Rebel Heart

Dan led them to Brady's tent and pushed the tent flap open.

"Elise!"

He didn't think he'd heard such a happy tone in his life. Lana sprang up from her corner of the couch and flung her arms around Elise.

"Lana, stop it," Elise groaned, pushing her away. "I hurt everywhere."

Lana's face glowed. She pulled Elise to the couch. Elise dropped onto it with another groan. Brady watched them, sensing the depth of their friendship despite Elise's discomfort. He folded his arms and approached. Lana was braver this day. She studied him with more interest than fear, even if she did push herself into the corner again. Elise glared at him.

"We wanted to talk to you about the Peak," Dan started, pulling a chair near them.

He showed Lana the same scene he'd shown Elise. Brady watched her face pale. She looked up at him, and he answered the unasked question.

"No, we didn't."

"Allegedly," Elise added under her breath.

Lana clenched her hands.

"They want to know if anyone knew we left. Greenie did, right?" Elise asked.

"Yeah. Greenie," Lana said.

"Anyone else?" he asked, sitting close to Lana.

"I didn't tell anyone. Greenie would've figured it out. I don't know who he told," she answered. She was twisting the edge of her shirt as she spoke. He watched her face, sensing she was hiding a great deal.

"How would he figure it out?" Dan asked.

"I locked out all the terminals, the emergency operations networks for the eastern part of the country, and re-routed the communications systems to my micro."

"That's pretty insane!" Dan said with a startled laugh.

"You knew this would happen," Brady said, pointing to the picture on Dan's viewer.

She didn't look at him or the picture.

"Did you know?" Elise asked, surprised.

Lana clenched her hands but didn't answer. Brady glanced at Dan, his face echoing his own puzzlement.

"Jesus," Elise breathed. "And you didn't warn anyone? You let everyone die?"

"No, Elise," Lana said in a hushed voice. "I didn't know exactly … I didn't know when or what or …" She stopped, knuckles white as she gripped the edge of her T-shirt.

"What did you know?" Elise demanded, grabbing her with a shake.

Lana shook her head. Elise released her, sitting back in shock.

"What was it you had to take to the Peace Command Center?" Elise asked in a hushed voice.