Ender tosses me an annoyed look over his shoulder. I shrug unrepentantly. Knox met me for lunch yesterday, and there was a quiet pause. It made sense to tell him what his friend was up to. Plus, I was itching to chat with Knox. We haven’t had a good catch-up session in a while. At least it wasn’t Spider whom I confided in. Ender wouldnotlive that one down.
“So, why do you hate the rebels?” I ask, switching the topic.
“My aunt was killed by a rebel during a raid,” Ender says. “My mother had an older sister. I was closer to her, far more than I was to my mother, and her loss hit hard.”
I recall Ender’s mother. Her perfect coiffed hair and ruby lips.
“Was your aunt a soldier?”
Ender nods. A smile graces his lips.
“She taught me how to shoot long-range.”
“She sounds cool,” I say.
“She was,” Ender echoes.
“Do you think the rebels are all bad?” I ask. “What if a soldier killed someonetheylove like a rebel killed your aunt? What if they are fighting for justice, for freedom?”
Hi gaze darkens when it swings back to me.
“The casualties don’t matter anymore. We’ve both taken losses. It is too dangerous to leave people’s powers unchecked,” Ender explains. “It would lead to anarchy. Rules are enforced for the safety of the people.”
“Is that what your father told you to say?” I ask bitterly.
He sounds like a mindless soldier. Not a person with thoughts and opinions of their own. Perhaps, I had misread the fire in his eyes for passion when really it was just blind obedience all along.
“Careful,” he growls. “I would hate to have you arrested as a rebel-sympathizer. Do you want to be imprisone?—”
The blast comes without warning. One second, we’re pushing through the rubble, and the next, the ground bucks beneath us. The air clouded with dust.
“Warrick, watch out!” Ender shouts.
But it’s too late, I’m thrown sideways. My body hits the wall with an impact that rattles my lungs. A violent roar sounds before the stone cracks and the ceiling gives out. I manage to roll before it crashes down on me.
I get on my knees and try to see if Ender is fine. Smoke and ash cloud the air, tickling my nose.
I can make out Ender’s figure, and I take a step towards him when a second explosion rocks through the far end of the tunnel.The floor drops between us, concrete collapsing into a black void. We were a few feet apart, but now a chasm lies between us.
“Warrick!” Ender calls.
“I’m fine,” I say, coughing violently.
Fumes thicken the air, and I hope a fire doesn’t spark. I notice Ender standing on the other side. His eyes are wide with panic, but they soften when he realizes that I’m unharmed.
A wall of debris crashes downward, cutting him off from view.
“Ender!” I scream.
I tap my comm, calling out his name. It is impossible to hear with the rushing rocks volleying down. The device shrieks with feedback, then dies in my ear. I rip it out, heart hammering. Around me, the tunnel has fractured into branching corridors, half-collapsed and unstable. Emergency lights stutter like a butterfly trapped in a jaw, painting everything in a sickly red glow.
I force myself to breathe.
This has to be the Resistance. They’ve stopped fleeing when the soldiers hunt them, and they’ve begun to fight back. I’m proud of them, but one of these days they’re going to get me killed.
A sound echoes down the tunnel, boots crunching over rubble. Voices murmur, low and urgent.
“They’ve split up,” someone says. “The Commandant is on the right. The girl is on the left.”
