28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ali
The fire on top of the mountain was visible the moment they stepped out of the tavern. Grace ran for the base of the mountain, finding her mother and a few other council members huddled together and talking in hushed, worried tones.
She squeezed into their circle and waited for her mother to acknowledge her.
“Mason, if you could work with the medics to ensure no one has been injured. I know they said no one was near, but I want to be absolutely positive. Clayton, what did you hear from the fire chief?”
“Yes, Lady Ellen. He said they’ve contained the fire so it shouldn’t spread, but they’re still working on putting out the remaining blaze.”
“Good. Good,” she murmured. “And Maggie, what is the damage?”
“It’s still being assessed. Most is limited to the forest, but there are at least a few solar panels that are beyond repair.”
Grace’s mother massaged her temples before taking a deep breath.
“Okay, keep me updated. Everyone else can just make sure the residents are taken care of. Answer their questions as best as you can without instilling fear. If anyone is without power, tell them to head to the cafeteria where Diane is managing resources.”
After her last remark, the council members split off and headed in different directions.
A few were immediately rushed by concerned civilians who wore terror on their faces.
Grace watched the council members attempt to ease their worries, but it would take more than words and patience to undo the damage to their community.
“Grace,” her mother said, catching her attention. “You brought company.”
Eli, Theo, and Sam were gathered behind her, an entourage of personal support. With her mother, it was always a toss-up on whether that support would be needed.
But tonight her mother looked weak and tired. Like she’d been fighting these battles for more years than she could handle. Grace wasn’t used to seeing her mother look so frail. It caught her off guard, and she forgot what her mother had even said.
“What happened, Mom?” Theo asked, taking a step forward to support their mother by the arm. Apparently, Grace wasn’t the only one to recognize her exhaustion.
She massaged her temples again and actually winced in pain. “An explosion set fire to the mountain peak. It appears the solar panels were targeted, but we’re still determining how many were lost.”
“The rebels?” Grace inquired. She couldn’t imagine who else could be responsible.
“Please don’t start with this tonight. There will be a full investigation, but it isn’t helpful to jump to conclusions.”
Grace scoffed. As far as she was concerned, there was no jumping. Merely taking the carefully placed steppingstones that had been laid out over months. Her mother was in denial.
“She’s right. It’s obvious who is behind this,” Eli added, and she was thankful he was there to back her up.
“No, it isn’t. Unless you’ve gathered some evidence in the past five minutes that I’m unaware of.”
Even in the low light of the moon and lanterns, Grace saw Eli roll his eyes. Luckily her mother wasn’t paying attention or she would’ve had an additional reason to scold them all.
“We’ll head up there,” Theo said. “See what we can do to help.”
Grace nodded, and beside her, Eli and Sam mimicked their agreement. They were all ready to aid in whatever way they could.
“You don’t need to worry about it, Theo. In fact, all of you should get inside. It’s under control tonight, but we’ll need you well rested in the morning. I’m afraid to say I don’t think the worst is over. We won’t know how bad it truly is until daylight, when the damage is fully assessed.”
“Don’t be silly. We’re not going home.” Grace crossed her arms. Why dismiss them when they were able-bodied and ready to assist? She was the future Lady of Berland. There was no way she was leaving in the middle of another attack to go home and kick her feet up.
Her mother shook her head and almost…wobbled. “I need to sit down.”
Theo put a hand behind her back and frowned. “I’ll take you home then. Grace can handle herself.” He tilted his head toward Grace, waiting for her to back him up.
“Yes. You look like you need the rest more than I do. I’ll stay here and if there are any new developments, I will come find you.”
Her mother nodded and allowed Theo to lead her back inside the cavernous entrance of the mountain.
Once her mother was out of earshot, Grace turned to Sam and Eli. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately.”
“Hasn’t she always been a little…doubtful of your abilities?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, but she’s never blown me off entirely. And why does it look like she hasn’t slept in days?”
Eli’s brows pinched together while Sam shrugged, saying, “Maybe the stress is getting to her.”
