CHAPTER 49

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For the second time in two days I woke up before Orion and Beckett. This time I was a bit amazed, because I had been the one crying my eyes out the previous day and figured I should have been the one to sleep in. Evidently not, but I didn't mind. I wanted them to sleep, especially after what happened, after losing Maggie, so I was quiet as I sat up in bed, rubbing at my stinging eyes before reaching behind me to rub my head.

It still hurt quite a bit, but not as badly as it had been, so I took that as a good sign. Orion said I managed to get away without a concussion, so the baseball sized bump I was poking experimentally was literally the best-case scenario for being in the line of a fucking car bomb. I could've gotten a major concussion, or worse, cracked my head open like an egg, so I was willing to count my blessings.

As I sat there, staring at the posters lining my walls, yet again my mind began to wander back to the explosion. Not exactly what happened, but the fact there was actually a bomb set up. Diego literally took the time to set up a car bomb triggered by the driver's side door being pulled open. You would think that if someone was going to use the resources to make a car bomb, as well as taking the time to set it up so meticulously, it would be fatal, right?

The fact that it wasn't fatal made no sense to me. That man was utterly unpredictable, but the only way I was going to get answers was if I actually came face to face with him and asked. He did say he'd answer any question I had, and even if he was just lying to take advantage of me somehow, there wasn't much he could do now that he was locked in a cell. It was either answer my questions or be bored while we decided what to do with him.

I hated him, so much, after what he did to Beckett, and now, the fact he inadvertently got my sister killed, I just hated him even more. There was no telling what the upper tiers of the rebellion were going to decide, whether to execute him or what, so I had to question him before our meeting or risk never getting answers.

We always interrogated our prisoners of course, Cass was in charge of that aspect of the rebellion, but I could only imagine how completely unexcited the ex-marine was about it, especially considering how last time they'd met, Diego basically objectified him like he was a piece of meat. Diego would probably keep doing that, too, just eye Cass like he was candy, but somehow, I got the sense I would have a better chance of getting answers than someone who was totally ripped with muscle.

It wasn't a hard decision to make, and I turned around to check on my boys, making sure they were still asleep before sliding out from under the covers and inching my way to the foot of the bed, retrieving clothes for that day so I could change, yanking my boots on before starting for the door. I took one last look back at the bed, smiling when I noticed how Beckett and Orion had moved closer to each other without me there to cuddle between them. God I loved them.

The building was extremely quiet, due to the early hour, but I did pass a few dawn guards as I made my way down the hall, offering them weak smiles that they returned as I headed towards the cells. I hadn't been down there since Jayden was killed and Roman threw Demi into one of those cells because he thought he'd been the one to murder Jayden.

It was cold and smelt musty as I opened the door and started down the steps, pausing on the last one when I looked up, startled to see Josie was sitting at a table in the room, the door to the cells closed, though his eyes were locked on it. There were bandages wrapped around his head, but other than that he looked alright. Save the fact he probably hadn't slept.

"Josie, what are you doing down here?" I asked, and he turned to look at me, frowning.

"Hey. I could ask the same thing."

I shrugged, shuffling further into the basement, "I wanted to see if I could get something out of Manuela before we decided what to do with him. You?"

"Same," Josie murmured, propping his elbow against the table and sitting his chin in his palm, "Not that he said anything. I'm just... guarding I guess. I don't want to leave him alone. I don't trust him."

"Yea," I sighed in agreement, folding my arms and staring at the door for a moment before looking back at Josie, "Wanna come with me? I'm not scared or anything, but you probably wouldn't let me go in there alone anyway."

"You're not wrong," Josie hummed, pushing himself to his feet as I turned and stepped over to the door to the cells, pushing it open and stepping inside with Josie right at my back.

We walked into something neither of us had been expecting probably. Singing, soft singing, in Spanish, so I didn't have any idea what was being said, but it was so gentle I almost wondered who could be down here, before I realized it was Diego. I stepped forward quietly so I didn't make any noise, stopping when I was in front of the cell where Cass had put Diego.

