The Deathless Trilogy

3.1. Little Monster

Isla Blume is dead.

That's all Sergeant Major Belinda Lawrence needs to know, and that's exactly what Ian told her to buy us some time before Roberts' crew lands. When they do, we will be there. We have to be if we ever want to end the fighting. Until then, I am officially dead, catalogued among the many who died in the attack. Like Nina.

Once Roberts' crew lands, we will reveal ourselves to the Sergeant Major and her army as we stand to support them against whatever steps off that ship. If we can convince the Sergeant Major that Gunther's plans for world domination are immoral and that our lives are meaningful, then we can stop the war before it begins.

But if not... at least we fought for the freedom of our minds while we were alive. Of course, I never express my fears out loud. People look to me now more than ever. They can't see me falter, even though I'm broken.

We are in position on the mountain. I used to look at these mountains from the window of Daniel and my room, and I'd watch the birds fly over the peaks. Now I do the opposite. I watch the estate, and I track the movement of Sergeant Major Lawrence, Gunther, Ian, and their troops as they raid the empty fortress. If I squint, I can even see the red walls inside Daniel and my old room. It makes me sick.

We are camouflaged in the changing autumn brush. We wear brown, maroon, and gold clothing, and our faces are striped with brown branch-like lines painted across us. Flynn O'Neil's hand hovers over a red button, a literal manifestation of Gunther's threat to me during our first meeting. If O'Neil presses it, his geothermal energy system will overheat, causing the entire estate to explode. It's our plan B in case we are discovered.

"Do you see anything Isla?" Daniel asks. This is his first mission as a commanding officer, since Declan had already appointed a new General after the bunker attack. Back with our people, Daniel is just a soldier, and that's fine with me. He doesn't need any extra attention. But he's done well in training, and the General allowed him to spearhead this recon mission. He hides his anxiety well, but I know what to look for. He taps his middle finger to his thumb in rapid succession and licks his lips as he waits for my response.

"I'm not getting anything right now," I say. My mom, who stands right beside me, hands me an eye mask, and I secure it over my eyes. My mom helps me to lie back in the brush so I can concentrate. My dad would have helped too, but she insisted he stay back at the new camp with Declan, Eleanor, and Celia. To rest, she said, but I think she just wanted to know he would be safe. This isn't a fighting mission, it's recon, so he agreed without argument.

I let the darkness behind my eyelids and the mask lull me into the implant. It's damaged to the point that it won't control me, but rather, I can control it. I let my eyes roll back in my head and relinquish control to the network. I feel my consciousness slip into the airwaves and sneak into Ian's mind. Like hacking a computer, I now have access to all his files, including those stored currently in his occipital lobe, his visual processing center.

There's a bright light shining into Ian's eyes, but then it falls, and I see Gunther standing in front of him with a small flashlight in his hand, peering into Ian's pupils. "She really got you good, huh?" he asks, running his eyes over Ian's lingering bruises from our fight.

"Yeah, stupid Deathless bitch," Ian says, referring to me. I'm glad I'm in his brain and can feel his heart rate increase with the lie, otherwise I'd wonder if he really meant what he said. I wonder what a lot of people will think of me once they hear about what happened after they left. Once they hear about how I almost lied to those pilots. I almost helped Gunther kill them, and I hate myself for that. Why would anyone else feel differently? And I haven't even talked to Declan about Hugh yet, or about how he died right beside me. Will Declan wonder if I could have stopped him like Gunther wonders? I am terrified for everyone to know about what happened after they escaped the estate.