Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1) (10 page)

Adam gave me a fleeting smile. "I was happy for a moment because you talked like how you used to. The old you would have said that."

Except he didn't know the old me. This was me and has always been me. Through their eyes, I will always be Evelyn. Stephan's daughter. I wanted to be Brianna. David's daughter. I wanted a clean slate. I wanted to be unknown.

Car headlights started to head down the road. Bret and Adam looked at each other and quickly ran to the back of the van. Opening the trunk, they pulled out an automatic gun and a shotgun.

"Evelyn, come here." Adam's voice held authority and power.

Automatically, I listened and jogged over to them.

Adam shoved me behind the van and out of sight. I watched Bret drop to the floor and aim his gun at the oncoming car. I couldn't tell what kind of car it was. The headlights were blinding me. The car idled to a stop, but kept the headlights on. Adam stayed hidden next to me.

The car door opened and a dark shadow walked out. Nobody moved a muscle.

"That's a great van you got there."

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. Adam let out a breath and Bret chuckled. I looked between them. They must have known the stranger. The guy leaned back into his car and turned off the head lights.

"Rugter, long time no see. How was prison treating you?" Bret inquired, doing some kind of macho man handshake.

Rugter? As in, Evelyn's brother Rugter? I walked out from behind the van and stared. I was so angry with him for throwing the grenade. I knew it was hypocritical of me. I didn't expect him to kill anyone. It has only been two days, but it felt like a lifetime ago since that happened. Adam walked over and greeted him too.

I awkwardly stood there, unsure of what to do with myself. Rugter and his sister didn't leave off on good terms. Although I did break him out, to him I was the reason why he got put there in the first place. Rugter looked up at me and paused in the middle of his sentence.

"Why is she not tied up?" Anger filled his voice.

Adam looked at me and blanked his face. Bret crossed his arms over his chest and watched as his brother walked to the van and pulled out the ropes. My stomach sank. They were going to pull me around like a farm animal again. Rugter looked satisfied as Adam walked towards me.

“She was untied because she didn’t seem like much of a threat. She hasn’t pulled anything on us.” Adam responded, tying the rough ropes around my wrist. I stared at him, betrayal in my eyes, but he refused to look at me.

Rugter walked closer to us and stared at me. “That’s what she does, you know. She will get you to trust her and the moment you let your guard down she will flip on you.”

I could tell he was speaking from a memory.

“I should have shoved you downstairs with the grenade. I've heard about you. All your changes after your memory loss. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know who you are anymore, Evelyn. I know who you are. You are alone now. You don’t have anybody on your side. Not The Unit and not the Rebels. It’s you against the world now.” Rugter shook his head back and forth.

I looked down at the ropes. The scratches on my face was burning. I forced myself to focus on my physical pains and not my emotional ones. I just wanted this war to be over with.

Bret spoke up. “She murdered someone from The Unit.”

Rugter whipped his head and stared at Bret. “She will shoot anyone if it conveniences her.”

I closed my eyes. He brought back the image of Kyle’s and Sanchez’s dead body. My finger twitched, remembering Seth’s warm hands push my finger down on the trigger. What had the world become?

I opened my eyes to see that Rugter had stepped closer. He was watching my face closely. His blue eyes were a reflection of my own. “What game are you playing?” He asked, softly.

I maintained eye contact but didn’t answer his question.

He grabbed onto the edge of the rope and pulled me to the truck he was driving.

“Where are you taking her?” Adam asked, sounding a little defensive.

Rugter kept walking. “I have some business to take care of and I am bringing her with me. I don’t think it is a good idea to leave her with you. Your judgment is off.”

Adam grabbed onto my arm, making me come to a halt. In response, Rugter yanked hard on the rope. I cried out in pain.

“She stays with me. Seth left her in my care. After you bombed the jail cell, he carried Evelyn out. He left a note on the back of her dress. I had direct orders to follow.” Adam pushed me behind him a little bit. “Where you are going, they will kill her the second he sees her.”

Rugter tensed. “Why is that a bad thing? What do you plan on doing with her? Lug her around all day and have her join your daily activities?”

Bret intervened. “Why don’t we all start thinking with level heads. Seth did leave a direct order for her to be in our care and to make sure nobody harms her.”