The man was lying on his cot, looking a bit too comfortable considering he was a prisoner, with one arm folded over his stomach, fingers wrapped around his mask, his other arm lying beside him on the cot. His eyes were shut, and he made no move to show he'd heard us enter, until he abruptly stopped singing, a grin spreading across his face.

"Have you come to execute me?" he asked, and I leaned a hand against the bars of the cell, leaning against it.

"No. I just have some questions for you to answer."

"Do you?"

"You said you'd answer anything I asked, remember?" I questioned and he sat up, folding his arms, still smiling.

"I remember, but be careful. I might not have the answers you're looking for."

I just scoffed at that, "Why'd you put a bomb in our car?"

"I wanted to get your attention," Diego said, standing up, "Didn't I mention that already?"

"I didn't believe you," I admitted, "I guess I should've. At first, I thought there was no way you were crazy enough to blow up a fucking car just so you could talk to us. Then I remembered what psycho we were dealing with, so I believe it now."

Diego laughed at that, placing the mask back onto his head and stepping over to the cells. I stepped back as he looped his arms through the bars, folding them and leaning against the door.

"What questions do you have for me."

"First of all, why weren't you this willing to talk to Josie?" I asked, and Diego shrugged.

"He's distracting, I couldn't think," his gaze flickered over my shoulder, offering Josie a wink before turning back to me, "You, though, you're like me, and not entirely attractive, a bit too skinny for my tastes. Boring."

"Uh-huh," I set a hand on my hip, "Next question. What are you planning, exactly? You didn't exist until recently, or at least you weren't strong enough or important enough to be warned about. The Fer-de-Lance only recently entered the scene. Why?"

"I saw you and the Con Rồng batting around the world and thought it looked fun," he shrugged, "Two powers in America fighting for dominance over the weak. How fascinating!"

"The rebellion doesn't want to dominate, we want to get rid of the new government that caused this apocalypse," I snapped, "With them gone, the world can start to heal."

Diego just smiled, his forehead leaning against one of the bars of the cell door, giving me a curious look, "Why do you think that?" he asked me, and I didn't really know how to answer him, "You're assuming that the world will just go back to the way it used to be as soon as this new government is out of the way, but it won't. Nothing will be the same, Dakota, and why would you want it to be? The world was already damaged, it was just a matter of time before it burst into glorious flames!" he pushed away from the door, arms stretched out, "I love this world! It's pure, chaotic truth! No more of that false veil, believing the politicians and the police, that twisted world view, the religious leaders, the people!" he lurched forward, fists slamming against the bars with a bang, and Josie grabbed my arm, tugging me further away as Diego barked a laugh.

"What was wrong with the way the world was back then?" I demanded, and Diego stopped laughing, instead scoffing.

"What's wrong with the way it is now?"

"People are killing each other, are you kidding me?" I shook my head, "I lost everyone, my entire family, because of this war," I choked, pressing my lips together before continuing, "The rebellion is all I have left, but my family, all my blood family, they're gone."

Diego awed at me, "Novio, do you really think the world before was any different? People killed each other back then too, the only difference is that people were condemned for it. Now? No one cares. It's wonderful!"

"No, it's not! I lost everything-!"

"Everyone has lost everything!" Diego yelled back at me, "You aren't special, you're selfish! You aren't the only one who's lost everything!" I didn't respond to that, and he pushed away from the door, a broken look on his face, much different than the smile he usually wore, "This world, though chaotic, is finally equal. Everyone is on the same level now, it doesn't matter what you believe in, who you choose to love, skin color or language, none of that matters anymore," he stepped closer to the door, hands wrapping around the bars as the grin returned, eyes alight with madness, "Tell me. Have you ever been persecuted for loving someone?"

My eyes stayed locked with his, and for the first time, I felt pity for him, "Yes," I answered, and the smile he wore twitched down into a half-frown, "My own mother disowned me because of who I loved. Literally moments before the first bombs fell and killed her, she kicked me out of the house. That same day I lost the one I loved. So yea, I get it."

