Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  The following Monday, my burn was practically healed. Mark and I had more or less made up after our fight since Mark hugged me and that seemed to make everything better. But I wanted to do my part. I wanted to go out and find a way to get more food. I was the only one besides Mykail and the others who would stand out too much who had not gone to get food. I felt like I was slacking, and I did not want to appear as though I did not care about the revolutionaries. As a figurehead, I had to keep a certain image and keep the morale high.

  Once again, Mark and I were butting heads in the strategy room about whether I could go outside or not.

  After telling him that there was no way he was going to keep me in the bunker and that I would just leave when he went back to the Markus house, he finally conceded to let me go out as long as he was with me.

  Deciding I wanted to go out more than fight with him, I agreed.

  He drove me in his Commission car to the large, open park at the center of town. When he parked the car, I turned to him.

  “Mark,” I started slowly, “can I just walk around the park for a bit?” I pled. “Please, I just need some fresh air. You can see the whole park from here. You can watch me.”

  Mark opened his mouth to protest, but hesitated, finally sighing and dropping his head. Slowly, he turned the car off.

  “Thank you,” I told him sincerely.

  I could not explain my restlessness. Even with how much support the revolution had been getting, I was not satisfied with anything. I needed to get away from the fort, away from Tori and Griffin and Mykail, away from the bickering members who were trying to figure out how they were going to survive on one meal a day while fighting such a stressful war.

  We were at a high point in our revolution yet, for some reason, I had a feeling that everything was about to crash down around us. Hearing about the dead mafia members made me think very carefully about Dana’s connections. It had been forever since I had devoted such thought to the leader of the Commission of the People I had almost forgotten he was a real person. I had been so focused on what was going on in the world of Fort Daniels that I had forgotten his incredible control of the surface world.

  I was left wondering what he was planning. I was not sure how he knew that the four mafia members would go back to their connections so he could take the opportunity to kill them. I was beginning to think very seriously about what Dana said about the game ending when he said. That meant that he was making moves against us. That he was going to defeat us.

  However, knowing Dana, he was not just going to defeat us, he was going to tear us down and rip us apart completely.

  I had to find a way to combat that.

  “Well, well, well…” a voice said behind me. I halted, my blood running cold as I registered the voice. “Imagine finding you here…”

  I did not want to turn around, but I had to. Keeping my face as straight as I could, I turned to the two men I had not seen in so long.

  I stared at the two figures in suits before me, my heart forgetting how to beat. Dana smiled, his eyes covered by the dark sunglasses. Sean remained behind Dana, watching.

  We were in a crowded park, and it was to my advantage that I remain someplace public. Even Dana would not risk doing something drastic in front of so many people. No one outside the Commission even knew what Dana Christenson looked like. He would be exposing himself by trying to capture me in a crowded place and saying it was Commission business.

  “You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble, Little Lily,” Dana grinned. “Really made a mess…”

  “You’re no longer bored,” I noted, trying to decide the best way to get away without exposing Mark or leading Dana to the fort. “You should be thanking me.”

  “Thank you for entertaining me, but really, we know how this is going to end,” Dana chuckled. “You will come home to me, so why fight it?”

  “I won’t come home to you, Dana,” I growled. “The Commission is not my home. You destroyed my home. You turned my parents against each other and then against me.”

  “You did that on your own.” Dana shook his head with a broken chuckle. “You’re a traitor to your country. That’s a much bigger family than the little one you had, and they knew that. You have to answer for what you’ve done.”

  “What about what you’ve done?” I snapped, deciding to run into the nearby trees and weave until I got someplace I could hide. I just needed to get Dana to move slightly one direction so I could run in the other while he was off balance. It wouldn’t buy me more than two seconds, but it was the only advantage I could get. “What about the way you’ve destroyed America?”

  “Destroyed?” Dana asked. “I have done nothing other than improve America. I have kept the people happy and safe. Before you came to the Commission, I bet you used to hear about the way the country once was from your friends’ grandparents…and you used to think that you were so fortunate to be born into a time when the unrest has been settled and the population is harmonious…” I saw one of his eyebrows arch over his glasses. “Am I wrong?”

  “Then why make the weapons?” I hissed. “Don’t you see what will happen when you finish Eyna? He’s stronger than you. He’ll turn against you and kill you.”

  “That should please you, Little Lily,” Dana smiled. “That’s what you’re trying to do.”

  “But after he’s done with you, what do you think he’ll do? He’ll be unleashed on the world and who knows what kind of destruction he’ll be capable of.”

  “So, it sounds like you need me,” Dana said. “I’m the one thing standing between you and Eyna.”

  “So kill him,” I hissed. “Stop the program now while you still can!”

  “It’s too late, Little Lily.” Dana shook his head slowly. “He’s finished.”

  I stilled, forgetting all plans of running for a few moments while I processed the short statement. After a few silent seconds, I shook my head and retreated a step, my eyes wide.

  “You’re bluffing…”

  “Would I really do something like that?” Dana chuckled. “I always tell the truth. I don’t need to bluff. He’s finished. If you had come to the meeting two days ago, you would know that.”

