Damage Me

Chapter 25

Later that night we're all meeting in the training quarters, sitting on benches in a circle. Aaron and I sit away from each other.

"All right, so, first things first, right?" Winston says, looking around. "We have to get Sonya and Sara back. The question is how." A pause. "We have no idea how to get to the supreme."

Everyone's eyes go to Aaron and me. I look at my nails.

"Well?" Kenji says.

"Well, what?" Aaron and I say simultaneously, and I'm suddenly irritated, for no reason.

"Well, aren't you going to help us?" Ian snaps. "This is your guys's territory."

Aaron looks to Juliette. "You're absolutely sure you trust these people? All of them?"

"Yes," She says quietly. "I really do."

"Very well." Aaron says, takes a deep breath. "Our father is on a ship. In the middle of the ocean."

"He's on a ship?" Kenji asks, surprised. "The capital is a ship?"

"Not exactly," Aaron hesitates, and I jump in, not even wanting to be here.

"The point is, we have to lure him here." All eyes turn on me. "Going to him will not work. We have to create a problem big enough for him to be forced to come to us." I look at Juliette. "Juliette already has a plan." I finish.

She nods, takes a deep breath. "I think we should take over sector 45."

"I think, together," She tells them, "we'll be able to convince the soldiers to fight on our side. At the end of the day, no one is benefiting from The Reestablishment except for the people in charge. The soldiers are tired and hungry and probably only took this job because there were no other options." A pause. "We can rally the civilians and the soldiers. Everyone in the sector. Get them to join us. And they know me," she says. "The soldiers. They've already seen me—they know what I can do. But all of us together?" she shakes her head. "That would be amazing. We could show them that we're different. Stronger. We can give them hope—a reason to fight back.

"And then, once we have their support, news will spread, and Anderson will be forced to come back here. He'll have to try and take us down—he'll have no other choice. And once he's back, we take him out. We fight him and his army and we win. And then we take over the country."

"My goodness."

Castle is the first to speak.

"Ms. Ferrars," he says, "you've given this a great deal of thought."

She nods.

"What do you think?" She asks, looking around.

"What if it doesn't work?" Lily asks, skeptical. "What if the soldiers are to scared to change their allegiance? What if they kill you instead?"

"That's a definite possibility," Juliette says. "But I think if we're strong enough—if the ten of us stand united, with all our strengths combined—I think they'll believe we can do something pretty amazing.

"Yeah but how will they know what our strengths are?" Brendan asks. "What if they don't believe us?"

"We can show them."

"And if they shoot us?" Ian counters.

"I can do it alone, if you're worried about that. I don't mind. Kenji was teaching me how to project my energy before the war, and I think if I can learn to master that, I could do some pretty scary things. Things that might impress them enough to join us."

"You can project?" Winston asks, eyes wide. "You mean you can, like, mass-kill everyone with your life-sucking thing?"

"Um, no," Juliette says. "I mean, well, yes, I suppose I could do that, too, but I'm not talking about that. I mean I can project my strength. Not the . . . Life-sucking thing—"