I felt only pain.
I wished for the end.
Instead, I slept.
Several daysafter I’d first woken in the hospital, I was picking at my dinner when the staff erupted into cheers, and a nurse ran into my room.
“It’s happening!” He turned the TV to the news, where a reporter happily announced the end of the world war.
Unified States Surrendersscreamed the headline, while footage played of a familiar city skyline in flames. The NAO had waved their white flag after a devastating battle in New York City. Thousands of lives were lost before Haynes finally capitulated. The terms of surrender were still under negotiation, but the feed cut to Commander Haynes orating at a podium clad in pristine white with a blazing black Brotherhood Cross.
I muted the TV, refusing to listen to anything that man said.
When the speech ended, the screen panned over vast Canadian cities, where tens of thousands of people flooded the streets in celebration.
“Freedom for Canada!” they screamed, tossing back their beers.
Canada’s battle was over, but the Defiance still fought. My country was still ravaged by war.
I couldn’t pretend to know what sort of political gymnastics the world had gone through in the past three years. I had no clue what manipulations and bargaining had happened while I lived under a totalitarian regime and a censored media.
All I knew was that it took the combined power of Canada, Europe and Russia to stop Haynes’s army, which meant the Defiance had no chance. This was history repeating itself—an untrained guerrilla militia against the full might of King GeorgeIII. It was a fluke the first time. To beat the giant again was impossible.
The world didn’t turn upside down twice in a row.
We were going to lose, which meant Lucas had died in vain.
Adam hada weak smile for me when I finally made it to his room the next morning.
“There she is,” he rasped.
His face had thinned, and he had bandages all over, but he appeared otherwise well.
“How are you?” I asked, settling into a chair beside his bed.
“I’ve had worse,” he said with an exaggerated grimace.
I laughed, but it sounded fake even to me.
“How areyou?” he asked, brown eyes going soft. “Hands healing okay?”
I showed him the gauze around both palms. “So far, I think. Still hurts, though.”
“Yeah.” He let out a small cough. “Me too.”
Silence blanketed us, punctuated only by the beep of his monitor.
After a moment, his low voice broke the stillness. “Soph, I heard about Lucas…”
My gaze dropped to the floor.
“I’m sorry, Sophia.”
“He’s gone,” I said and added a few more tears to the millions I’d already shed.
Adam set a hand over mine. “At least he got his final wish. You’re safe now.”
Small consolation. I couldn’t even acknowledge how much I hated being safe when Lucas was past saving. Instead, I changedthe subject. “I wanted to thank you. I don’t think either of us would have survived that if you hadn’t shown up.”
