Free Learning the Truth (Fighting for Freedom Series Book 1) by Jennifer Clay Page B

it in the new world, apart from keep forcing herself through it, so that was exactly what she did, no matter how hard it was. When she looked back at her quiver she saw that she was running out of arrows.
    “What are our chances?” Frank fired another arrow. “I know Tristan was worried this morning, thanks to what our scouts had told us, so if he’s worried…”
    Cameron nodded. “The logical thing is for us all to worry. A few people defected before this morning.” He shook his head. “My brother was one of them, sadly.”
    “They might have made the right choice.” Louise reached for her penultimate arrow. “When I heard the reports I thought the scouts were exaggerating the numbers, because I didn’t realize this many people had survived the meteor and everything that happened after.”
    Frank was one of three people who knew what happened to her before the meteor. The only reason he knew was because he’d been with her after several of her nightmares, guiding her through the panic attack that followed, before going off to make her a hot drink to help her cope with the shock of seeing it all again. Dealing with them at night was much easier than it was during the day, as she dared not show certain people that she had weaknesses. They would take advantage of the times when she was at her worst, getting rid of someone who was closer to Tristan than they were in the hope that they’d fill the space that was left.
    “Last time I spoke with Tristan he was hoping the same thing.” Cameron sighed. “I think we need to make a decision and we need to make it before Tristan falls.” He looked at Frank and Louise. “Do we go down fighting or join with Scott?”
    “Going down fighting is the only thing we can do, if we’re truly loyal to Tristan. It’s not the logical thing to do, not if you want to survive another day, but I don’t think I want to be a part of that.” Frank gestured out of the window. “Join with Scott and you become a part of the horde that’s trying to take over our county.”
    “Was there ever a point when Tristan could have joined with Scott of his own free will?” Louise knew Frank was even closer to Tristan than she was, so if anyone would know the answer to that question it was him. “Could he have stopped this from happening?” Silence followed and that told her all she needed to know. “I don’t think he’s any better than Scott, then, as he made us a part of this battle without asking us if it was what we wanted.”
    “He made the best decision he could with the information that he had.” Their eyes met when Louise looked over at him. “If we weren’t fighting Scott we would have been fighting Damascus and Septimus, because neither of them were willing to work with Scott, so the only sensible thing he could do was turn down the offer that was made to him, even though he didn’t really want to. From the moment he made it he knew it meant his death and I will go down with him.”
    “Making that decision did mean we had more time to prepare.” Cameron sounded uncertain. “Why didn’t they send us some of their people?”
    Louise couldn’t help laughing. “They’re both too busy shoring up their own defenses to help us with ours, Cam.”

Chapter 4
    A hand pushed Louise forwards. Frank had done exactly what he said he would do and gone down fighting, but before she could make her own decision someone had grabbed hold of her. She knew that she’d been seen. She knew that all of her arrows had hit their targets even when she was having a flashback. They wanted her, so they weren’t going to let her do something stupid, and that was why she found herself standing in front of Scott, who appraised her in such a way she felt more like a piece of meat than a human being. When their eyes met she did her best to hide her emotions, even though that was something she’d never been all that good at.
    “You’re good.”
    “I know I am.”
    He smiled. “Normally we give