Sneak preview of Tomorrow’s War

So I’m sharing the first chapter of my book XD Note this is the rough, rough draft so uh… don’t expect too much XD

Chapter 1 

 Alexa

I crept my way down the city sidewalk, lurking in the shadows. I watched as a patrol drone made its way down the street. I studied my surroundings and ducked into an alley, pulling out a key from my back pocket. The drone turned to scan the alley; I quickly moved to the shadows. I let out a sigh of relief when the drone passed.

After I made sure the drone had left, I went back to walking. The alley was dim, and making my way through without tripping over something was challenging. In such a big city, an alley like this wouldn’t even be noticed, especially this late at night.

At the end of the alley, a piece of scrap metal leaned up against one of the walls. With one big push, I moved it out of the way to reveal a door. The door looked like a lot of the doors you would normally see around the city: white frame with tons of wires and metal plates. But the part that usually lit up had been gutted for safety reasons.

I swiped the key I had been holding this whole time into the door’s keypad, and I was about to put in a password when I heard something. I was late to the meeting, so there was little chance that one of the students had come late too. I took a glance around the alley; I noticed a little screw rolling around on the concrete ground, but I didn’t see anyone. When I was sure there was no one, I turned and went back to the keypad.

“You’re late.”

My heart stopped, and no part of my body could move. I wanted to let out a scream, but it would only make the situation worse. I finally found the courage to look behind me, and when I did my worries left. It was just John.

“You shouldn’t scare people like that,” I said, gasping for breath. “I could have screamed, and I would have given us away.”

I instantly regretted what I said, because I knew what John would say.

“Speaking of which–” I turned away from him and rolled my eyes while I put in my password. “You can’t just turn away from it, Alex! It’s getting more and more dangerous every day!”

“I won’t stop the Bible study. We are getting more believers every day. We can’t stop!”

“And with more believers comes more danger. Why don’t we give them all the Bibles and let them study on their own?”

“Because a lot of these people have so many questions.” I was starting to get angry with every sentence that came out of John’s mouth. “I was the one chosen to lead this Bible study after… after,” my voice started to become shaky and a few tears ran down my face.

“After Mr. and Mrs. Williams died. I’m sorry, I just don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

By now, I had put my password in and the door started to answer. I wiped the tears off my face, and in a quiet voice I said, “We should talk about this inside, where we won’t get overheard.”

As the door opened, I prepared myself to face the students without showing my worry, but when the gap in the doors widened, I saw the horror that lay inside.

I gasped, stepping into the room. Bookshelves that once held devotions were tipped over and the books lay on the ground, some torn to shreds. The Cross that once hung on one side of the room was now laying on the ground. And every part of the room looked like a tornado went through it, but the real horror of the thing that would haunt me in my sleep was what was missing. I had arrived late because of the extra drones flying around the area. I was forced to slow my pace to sneak around them and that one mistake would cost twenty-one people their lives and would save me and John’s.

I walked over to one of the dismantled bookshelves and picked up a note that had been laying there.

Due to not following the supreme government’s rule, twenty-one criminals have been taken captive, but none of them claim to know the destination of Alexa Montgomery.

Supreme Police

“If I had arrived earlier, they would have gotten me instead of these innocent people.” I glanced at John, my knees feeling weak and my fists clenched.

“It’s not your fault, Alex!” John walked over to me.

“It will be if I stay!” I held up my arms to stop John from coming any closer. I didn’t want any sympathy. All I wanted was to leave before anyone else died.

“You should go.” I gestured for John to leave.
“And where will you go?!”

“Faraway,” I replied in a shaky voice.  I held his gaze. I wasn’t budging on this matter.

“But you can’t.”

I knew John would try to stop me, but I wasn’t going to let him die too. I stuffed some of the Bibles in my bag just in case and bolted out of the building before John could stop me. I wouldn’t put anyone else in danger, not again.

