The Safe Zone - Ascension (Book 4)

Chapter 14: Divided Loyalties

Lena:

The tension inside the command center was thick and palpable, like a storm brewing beneath the surface. The stale air felt heavy as we huddled around the cracked table, the faint flicker of dim overhead lights casting long shadows on the faces of the resistance leaders. Everyone was exhausted, drained from the relentless strain of the war. But the worst part wasn't the physical fatigue. It was the gnawing, ever-present feeling we were breaking—fracturing from within.

After sending the message to the scattered resistance cells, we had only one option: wait. Waiting was the hardest part. It gave people too much time to think, too much time to doubt, too much time to fear what would happen next.

Ethan sat to my left, his fingers nervously tapping against the table's surface. His face was pale, his eyes hollow, a far cry from the man he'd once been. I couldn't blame him. After everything he had been through, it was a wonder he was still standing. The Directive had taken so much from him—his mind, his spirit—and I could see the toll it was taking on him now. But he was still here, still fighting, and for that, I was grateful.

Zara stood across from us, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes fixed on the map before her. Her expression was tight, her jaw clenched. I knew she was angry at the situation, furious at the Directive, and—most of all—angry at me.

"You think this is going to work?" she asked, her voice low and sharp, barely concealing the edge beneath. "You think we can trust the others to follow through?"

I met her gaze, feeling the weight of her words. "We don't have a choice."

She scoffed, shaking her head. "You're betting everything on this plan, Lena. You're betting our lives on it."

"I know," I said quietly, gripping the table's edge. "But what's the alternative? We sit here and wait for the Directive to find us. We can't keep running. We have to take the fight to them."

"And what if we're wrong?" Zara's voice rose, the frustration bubbling over. "What if we hit them, and they hit back harder? We've seen what they can do. We've seen what they're capable of. We're not just fighting soldiers anymore. They have drones, they have mind control, they have—"

"I know what they have," I snapped, louder than I intended. "But we're not going to win this by sitting around and second-guessing every move we make. We have to act. Now."

Zara fell silent, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes were hard, unyielding, but she didn't argue further. I could feel the anger radiating off her, the resentment building for weeks. Since Carter's death, she had become more volatile and unpredictable. I didn't know if it was grief guilt or both, but I could see the cracks forming.

And she wasn't the only one.

"I get that you're angry," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, trying to reach her. "But this isn't about us. It's about everyone out there. The people are still fighting, still hoping we can win this."

Zara's eyes flicked to the side, her jaw tightening. For a moment, I thought she might lash out, might say something she couldn't take back. But instead, she let out a long, slow breath, her shoulders slumping slightly.

"I just... I don't know if we can trust them," she said, her voice softer now. "We've lost too many people. I don't want to lose more."

Neither did I. But trust was all we had left.

"We have to believe that the others will come through," Ethan said, speaking up for the first time. His voice was quiet and strained, but his words had an underlying resolve. "They know what's at stake. They've lost just as much as we have."