To Be A Rebel

Chapter 54: Let It Go

The sound of the alarms blare into my ears, and I grit my teeth as bullets fly past us. We're so close, on the runway, but the plane is moving. It's going too fast. I keep pushing, sweat rolling down my face, the cold making my teeth chatter.

Have to keep moving. Have to catch that plane.

I watch as it starts to head upward, leaving the ground and quickly ascending.

"No!" I yell, my lungs burning.

"Oh, my God," Sam pants. "That was-that was our plane!"

"Not anymore," Amelia huffs, watching the metal machine fly higher and higher, disappearing into the clouds.

"We've missed it," Janine says under her breath, just barely audible over the sounds of the alarms. "It started its takeoff when the alarms sounded."

I let out a shuddering breath, swallowing. What do we do now? How do we get out now? Anxiety and fear swirl within me, burying themselves bone deep, and I try to ground myself. I focus on the cold burrowing itself in my skin, the pain eating away at the muscles in my legs, the burn of my lungs with each shaky inhale... But none of it works. I still think of how we're going to get caught, how the only plane here is gone.

We're stranded.

"They haven't seen our faces," Evan says. "But they know we're here."

"So what now?" Maxine asks.

"Keep running," Tom says, voice shaking, blue eyes wide and afraid. "Have to keep running! If you stop, they'll catch you!"

"Tom, it's alright," Janine says, her voice gentle, but firm enough to get his attention. She can tell his sanity is slipping. "Remember, I won't leave you again, I promise. I won't let them take you prisoner."

"You'll shoot me in the head first?"

She nods. "I promise. I keep my word."

Tom closes his eyes, taking a moment to regulate his breathing, still managing to keep his pace with us. When he opens his eyes, the crazed look that had been returning has vanished.

"Okay. Alright," He says calmly. "What do we do now?"

"There might be another plane, but it'll be dangerous," Evan says, and Amelia laughs, not opening her mouth too wide since her lips are already starting to chap from the cold.

"More dangerous than the Minister catching us and doing to us for fun what she was doing to those babies?"

Sam shakes his head. "No, she'd just kill you. It'd be me she'd do that to, since I'm immune."

Just the thought of Sigrid attaching tubes to Sam and pumping zombie saliva into him makes my blood boil in fury while also making my stomach turn with nausea. I blink in attempt to push away the offending images.

"We're going to have to take the risk," Evan says. "When I was exploring the area, I spotted an aircraft refueling station. It's in the center of a glacier. You should only really try to reach it by air."

"That's our target then," Janine says. "We have to be fast. If they get all the planes off the runway at the refueling station, we're stuck here, and they'll shoot us down like dogs. And then there will be no one left to oppose the Minister. We are-and I can't stress this enough-humanity's last hope."

I close my eyes, really wishing she hadn't said that. It's not like we have enough pressure on us since we have ancient books and a cup of blood that may be the cure to the apocalypse, which is the exact thing Sigrid's been looking for for years.

The soldiers are still firing at us, shouting, but they're falling behind. Desperation and adrenaline push us onwards, our steps frantic and all out of sync. My blood is roaring in my ears, and I'm unsure just who I'm worried for most out of our group. I mean, I don't really care about Amelia, of course, and I'm sort of neutral on Evan, but Janine and Maxine-the entire reason they've been safe all these months is because Sigrid believes they're dead. Tom will kill himself before he lets himself get captured, and if he doesn't then Janine will. I already know what terrible things Sigrid would  do to Sam.