Revolutionary - Elaina H (each kindness read aloud txt) 📗

and then ask them question, I suppose?” it was a dumb question, but she knew it would make a point to the general.

            “Oh! Oh, I guess, we should ask them for information first.” He looked lost, and Veronica rolled her eyes. She slowly pushed her chair away from the table, and spoke each word with purpose.

            “I know what I want. I want the captured rebels brought here. I will make sure I get the information from them one way or another. Do you understand? I will be asking the question.” Veronica was happy with the bargain, and she knew he would accept her. To him this seemed too easy, but what he didn’t realize was how much he was missing.

2082 April 10: 1900 hours

            “How are you doing tonight, General?” Derik came through the large doors and smiled. He bowed to both Veronica and the General.

            The General was happy now that he had help, and he at his large plate of food with no worries now. “I’m well, Sir Derik Landry.”

            “Sorry, I’m late, love,” Derik said as he kissed Veronica on the cheek. She felt bile rise to her mouth at the word love.

            She glared at Derik, but he didn’t seem to notice Veronica’s deadly stare. Instead, he simply set his napkin upon his lap, and began sawing into his steak.

            The dinner continued with friendly conversation, and Derik kept looking to Veronica for answers as to why the General was so happy.

            She supposed she’d have to tell him eventually, but maybe keeping him waiting would be fun.

            Veronica patiently waited for the now boring dinner to end. She kept herself occupied by thinking of all things she could possibly do to get the rebels to spill the details of their operations to her. It would be too easy.

            The General talked with Derik well into the night, and conversation flowed smoothly without Veronica joining in. When the clock finally struck ten o’clock, Veronica had decided it was an appropriate time to excuse herself from the table.

            “Well, I do have to say this has been a lovely evening, General. I’m so glad we could,” she paused and grabbed the word from her brain that bested expressed their situation, “make a deal.”

            The General smiled, and wiped his mouth once more before standing and reaching for Veronica’s hand. Reluctantly, she let the General kiss her hand. “It was a pleasure to dine with you this evening, First Lieutenant Veronica O’Niel. Send your father my regards.”

            She nodded her head, and dismissed herself from the room without as much as a backwards glance.

            Once the large doors shut behind her, Veronica quickly made her way back to her room. She heard Derik call her name, but she pushed that out of her mind. He was much clingier than she had anticipated.

            The door to Veronica’s room was opened by a soldier the moment she came into sight. She smiled to herself, she expected nothing less.

            Veronica’s room was large. It was the largest bedroom in the compound, and she was pleased with the space she owned. The dark red walls cast an eerie glow on the bedroom, and her large king size bed sat against the far left wall with a light gray blanket tossed over it.

            Lamps were placed all over the room, and she had a series of them lined around her desk. Veronica didn’t plan on doing any work tonight at her desk. She didn’t want to do anything, but sleep.

            Surely an awful dinner with an equally awful general counted at enough work for the evening? Her father wouldn’t think so, but he wasn’t here right now. The simple thought left Veronica a little more relaxed. Had The General, her father, been here on one of his visits she most likely wouldn’t have been able to sleep.

            Veronica was glad she got to sleep in the compound. She didn’t take for granted the pleasures obviously given to her because of her status. She was aware that had she been poor, she would have been left outside the safety of the compound. Where rabid, wild animals roamed and mutated human beings crawled from the radiation.

            She had been outside the compound only once. When she turned thirteen, The General thought it important to show her what mankind had done to itself. She remembered his words very clearly as he showed her the horror the world had become. “Those who do not submit to us, Veronica, deserve to rot out here. This is where the deserve to be. It is obvious to us that man needs someone powerful to rule them, someone like us. But they,” he had said the word with complete disgust, “do not understand and they never will. That is why we must be the ones to take charge and to keep control. We will not let the rebels win.”

            Veronica had not actually seen a crawling human, but The General had sworn to her that he had. She believed him. She believed him about everything, and she agreed with most everything he said. She would not let the rebels win.

            She would prove to The General that she was powerful enough to take control one day. That she was powerful enough to become The General of North.

            If only her father would let her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2382 April 13: 800 hours

 

            Kyle spit onto the ground, and cracked his neck. He knew the General of the West would be coming for them after what they had done, but he was sure they would win. Kyle would bet everything he owned on the single fact that his small group of vigilantes was stronger than the Northern, Western, Eastern, and Southern empires combined.

            He wasn’t cocky, it was simply a fact he was aware off.

            “What’s the next plan of attack, boss? Everybody’s asking when we’re gonna strike next!” Harold, his eager advisor, quipped beside him. Kyle had debated whether or not to appoint a new advisor, but he had decided against it in the end. Harold was loyal and was already used to the job. He didn’t have time to train anybody knew.

