Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

38 She Doesn't Want To Be Saved

"Vienna, wait." I have to jog to catch her before she leaves the training bunker, a bunker that rivals the size of the mess hall.

In only a few hours, we launch our attack.

Vienna stops, feet from the door. Her shoulders roll back. "Shouldn't you be preparing?" Her tone could chill the meatloaf I had for lunch.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?"

"I'm tired of trying to explain I don't agree with what you're doing. Jonas showed me far more mercy than he should have when he found out I was a rebel. I won't repay him by helping you take him."

Anya, L, and Afreen are on the mats across the bunker. Vienna had been working out by herself when L set her off.

"Iris is my family, Vienna," L said coming to stand beside the blonde woman, her own set of weights in hand. It hadn't taken me long to pick up on the iciness between the two of them. Worried about what either of them might attempt while holding the weights, I dropped my towel and moved closer. Anya and Afreen held back, focused on their own workouts.

Vienna raised her weights, watching herself in the mirror. "Good for you."

"I want to save her."

"She doesn't want to be saved by rebels."

"Then I'm saving her from herself."

Lowering the weights, Vienna laughed. "Because it always goes well when someone presumes to know what's best for someone else."

"So you were able to know what was best for you when you whored yourself out to our enemy?"

Now with her back to me, her hands tremble.

"I know you're holding out hope the Society will take you back."

"You don't know anything about me, Erik." She faces me. "You think I'm some delusional girl who thinks your cousin is going to ride in on a horse and tell me he forgives me. The Society will never take me back. Your cousin will never take me back."

"Then help us. There's nothing left for you there."

"There are people I care about in the Society. I'm not helping you hurt them." She takes a step toward me. "Iris hasn't left for France. She'll be at the Estate, and you know she will fight. Are you prepared for her to die because of you?"

I tighten my hands into fists. Iris will be fine. She can protect herself in a fight. "She's not my concern any longer."

"Of course, she isn't." She turns away and grabs hold of the door's handle. "Before you do this, take one minute to think if you're really ready to burn all your bridges with the Society. There's still time for them to take you back."

"I've made my choice."

"Then I hope you can stand the heat of the flames as your last bridge burns."

*****

We'll be taking helicopters into the Estate, but first we have to drive to where the rebels hide them.

Afreen is behind the wheel, and Anya sits in the front with him. Thomas and L are in the back with me and five other rebels. Beth and Lila are remaining behind.

After the first meeting, Vienna told me she hadn't heard any of the rebels speak about there being a living Expired until then. Thomas either kept Iris's secret confined to his small group of rebels or only shared with a select few. Iris told me he believes the Society is keeping aliens stashed in the basement, but I guess he thought the news his niece survived her Expiration Date was a bit too miraculous to share with a new group of co-workers if he wanted them to ever listen to him.

I rub my palms over my pants, needing to get out of this vans and just move.

There are four other cars in our caravan carrying the rest of our troops.

My stomach is a bundle of nerves, but after today, my family will know to take me seriously. They won't laugh. They won't pity. They'll realize I carry through with what I say will.

Soon we'll be on the path to eradicating Expiration Dates. Molly will be avenged.

My fingers curl against my thighs as L taps her foot. She's been doing it for the past five minutes.

"What is it?" I try to keep my voice calm, but I'm fairly certain it comes out with too much bite.

Her foot pauses in the air. "No one touches Iris." That's what she was anxious about saying?

"Weren't you the one who abandoned her?"

L's eyes flash. "It was because I loved her that I couldn't watch her die. I won't watch it now."

"That isn't love. That's called being selfish."

"You're going to lecture—"

"That's enough." Thomas's voice cuts through the van. "Fighting amongst ourselves is the quickest way to lose."

I fought with the Society when I was still one of them. Now they're going to lose. "Jonas is our target today. Not the rest of the Society. Don't get distracted. You can all still pull up the maps on your phones?"

They double check and nod.

If Jonas makes it into a safe room, the maps I've made will lead the rebels to those rooms. The Society will be cornered.

And Jonas will do whatever it takes to protect his family. Even if that means surrendering.

Comment your questions for the characters here or send them to me. I'm not going to give spoilers, but you can ask them about how they feel about certain things, even their childhood. You ask, and I'll be the judge if it's a spoiler. Lets just have fun with it! Also I'll probably learn a lot about them from this.

Characters:

Iris

Erik

Jonas

Colton

Vienna