The Uprising (Book #3 in The Inception Trilogy)

chapter six

CHAPTER SIX

THERE'S AN AWKWARD TENSION in the air as Darrell stands facing their group, guards still keeping Harry and Micah restrained. Or so they think. Evelyn makes eye contact with Darrell, raising her eyebrows expectantly. He clicks his tongue and nods, mumbling, "Right," before gesturing that they follow him.

Evelyn realizes they had taken a clearing of the forest to barricade into a camp, and she has to admit that it seems to be working quite well. There's no other competition around, and it's easy to defend themselves with the few stragglers that pass by. There are even some buildings made out of wood, though they look only big enough for a couple of people. Still, it's the type of engineering that begins the structure of a society.

She wonders if Max started it, or if he simply runs it.

She's about to ask Darrell when a group of angry men come stomping over. She rolls her eyes. As if she didn't expect conflict.

"What the hell are you doing?" one snaps at Darrell, pushing him by the shoulder. "You can't let those bastards in here."

"I'm following orders," Darrell replies, seeming none too fazed. "Besides, the only one who's touched me so far is you."

"Well, I'll be damned if I let them come any further into our home." He goes to lift his rifle.

Evelyn snatches out her dagger. "Come on, dude, is this really necessary?" She's so tired of dealing with morons.

The man looks to her in disgust. "And who the fuck are you?"

"Your boss's little sister," she replies. "I already warned him I'm not in a good mood."

"Max doesn't have a sister," he retorts as if he's a genius on everyone's lives. "His family was killed by them."

"Obviously not all of his family or I wouldn't be standing here in the flesh," she says.

The man huffs, and she can imagine the steam puffing out his ears. "I don't take orders from you." He lifts his gun again.

"No, but you take orders from Max," Darrell bites back, grabbing the barrel of the gun to lower it. "You're the one causing a problem, Quinton. Let it go."

"I didn't hear Max giving any orders," Quinton says. "I'm not going to listen to his lapdog if I didn't hear the words out his mouth myself."

He shoves Darrell with his gun, letting go of it so to further put Darrell off balance. Then he grabs his own knife from his belt, determination in his eyes. Evelyn rolls her eyes again. When he thinks he's going to pass her, she quickly grabs his wrist and spins, crushing his arm behind his back. She twists his wrist harder until he groans in pain and lets go of the knife.

"Stop trying to be a tough guy," she snarls in his ear. "It's annoying."

She pushes off of him, taking his knife with her.

She hears him grunt before she hears his footsteps racing towards her. Darrell shouts just as Quinton's arms wrap around Evelyn's waist, dragging her to the ground. She's quick to spin, forcing him to become submissive as they land. However, he must've realized she would do as such because he's quickly on top with a hand at her throat.

Harry growls viciously just as Micah says, "Oohh, he's in for it now."

But Evelyn needs to prove that Harry isn't the bad guy here, and if Quinton's friends run off saying Harry attacked him, no one will believe her over their own people.

She manages to look over at Harry, who's struggling against the guards, but she knows he could break free easily if he genuinely wanted to hurt someone. "It's okay," she tells him, hoping he can see in her eyes her concern. She repeats "It's okay" until his shoulders slump in defeat, his breathing heavy.