As I walked through the streets of Megatron City, drones and robots patrolled the sidewalks. It took me thirty minutes to walk just one block because of them. With every step I took, I would wonder who might be watching me. I had to get out of this giant city, but it felt like some kind of maze where the obstacles would cost me either death or life in prison.

When I reached the corner of the next block, I spotted something and I watched as it got closer and closer. It looked almost like a person, someone big and large. The eyes were almost glowing, and the closer it got, the more my hands trembled.

I sensed a quick movement behind me, but I couldn’t focus on that because the shadow was getting nearer, and I realized it wasn’t a person, but a robot. A robot who was creeping towards me and would no doubt kill me in only a few seconds.

I glanced around and saw more robots coming at me from every direction except behind me, where I had seen another more stealthy movement. I had two options: try to fight the robots or turn and run in the direction of whatever mystery was behind me. Only one of those decisions had a chance of survival.

With one big turn, I ran in the opposite direction, but I realized that was a mistake because I found myself in an alley. “This is it,” I said in a low whisper.

The robots were closing in and I was about to meet my end. But like a ghost, I saw someone running on the rooftop of a low building next to me. The person seem to glide down, but after looking more closely I realized the person was climbing down one of the ladders that hung onto the building. Before I could figure out who the mystery person was, he or she held out a hand to me.

“Grab my hand!” the mystery person yelled.

“How do I know I can trust you?” I held back.

“Well, how can I trust you? We’re both taking a chance, but if you don’t take that chance,” the mystery person gestured toward the robots that were getting closer. “You die.”

By now I could see the person clearly. She looked to be a younger girl–eighteen or nineteen. She wore a black hoodie that blended invisibly into the night sky and covered most of her hair, except for a strand of light blond that seeped through the covering. Her brown eyes glimmered in comparison to the darkness around her. But as I searched her face, I could see a girl who looked hurt, like her eyes had cried many tears, and she was searching for something that she was yet to find.

“Are you coming, or not?!”

Her voice took me out of my deep thought and I realized that I better hurry up and get out of there. I grabbed her hand and climbed onto the ladder. As I climbed, I didn’t dare look down; I didn’t want to know what was below or who might be following me. By the time I reached the top, I stopped and took in my surroundings.

“Come on!” The girl yelled.

I followed behind her until we reached an old shed-like room on top of the building. This building must have been an older building because nowadays, buildings were much taller and had no flat surface, just a point at the top. She opened the door and held it open for me. I shot her a skeptical glance and reluctantly went into the room. I took a seat on a bucket and watched as the girl locked the door. She turned and looked at me and a smile spread across her face.

“I’m Skylar, and you are?”

“Alex,” I said hesitantly. “Who are you?”

“A rebel.” Skylar flicked on a lamp that lit the whole room and revealed papers taped all over the walls. They appeared to be maps and documents, some with the words Supreme Government and others with the word “rebels” written all over them. “And I won’t stop until the Supreme Leader pays for his crimes.”

“When you say pay, do you mean death?”

“He killed millions. His life will save more than it will hurt.” Skylar said it with no guilt or shame. “Why were you running from the robots?”
“I’m being chased for running an illegal Bible study. I need to get out of this city, but I don’t know where to go.”

Skylar looked at one of the maps and then at me with a clever smile.

“I think that you and I should go here,” Skylar pointed to the middle of the map. She was pointing at the woods–the abandoned woods.

“Why there? No one ever goes in there, not even the government.”

“That’s why we should go there. Whatever’s there, the government doesn’t want to be found. This is why they guard the outside but never go inside. I suspect there’s an old base in there.”

“Why did the government abandon the base?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“I don’t know… it sounds risky.”

“The woods are ginormous! They would never know you were in there! It’s perfect!” Skylar looked at me, awaiting my response.

“Okay.”

I still wasn’t sure, but it seemed like my only option, and I couldn’t help but feel that God was going to have me do something–something big.