"You're a strange one alright," Diego noted, pushing away from the door again, "You want to know why I got involved when I did?" he asked, and I folded my arms, arching an eyebrow, "When I realized the rebellion was in a fight with the new government, I decided the crossfire would be a wonderful place to be! Why? Because I want this war, this apocalypse, to crush me. I said it before, right?"

I scoffed at that, "You didn't make much sense. The way you're talking... you want to die or something?"

"Yes," Diego said brightly, shrugging with his hands, "It's a long story. Oh sure, I could always just kill myself, but what's the fun in that?" he turned, swaying on his feet, "I don't just want to die, I want to suffer. It's what I deserve after all," he whispered the last part, and I narrowed my eyes at him as he spun back to face the cell door, "Well! Now you've gotten your answer! That's why the Fer-de-Lance has broken from the shadows and into the light!"

"There's no way your men would follow you if they knew you were just planning on their destruction," I stated, and Diego beamed.

"Who said they knew?"

"Dakota," Josie put a hand on my shoulder, tugging me back, and I turned away from Diego, "I think we've got what we need for now. Let's go."

"Yea."

"I'll talk to you later!" Diego called as we headed for the door, "Say hello to that handsome man meat for me!"

I bristled as the door shut, and Josie pressed his hand against it like he wanted to wrench it back open to storm in and slaughter Diego. I shook my head at him when he looked at me, as if looking for permission.

"It's what he wants, so don't," I said, walking away from the door and kicking against the floor, "What was he singing earlier, anyway?"

"A lullaby," Josie answered me, and I turned to give him a confused look, "A la Puerta del Cielo. I recognized it, my mom used to sing it to Ronnie and I when we were really little."

"A lullaby," I repeated, turning, "That man just gets more and more confusing."

"Let's head back up," Josie said, placing a hand on my back to urge me towards the stairs, "We can ask someone else to come guard the psycho, but we should lock the door to keep curious idiots from looking in on him."

"Good idea," I agreed, "Something tells me Diego has the ability to manipulate whoever he wants. Why else would he be the leader of a group like that," I paused, looking back at the door, "Nora said he was thrown into prison and hounded... I still want to know why. Why he was in prison, why he is the way he is... why he wants to die. Is it because of the trauma? Or from something else?"

"Maybe it's a mix of different things that happened to him," Josie suggested, and I turned to look at him, though he was staring at the cell door, "If someone is hurt for long enough, the pain will overwhelm them, and they'll lose their minds. All they'll want is for the pain to stop, no matter what they have to do to stop it."

"Even kill themselves?"

Josie shrugged, "Maybe."

"Did that happen to you?" I asked uneasily, and he gave me a smile.

"No, but I've seen it happen to others," he turned again, pulling me towards the stairs.

We met Demi on the way back, and he didn't ask where we'd been, just turned to me, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, because there was no use in lying, saying I was completely fine. Demi would see through that anyway, so I just smiled and shrugged with a shake of my head, following up with the truest thing I could think of to say.

"No, but I will be," I breathed out through my nose and folded my arms, "What's going on now?"

"We're having a meeting to discuss our next move," Demi answered, "It's an early meeting, but I figured most of us would be awake. Do you want to go get Beckett and Orion?"

"Yea, they probably wouldn't like waking up with me gone anyway," I agreed, and Demi turned.

"We'll wait for you in the conference room. Don't take too long."

Waking up Beckett was easy, but we both had to work to get Orion up, and he complained about it being too early even as he was getting dressed, though he shut up when we left the room, slumping against Beckett when we were all in the conference room sitting down. There weren't a lot of us there, really. Just the groups at the very top of the military, the people who started everything.

Kailas was sitting in his usual high-backed seat with Demi sitting ad lounging against the arm of the chair to his left, one arm propped against the back of the seat and his cheek in his hand as he stared off at the wall. Cass, Arthur, and Malachi were to the right, with myself, Beckett, and Orion to the left. Lailani, Dmitri, Isagani, Mahalia, Josie, and even Efren were there, as well as Carina, Logan, and Cormac as well. Nora was sitting leaning back in her chair, feet propped up on the table and arms folded, obviously not happy that she was there, but after the car bomb and Fer-de-Lance attacking, there was a high chance that Chains had been overrun.

