Page 71 of Echos and Empires
They would make it through. She was sure of it, as sure as she was of William, of his heart and his hands and the perfect way he held her.
As sure as she was of herself, the woman who’d lived alone in a basement with animals for two years after the world fell apart.
TWENTY-FOUR
A deep exhaustionsettled in Chris’s bones, aching like an old wound.
Twenty-four hours.
It only had been twenty-four hours since they’d saved William and lost everything else. Each minute was stretched and heavy, like it might tear. No time to rest. No time to waste. He knew they had to take a risk if they wanted to reach as many people as possible. Too many of the men might be under the influence of Victor’s “vitamins,” but Chris and his unit couldn’t win with just women and the few men they’d already spoken with. They couldn’t go slow anymore. For better or worse, the rebellion was now a revolution.
Twenty-seven people. That was the size of their entire revolution. Against a security force of at least fifty.
A trained force.
He turned to his team, gathered around in a tight circle in the mouth of the cave now strewn with sleeping bags and pillows. Emma’s hazel eyes caught his, searching for reassurance he wasn’t sure he could give. Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling the grit of dust on his skin.
“We need to walk back to where we buried the phones and left the truck last night,” he said, keeping his voice steady, authoritative. He saw Bash glance at the horizon, a scowl of impatience on his rugged face. “We’ll text every number we have, then burn the phones. That’s the only way we reach people fast enough. Our timeline has stepped up again and we either go with it or fail.”
Bash folded his arms. “Even the bastards who might work for Victor?”
“Even them if there’s even a shred of doubt about their loyalty to him,” Chris replied. He met Bash’s piercing green eyes, challenging him to argue. “We have to take the risk now because we’re out of time.”
Liam rubbed his jaw, blue eyes thoughtful behind his glasses. “But what if they don’t come? Or come and work against us? We’re not talking about small stakes here, Chris.”
“I know,” Chris said, trying to keep the fatigue out of his voice. It felt like he hadn’t slept in weeks. “But we need people. We need men. We don’t have time to build slowly anymore.”
“Are you sure?” Alex asked, glancing over at William, whose blond hair caught the sun like a halo. “It’s only been a day since.”
“I’m sure,” Chris interrupted, the words cutting like a blade. “This is the only way we have a chance.”
The others looked at him, waiting, weighing his resolve. He saw them nod, saw the grudging acceptance settle over them like dust.
Chris exhaled.
“Come on then, the sooner the better. We’ll all go because I want those phones left there and we all have contacts. Emma, I hate to ask you to make the walk, but we have no other safe way.”
“I’m just at the start of this trimester, and aside from eating like a monster, I’m handling the second trimester far better than the first.”
He nodded. “Then leash up the pup and let’s head out. Myself and Liam with Ranger up front. Alex and William take the middle with Emma, Bash, as usual, bring up the rear.”
He heard the chorus of nods but didn’t wait for them to get moving, just started heading out, his mind a whirlwind of fatigue and fear.
The path ahead was rough and jagged, matching the churn of thoughts in Chris’s mind. They had little time before Victor’s men found the truck and phones if they weren’t there waiting, or worse, found the cave. He glanced back at Emma. She was walking like it was no big deal as she kept pace beside William and Alex.
They walked with silence by their sides, broken only by the sound of their heavy breaths and the occasional distant call of seabirds. Chris trudged forward, his feet heavy as if weighed down by lead. Each step seemed to sink into the earth, slowing his pace. His heart pounded in his chest, a frantic rhythm fueled by the pressing need to reach his destination. Desperation gnawed at his mind, urging him onward even as his legs burned with exhaustion.
“We have to reach the truck before they do,” he said, though he knew they were all thinking the same thing.
“We will,” Emma replied, her voice stronger than it should have been. “We have to.”
He nodded, though doubts gnawed at him like hungry rats. What if they didn’t reach it in time? What if the phones were already found? He tried to push the thoughts away, to focus on the rhythm of his feet, the plan ahead.
They needed people. A wave of them. An army to fight back before Victor closed his grip on this island and the others now that he knew his control was threatened. But how many would come? How many would fight? Chris pushed forward, fueled bya mix of hope and dread. It had to be fast. They were a revolution now.
He cast another look at William, remembering the way he’d looked on the floor just yesterday, lifeless, and broken but thankfully with nothing more than surface injuries for reasons he didn’t understand. Chris watched him walking steadily, face set with determination.
Only twenty-four hours.
