Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“Everyone!” Stella calls out, her hands cupped around her mouth. “The storm has weakened. We’re calling everyone else here so we can all be briefed by Marcus. Hopefully we can start that soon.”
Marcus comes back into the Sub, his eyes finding mine immediately. He’s hurting, and not from his swollen black eye or the cut on his bicep. Bone-deep ache is written in every line of his face.
“What’s happening with you two?” Amira says, her voice so low I can hardly hear her. “I feel like I just walked in on an intimate moment, but you guys are just looking at each other.”
I break Marcus’s hold on me by looking away, not wanting to give my feelings away to the entire camp. “It’s nothing.”
“I’ll take total bullshit for a thousand, Alex,” she quips.
Within five minutes, the room is filled, well over a hundred fifty people packed into the space. Marcus crosses his arms over his chest and speaks to us. “Command Team One encountered a group of Tiders while we were coming back to camp after assessing damage to our solar array. I’m deeply sorry to tell you Shan was killed and Des was wounded. Ellison is working on him now.”
The room is eerily quiet, everyone’s attention fixed on him.
“Our walls are all intact, but we lost the tower to the storm. For now, we’re keeping everyone in the Sub who isn’t essential to running the camp. We have to get the tower back up.”
“What about the power?” someone asks.
Unease flickers over Marcus’s face, passing quickly. “I don’t know if we have what we need to fix it. And even if we do, we’d have to leave our shield perimeter to do it. There’ll be Tiders waiting to ambush us.”
“Unbelievable,” someone mutters from the other side of the room.
Everyone turns, people craning their necks and standing on their tiptoes to see who spoke.
“This is why we should’ve been building a boat,” Ray says, raising his voice with every word. “We can’t survive here long term. We have to get the hell out of here.”
There are a few nods of agreement. Marcus’s jaw muscle tics, his tell for being pissed.
“Ray, if you want to build a boat, go ahead. You’re not building it inside our walls, though. I’ll give you a few tools and you can get started immediately.”
Ray balks. “I can’t do it by myself.”
“Ask for volunteers.”
“Are you gonna provide us security? Give us weapons so we can defend ourselves?”
Marcus shakes his head. “Our resources are for protecting the people who live in this camp.”
“We don’t have to choose!” Ray looks around, gauging who’s with him. “We can have crews rebuilding here and building a boat.”
Marcus shrugs. “Like I said, go ahead. But I’m not asking anyone to leave our security perimeter. You’ll have to get volunteers.”
“Who’s with me?” Ray puts a hand in the air. “We can do this, guys. Don’t you want to go home?”
No one raises their hand. After about fifteen seconds, Ray scoffs, narrowing his eyes at Marcus. “They’re all afraid of you.”
Marcus shakes his head and moves on. “I need all command and security team members in the lab for security assignments.” He meets my gaze. “And also you, Briar.”
Amira and I exchange a look. Neither of us knows where the lab is, and since everyone is busy, we wander instead of asking.
“Do you think there’s a sign on the door?” she asks me as we walk down a hallway.
“Maybe we should go back to where we were and ask.”
She puts a finger to her lips and creeps forward, her footsteps silent. I follow, both of us staying close to the wall. As we get closer, I hear the voices of a man and a woman talking.
“... walking into another shit show out there.” It’s Marcus, and I’m immediately stabbed with guilt for eavesdropping on his conversation.
“She’s got the tools and some weapons, but at least we hid the ammo separately.” That voice is Nova’s.
“Yeah, we’re fucked if she finds it.”
“We have power banked,” she says.
“It won’t last long.” Marcus’s voice is tight and tense. “She’s not getting this camp. I’ll die before I give it to her. I should’ve turned my aromium back on before we went out to check the solar array. I could’ve protected Shan and Des.”
Amira’s eyes lock onto mine, wide with shock. My heart is racing so hard and fast, I’m worried Marcus and Amira will hear it.
“You can’t.” Nova hisses the words, catching me by surprise. “You’re not risking yourself like that. We’re not there yet.”
“I can provide cover for the solar array repairs.”
“No. It’s too dangerous, and we don’t even know if we have the parts to fix it.”
Marcus exhales heavily. “We’re running out of options.”
“We need to find McClain. He’s our best hope.”
“Even if we do find him—which is a big fucking if—we don’t have the flowers.”