"Interrogation would be pointless," Cass said, arms folded and eyes shut, "The creep won't tell me anything, and I'm not fond of the idea of sending Dakota in alone."

"He's in a cell, and he's already told me a few things," I argued, "Nothing straight forward, that's for sure, but he did say something."

"Manuela told you he wanted to be crushed between the fighting of the Vidroh and the Con Rồng," Demi stated, not looking at any of us, "That means the rest of his group are wild cards. He's the only one they'll listen to, the only one that can control them, so if he dies, we lose our leverage against them."

"I agree," Kailas hummed, "If we simply keep him prisoner, it could be like a remote control against the Fer-de-Lance. If they back down, we won't harm their leader."

"With that direction, we can't exactly let him go, either," Isagani reminded, and Josie added.

"It would be manipulation worthy of a snake."

Kailas sighed at that and leaned to the left so his head was against Demi's arm, eyes closing, "I don't like the idea of forcing their hand, even if they deserve it. I don't want to follow in the steps of an evil man just to get what we want."

"Even if it means people die?" Efren asked, wincing when Demi shot him a cold look of silent warning.

The kid had definitely grown quiet and cautious since getting his ass handed to him by Demi, there was a newfound sense of respect and fear towards his cousin, rightfully so, and it kept him from screwing around with the rest of the rebellion. He'd even been training more, on his own of course, as if he'd realized there was more he had to learn if he wanted to be at Demi's level.

"If you play it right, you may be able to turn Diego onto our side," I said, and Kailas looked at me curiously, "He seems dead-set on dying by our hands, right? Maybe if we promise him suffering and the release of death, he'll join us?"

"That's the most screwed up thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth," Cass said, leaning back heavily, "The really fucked up thing is it may actually work..."

"How do you propose we do that?" Cormac asked me, and I shrugged.

"Hey Diego, we know how much you hate life, so how bout we make a deal: you join us, fight with us, and we'll make sure you die horribly and painfully."

"Am I the only one who thinks that won't work?" Cormac asked, and I rolled my head away as Nora set all four legs of her chair down, pulling her feet off the table and leaning forward.

"The man is crazy enough that it might work," she decided, "but you boys, won't get anywhere without the weapons he's stolen. How low are you on supplies again?" silence answered her, and I looked nervously at Cass and Malachi, who kept their eyes downcast, "That's what I thought."

"Are you just going to tell us how screwed we are, or do you plan on helping us?" Carina demanded, and Nora smiled.

"I've got a stash of weapons," she said, and Kailas sat a little straighter, appearing as surprised as the rest of us, "It's pretty far, I admit, but I couldn't very well keep it too close, for fear of people raiding. I'm the only one who knows where it's located, I haven't even marked it on a map, but I've got guns and ammunition there. Enough to hold us for a while."

"Us?"

Nora turned to me, "Those sons a' bitches took my bar from me, I've got nowhere else to go now, and I want revenge, so yea, us," she leaned back in her seat, "If you'll let me borrow a few of your men for a guard detail, and a few vans to carry everything, I can get it all to you in a matter of days."

Kailas was keeping eye contact with Nora steadily, weighing the offer and the possible ways it could backfire before finally nodding his head, "Alright," he decided, turning his head, "Dakota, you go with here. Beckett, Orion, Carina, Logan, and Cass will go with you as well."

"Cool with me," I decided, looking at Beckett and Orion for their thoughts, and they nodded in agreement.

"At least you're not going without us this time," Orion stated, and I rolled my eyes as Nora stood up.

"Then fill the car tanks with as much gas as they can carry, we've got a rebellion to supply with dangerous firearms," she winked and pointed a finger-gun at Mahalia, who giggled as Isagani and Efren bristled, and I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh.

Oh great. I'm turning into Josie.

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