“I guess…” Grace frowned as she headed toward the trail that led up the side of the mountain.
The men stayed quiet, but while she walked, several civilians rushed up to her to ask questions.
Mostly about the state of the infrastructure and whether they were safe inside the mountain.
She couldn’t give them an answer for certain, so she had to resort to vague affirmations.
“There’s no place safer than the mountain.”
“We will recover from this.”
“The people of Berland are resilient and capable of withstanding anything thrown our way.”
Words that she mostly believed in, but while the threat of Eamon’s rebellion loomed over their heads, she couldn’t be one hundred percent certain.
The trail, which was usually quiet and peaceful, was full of men and women running by with barrels of water.
They had an emergency water reserve at the top, but apparently it wasn’t sufficient.
Grace made a mental note to have the resources replaced first thing in the morning, just in case another incident occurred.
By the time they made it to the highest peak, red-tinged smoke filled the air, illuminated by the embers of a fire that was almost extinguished.
She recognized the fire chief standing next to a field of black square metal structures, all strategically placed to receive the most sunlight throughout the day.
Eli and Sam both gaped, and she could tell they’d never seen anything like it before.
Compared to everything else in their world, this was probably the most technologically advanced structure that existed.
The solar panels had been built long ago to keep the mountain powered long after society collapsed.
The black slates covered the side of the mountain like scales on a fish, and on the far side, she could just barely see in the moonlight where the shiny panels faded into a wooded area.
Grace approached the fire chief, who spoke animatedly to volunteers, pointing in various directions and nodding at their questions.
Once he caught sight of her, he dismissed the volunteers and gave Grace his full attention.
“Miss Grace. I wasn’t aware you’d be joining us.
As you can see, the fire is contained and almost extinguished. ”
“Thank you, Oliver. I have complete faith in you.”
“I told you to call me Olly.”
Oliver, or Olly, had been the fire chief for as long as Grace could remember, and was highly skilled at his job. It was important to keep wildfires at bay, but lately it seemed like he was dealing with more arson cases than nature running its course.
“Olly,” she repeated and smiled. “Fill me in on the damage.”
Olly showed Grace around while Eli and Sam followed in their footsteps.
The explosion appeared to have gone off near the seventh and eighth sectors.
All the solar panels were sectioned and given their own battery bank.
At least, that was what she could recall from the tour she’d been given a few years ago.
It had been a while since she’d taken any interest in this stuff.
While it was clear the target was meant to be the panels, the forest had caught the most damage, and Olly approximated that only twenty percent of the panels in sector seven and eight had been turned to ashes.
Grace sighed. The other part she remembered about her tour was that replacing these panels was nearly impossible. It wasn’t like they could go out and buy new ones. And if they had been burned to a crisp, it was unlikely they’d be able to salvage them.
“Which parts of the mountain are powered by the seventh and eighth sectors?”
“Mostly second level housing,” Olly began. “There are a few common areas affected—classrooms, utility spaces, that kind of thing—but the majority is residential.”
Grace nodded. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that the second level would take the most impact.
It was, after all, filled with mostly newcomers, and Eamon and his rebels clearly had no qualms about sacrificing them in their latest attack.
Her mother had scolded her for jumping to conclusions, but her first instinct had been correct.
Her righteousness was quickly extinguished by pity for the ones who’d be displaced.
“How bad is it?” Eli asked once Olly was finished walking Grace through his report. Upon seeing her face, he grimaced and pulled her in for a hug. “We’ll get through it.”
We. There was something so comforting about having Eli at her side. She could only hope that he would still be around to support her after the third round of the Rite in just two days.
“Let’s go,” she said. There wasn’t anything else that could be done up in the solar panel field, but perhaps Diane could use their help directing families to temporary homes.
Back at the base, much of the commotion had died down.
The crowds had diminished to half of what they’d been when the explosion first took place.
Grace could only assume that most had either gone home after learning there wasn’t much they could do or moved to the cafeteria to have their needs addressed.