Page 46 of Shattered Love

“Maybe you could give me some space?” I suggested, and they shared a conspiring smile, neither of them backing up.

“Or not,” I muttered, trying to regain focus.

I closed my eyes, remembering all the tinkering Mom and I had done in the evenings. Every radio had a transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter allowed messages to be sent while the receiver, well, received the messages.

Mom had taught me mostly about receivers, considering that was her main job. The electromagnetic waves were sent to an antenna, which then received the message and sent it to the receivers.

As Warner and Sasha reminded me, the process was pretty straightforward, as long as you could figure out how to manipulate the waves and send them properly. There was no purpose to this if I couldn’t get the message to every radio in the world.

Pressing more buttons and turning more controls, a red light finally popped on beneath the microphone. One step down. Typing into the controls, I read through the code, selecting the correct line, and then I knew I was in.

Once I pressed this button, anyone who was listening would hear my voice. But I knew that wasn’t good enough. Who truly was sitting beside a radio? And if there were more camps?

No, I knew I needed to do more. Swiveling in the chair, I stood up, scanning the screens before me. There were too many codes, too many things I couldn’t decipher.

Thankfully, the woman was still inside the room. “Do you have access to the other camps?”

I was taking a gamble that other camps existed, and that she would discuss them with me. Stepping toward the main computer, she typed in a password, pulling up a software and then there it was.

My eyes widened at the sheer number of camps around the continent. There were at least thirty thousand. How the hell did they plan this so quickly?

Next to each camp was a coordinate as well as a radio frequency. Jackpot. The frequencies were numerical, which made my job much easier.

Falling back into the chair, I typed into the radio, setting the frequency to each number. Reading the code before me, I hacked over the entries, making sure that my message would be broadcasted, whether the person on the other end wanted it to be or not.

Once everything was in place, my finger hovered over the red button, mentally preparing what to say. How did you tell an entire population that the world was ending?

Sasha was still at my side, and she noticed my struggle, shedding the sarcasm. “Speak from your heart. People will listen.”

Nodding, I took one more deep breath, pressing the button, and when my voice sounded, I pretended I was solely speaking to my mom.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The entire camp was gathered before me. The stocky woman, named Elena, had brought a chair out for me, which I now stood upon. It wasn’t a grand stage, this wasn’t a performance, so why did it feel like it?

Curious and tired stares pierced my skin, nerves skating up and down my arms. Aiden stood at my side and he nudged my hip with his elbow.

“I can give the speech,” he assured me, but I shook my head.

“I need to do this.”

I needed to do this for Dad. For Mom and Alex. For all the lives that were lost. And most of all, I needed to do this for myself. In a world where I couldn’t control anything, where I had been so lost, struggling to find my feet, I knew this was my purpose.

I was a protector. And I was going to do everything I could to protect the people around me from unnecessary loss, from experiencing the heartbreak I knew all too well.

Clearing my throat, my fingers fidgeting in front of me, I found my voice. “I know you’re all wondering why you’re gathered here.”

My voice was soft, too small, but the crowd was silent, my voice echoing. “You were displaced from your homes. You were maybe even separated from your families and no one has given you answers. But I’m here to give them to you now.”

I glanced to my right, spotting Mina standing behind Warner, and she gave me a small smile, encouraging me to continue. Rainer had his familiar glare, but when my eyes met his, the harsh features faded, his soft eyes giving me courage.

“The world is ending. A meteor is set to strike the Earth on December 19th, right here in Montana.”

Gasps echoed throughout the crowd, some people voicing their disbelief while others cried out in worry. There was no right response, but the concern and worry permeated the air, and knowing I could give these people answers had strength blossoming inside of me.

My fingers paused their anxious fiddling, my shoulders straightening as my voice rose.

“They wanted to keep us in the dark, blind us to the truth. But this isn’t the end. There are bunkers on the East Coast, a way for you to survive what is to come.”

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