Page 34 of Longing for Liberty
Small smile. More gentle arm rubbing. Small nod.
“Stay calm, Libby, please. I didn’t want to burden you with this.”
Holy fucking shit.
I flushed with heat from head to toe, my scalp suddenly sweating. The panic was coming as I thought about the danger Jeremy was in. And then I heard the telltalebuzzcoming.
No, no, no.
“Jer,” I warned him. “Blow on my face.”
He immediately did as I asked, his cooling breath running along the edge of my hairline. “Stay calm,” he said softly in between breaths. More cool face blowing. “People are nearby, and the drone is coming.”
I nodded with my eyes closed, concentrating on the feel of his breath, focusing on slowing my galloping heart to a trot. With my hair down, I was able to fluff it over part of my face to hide the redness I knew was surely there in my cheeks.
“I’m glad you had a productive day at work,” Jeremy said robotically as the drone circled us. My cheeks worked a smile into existence, and I nodded like a fool.
“Tell me something you built today,” I said. The drone sped off, and we both relaxed, but not fully.
Part of me wanted to be offended that Jeremy hadn’t told me, but I knew how he thought. What good would it have done to have me even more afraid than I already was? I wanted him to be able to trust me with all things, but weren’t there things I wasn’t telling him? It wasn’t out of distrust. It was to spare him, just as he’d tried to spare me.
We couldn’t stand here like this forever, so Jeremy put one arm around my waist, and I put one around his. We walked again along the tree line, my head leaning against his shoulder until I got myself under control. And when I finally did, my mix of emotions turned into a fiery curiosity.
I tried to remember everything they’d said about Community Five today. And Alaska! And Hawaii! I started speed-talking.
“They don’t have enough military to organize Community Five and force them to work. They only have enough to surround them. Fitzhugh needs a year, I think, for the next set of boys to become old enough to join the State Force before he can tackle Five.”
His hand flexed against my hip. “I can’t believe he talked about it in front of you. This might be some kind of test.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I could hear all three of them talking. Think about it. I’m just a dumb woman. A maid.”
Had six years been long enough to make them forget that all of the adults in the State could still remember? That not all of us had been brainwashed? That some of us had toppled police vehicles and lit streets on fire? Well, not me. I’d been useless in the fight. But I didn’t have to be useless anymore.
“No,” Jeremy said. “I don’t like this. When he’s in those meetings, you need to stay away.”
“Babe—”
“This isn’t some game?—”
“Stop it!” I hissed. “I know it’s not a game! But he’s using me. They’re using all of us. This is our chance to use them back.”
We stopped to admire a giant honeysuckle bush. I glanced over to see Jeremy’s eyes glossed in thought as I picked a tiny white-fluted flower. Breaking the tip off, I put it to my lips and tasted the minuscule drop of nectar. Then our eyes met. He looked strained. Scared. And when I thought of him caught up in a resistance, that sentiment filled me too.
I asked, “Do you guys know that the Big Island of Hawaii is basically free from State Force? Like, they’re not occupied, but they’re being watched and semi-controlled from the other islands?”
He gave a small nod. Wow.
“And why would they name the military base in Alaska Wright?”
He let out a breath of air and shook his head. “Because President Wright is one of them. One of the OM.”
President Wright? As in the former disgraced leader of the United States?Hewas one of them?
“OM?” I asked, though it scratched a part of my brain like something I’d heard at one time.
“Order of Mercy,” he whispered. “They’re all in it.” That’s right…the cult from Idaho that the reporter had tried to warn us about.
Jeremy let out a grunting sound and looked at the sky as if pained by the fact that I was getting involved in this.
