work out what was going on,” Carl answers. “We’ll have to be very careful in future.”
“Now we’ll need to find a new place for the rescue centres that were destroyed,” says Kat sadly, “and it’s hard to find new bases, especially with Snider having so much control over the city.”
“We’ll find somewhere,” says Carl, “but for now we’ll have to re-locate the rescue centres to our base, it’s the only way we can keep everyone safe.”
“What about the children? Should we still take them to the sanctuary as planned?” I ask.
“Yes, we’ll take them right away,” answers Carl. “Just make sure you’re not followed. Snider’s workers might be trying to track down where we are taking them and we can’t risk that location getting out too.”
Chapter 19
The next evening, Rickie and I go out alone together for a meal. Luckily we managed to get all the children from the rescue centres safely to the sanctuary yesterday without being followed by any of Snider’s employees, so everything turned out okay and the children are now happy and settled in their new home.
It feels good to chill out and relax for a few hours and not have to worry about Snider blowing up our buildings and trying to kill us. Being with Rickie seems to erase all the bad things from my memory and we have a good time together.
When it gets late we drive back on his motorbike, but when we arrive at the base we get such a shock we can’t believe our eyes.
Police cars are parked all around the building and it’s obvious they have already raided it from the look of the broken entrance.
“We’d better stay out of sight,” says Rickie and we quickly hide from the police officers’ view. “I’ll phone Carl and find out what happened.”
He quickly rings Carl’s number and he answers right away.
“Rickie, I’ve been trying to phone you. Where are you?” I hear from the mobile.
“I’m at the base, bro. The police have raided it and they’re still here.”
“I know, I’ve been trying to warn you,” says Carl. “Haven’t you and Star checked your mobiles?”
“Sorry, we’ve been kinda busy.”
“Anyway, get away from there and come over to the Gemini building. I’ll explain everything once you’re here.”
Rickie and I get back on his motorbike and he drives us to
the other side of the city until we arrive at the Gemini building.
When we get inside we see all the freedom fighters are here and I follow Rickie as he rushes off to find Carl.
“Bro, what happened? How did they manage to raid the base?”
Carl sighs, looking annoyed, “Someone decided to tell Snider our secret location so we all had to evacuate when they arrived. That person is also responsible for Snider knowing the rescue centre locations too.”
“But who would know about them? Only freedom fighters know where our secret base is,” I say, feeling confused.
“This snitch was a freedom fighter,” answers Carl, looking angry. “He’s gone and betrayed us to Snider.”
“But who would do that?” Rickie asks in disgust.
Carl sighs, “It was Josh.” I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach.
“Josh?” I ask in disbelief, “but it can’t be him…”
“I’m sorry, Star, I know you were friends, but it was him. He was spotted with Snider before the raid. It’s obvious he’s the one who told him.”
I’m so shocked I don’t know what else to say. Rickie puts his arm around me, but I can’t help feeling hurt and betrayed. Josh was one of my friends. Sarah and I had risked our lives to save him and his family, Carl had found them a new home, Bryan had put effort into training him; and this was how he repaid us
“I know it sucks but it happens sometimes,” Rickie says to me. “When you’re a freedom fighter it’s hard to trust anyone.”
“But he was one of us. We should have been able to trust him.”
“I know,” Rickie looks sad too.
“So he’s been working for Snider all this time?” I ask feeling puzzled.
Carl shakes his head, “I doubt it. If he did he wouldn’t have got through our background check. We think after he qualified training he must have got involved with Snider somehow.”
I feel so upset, and when I find Sarah I see that she is feeling the same.
“Did you hear what happened?” she asks and her eyes water.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it,” I say and give her a hug.
She cries on my shoulder, “I thought he was nice and genuine. I was so happy when we decided to start a relationship after our date, but now it’s over between me and him after what he did.”
Chapter 20
It feels weird to wake up the next morning in a sleeping bag on the floor in an unfamiliar building. Once I begin to come around I remember what happened yesterday and I feel sadness dampen my spirit.
Freedom Fighters: Twilight City (Book 1) Page 7