Rugter dropped the rope and slammed his hands down on the hood over the van. “Seth is dead. Do you not get that? I am his replacement. I will be taking care of his duties. I am higher up than both of you and I am telling you to stand down.”

Now Adam seemed furious. He got in Rugter’s face. “Yeah? Who said you are taking Seth’s place? You?”

Rugter relaxed his posture and smiled. A wicked smile. “The man at the top contacted me directly that night that I escaped. I will be taking care of all of Seth’s duties. Evelyn happens to be one of them. She will be coming with me. Unless you want to go against his words?”

Adam hid the shock on his face. His green eyes connected with mine before he quickly looked away. “Prove it. Show me the mark.”

Rugter turned around and lifted up the back of his shirt. Down his spine, he had tattoos. It was five symbols in black ink. Each one was different. Before I could get a better look he dropped his shirt and turned back around.

Defeat crossed Adams' face. I looked at him shocked. He was going to let Rugter take me. I knew that Adam and I weren't friends, but I had thought we had made some kind of bond. I thought we had met on some kind of middle ground.

Five minutes ago he was twirling me around and now he was letting Rugter lead me to my death.

Adam avoided my eyes as Rugter shoved me into the back seat of his truck. My life was a ticking clock and I was running out of time.

Five minutes after driving I spoke. "Where are we going?"

Rugter didn't answer for a couple of minutes. "I can't answer that."

I laughed, but it didn't sound happy to my ears. "I am going to die anyways."

The car smelt of cigarette smoke and garbage. It was making me sick.

"If we get caught by The Unit I can't have you telling them all the answers."

I played with the rope tied around my wrists. Adam tied it really lose. I could easily get it off.

"What do the markings mean on your back?"

Rugter gave out and irritated sigh. "Don't you know when to shut up?"

"Yes. When I'm dead." I dropped my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. I was afraid. Every day I was afraid, lonely, and sad. That was not how I wanted to spend my last days on earth.

I pressed my cold fingers against the burning scratches on my cheek. That girls red eyes flashed across my mind. The slow way the blood trickled out of her mouth. Feeling uneasy, I reopened my eyes. If I slept, I would have a nightmare. If I stayed awake, I would be exhausted. Unable to fight back.

"How did you know where to find us?" I spoke again.

Rugter didn't have a problem answering this question. "Adam is predictable. I knew he would go running to his aunt when he hit trouble. I went to the barn house and saw three dead soldiers. There were two tire tracks heading in different directions. I followed one and it ended up being Susan and Mitchel. I asked them where Adam was and they led me right to him." Rugter turned, making a sharp right. "That's why one person can't have too much information. What if I was one of the bad guys? I could have killed all three of you and gotten answers about other rebel’s whereabouts."

I thought for a few seconds. "If everyone in the rebellion doesn't have all the answers about everyone else, how could there be any organization?"

"In each town, abandoned or not abandoned, we have a seeker. A seeker is one person that gives all of the rebel’s information on what they should be doing and the rebels come back with updates. Then the seeker updates the man at the top. Adam strayed from his mission. The moment he had you in his hands he should have gone to his seeker."

I was surprised he gave me that much information. I pressed my luck and asked another question. "What if the seeker gets caught? Then The Unit will have all the information of a town."

"They have a pill on them at all times. They are not allowed to try and fight back and escape. The second a soldier walks through their doors they are meant to swallow the pill and kill themselves."

The sun was starting to rise. The sky was a beautiful red rose color with streaks of black going through. The moon was still out, but the sun was peeking above the mountains in the distance.

For as long as I could, I tried to keep my eyes open. I fell into a cold nightmare.

Blood was everywhere. Sanchez was screaming at me to help him as he fell to the ground. Betrayal was written across his face. I stared at him. Immobile. I was holding a gun in my hand. It was pointed right at him.

The scene switched. We were at the farmhouse. Susan's family were on their knees in front of me. I held a Glock in my hand. Shots rang out as I shot every single one of them. I felt satisfied hearing the drop of their bodies hit the ground.

Stephan stood beside me. He looked at me with satisfaction, like what I did was a good job. He patted me on my shoulder.

