State of Rebellion (Collapse Series) (21 page)

There’s not, but they don’t know that.

This pattern is repeated for two hours. Two hours of waiting motionless on my stomach, barely daring to breathe. Our entire platoon is comprised of riflemen from our militia, many of them with a skillset far greater than mine.

“I think it’s time, mate,” Uriah says, glancing at Chris.

“I agree.”

He gives a wordless signal to our snipers in the grass, and I lick my chapped lips. Why didn’t I take another sip of water from my canteen? I had
two
hours to do it. Too late now.

Warfare doesn’t wait.

Chris takes the first shot, as always. And that shot is the signal to begin the attack. The Chinese have merged by the thousands into the canyon, all of them driven off the road, into the grassy slopes. Right into a box, unknowingly surrounded on all sides by the National Guard. Not to mention the Air Force, if we need them.

The first shot hardly fazes the Chinese. They look around, almost dazed, searching the hillside for the fool that could have accidentally fired a shot.

“Open fire,” I say, talking into the radio sewn into my shoulder.

We do. It’s the most brutal, ruthless attack I have ever been involved in. Chinese troops are literally razed to the ground in systematic sweeps. The ones who are deep enough into the crowds turn on their heels and run south. Some drop and return fire, aiming blindly at muzzle flashes. It won’t do them any good. They’re surrounded on all sides. As they pull away from the troops who are dead or dying, they expose themselves, too. And so they die.

I struggle to see through my scope at one point, brushing away moisture from the eyepiece. I blink a few times, tasting salt on my lips. Tears? I’m
crying
?

I can’t do that right now. I shake myself and keep fighting. Someone from our militia fires
an RPG into the middle of a mass of Chinese soldiers pushing their way north. It lights up the dark hillside with an orange glow. The screaming is horrible. The smell of gunpowder is sharp.

So this is what winning looks like,
I think.
I don’t feel victorious.

Yet at the same time, the knowledge that these troops have invaded our homeland and killed every innocent man, woman and child in their path softens the pain of killing. I’m not a murderer. I’m a defender.

They
forced my hand.
They
expected us to surrender silently.

They
underestimated our will.

And now they are paying the price.

The attack goes on for hours. Until the twilight hours, when the hills and sky are one shade of muted gray and the sunrise throws
color over the battlefield. It is at this point that there are barely any standing Chinese troops left to fight. The rest of the forces – which number at maybe two and a half thousand - never even come around the corner.

“Alpha One, I’ve got a situation.” Chris’s radio crackles with Max’s voice.

“Give me details,” Chris replies.

“They contacted us. They want to parlay.”

“Are they
crazy
?” I snap. “It’s too late for that.”

“What are their terms?” Chris asks.

“Just you and their messenger. He’s got something to say to us, apparently.”

“We should be talking directly to their commanding officer,” Uriah spits.

“We’ll parley,” Chris replies. “But they come to
us
, and they come
up
.”

“Roger that, sir.”

I lay down my rifle, exhausted, sweaty, and emotionally spent.

“What do you mean,
up
?” I ask.

“They’ve still got two thousand men out there, almost three thousand,” Chris answers, popping his canteen open. “If we can avoid getting any of our men killed, I’d like to do that.”

“We’ve had no serious casualties so far.”

“Don’t think the Chinese will be stupid enough to come into the canyon twice.” Chris offers me a drink. I take it gratefully. “Eliminating the rest of them will be more difficult.” He wipes a droplet of water from my chin, smiling softly at my shaking hands. “And a break in fighting will be good for everybody.”

“Where are we going to meet with their messenger or whatever?” I press.

“On top of that hill,” Chris says, gesturing to the hill behind us. “We’ll make them come up to us.”

“Dang it. Then we have to
climb
the hill,” I sigh.

“No. We’ll ride up.”

The sun peeks over the eastern horizon, glowing brilliantly even through the haze of smoke and debris in the air. I hang my head and close my eyes, praying that this parley will bring good news – not bad.

