The Uprising (Book #3 in The Inception Trilogy)

chapter twenty

(there is a character reference chapter at the beginning of this book if you're still confused after this. just a notice. enjoy xx)

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE LAST TIME EVELYN felt cold, pure terror course through her entire body was when the beasts broke into her home and she watched her mother get snatched away beneath a mouth stained with blood. It was when she heard her father's dying scream of agony, and when she thought she saw Max for the very last time. She hadn't even felt this terror when she herself was nearly dead, the multiple times she'd somehow outran death, but she feels it now, shuddering down to her very core.

She feels terror like no other as she watches Gavriel and Micah stalk towards her, Harry limp between them with his eyes fluttering.

Then she's running and her breath is ragged and her chest is cold. Her hands are trembling when she cups his face and demands to know what happened. She barely hears them when they mention the explosion causing him to smack the dirt. She barely hears Gavriel when he says, if not for the doctor's second operation, he wouldn't have survived the fall.

"He'll be fine," Micah assures her just as she catches sight of a little girl cowering behind him.

"Sasha," she breathes, reluctantly letting go of Harry to scoop Sasha into her arms. The child cries into her shoulder, clutching her tightly.

"Eve, I'm sorry," she whispers. "It was my fault. Harry was only trying to save me."

"It's not your fault," Evelyn reminds her, smoothing down her hair.

"You're not mad at me?"

Evelyn pulls back to gawk at the kid. "Mad? Sasha, I've been going crazy these past few weeks just trying to find you. I'm not mad that Harry saved you. He'd do it again, and I would've done the same thing."

Sasha sniffles and Evelyn wipes her tears away. "I'm glad you're safe," Evelyn tells her, pinching her chin between her index finger and thumb. "I was worried out of my mind."

Sasha smiles and hugs Evelyn again. "I wasn't worried. I knew you'd come."

The explosions have stopped, but Evelyn sees the plane coming down for a landing. She tucks Sasha under her arm and says, "We need to find somewhere to hide."

Micah frowns as he watches the plane descend. "That's not a military model."

"So?"

Gavriel finishes for Micah: "So those aren't experiments."

Evelyn scoffs. "Then who the hell is it?"

Maxie stumbles over behind her. "Friends."

Before Evelyn can look at her in confusion, the plane lands and the door swings open, the stairs popping out with it. It's a standard model used for luxurious traveling, so it is a bit strange to watch men and women in combat uniforms file down the stairs carrying an assortment of weapons. They look dangerous and determined, their eyes scanning the area for threats. When they find a pack of experiments trying to dig their way out of the collapsed stadium rubble, they charge forward, guns raised.

The next person who steps onto the top of the stairs makes Evelyn's eyes widen. It's been months and he has a beard now, but there's no mistaking the gorgeous dark-skinned girl who talks out beside him.

Leo and Monique.

The ones who were at Robbie's gas station camp when a horde of beasts intended to ambush them. Monique had been severely injured and Leo had genuine in sharing the food rations from the station. He had been so kind, even, to welcome Liana and Nive's baby in with open arms. Evelyn chest aches with the thought of them. Are they still alive? Is the Indian woman's baby flourishing as she would've wanted him to?