rebel-heart by Rakhibul hasan (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

blond hair and clad in black tactical gear, stood in a stark white hallway. Green eyes sparkled despite her irritated tone.

“I’m here, I’m here, Elise,” Lana mumbled.

“Lana!” Elise’s voice brightened. “I’m happy it’s you. Greenie got you working nights, too?” “Yes. Everything okay?”

“Just bored.”

Lana’s body ached from sleeping in chairs. She shook her head to clear it and looked around. The command hub held a dozen workstations, one for each eastern critical infrastructure, and a wall secured behind titanium glass of keypads, buttons, and computer screens that acted as the emergency backup. The Eastern Command Center had served as the headquarters for the Eastern armies during the East-West Civil War. After the war, it remained a central hub.

The other walls of the octagon-shaped command center were occupied by silent, animated screens similar to the one the underground security commander appeared on. Computers hummed, the sound enough to lull Lana to sleep nearly every shift she spent alone in the vault despite the sleep replacement supplements—known as anti-sleepers—she took.

She paced in front of one wall, staring again at the map of the eastern U.S., where the attacks and their kill zones were marked with a running timeline beneath it. The major cities in the East hit by nukes were marked in red with concentric circles that faded to orange, yellow, and finally green as they stretched west. With the exception of a few isolated pockets of green, most of the East Coast was shaded with red, orange, or yellow, while the Midwest was a mix of greens and yellows.

“You’re obsessed,” Elise said. “What is it now?” “The usual. I’m missing something.”

“You and everyone else around here. You know tonight I had to prevent the VP’s commo guy from using the emergency network to order gin? Someone down here wants martinis.”

Lana sighed. She crossed to the communication master workstation and checked the systems. The emergency network had not been utilized, which meant that by morning one of the high-ranking men hiding underground would be on the phone to General Greene to complain about the lack of gin.

“Water, I can understand. That’s a big deal,” Elise continued. “The network good?” “Yeah. They didn’t use it. Will I be reading another report about you smacking someone?”

“Nope. Just told the commo guy he wouldn’t ever see the light of day again if he touched the commo pad.”

“I’m glad you’re down there, Elise,” she said. “I’m not sure I could tell the VP to sit down and shut up with the same panache you have.”

“It’s fun. How’s life in the sun? I thought Jim told me you’re seeing survivors at the gates?”

Lana’s smile faded. “Our location isn’t secret anymore,” she responded in a troubled tone. “It’s crazy around here sometimes.”

She was uneasy lingering on the events of the past week. The local populace—some dressed in the Western uniforms she’d seen in her history classes—was making its way towards the compound, lured by the rumors of the government compound and food, water, and medicines. She did not agree with the commander’s orders to kill anyone who stepped within range. Her gaze returned to the map.

“Everyone’s asleep, and I’m bored,” Elise complained. “Tell me why you always stare at that map whenever I call.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Lana began. She sat again in the uncomfortable chair that had become her alternate bed.

“What doesn’t?”

“We had no advanced warning that this was going to happen. That’s virtually impossible, Elise. The attacks on the coast occurred simultaneously with nukes that would’ve been impossible to hide, let alone smuggle into the country. No one has this capability, even the PMF.”

“I thought you domestic security types were supposed to be watching this kind of thing.”

“We do. We did. I’ve never seen anything indicating the PMF could wipe out the East Coast. It doesn’t fit with their alleged party objectives or any tactics they’ve ever employed.”

“No one else could’ve done it. Unless you know something I don’t?” Elise countered.

Lana said nothing. If not for Mr. Tim’s assertion, she would not have pursued her instincts. Research conducted during quiet nights such as this only bolstered her opinion that the only organization that might have the capabilities still couldn’t have done this. Her years of training led her to a conclusion she couldn’t yet embrace: that the only way to hide the large-scaled planning would require someone on the inside of the government.

Her gaze settled on the animated timeline. All of the attacks occurred between three fifteen in the morning and four thirty. Mr. Tim had called her well before. If he knew something was about to happen, then others within the government did as well. She just couldn’t find it.

“I’ll be rotating to the surface this afternoon,” Elise said. “You with the psycho commander today?” “Probably,” Lana responded, turning away from the map. “General Greene is headed down there this

morning. He normally keeps the commander close to him. I’ll probably have to stay with Arnie if the general isn’t around.”

The door behind Lana slid open. She twisted in her seat to face General Greene, one of the three people on the compound authorized by the manic commander to be present in the command hub alone. His clothing was pressed and his appearance spry despite his almost sixty years.

“Elise out.” The security commander’s image disappeared from the screen.

Lana studied the general. To an outsider, he appeared as confident and fresh as a man just starting a mission after a good night’s sleep. She, however, saw the lines of pain and exhaustion under his eyes. His right arm hung limply at his side. He had not used it in over a month.

“How are you feeling, sir?” she asked.

