Republic of Omisha

Chapter 51: Eliza

  Yes, her Mother's plans are what they needed. She was a brilliant woman, an engineer. That's what she became when she lived near Liam's boarding school, being the sister to a boarding school student gave her rights to a private teacher.

She was a brilliant women and was taught by the best. When she ran away, she had earned her degree in engineering.

Eliza has found her Mother's plans to build self-sustaining sky and sea ships. They are structurally sound and are large enough to sustain everyone. They are already built, and the coordinates are even listed. They're saved! Everyone is saved! Lydia did it! Lydia Spero used her knowledge and selflessness to save the human race. She gave her life for this.

Still one thing is bugging Eliza. Since her Mother had a solution, why was it so secretive? Surely they were going public the day she was shot, but why did that happen? She must have informed Liam about her work, but why didn't he support it? Something just seems off about Omisha's rule. Didn't they want to save everyone?

My Mother must have been oppressed and that's why she kept this quiet, but why? Eliza is baffled, but now is at time for action, not answers. She figures that they will reveal themselves soon enough so she takes a pen and writes the coordinates on her arm. Then she runs back into the woods.

She's ecstatic at her discovery and all she came think about is how happy Clay will look when she tells him that she has the answer that they have been searching for.

The thought of being with Clay is the only thing that keeps her grief at bay. She has lost greatly, but she still has him. That's all she has, so he's her all, her everything. The thought of simply being in his presence again numbs the burning feeling in her legs as she sprints through the woods.

When she arrives at the school the sun has begun to set. She looks on with horror at what was once the school. It is now ransacked. Windows are bashed in, walls are crumbling and the doors are smoking.

Where is everyone? Eliza wonders as she cautiously scours the area. She wants to shout and see if there are any survivors in the ruins. She decides against it in fear of being attacked herself by whoever did this.

She scouts the area and finds the rioters with rebel prisoners in one of the pole buildings. Her eyes widen as she realizes that it is the building that houses the beasts.

She gets closer and with the sun at her back, she should be hard to spot. She crouches near the peak of a close by hill.

The building is open, venting the sun's heat because it has a greenhouse design with four cages for the beasts sprouting from its frame. Their voices carry easily and Eliza has a clear view of what's happening. The rebels along with Helena, Karma, and Liam are being held in the cage of the black wolf, who is no more.

It takes her a minute to spot Clay, who isn't with any of the rebels and neither is Brin. Clay is being held up by two guards, but his head is limp. Eliza gasps in horor and her cheeks beat red with anger. If they have killed him-

Before she can finish her thought a rioter smacks him across the face. Eliza instinctively flinches. Then she sees his head raise. He's alive!

She hears the man begin to question him. He asks about his involvement with the rebels and Omisha's schemes. When he asks him about Sebastian and Lance, the man ends up slapping him with the back of his hand a few times.

Eliza creeps closer, under the cover of night, her anger kindled. Now, she crouches just outside a window and now she listens to the interrogators every word.

"So you say that you were planning on saving everyone?"

Clay nods at the man. His face is beaten and bruised.

The man goes on. "If that is true, how did you plan on accomplishing such a feat?"

Clay shakes his head. "We haven't been able to come up with any solutions." He hangs his head in shame.

"Lies!" The man barks. "Either you didn't plan on saving us all, or you're refusing to tell us."

"No!" He quickly replies, his voice breaks.

The man has already spun around and signals to the men that are restraining Brin. Then he turns back to face Clay. "I'll give you 'til the count of three to tell me the truth before we feed this girl to a beast." On his last word he throws up his arms in emphasis and the crowd cheers in return.

It makes Eliza sick. I have to do something. I have to stop this.

Clay struggles, but seems unusually weak as the man counts, "One..." Clay shouts. "Two..." Brin screams and kicks. "Three..."

Eliza finds herself barging into the room shouting at the top of her lungs. "Wait!"

The men escorting Brin freeze and all eyes turn to Eliza. Gun are trained on Eliza. This is your moment to make a difference. Don't blow it. With her pep talk she begins to speak in the most commanding tone she can muster. "Listen up, I, and I alone have the resources to save everyone and I will not share it with you if you harm my friends."

"How do we know we can trust ya?" Barks the man who was interrogating Clay and has a horrid scare on his face.

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

He crosses his arms and considers this proposal.

"It appears that we are at a stalemate." Eliza pronounces.

"Not quite, we outnumber you."

"Number don't matter in negotiation. If you so much as harm on of my friends I won't tell you anything and you all will die. If you kill me you no longer have access to my solution. You need me. Everyone will die otherwise. That gives me the upper hand."

"Who says that this is a negotiation?"

"I do."

He consider her for a moment before saying. "What do you propose?"

Eliza quietly exhales in relief. Technically he still had the upper hand, but thankfully he isn't the brightest.

She knows that now she's taking her place as a leader. Her Mother predestined Her involvement with the rebels. That's why her Mother allowed her to come the day that she was going to reveal her plan to the world. It hadn't gone down as she had hoped, that much is for sure, but she knew that Eliza would one day take over her plans. That's why her fingerprint was programed into her computer. That's why she left her clues about the rebellion. That's why she made such a big emphasis on their family motto when she was a child, so that she knew what the rebels stood for.

Eliza says to the man. "Let the rebels go and we will return with the vessels that will sustain the human race."

"Can't' do that."

It was worth a long shot. "Well, I can't do it alone."

The man lets out an exasperated grunt. "How many vessels are there?"

"Two."

"Then you can have two companions."

It's better than no one. "Fine."

The man signals to the men that restrained Brin. They throw her to the ground. She scampers to Eliza's side. Eliza glances at her and sees that she has tear streaked cheeks.

Then he looks at the cage of rebels, no doubt looking for the rebel that would be the least of a threat to them. "And let out the girl with short black hair." Two guards do as he says.

She walks nervously up to Eliza, who recognizes her as being Sandra, Valerie's closest friend.

Then the man barks and order to Eliza. "Be back by sun up, if not, we will kill one rebel each hour your late."

Eliza has no other choice, but to nod and leave the building.