"I'll leave you two alone," Garrett told us.
As soon as he was gone I threw myself into Jason's arms. He kissed the top of my head. "Ciara, you're ok."
"I'm ok? You're the one who was supposedly dead!"
He let go of me and we sat down. "Tom sent me away, he knew I was turning on the Militia."
"He wanted me to escape with them, he must have known you cameh here here."
"I thought if I could get here, I'd find someone to help me rescue you. I didn't know what they told you. I thought they might have turned you against me, said I wanted to leave you."
"I probably would've believed them, I really belived you were dead."
"I guess that's what my dad wanted Monroe to think too. If he told them I ran away, Monroe could have accused my parents of being traitors."
"Bass didn't know you were alive either," I said quietly. For some reason the thought made me feel better. Monroe had promised not to lie to me, and it seemed he hadn't.
"But my parents ran anyway."
I nodded. "I helped them."
XxXxX
I knocked on Monroe's office door. He opened it, for once he wasn't in uniform. He looked more relaxed, it suited him. "You look beautiful," he told me.
"Oh, thanks," I said. I twirled my hair, unsure what to do with myself.
"Come in, there's food." I nodded and he held the door open for me. The scene was just like my first afternoon with Julia. "I didn't know what you'd like."
"You could have asked. You're as bad as Julia." A look of panic flashed across my face. Leave it to me to bring up the very person I was trying to distract him from. Hopefully he'd chalk it up to weirdness about bringing up my former fiancé's family.
"I do have lemonade though." He smiled and grabbed the bottle. The idea of fresh lemonade did sound good.
"I haven't had any since that first week," I remembered. "I, um, poured the bottle you sent me out."
He laughed for a moment. When I didn't say anything, he realized I was serious. "Why?"
"I didn't appreciate the gift at the time. I wouldn't say I was exactly thrilled to be here."
"And now?" He asked.
I shrugged. "I guess I've gotten used to it."
"I'm sorry about-"
I cut him off. "Jason's gone. I don't want to talk about it." It felt like a tiny dagger in my stomach to say that. But, I had to move forward.
He leaned against the couch. "Do you want something to eat?"
"I'm not that hungry, I just wanted to talk to you."
"Well, you are."
I nodded and took a step towards him. "Honestly, I just want to..." I acted before I could think about it. I put my hands around his neck and pressed my lips to his. It took him a moment to respond, I'd definitely caught him off guard.
"Ciara-"
"Shut up and kiss me."
XxXxX
"I thought you were dead," I said quietly. He raised my face to his and kissed me lightly. I felt guilty, even though I hadn't done anything wrong.
"You aren't getting rid of me that easily," he said.
"You know I have to go back up there eventually," I told him. "I've got to end this."
"Is there anything I can say to stop you?"
I shook my head. "He listens to me."
"Promise me you won't go alone. I can't go back, but Garrett can."
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll take him with me."
OoOoO
I woke up in the morning to go for a walk, early like usual. Everyone around me walked with purpose on their way to strategy meetings, or breakfast. No one noticed me. It felt nice to be invisible. I had heard the whispers behind me back. People calling me a coward or a traitor. I couldn't blame them. I knew it looked like that from the outside.
I turned down an alley, and heard voices. Jason and Tom talked in heated whispers. When I was in earshot, Tom glanced at me. He nodded once before turning away. "What was that about?" I asked.
"He's disappointed in me, what's new?"
"Your parents were worried about you," I told him.
"You sure it wasn't just Julia?" He asked.
"They were both upset. It was more obvious with Julia, she cried. But Tom cared too, just less noticeably. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to you, you're his son."
"I'm sure he wishes he could trade me in for you," he joked.
I laughed. "I'm a handful."
"That's true enough." He put his arm around my waist and hugged me to his side.
"You'll work things out with your dad," I assured him. "Look at me and mine, we worked out our differences. You can do it too."
OoOoO
Back in my tent, there was a clicking noise from my bag. I had wrapped it in blankets and stuffed it in the corner and it took me a moment to dig it out. The radio was foreign to me, but Monroe had showed me how to use it before I'd left. I didn't have a pendant or amplifier, so I knew I wasn't the one causing the old thing to turn on. I turned the dial to tune it to the correct channel.
"Bass?" I whispered. The soldiers outside would be busy, but I couldn't risk being overheard.
"Ciara, can you hear me?"
I nodded. Then realized he obviously couldn't see me. "Yeah. What's going on?"
"I wish you had gone back to Savannah," he mumbled. I wasn't sure he'd meant to say it into the mic.
"Well, I didn't."
"There are bombers closing in on your camp, if you're getting a signal they must be close. You need to get out while you still can."
"Yeah, ok," I said. My wheels were already turning, spinning an evacuation plan for as many people as I could. I stuffed the radio in my backpack and ran out of the tent. I almost ran Charlie over in my haste to reach Miles.
"Ciara, are you ok?" She asked.
I grabbed her arms. "There are bombers coming, we need to get everyone out."