  My brain turned to static.

  Dana reached a hand out and his smile widened.

  “Come, Little Lily,” Dana commanded. “There’s nowhere for you to run…”

  I shook my head and took another step back.

  “I wouldn’t even try if I were you,” Dana warned. “You’re surrounded.” I quickly looked over my shoulder to see another man in a suit with dark glasses. Mark moved forward and tapped his leg with his pointer finger once.

  “Calm down.”

  I turned back to Dana, confident. This was the day Dana would learn that Mark was on our side and while that put our strongest ally in danger, I could trust Mark to get me out of this.

  “Mark, grab her,” Dana ordered.

  Mark stopped behind me before stepping to the side, pulling the gun with the silencer out from its holster and flashing it, hiding the gun from general view at my side.

  Dana was still, his smile gone. Sean’s eyes were wide and he blinked repeatedly at Mark, his mouth open.

  “I don’t believe it…”

  “Well,” Dana chuckled, “I certainly wasn’t expecting this…” He looked over Mark as Sean pulled his own gun from his coat, concealing it carefully. “I should have known you would sympathize with this movement. You were special from the beginning. After all, Mark, you were the only one who ever attacked me and was able to draw blood.” Dana smiled and sighed.

  “I’m very sad, though,” he told him, tilting his head to the side. “I’m sad that I have to have you killed now. You always were one of my favorites. That’s why I didn’t kill you the first time. I wanted to give you a second chance while you were still useful. Oh well, you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, it’s time to die.”

  I jumped at the sound at my side, but was even mor
e shocked when Dana right leg folded underneath him and he fell to his knee, a bleeding hole in his thigh.

  I did not have time to see if Dana was cringing in pain, or even his reaction past falling to his knee because Mark’s hand had a vice grip on my arm. He yanked me away, tucking the gun into his jacket as we both ran. I followed, confident that Sean would not shoot in the crowded park while we were weaving in and out of people.

  Mark pulled me into the parking lot. He jumped into his car and I clambered into the front seat, breathing hard.

  Mark peeled out of the parking lot, his covered eyes glancing every now and then in the mirrors before he turned to me and tapped the plastic buckle of my seatbelt, reminding me to strap in.

  I did so, my hands shaking.

  I turned around and saw a car following ours, rapidly gaining on us, black in color with tinted windows that did not allow me to see the driver.

  “Mark,” I whispered. He had taken off his glasses, his eyes glued to the rearview mirror. He glanced at the other two mirrors and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out and studying the street as he turned away from the park.

  My hands were gripping the seat, frightened and shaking as I glanced in the side view mirror. Mark made another turn, still driving above the speed limit, watching the car behind us.

  Every turn we made took us closer to the industrial district and the car followed us for every turn, keeping close to our bumper.

  Mark sped up, his foot flooring the accelerator and his hand shifting gears, causing the engine to roar. Mark sped around a corner, our back tires skidding on the asphalt before finding traction and racing down a wide street lined with businesses and crowded with semi-trucks.

  Mark was weaving in and out of traffic at terrifying speeds, his eyes sharp and his reflexes quick, not even phased as he slipped into the opposite flow of traffic to get around one truck while I panicked. There were horns blaring and the screeching of tires caused me to cringe away, sure that there was going to be an impact on the car at any moment.

  Mark followed the large sweeping curve of the street and drove north, away from the industrial area and to the freeway. I could hardly breathe.

  The road was crowded with trucks and transportation trailers preparing to enter the freeway. Mark tapped the brake when he had no room to move. My hand was locked on the door panel and the bottom of my seat, my eyes wild about the road as I threw random glances into the side mirror to check how close Dana and Sean were.

  They were only one car behind us and were just switching lanes.

  “Fuck…” I hissed.

  Mark looked over the road, assessing the situation before his foot pushed in the gas pedal and the clutch, his hands fast on the wheel, turning us abruptly and cutting off Sean and Dana. Mark leapt across the lane, over the median, and into the opposite lane of traffic, where the light had just turned green and cars were starting forward, including the semi-truck blaring its horn at us.

  Mark shifted into a lower gear and challenged the semi while I tried not to scream. Just before Mark collided, he turned, bouncing over the median again and flooring the car, darting across three lanes of traffic, causing one car to swerve, avoiding collision, creating a chain reaction as another semi-truck moved the opposite way, crashing into the stopped semi as we sped to the onramp, flying up the slope at an amazing speed.

  My breath left me loudly and I slumped.

  “Holy shit…”

  Mark shifted the car, jumping into the far lane, flying through the cars.

  “Mark, slow down. The police—”

  I stopped, realizing that Dana had probably already called the police.

  “We need to get to the fort, now.”

  Mark sighed and looked at me with an exasperated expression before turning the eyes back on the road. I looked around, quickly mapping where we were in the city. We were nowhere near any access to Fort Daniels.

  As we flew past another onramp, three police cars entered the freeway, having difficulty keeping up with our speed. The other cars were trying to move out of the way at the same time, which added to the confusion and worked in our favor.

