Chapter 146

The glow coming from the gap where the door was open was soothing in a way Rain couldn’t quite grasp. Something about the soft light coming from beneath and around the door made her feel safe. It made her feel warm.
She still didn’t want to open the door, though.
Rain took a deep breath and put her hand on the door, knowing she had no other choice but to go inside. She needed to see who it was that had summoned her here; she needed to know what the other person wanted.
The door was about a foot open already. It took no effort whatsoever to push it the rest of the way.
The light was bright when she walked in, but not so bright that she had to squint. She was shocked that The Bridge was actually a bridge and not just some sort of slaughterhouse, or a room with bloodstains on the floor. The Mothers had gone to great lengths to ensure their fabrication was as believable as possible until the bitter end.
The Bridge was constructed of some sort of metallic material that glimmered in a soft silver light. Either side had a white railing that might’ve been made of wood, though it was hard to tell, and rainbow-colored spirals reached from the handrail to the base of the structure.
She couldn’t see across The Bridge. Judging by the arch, it wasn’t that long. It would probably only take about ten steps to get from one side to the other. But the far side of the structure was obscured by an opaque waving substance that looked like it could’ve been a cloud, or possibly just an illusion put there by the Mothers to make anyone who was walking across The Bridge think they were going someplace pleasant instead of to their deaths.
She didn’t notice the two people standing off to the side of The Bridge at first. Perhaps it was because the lights had affected her vision more than she thought, or maybe they hadn’t been there before, but when she turned her attention toward the Military Mother standing a few steps from the right side of The Bridge, she wasn’t that shocked to see who it was.
Mother White.
It made sense somehow that she would be the one summoning her to come here, presenting her with her imminent death. The woman had affected her the very first time she saw her in a way Rain had never experienced before. Back then, the Military Mothers always made her nervous. They were so powerful and had such a hard look about them like they had no souls. Maybe they didn’t. Amongst the lot of them, this one had always been the scariest of all in Rain’s book.
She remembered that time right before the Rebellion when she’d seen Mother White in the hallway and had instantly felt a wave of terror go down her spine. If she’d ever seen the woman before then, she couldn’t remember her. She definitely remembered her from that point on.
The fact that she had Adam with her was a shock. It just didn’t make sense. How could he be here when he’d left to take the Dicks to camp? Had they all been captured?
She couldn’t give it too much thought at the moment. Adam was practically dead weight in Mother White’s arms. He was standing on his own, but just barely. Blood was dripping down his neck, coating his collar and shoulder in sticky crimson.
“What did you do to him?” Rain demanded, wishing she had a clean shot at the old bitch right that very second.
Mother White smiled at her. “Don’t worry. He’s not dead. Yet. He will be soon enough, though. If you don’t cooperate with me.”
“Cooperate with you?” Rain spat. “What do you want from me, White? I feel like you’ve been stalking me ever since that first time I saw you, in the hallway, right before the Rebellion.” She couldn’t help but glare at the woman. Perhaps she should’ve been cowering, agreeing to whatever the Military Mother demanded, but at the moment, there wasn’t a whole lot left that the woman could take from her. As long as she had Adam, she had control of Rain. And she hated her even more for that.
Mother White looked a bit offended by Rain’s choice of words. “I think stalking is a bit much,” she said, scrunching up her face. “Let’s just say I’ve always had a vested interest in what happened to you, Rain.”
“Why is that?” Rain asked. “If you cared about me, you’d let Adam go!”
“I intend to.” Despite the situation, her expression seemed sincere. “I will let him go. But only if you agree to come with me.”
Confusion washed over her as Rain tried to decipher what it was Mother White was saying. “You want me to come with you?” she repeated. “Why? So you can kill me instead? Why not just kill us both?”
Mother White sighed and took a few more steps toward The Bridge. Her brown military boots were not quite on the edge of the silver surface yet, but she was close. “I won’t kill you, Rain. At least, that’s not my intention. I would hate it if you left me no choice but to kill you.”
“You’re not making any sense, White.” Rain refused to give her the distinction of calling her Mother. She was no mother to her, that was for goddamn sure.
“Perhaps I should explain a little better then. You are right---I was interested in you when I first saw you in the hall that day. In fact, there were two reasons why I requested that President Violet transfer me here to begin with. One was because I’d heard rumors of the Rebellion and wanted to squash it before it happened, and the other reason was that I wanted to find you.”
“Find me?” Nothing she was saying made any sense. Why in the world would this woman want to find her?
“Yes, that’s right.” Adam shifted a bit in her arms as if he was starting to regain consciousness. To Rain, it appeared that she’d knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head, but she couldn’t really tell. If that was the case, he could wake up at any moment. One wrong move and that gun pressed against his temple might end him. And if Adam died, well, Rain was going to take out White and probably go down herself.
At least this bitch would be going along for the ride.
“You sure did a pretty shitty job of stopping the Rebellion.” Perhaps now wasn’t the time to piss off the crazy lady with the gun pressed to the temple of the man she loved, but Rain couldn’t help it. Pointing out her failure was sure to anger White, but this might be the only chance Rain had to throw that in her face, so she had to take advantage of it while she could.
The insult seemed to have a slight effect on Mother White. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth pursed, just a little. But it was enough for Rain to see. “You don’t know all of the factors that led to your successful Rebellion, but I assure you, my efforts had nothing to do with your victory.”
“But your efforts didn’t prevent it either, now did they? And what about this attack, White? Will you also take the fall for the obvious win the Quebecians are going to have here today? You know, no matter what, that there’s no way that you can hold Gretchintown. It will fall. And after that, so will all of the other towns in Michaelanburg. Why are you continuing to put your ass on the line for a dying nation?”
Every word she spoke seemed to anger the other woman more and more, and yet, Rain couldn’t seem to stop herself from talking.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Rain! We will find a way to win this war, and when we do, Michaelanburg will be built back, stronger than ever!”
Rain shook her head, deciding to go ahead and exploit this crack as much as she could. “We both know that’s not true. Even if by some slim possibility, if you were able to push Quebec back and Spanish-America, you know that’s not the end of this. Whether Lightning managed to get the information out to the commanders, if they find it in the records room, or if they don’t have any hard evidence at all, there’s enough proof that Michaelanburg is using fossil fuels and abusing all of the citizens who live within the borders, but especially men, to ensure that the rest of the world will not let this country continue to exist. So what then, White? Will you fight to the bitter end? Are you willing to give up everything for a nation that has brainwashed you and turned you into a murderous monster? I bet you weren’t always this way. I bet when you were pulled out of your glastic incubator you weren’t inherently a murderer, were you?”
“I’m not a murderer now, Rain! I’m a military leader, defending my country!”
“Because you believe in the doctrine that all men are evil and useless, and all women should be prevented from making their own decisions about anything?” Rain took a few steps closer, but when White pressed the gun harder into Adam’s skull, she stopped.
He was awake now, looking at her. His eyes were just slits. It was clear he was disoriented, and probably in a lot of pain.
“What happened to you, Rain?” White asked. “You used to be such an obedient student. You had such promise. Now, this Rebellion is having the success that it is because of you.”