"How much time do we have?" She asked.
"Minutes."
"We can get to the watch tower and put up the warning flag." We both took off running towards the tower at a sprint. We didn't say it, but we both knew we wouldn't make it in time. The bomb hit before we even made it up the first flight of stairs.
OoOoO
"Ciara!" A voice called. "Ciara, wake up!" I tried to speak, but I couldn't hear myself over the ringing in my ears. "Ciara, if you don't wake up we're both going to die."
That got my attention. I struggled to pry my eyes open. "Charlie?"
She sighed. "I thought you were dead."
"What happened?"
"The bomb hit. Not close enough to kill us, but close enough for the tower to be damaged. The east wall fell in and you hit your head on the rail and passed out."
"So much for warning the others." I mumbled. I tried to move but there wasn't much place to move to. The rail, which I'd hit, had kept the walls from crushing us but we'd been trapped in a small space. There was just enough light for me to see Charlie a few feet away and my backpack wedged under part of the wall.
"I yelled for help. If there's anyone around, they aren't coming or they're already dead." Her eyes landed on my backpack. "Anything in there that will help?" I shrugged. She twisted her shoulders to reach for it. "Its stuck but I think I can get it open." She untied the top and my water rolled out. She knocked it over to me. "Drink it, you need it more than I do."
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"What's this?" She asked pulling on the radio. I reached for it but she pulled it free before I could get to her. "Is this a radio?"
"Obviously."
"Why do you have it?"
"I found it," I lied.
There was enough light that I could see her roll her eyes. "He gave it to you, didn't he. Do you have an amplifier too?"
"No, but those guys out there with the bombs do."
"That's how you knew they were coming. You were running when you found me, weren't you? God, you're as bad as everyone says. You don't care about anyone but yourself. I'm not surprised, you've been pampered your whole life. Why should anyone else matter to you?"
"You don't know anything about me," I told her calmly. "And for your information, I was looking for Miles. Unlike you, your uncle actually knows what he's doing."
She messed with the radio until the light flickered on. She started hitting buttons, calling different channels. "Hello? Is anyone out there? We need help."
"It's not working," I told her. "There isn't anyone listening."
"There's someone on the other end of this thing!" She snapped.
"There was a brick on top of it, Charlie. It's probably broken."
"It has to work otherwise we're both going to die!"
I closed my eyes, but she kept going. I tolerated her yelling until I just couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up!" I snapped. "Just let me die in peace." After a few more weak tries, Charlie finally fell silent.
I tried to roll over and when I did my foot connected with a brick behind me. It slid away exposing my ankle to the outside air. I shuffled a little more and another one pushed. "Charlie, come here."
"I thought you wanted to die in peace," she said.
"The bricks are loose over here, if you can help me I might be able to push this big block out of the way and get out."
"Or you could upset the whole pile and we'll be crushed."
"Would you rather slowly starve to death?" I asked. She shook her head and slid into the space beside me. "There's a brick right there, can you feel it?" I asked pushing her leg to the right. She nodded. "If you can push that one out, I should be able to get enough leverage to kick the bigger one off. Then we can slide out the back."
"Ok, yeah, I think it's loose enough."
"On the count of three, ok?" I got ready pushing my legs as far out of the hole as I could against the diagonal slab. "One, two, three!"
There was a scraping noise and then I could feel the air on my legs. "Did it work?" She asked.
"Yeah, hold on." I slid out and then pushed another block out of her way so she could do the same.
"Thanks," she said. "You could have just left me there, I wouldn't have blamed you."
I shook my head. "You don't know me as well as you think you do."
OoOoO
I looked between Jason and Garrett, waiting for one of them to laugh and tell me they were kidding. "Are you crazy?" I asked finally.
"It isn't safe for you here anymore," Garrett said.
"There are boats leaving from Savannah every day," Jason reminded me. "Georgia is allies with England, you'll be safe there until this blows over."
"I'm not running away!"
"Ciara, you were almost killed today."
"Really? I wouldn't know. It isn't like I had to fight my way out of a collapsed building or anything."
"I understand why you're upset-" Garrett started.
"I am not upset, I am offended. How could either of you think I would leave my people when they need me the most?" I asked. "I've heard the gossip. I might be a traitor, under some definitions. But a coward is something I'll never be."
"You're going to get yourself killed," he said.
"It isn't safe for me here, I know that. But you haven't mentioned the other option."
"Philadelphia," Jason said.
"No, absolutely not," Garrett interjected. "You've escaped that maniac more than enough times. You don't have nine lives, Ciara. How many more times to you think he'll give you the benefit of the doubt?"
"You don't know him," I snapped.
"Neither do you."
"Both of you stop," Jason said. "Ciara is right. Its safer for her up north."
I crossed my arms. "See?"
"But, you're not going alone," Jason said. "You have to take Garrett, you agreed to it already."
I sighed. "Fine, if he'll go with me, I'll take him."
Garrett nodded. "If this is the only way, I guess I'm in."