  “Shit!” I pointed at a familiar black car entering the freeway at the onramp in front of our car. Mark slammed on the brake, causing another skidding of tires behind us. Shifting to a lower gear, Mark turned across four lanes of traffic as another crunch was heard from a collision behind us, which kept the police cars at bay. Mark turned onto the off ramp just as the black car in front of us pulled to the shoulder and threw their car into reverse.

  Mark sped to the next freeway, causing the engine to roar and my panic to increase.

  The leader of the Eight Group darted back across the other lanes of traffic to an off-ramp that led to the national park. I knew exactly what entrance we were going to—the one in the cave with the dead-bolted, bulletproof door.

  But as we started up the hill of the off-ramp, I saw the flashing blue and red lights stopped in a blockade. But Mark was not slowing down.

  He moved into the shoulder, aiming the nose of our car at the two opposing noses of the police cars. His right hand extended in front of me, holding me in my seat. I closed my eyes. I was launched violently forward and then thrown back with the force of the collision. Our engine roared and the crunching and groaning of distorted and strained metal faded as Mark pushed through the gap between the two cars and turned violently, the car bumping onto the curb and in the dirt, tires skidding, before Mark regained control and pulled us back onto the road.

  My eyes were wide, looking at the dented front of the car and the crack in the windshield, as well as how fast Mark was speeding down the nearly-deserted road.

  He turned onto the dirt path and plowed through the gate, causing the windshield to crack as the mangled metal smashed into the glass. But the windshield did not shatter, which made it nearly impossible to see.

  Mark rolled down his window, looking out it as he drove along the dusty road, trying to keep control of the car on the dirt.

  He slammed on the brakes and the car slid as he reached over and unbuckled my seatbelt.

  Not needing further instruction, I clamored out of the car and ran around the front, not knowing where I was going, but knowing I needed to head uphill. Mark’s hand was on my back, pushing me in the right direction. I could hear tires rapidly approaching, so I forced my shaking legs faster up the hill.

  A gunshot sounded and I flinched, but Mark retaliated with a shot and then pushed me again, shielding me. I saw the cave and quickly jumped over the rocks, around the first corner to the bolted door. Mark remained at the corner, listening for the approaching group as I heaved the latch to the side, adrenaline giving me strength. When the bolt was undone, Mark helped me get the thick door open, pushing me into the dark corridor before slipping in just as I heard Sean’s voice say we were “over there.”

  Mark slammed the lock shut as I caught my breath, my whole body shaking.

  There was banging on the other side of the door as Mark kicked the second and third bolts down. He grabbed a large rock, somehow able to see it in the dark, and slammed it into the main lock, causing sparks to fly as the metal bent and twisted, pinching the lock permanently.

  I pulled out a small flashlight, my fingers shaking to push the button, but I finally got some light to the corridor. I saw Mark walk up to me and put an arm around my shoulders, pointing his gun at the door as the banging continued. My breath was shuddering out of me violently as I listened to the commotion.

  “Don’t shoot it, you morons!” Sean’s voice growled.

  “Wait at the front, this is Commission business,” Dana ordered. “Little Lily…I know you can hear me.”

  Mark’s grip tightened on my shoulder.

  “I’m not sure what’s behind this door, but I have a feeling that you’re secret hideout has been compromised…but it’s not because of me,” Dana continued. “Well, okay, I guess partially because of me, but the truth is, I have had inside information almos
t the entire time. You really just did some of the work for him by leading me here. He won’t have to sneak out to tell me where you are.”

  I blinked, staring at the door, having an impending sense of doom of what was coming.

  “Oh, Little Lily, you are so naïve. So is Mark. I’m surprised that that chink didn’t figure it out already if he was able to hide his support of this movement for so long. You didn’t think it was strange how easily you bonded with Mykail? How willing he was to risk everything to help you? I sent him to you with orders to report everything you did to me.”

  “He’s lying…” I choked.

  “I sent him to your family to stoke that fire in your belly. I knew you were angry, and I knew that he was just charming enough to seduce you and get you to this level. He talked you into going against me, didn’t he? Told you that he hated me and he wanted nothing more than to kill me? I told him to say those things to you, Little Lily. And in exchange, I would give him one chance to kill me once I had you in my grasp. You had all the potential to pull this off, but you needed the final push…You needed to feel empowered, and angry, and he followed my orders exactly and riled you up.”

  My stomach was churning. Mark’s hand on my shoulder was the only thing keeping me from collapsing.

  “How do you think I knew so much about you without ever setting foot in your house? Why do you think Mykail would only talk to you and not the rest of your family? And you fell for his sob story, his charms and his beauty because you wanted so badly to think that you had some sort of power over me. I told him exactly what to say and do. He played you, Little Lily, and he fed me every juicy detail.”

  I cringed against the words.

  “Knowing that Mykail has become the figurehead of your revolution, I know he’s in there—in your secret headquarters. Don’t think I don’t know that there are other ways to get in. Rest assured, now that I know where this one is, I can map other possibilities. I will find your hideout before Mykail has a spare moment to get to me and tell me where you are. He probably hasn’t been alone in a very long time, has he?”