Page 78 of Echos and Empires
“He thinks we’re weak. He thinks we’re done. But we’re not. We’re just getting started.”
A collective shout. A thousand voices. They erupted like gunfire, like fireworks, bursting with a fury that almost made Emma stagger. The force of it knocked against her, so powerful she could barely stand.
It was happening. Really happening.
Chris paused. “Are you with us?” he called, and his voice rang out like the shot that signaled the start of a race.
The cheer rose again, so loud and insistent it seemed impossible for them to have any breath left. But they did. They were hungry for this, all of them, and so was she.
The sound echoed across the water, a living, breathing thing that carried their hope into the wind.
Emma stood, watching, taking it all in. She was overwhelmed by the intensity, by the terrifying and thrilling magnitude of what they had begun.
Her disbelief was a hollow shell that shattered, leaving nothing but resolve.
They were going to win. Or they were going to die trying. And they’d do it with an army at their side.
Chris’s words lingered, threading through her thoughts, her determination, and the clamor of the crowd. This was it. This was everything.
He stepped back, finding her eyes through the throng. The look was one of pride, of love, and it sent a shockwave of strength straight to her core.
Emma’s heart surged. The resistance. The six of them. The life inside her. She hadn’t realized how much she needed this, the weight of a fight they might actually win.
Liam came up behind her, arms circling her waist. He leaned down, words soft in her ear. “Told you they’d be with us.”
She nodded, eyes still fixed on the crowd. “I just didn’t know there’d be so many.”
They’d brought everything they had to this moment, and they would give everything to see it through.
Chris joined them, the cut over his eye still dripping furiously, but smiling like she’d never seen. The cheer rang out again, raw and defiant and full of promise. Emma knew it wouldn’t last. That the hardest part was yet to come. But right now, it was enough.
Right now, she could believe it. And right now, that belief was like fire, spreading wild and uncontrollable through her veins.
There was no stopping it. No stopping them. They were going to win, or die trying. And they’d do it together.
TWENTY-SIX
They gatheredaround the crates stacked three-high to act as a makeshift table, creating something like a circle of resolve, with the dim light casting sharp shadows across their faces. Maps lay strewn like discarded hopes. Chris’s voice cut through the silence with the precision of a scalpel. “We have one chance,” he said, eyes like dark fire. “The island’s installations, they’re key to Victor’s empire—the throat of a beast if you will.” Chris winced at the analogy with Emma present, but true to her character, she didn’t flinch. “Storehouses. Communication towers. The clinic. His home that we now know sits nesteled just a few miles away. All things we need to hit and take down. I’d prefer we leave the clinic for last, only attacking if the other hits fail.”
Anticipation pressed against him like the humidity in the air, thick and demanding.
Emma’s voice rose above the tension, a note of fierce urgency. “We need to show him we’re not afraid,” she insisted, hazel eyes blazing. Her determination was a contagion, sweeping the room and infecting every breath. She insisted she would be fine on her own, and all five of them would go.
Chris absorbed it, re-channeling it into the cold focus that was their lifeline. “We don’t get second chances,” he warned, drilling the need for coordination into every word, the room pulsing with the beat of a countdown.
The heat hung in the air, stagnant and oppressive, a reminder of how far they were from comfort and safety. The weight of responsibility like a physical presence, every eye in the room fixed on him. Bash stood with arms crossed, muscles coiled like steel beneath his shirt, his buzz cut casting a stark shadow on the wall. Liam leaned against the table, glasses reflecting the room’s light like a beacon, a smirk hovering on his lips even now. Will listened with an intensity that bordered on obsession, blue eyes cold and bright. Alex lounged in his chair, but Chris saw the tension in his jaw, the tight line of his shoulders. Emma stood closest to Chris, her presence a vivid reminder of what they were risking, what they had to gain.
“The supply depot is the first step,” Chris began, sweeping a hand over the map. “It’ll cripple his resources, but it has to be quick. Bash, William—you’ll create the diversion. We need it loud and chaotic. Liam and I will take the targets on the side.” His voice carried the weight of command, a mantle he wore with grim determination.
William nodded, the darkness in his eyes the reminder that he wouldn’t fail again. “Won’t know what hit them,” he said, the quiet confidence in his voice a testament to how much he’d grown.
Bash uncrossed his arms, a fierce light in his green eyes. “About time we hit back,” he said, words clipped and full of promise.
Chris continued, “Once they’re in disarray, Alex, you and Liam hit the radio room tomorrow with a small group. You’ve got the skills to tear it down.”
Alex’s smirk widened, a flash of recklessness in his hazel eyes. “I’ll dismantle it before they know we’re there.”
Liam ran a hand through his hair, a gleam of excitement cutting through his usually cool demeanor. “Think they’ll catch on we’re hitting everything?”
