Becoming Defiant •• OneRepublic {3}

Bated Breath

Ramona's P.O.V.

Ramona crouched behind black curtains, the mask of a black cat pinching her nose uncomfortably and her heart hammering the inside of her chest in a way it hadn't ever done before.

She was still bitter about Daryl deciding last minute they would not get the others. She couldn't be in Ryan's arms again soon enough, and now they were postponing it by a few days that were sure to be long. It was even worse when her fiancé was brought out, taken to his knees before the massive crowd that eyed him.

Then, from on the stage, President Carter stood from his chair. She glared at him, even though there was still a chance he was the man he was before the dictatorship - the leader that served the people. Not slaughtered them.

Carter took to the podium, and Ramona's eyes were glued to the back of Ryan's head. He was on his knees, obviously weakened by whatever it was they'd done to him, and his head was facing the ground. The others were not in sight, though Ramona knew they were around, hands tied behind their backs too.

A man with a machine gun stood behind Ryan, and while he and the other guards scared Ramona, she could faintly see in the sun that the ones on the rooftops were replaced by Rebels. Not to mention the men behind her were Rebels too, having taken over for those who were with the government. The security guard beside her, in fact, was none other than Simon having taken the clothes of the man he knocked out.

"Today, we gather here to witness..."

Ramona quickly zoned out as Carter gave his speech. She kept wondering if everything was to go to plan. Daryl wanted Cherry, an excellent sniper, to take out the man that was to shoot Ryan. Ramona was confident in Cherry's abilities, but her timing brought on a whole different worry. If her shot was delayed by only a second, that second defined their futures. Based on what Cherry did in the second the officer held his finger at the trigger would determine if Ryan lived or died.

Ramona went over the plan in her head again. The poster at the edge of the stage, the one vandalized by Rebels, was taken down once they realized the Rebels messed with it. And surely they knew The Green was there as well.

Yet Carter's poster was still behind him, and Ramona had the lighter in her hand to engulf it in flames the moment all the men at the stage were shot.

Her heart pounded even more as Carter finished his speech. She was at a point where she wasn't sure if she was actually breathing, but watched in fear anyways. Her hands were at the bottom corner of the poster, ready but shaking, and her eyes were wide and on Ryan. Her heart ached the more she thought of him. She couldn't even see his face.

"Thus, I hereby sentence Ryan Benjamin Tedder, guilty of treason and other punishable crimes, to death!"

The crowd, as Ramona expected, did not cheer. It gave her quite a start to hear nothing but silence. An awful, heart-wrenching silence.

They did not want him to die.

Ramona's eyes filled with tears as she begged Cherry to not miss her move, seeing the scene with nothing but bated breath. The man behind Ryan, after all, had already stepped forward with his gun up. The barrel was touching the back of Ryan's head and Ramona was certain she saw him tremble.

"Oh, god, Cherry. Please save him."

Then a shot rang out. Everyone in the crowd, particularly those in the front, fell back and even screamed. Ramona, too, flinched and prepared herself for what she was to see.

Ryan was not dead.

The guard behind him had fallen to his back, blood pouring forth from his uncovered neck. Carter leaned forward on the podium, his face suddenly pale. Ramona, unable to describe the relief that flooded through her veins, flicked the lighter on with triumph.