SMOKE (The Aurum Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Lia

Is it creepy that I watch him when he sleeps? 

Yeah. It probably is. But it's not what you think. It's not that type of watch with the goggly eyes and with saliva drooling every time. It's the type of watch to know that I care, to know that I'm still here even if I'm not. 

He sleeps so peacefully I could stare at him all day. But no. The sun is almost rising and I could see dawn's rosy fingers start to creep from the Argentum skyline. I kiss the top of his head and make my way out the window I broke into. I look at Lawrence one last time, longing to wake him up, a tumor in my heart forming as I memorize his features. The sun rises from the skyline, a big ball of flame lighting up the whole world and radiating the face of an innocent boy who has lost the girl he loves. 

The darkness is over. It's time to see the light.

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"We have no time to waste." I tell them, my lips twitching and forming a straight, pink line on my face. "We need to attack now that Fiouris is not around and Argentum is at its weakest." I pointed my finger at the Laboratory, Argentum's center of government. "For all we know they could've won over their battle with Aurum. We don't want them coming back stronger and more powerful. We want them coming back without realizing that they're crippled. What's stuck in the base right now are minds, not warriors. They've sent the best of their men out at war, leaving only enough to suppress our resistance. By now we don't even seem to be a threat to them. They think we're a bunch of reckless kids trying to steal the show, but we're not. If we move, we move now. We make them suffer, recruit more citizens and show them that The Revolution's not one to be messed with." 

"So that's our name now?" Ingrid's eyes widened at me as she folded her arms and leaned against a table. 

"What?"

"The Revolution." Lisa echoed. "I think it's nice."

A huge silence engulfed us, fifty faces in all. It was a small group which had small odds in overthrowing an all-powerful regime, but I'd like to rely on these odds. I'd like to believe that they would turn out in favor to us and to our cause. 

I take note of the forty-nine other faces in this room, memorizing each one of them. I see Ingrid's questioning eyes next to Eric's blue ones. I see Lisa's jet black hair contrasting her pale skin next to James' dark one. I see Dash's elfish features standing by Alfie's stiff and chiseled body. I see a mix of races, of faces, of stories, and I think that the odds don't matter. Laws of physics and probability would not defy us. We would succeed. 

"Look," I sighed, dragging my finger across the blueprint I've constructed. "I know the chances are slim, but we can do it. We set a distraction here just North of the Laboratory. The distraction needs to be subtle, something that won't make their forces stricter.  While we do so, we hack their system. We hack cables, computers, everything. We broadcast the Revolution to everyone, inviting everyone to join in by exposing Argentum's weaknesses and injustices. We unveil the truth behind this fake utopia, once and for all." I paused, pointing this time at the Laboratory itself. "We need runners by the front so that they could lead the guards out of the Lab. We bomb another building by its East so that they think an uprising is currently on the move in that location. That's where we'll lead security. Of course they can't leave the Lab unguarded. We'll use Ingrid's access card to enter the Lab and we'll replicate it and create new identities for ourselves so we won't take much time and attention breaking in. We need white coats, disguises so that they wouldn't notice us. We need those lenses that change our eye identification. Alfie?" I raised an eyebrow to the muscled man next to Dash.