Now I was at the military base. Gun shots surrounded me. I was staring into Seth's eyes. He was staring at me with love and adoration. Softly, he ran his fingers down my cheek.

I gave him a shy smile. When he leaned in for a kiss, a loud shot rang out into the air.

He fell to his knees and stared at me. Except I wasn't looking at Seth anymore. It was Adam on his knees in front of me.

"Adam!" I screamed, startling myself awake.

I sat up fast and bumped my head on the seat in front of me. I could feel the sweat pouring down my face.

I felt horrified with myself. What was wrong with me? Why was I dreaming that? I felt sick and like I was a twisted person.

"You still call out for Adam when you are afraid?" Rugter inquired after I got my breathing under control. We were parked outside of an old broken down house. I looked around. We were in a suburban neighborhood.

"I don't understand." I said, my voice scratchy from sleep.

Rugter made eye contact with me through the review mirror. "When we were kids you used to have horrible nightmares. Every night you would wake up screaming for Adam. You wouldn't calm down until he came."

I imagined Evelyn screaming for him. It made me feel terrible the way she changed and turned her back on him. At one point in her life, she obviously loved him.

I don't know why I screamed his name in my sleep. In my dream, I didn't mind shooting all those innocent people, but I freaked when Seth's face changed to Adams. One life wasn't more important than another.

I broke eye contact and looked at my bound wrists. The rope gave me a rash. I slid it off and watched as it fell to the car floor.

"What are we doing here?" I looked at the abandoned house again. The door was broken off of its hinges and the grass was yellow and overgrown. Garbage surrounded the street.

"I am not a robot. I do need sleep." Rugter opened the car door and stepped out. I followed. What else was I supposed to do? I knew if I ran, he'd shoot me without a doubt.

Rugter led the way into the house. Although the sun was beating on my back, I felt chilled.

The furniture inside was over turned and ripped apart. A foul smell filled the air. I came to a halt. What if there was a diseased person inside? I didn't want to get attacked by one of them again. I shivered from fear and cold.

Rugter walked up the stairs. I stayed on his heels. He had weapons. I only had my hands- which weren’t really that useful.

Rugter walked into a bedroom. The bedroom was nice compared to the rest of the house. It had a twin sized bed. The headboard was old and worn looking. The blanket was a pale gray color. It was a fleece blanket. Looking at it made my skin itch. Other than the bed, the bedroom was empty.

Rugter pulled something off of his cargo pants. Hand cuffs. My eyes widened. Before words were able to escape my lips, he handcuffed my hand to the headboard.

"Don't go anywhere." He joked, before walking out of the bedroom.

I pulled at the cold metal. My wrists were already sore from the ropes. I was just adding more pain to my body. I was furious. I was so angry I wanted to cry. Who was he to handcuff me to a headboard? What gave him that right?

I kicked the foot of the bed as hard as I could. It didn't make me feel better. It made me feel worse.

Ten minutes later Rugter came back. He had two bowls in his hand. The smell of oatmeal drifted through the air. My stomach let out a loud growl. When was the last time I ate a full meal?

"Hungry?" Rugter asked, walking over and sitting on the bed.

I stood there, my hand awkwardly in the hair. He handcuffed it all the way at the top of the headboard, so I had no choice but to stand beside the bed. I nodded my head vigorously. My mouth watered.

"That sucks." Rugter began to dig in.

I watched as he scarfed down both bowls quickly. My stomach protested as he ate the last bite. He was doing this on purpose. He was making me suffer.

My anger faded away. After everything that I had done, I deserved this. If I didn't shoot Seth, I wouldn't be in this predicament. I stared at the dirty hardwood floor. There were blood stains beneath my feet. Anything could have happened here.

Rugter disappeared again. He came back and flopped onto the bed. "Wake me up in six hours." His head hit the pillow and it got quiet. Birds were chirping outside. The wind was blowing through the open window. I knew Rugter was sleeping when his breathing turned deep and even.

My legs were tired by then. My arm hurt. I just stood there silently and watched him sleep. He turned over and threw his arm across the bed as if he was trying to hold someone.

Rugter mumbled something. It sounded like a name. Jewel. Who was Jewel?