“Another beautiful day,” he said. “Any word from the West?” “No, sir.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” he said with a shrug. “The commander is officially no longer in command. The doc finally declared him unfit after his last episode.”

Lana almost sighed in relief.

“No more lunatic rages or attempts to blast himself to the moon or whatever he was doing last week,” General Greene added with a shake of his head. “Unfortunately, Arnie needs a babysitter, someone who can hush up anything he says that he shouldn’t. There are only three of us here with access to that level of information, and I’m ordering you to do it.”

“He has been very erratic lately,” she agreed.

“He’s so drugged up by the doc right now, even you should be able to handle him. He’ll be replacing Elise as your current roommate for the time being. Anything happen last night?”

Lana grimaced internally at the thought of dealing with the crazy man who should’ve been running the command center instead of her. Arnie Smith had fallen off the deep end soon after arriving to the Peak.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “One of the generators is out. I don’t know that we have the expertise here to repair it at this time. We may be eating out of cans soon. Food stores are getting low up here.” She looked at her notes on her micro. “Also, South Carolina contacted us regarding water for its residents in Charlotte. I authorized the dispersal of two tons of water and twenty cases of rations from the emergency site in Raleigh along with hazmat drivers and twelve vehicles. It will tide them over while they try to repair their water system.”

“How are the power grids holding up?” he asked, gaze shifting to the screens around them. Lana brought up the energy grids. The geospatial depiction of the country was crisscrossed with

glowing colors and lines.

“Not well. Traditional power is mostly out all the way to the Mississippi River. Everything this side of the Mississippi is working on solar energy, but not all the facilities are equipped with energy storage, and because it’s fall, our energy collection is limited. It’s still a mess but better than it was.”

He frowned at the map before him.

“Teams are working to repair what they can,” she added more softly.

“Good enough,” he said. “Take a break for a couple of hours. The medics have your anti-sleepers ready. I don’t think things will get any better for us.”

Lana hesitated then went on with a frown. “Sir, we have another two weeks of supplies up here, if that. The guards have shot another dozen people around the perimeters, and our sensors indicate there is a small camp of some sort housing over a hundred survivors nearby and another one with several hundred at the bottom of the mountain,” she said. “I take it we’ve not heard from the central or west coast sites this week?”

“No, we haven’t.”

She waited for some assurance or direction. When he remained silent, she left.

Lana shivered as she stepped into the cold night. The sky was clear, one of the few clear nights since she arrived to the Peak. Normally, clouds hung around the mountaintop. She breathed the chilled air to clear her thoughts. Black-clad guards roamed the internal perimeter while others manned the walls of the compound. The pulse of the protective field surrounding the compound mixed with the distant howls of coyotes inhabiting the forest.

She hugged herself and treaded to the side of the main road down a small hill to the barracks housing the feds. The road edged a thatch of forest past the water treatment plant and the power plant, and circled the central command hub in which she worked before leading to the main entrance of the compound.

The walk was peaceful, the starry night and thrum of crickets easing her tired mind. She thought of Jack, hoping he was still safe with Mrs. Watson but not optimistic he was. She’d tried to contact Mrs. Watson several times the first week at the Peak before giving up. Her only regret in leaving everything behind was not bringing Jack with her.

A set of soldiers approached on patrol. Lana waved to them in greeting as she reached the barracks. She dreaded entering, wanting a moment of peace before being confined within the spartanly furnished room with the manic Arnie Smith. She turned away, crossed the road, and skirted the darkened helipad resting at the edge of a cliff overlooking an extensive valley.

She perched on one of the boulders lining the cliff edge and tucked her legs beneath her. The cliff’s sheer drop created a natural defense against any intruders in addition to providing a view that was breathtaking by day or night. The valley appeared as vast as the sky, both stretching until they met a second range of mountains in the distance.

“Checking in.” The Guardian’s voice drifted over her personal net.

Pleased to hear from the Guardian, she found herself smiling. She knew little about the stranger who called to check on her every day, not even his real name, but she was always cheered by his familiar voice.

“I’m here,” she answered. “You’re still alive.”

“For now. Fortunately, things look bleaker every day,” he replied with amusement. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“I know—six hours a day,” she said before he chided her as he often did. “I don’t think I’ll get any real sleep for a long time.”

“How are things?”

“We have two weeks of food left and a commander confined to my quarters to ensure he doesn’t do anything rash.”

He chuckled.

“Is it that much of a mess out there?” she asked. “Yeah. And we’re almost out of supplies.”

“You should have mentioned that before. Do you have your coordinates?” She withdrew a microcomputer from her pocket. “I can tell you where the nearest emerops supply is. I’ll release the locks, if you promise to take only what you need and not sell the rest, like the feds in Florida.”

“You can do that?” “Yes.”

“What else can you do?” he asked. “What else do you need?”

“More than you’d like to know,” he promised. “For now, food and water will be good. We’ll take what we need and nothing more. Sending