The puzzle of Omega has always been the question of
who
are they really? Chinese? Korean? Syrian? Russian? Who controls Omega? And who decided to unite all of these radical factions to gang up on
us
? Is it one man? A
group
of men? A
woman
? A body of government? A
mysterious, legendary secret society come to destroy us all and take over the world?

I don’t know. And sometimes not knowing who the enemy is can be maddening. They’re standing right in front of us, and we don’t know who they are.

All part of the plan
, Walter Lewis would say.
Nothing they’ve done has been spontaneous. They’ve been planning this for a long time. The only question is
who
they are.

As we wait at the top of the hill, Colonel Rivera joins us. There is a static tension in the air between our militia and his presence. When I look at him, I see the man that refused to send us backup when we were in need. I can’t help but feel resentful.

Both Rivera and Chris stand next to each other as we wait for the Chinese messenger to
arrive. We’ve brought a small detachment of armed militia with us, and unbeknownst to the Chinese, our forces are still holed up in the undergrowth around the mountains. If they try anything dirty, they’ll die.

The early morning light casts a defining glow over the landscape. The temperature is cold and biting, but I hardly notice. I’m focused on the vehicle moving up the hill. It’s a Humvee, but it’s painted with the Omega symbol – a white, stylized O on the side of the door. Max is with us, and so is Sophia. She’s standing next to me.

“What do you think they want?” she whispers.

“I have no idea,” I reply. “But Chris seems willing to negotiate for some reason.”

“He’s trying to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Rivera, on the other hand, doesn’t care.”

“He cares,” Sophia corrects. “His methods are just different.”

I keep my comments to myself. It’ll probably take a few years for the bitterness over Rivera’s abandonment of the militia to wear off. And then I’ll understand. But that day is
definitely
not today.

Chris turns his head slightly, sharing a glance with me.

Don’t worry,
he seems to say.
We’ve got this.

As far as I know, Jeff and Derek are with their platoons, still safely hidden. As the vehicle comes to the top of the hill, it slows to a halt, and the troops slowly come out. Chinese soldiers surround a man exiting the front passenger door. They protect him with their bodies, a human
shield. They move him towards us, standing in a straight line in front of his body.

“Start talking,” Colonel Rivera states.

Chris says nothing. His silence speaks volumes.

The man shielded by the troops is obviously the messenger, and as he begins to talk, his soldiers pull apart enough for us to get a view of his appearance. Sophia slaps her hand across her mouth, unable to contain her shock. A stone drops to the bottom of my stomach.

Wavy brown hair. Tall, lean figure. Piercing blue eyes. All of this wrapped up in a recognizable blue Omega uniform that contrasts the Chinese’s black suits perfectly.

“Now Colonel,” he says, his voice smooth. Perfect. “Let’s not dispense with the pleasantries simply because we’re on a battleground. Allow
me to introduce myself. My name is Harry Lydell, and I am the acting Commander for this detachment of troops.”

Chapter Sixteen

Of all the people I had expected to see in the midst of this Armageddon, Harry Lydell was
not
one of them. The Englishman who spied on Sophia and I during our imprisonment at an Omega labor camp. The guy who fed information to the enemy before the attack on Sanger, costing us the lives of too many good men.

And I definitely didn’t expect him to be a
commander
.

“Don’t look so shocked, Cassidy,” he says, looking directly at me. “You didn’t think I’d just disappear forever, did you?”

Well, actually…

“You know this man?” Rivera asks, turning to Chris.

“He was an Omega spy. He betrayed my men,” he replies simply.

“Betray is a rather harsh word, don’t you think?” Harry asks, still watching me. “Betrayal implies that one was loyal to a cause before turning their backs on it. I did no such thing. I’ve always known where my loyalty lies, and it was never with the militias.”

“That’s your mistake, then,” I say.

“So bitter.”

“You almost got me killed.”

“Sorry about that, love. But this is war, you know.”

“Don’t you dare-”

“-
Enough
,” Chris growls, and even Harry flinches at the tone of his voice. Chris, after all, is the man that almost snapped his neck on one
occasion. And I saved Harry’s life. Epic fail. “You’re here to deliver a message. Deliver it.”