Time moved slowly. It felt like centuries before the sun began to slowly set. I was shifting from leg to leg. My arm had fallen asleep. I laid my head against the headboard. I was getting exhausted now. I blinked a few times. Was it possible to fall asleep with this much discomfort?

I was so hungry my stomach hurt. I felt shaky like I had low blood sugar. My mouth was like a desert.

My eyes popped open when I heard a creaking outside the bedroom door. Someone was walking up the stairs. I held my breath. Lightly I shook Rugter's shoulder. He groaned but didn't wake up.

The footsteps stopped. The person had heard him. My clock was running out of time. We were both going to die here.

A woman stopped at the doorway. She had an arrow in her hand and pointed it right at my chest. Her eyes were a pale green color. She wore black cargo pants like Rugter's and a black tank top. Tattoos covered her arms. Her hair was a sandy brown color.

She took in the sight. Me handcuffed to the headboard and Rugter passed out on the bed. I closed my eyes waiting for her to let go of the arrow.

Nothing happened. Opening my eyes, I saw that she had drifted to the foot of the bed. She watched Rugter's sleeping form.

She grabbed his ankles shook him furiously. "Wake up you idiot."

Rugter sat up and looked around fast. By habit, he pulled out his sidearm and aimed it at the girl. Rugter lowered his weapon when he saw who it was. His shoulders relaxed.

"Jewel." He breathed her name.

Jewel? That was the name he said in his sleep. I looked between them both.

"What if I was from The Unit, huh? You would have been dead." Jewel looked at me and folded her arms over her chest. "Why is your sister handcuffed to your bed?"

Rugter looked at me. He had forgotten I was there. Pulling a key from is pocket, he unlocked the handcuff.

My arm dropped instantly and I rubbed it to get the circulation flowing. It hurt.

"I had to make sure she didn't go anywhere."

Jewel stared at me, face blank. "Go where? There isn't civilization for over two hundred miles. She wouldn't get far on foot. She looks dehydrated, hungry, and injured."

Rugter shrugged his shoulders and climbed out of bed. "Stay here." He commanded to me and pushed Jewel out of the bedroom.

I fell back onto the bed. It was heaven to get off of my feet. Curling into a ball, I closed my eyes. Maybe they would be gone for a while and I could get some sleep on a bed. The bed wasn't comfortable. It felt like cardboard, but it was better than sleeping in a car.

Jewel came up the stairs. I knew it was her by her footsteps. She stopped at the door. "We need to leave now."

I got out of the bed. My legs were stiff and wanted to give out on me. I didn't want her to think I was weak, so I kept pace with her while we walked down the stairs.

We went out to the front yard. Rugter was loading weapons into the back seat. I looked at the house from across the one we stayed in. It looked the same. Except it had a different color paint chipping off of it.

The curtains moved to the side and closed. Someone or something was in there. I was afraid it was one of the diseased. I opened my mouth to tell them but snapped it shut. If this person has a disease, it meant they couldn't get vaccinated. That wasn't their fault. I forced myself to stay quiet and I watched the house for more movements. There were none.

After we all filed into the truck, I started asking questions again.

"Where do you two know each other?"

Jewel laughed under her breath. "You were serious when you said she doesn't have any memory."

Rugter took one hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on her thigh. "Or so she says."

I felt snappy and cranky. My body hurt, I was tired, and hungry. "I'm actually from an alternate universe. They call me Brianna over there."

Jewel removed Rugter's hand from her leg and turned around to look at me. "I'd believe it. Everyone is talking about you, you know. This entire country."

She picked my curiosity. "What are they saying?"

"That you aren't meant to be a leader. You used to lead side by side with Stephan. You get blasted by a bomb one time. Just one time. Suddenly you wake up without memory and you're as soft as a fuzzy bunny."

I was not as soft as a fuzzy bunny. I'll admit I was a lot more soft then Evelyn, but there was nothing wrong with that. "I don't see how me not wanting to kill people makes me soft."

"In a world like this, it's killed or be killed."

"So change it." I retorted.

"That's what we are trying to do!" Rugter exclaimed, driving faster down the streets.

"By killing people? You are leading me to my death right now. How will that fix things?"

Rugter slammed on the breaks. He was angry. He turned and looked at me. Fury blazed in his blue eyes. "Because one more evil person will be out of this world."