            So he kept Harold out of a matter of convenience.

            “Harold, everyone else does not need to know what going on 24/7. You see we’re on a simply need to know basic with the rest of the group. If we tell them to much, and one of them is captured, what happens?”

            Harold looked at the ground, his eyebrows bunched together in confusion. Kyle sighed, “We lose the element of surprise, Harold!”

            “Oh.” Harold stated simply before following Kyle around their meager fort.

            The fort consisted of four walls that surround a half mile patch of land. There was no roof, no floor, and no electricity, but it kept his people safe from the most forward of attacks.

            Besides, the bigger the building, the harder it was for Franklin to hide. With Franklin on Kyle’s mind, he asked Harold how he had been holding up.

            “As far as I know Franklin’s kept us hidden for the past 24 hours. There’s been plenty of crew out searching for where we could possibly be hidden, but nothing found us. Which leads me to believe they can’t see us.”

            Kyle rolled his eyes at Harold’s obvious statement, “Of course they wouldn’t see us, Harold. That’s kind of what Franklin does,” he said sarcastically.

            Kyle didn’t mean to be rude to Harold, but he was stressed. They needed to hurry up, and get a move on with another attack. They had stolen ten people from The Western General’s Second Territory. Of course, Kyle wouldn’t just steal any ten people, he stole the people he needed. The people who would actually be worth something to him.

            Most importantly, he gained another healer. He would have been happy with just the healer, but having the other nine was a nice bonus.

            Harold cleared his throat, and pulled Kyle from his own thought, “What is it, Harold,” he asked exasperated.

            “I was just informed of a fight between Gary and another elemental. It’s in the west block by the elemental housing.” Kyle nodded his head, letting Harold know he was now aware of the situation.

            Kyle raced off with Harold at his heels. It was very important that neither Gary nor the other elemental reveal their powers out here in the open. Kyle was unsure about how they would affect Franklin’s shield.

            He couldn’t have anybody finding out about the two secrets he kept very well. 1. Their location. 2. The unnatural abilities they had seemed to develop.

2382 April 13: 830 houra

            When Kyle pushed through the large group of viewers, he immediately knew something was off.

            The sky above the fort was dark grey and swirling. Thunder cracked across the sky, and everyone could feel the electricity in the air. Gary and the other elemental, who he now knew was Carter, we standing not more then two inches apart.

            A gust of wind whipped through the fort, and Kyle shaggy black hair was thrown into his eyes. That was it. His people weren’t about fighting each other. This had to stop. Kyle took two more steps forward, and the people around him quieted, all except the two elementals. “What could possibly be so important that you need to reveal our location,” Kyle said as he grinded his teeth.

            Gary’s head whipped around, and he faced Kyle. The storm in the sky settled, leaving a foggy haze. “We’ve heard news.”

            Kyle narrowed his eyes at them, and glared. What news could they possible have? What news did he not know? “Tell me,” he stated firmly.

            Carter stepped forward, and the straight winds died down to a mild breeze. “I’ve heard the Western General had gone to the Lieutenant of the Northern First Territory. Rumor has it she’s planning on sending troops over in exchange for…” Gary rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath before Carter finished, “…the right to interrogate any captured ‘rebels’.”

            Kyle nodded his head, “I’m still confused as to why the fight broke out?”

            Carter glared at Gary before speaking again, “I just said that if I were in charge here I would send out some men to be captured on purpose. Know what I’m saying? Try to find out some information, and them we’d help them escape in like two weeks.”

            “If they’re even alive,” Gary argued. “That would be like sending your own people to their death, Kyle. Besides, we all know your Mother would never go for that!”

            Kyle frowned when Gary brought up his mother. Kyle’s mother had been a topic to avoid between him and his dad for the last two years. Kyle’s mother had died when Kyle was eighteen, and thinking of her only made him hurt. So he didn’t. Think of her that is.

            “It doesn’t matter,” Kyle finally said. “I’ll bring the idea to my dad, but I actually think it’s not a bad idea, Gary.”

            Gary glared at Kyle, “That’s only because you aren’t going to be the one captured. It’ll probably be the weaker ones you send. Can’t risk sending anyone special, can we?”

            “Gary!” Kyle snapped. “That’s enough. I’ll talk with my dad tonight. I’ll let you all know the game plan later.” Kyle turned to leave, but stopped at the last minute, “Also, no fighting about topics that aren’t your decision.

            At that, Kyle left, closely followed by Harold. “Sir, are you really considering that idea? Does that mean I need to write it down in the book with all the pros and cons? Sir? Sir?” Kyle ignored Harold and stomped away.

            He couldn’t believe his own people thought he was so haughty as to leave weak ones out to die! At what point had they lost so much faith in him. Sure, he was young. He knew it was hard for some of the older ones to view him as