“Colonel Cho sends his condolences for the losses you will take if you do not stop your attempt to exterminate our forces,” Harry says, an irritating smirk on his lips. “I volunteered to represent him at this meeting. I recognized your fighting techniques, Young. You haven’t changed.”

“And you’re still a jerk,” I grit.

“Now, now,” Harry says, raising a finger. “This is supposed to be a peaceful meeting.”

“I should jam my boot down your throat.”

“By all means, go ahead. That would be an amusing attempt to watch.”

“Lydell, why didn’t your Colonel meet us here himself?” Chris interjects, holding his hand up, silencing both of us immediately.

“Because it wasn’t necessary.” Harry folds his arms across his chest. “You’ve made a noble attempt to stop us, I’ll give you that. But you cannot defeat us, and we will kill every man and woman in our path. The solution to your problems is simple: surrender.”

“Surrender is not an option,” Chris replies.

“Why not? Join us. Omega will provide you with food, weapons, ammunition. Be on the
winning
side.” Harry again moves his gaze to me, smiling wickedly. “When all of this is over, and the new Order is established, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of the border, trust me.”

“You’re asking us to turn our backs on our own country,” Max says. “You’re insane.”

“Colonel Cho is making a generous offer,” Harry answers. “We will unleash everything on
your forces if you don’t surrender. I guarantee you, not a single man will be left standing.”

“Don’t threaten me,” Chris warns. “We’re not joining you.”

“Then I suggest you run.”

“We’re not running. You and your allies need to get the hell out of our home.”

“
Your
home?” Harry sighs. “As if it belongs to
you
. It’s ours for the taking, and we’re taking it. You can either step aside and bow to the superior power,
join
us in our fight, or be annihilated. Personally, I prefer option three, but that would be a waste of some talented guerrilla war fighters.”

“Consider them wasted,” Colonel Rivera shoots back, startling me with the venom in his voice. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to wipe the floor with your face, kid.”

I press my lips together, fighting the irrational laughter bubbling up in my chest. Harry looks
very
ticked.

“So is that a refusal, then?” he asks.

“That’s a no,” Chris corrects. “Get off my hilltop. And by the way, the next time you and I meet, I’m going to kill you.”

Ouch.

“Cassidy?” Harry says, swallowing.

“I’m not a traitor,” I reply.

He glares at me.

“You will be responsible for the death of hundreds,” Harry presses.

“Leave,” Chris commands.

“Your mistake. This offer
will not
come again.” Harry turns back towards the vehicle, the soldiers retreating from the parley. “Just
remember that you had a chance to live. It will be the last thought you have before you
die
.”

He slams the door shut. We stand there in silence as the vehicle rolls back down the hill. I release a breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

“
That
was entertaining,” Rivera states. “Let’s get back to work. They’ll be on us as soon as he gets back to his commanding officer.”

“At least we know the name of their Colonel,” I shrug.

“I cannot
believe
Harry is here,” Sophia gasps. “After all this time.”

“It’s a small world,” I say. “And it’s getting smaller every day.”

“That meeting was meant to intimidate us,” Chris says. “They wouldn’t have stopped to
parley if they had as much power as Harry is bragging about. We would all be dead already.”

“He’s bluffing?” I say.

“They’re hesitating,” Chris replies. “And that’s perfect.” He turns to Max. “I want you to join Jeff’s platoon. Sophia, you go with him. Cassidy, you stay with me.” He and Rivera look at each other for a second. Chris simply nods and the two of us head to our vehicle.

I slide inside, wrapping my fingers around Chris’s forearm.

“Chris, did you catch what he said about the ‘new Order?” I ask.

“I caught it.”

“What’s the Order?”

“I don’t know. Maybe that’s what Omega’s calling the new government system they’re going to set up. Does it matter?”

“Yeah. I’d like to know what their evil master plan is.”

Chris strokes my hair.

“We know what it is. Annihilation and domination.” He shrugs. “We just have to stop them.”

“It’s going to be a long day.”

“It already
has
been.”