Chapter 119

Of all of the people from their group of friends Rain could’ve found herself on the transport with, Seth probably would’ve been her last choice. It wasn’t that she didn’t like and respect him, but after they’d shared that kiss, their relationship had become increasingly awkward. Especially once Adam came back. Seth had known all along how Rain felt about Adam, so he should’ve kept that in mind before he made his move. Perhaps he didn’t think Adam was ever going to return, or maybe he couldn’t help himself. Either way, the uneasiness between them wasn’t comfortable for either of them.
They weren’t allowed to speak to one another during the transport anyway. Instead, they’d sat near each other on the truck to the airport without speaking or even looking at each other, and now they were strapped into an airplane, sailing far above the territory they’d traversed only a few months ago. Rain and the others from Michaelanburg had been running for their lives just to turn around and go back.
The man next to her had his fingers dug into the armrest. Even though they’d been in the air for about an hour and nothing scary had happened, his grip didn’t change. Rain was a little afraid that he might hurt himself. She wanted to say something reassuring, but they weren’t allowed to talk. Instead, she gave him a little nudge and caught his eyes. When he looked at her, she smiled, and he took a few deep breaths, starting to calm a little. Her eyes refocused on the window. Her view wasn’t very good, but she could see the azure sky and the white puffy clouds rolling by.
It was amazing to think that she was in the sky, like real rain. She just hoped she didn’t fall.
The commanders were sitting in the front row of the plane. Most of them were older gentlemen, but there was one woman who looked like she was in her mid-forties. And then there was Josie. She was an officer, and she just happened to be on their plane. Rain really liked Josie, and she thought she was a competent leader. She just stuck out a bit with all of the older commanders. Being the prime minister’s daughter might’ve had something to do with her appointment, but Josie proved herself every day. She was down there with the rest of them, putting in the work, proving herself in training no matter how deep the mud or how high the rock walls were.
Lt. Laurant was not on this transport, which was a shame because Rain really liked him. He was her favorite of all of the commanders. She thought she’d seen him get on the same plane as Mist. Walt was on a different one from her, which had to be difficult for the love birds. Adam was also by himself.
Feeling eyes on the side of her face, Rain turned her head to see Seth was looking at her. He gave her a small smile, and she returned it. Then, he turned his head back to stare out the window. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to have a friendly face around after all.
With no way to tell how much time had passed or how long it would be until they landed, Rain refocused on the clouds out the window, trying not to think about what might happen on the ground. She knew the Mothers would like nothing more than to capture and torture her, as well as the other three who had escaped from them. Every time she thought about the Mothers, her stomach twisted in knots. One face came to mind.
Mother White.
Would that harsh, evil woman be waiting for her when she walked back into Michaelanburg? Logic said no, that she was too important to be standing around waiting for the rebels to return, but in her gut, Rain thought there was a good chance that she’d come face to face with Mother White soon enough, and when she did, only one of them would be leaving alive.
The hours passed quickly for Rain as she stared out the window, going over everything in her mind. How she’d gotten there, all of the ordeals they’d been through. She thought of Daniel Red and how she’d kicked his ass and how she’d felt when Adam had been gone for so long. She thought about her friends at the Gate, and she thought about her friends in Gretchintown, too.
She had no idea if the Military Mothers had taken to commandeering girls from other fields of study, forcing them to take up arms to fill out the ranks, but it wouldn’t surprise her. She doubted the Mothers would spare too many soldiers protecting the innocent. When they invaded her hometown of Gretchintown, would she be standing across the battlefield from some of the girls she’d once counted as friends?
It was a surreal thought, one cut short by the plane approaching the runway. The guy sitting next to her tensed up his grip on the armrest once again. This time, there was nothing Rain could do to distract him. She couldn’t see into the cockpit to know what the pilots were doing or see the runway as they descended, but she had to trust that the Quebecian forces were the best at everything.
The plane hit the ground with a soft thunking noise. They were at an airfield the advanced crews had built in the forest to make sure they had plenty of places to deploy their troops from. Rain couldn’t tell the difference between this runway and the one they’d taxied down to leave Quebec, so they must’ve done a good job of throwing this place together.
The doors opened, and the officers got off first. One of the commanders, Lt. Bridges, was last in line and stopped by the door. “Fall out, in line, by row.” He motioned for the first row of soldiers sitting in the front of the plane to get up first and move quickly toward the door. Everyone else unbuckled and prepared to get up so that they could keep the line moving. It was important to be efficient and prepared.
When it was her turn, Rain didn’t hesitate to rush behind the soldier in front of her, leaping down from the plane as the rest of them had done, and sprinting to line up in their ranks. She kept her eyes straight ahead, as she was supposed to do, rather than looking around for a friendly face. She saw the back of Seth’s head way in front of her. That was the most comfort she was going to get from someone familiar to her for a while.
Once all of the planes had landed and all of them were off and in line, the commanders started marching them forward in one large unit, across the newly poured asphalt, then down a freshly mowed path through a field, and finally into the trees.
They were given specific directions for how to stay together as they marched over the uneven ground. Rain suspected they were not immediately going into battle but were rather headed to a campsite closer to the action. But in the distance, she heard the familiar popping sound of live rounds, followed occasionally by a louder explosion, and knew the war was not far away.
She had grown accustomed to the sound of gunfire during her training. But this was different. This wasn’t practice. This was real. She thought back to the day they’d made their escape, how Mist had shot those two Mothers who were trying to kill Adam and Walt without hesitation. Mist had just aimed and fired, both of them dropping to the ground in an instant.
When it came down to it, would Rain be able to do the same? Could she point her weapon at another living soul and pull the trigger?
She was about to find out.
When she finally got a chance to look around she realized they hadn’t just come back to Michaelanburg.
They were in Gretchintown.