They attack the enemy positions.

Too little too late.

We’ve already lost so much.

I want to wait at the end of the tunnel for Chris and Max, but I know that I’m being followed by Omega men. So I force myself onward, looking for Sophia and Uriah. Where are they? I follow the side of the interstate for an eternity, the Air Force streaking overhead, dropping their payload on the ground. How will they know who to attack? Our enemies are coming from the inside, too. They look like us.

Harry Lydell. He knew this would happen. He must have known they’d been planted a long time ago. How else would he be so confident that we would suffer? Why else could he get away with being so infuriatingly smug?

I climb onto the freeway, knowing that I’m far enough down the road that there are no more landmines here. Rivera’s forces have pulled back. They’re not even here. I’m alone. We’ve been left here…again.

Fury burns through my veins, coupled with the hollow sadness of Jeff’s death and leaving Chris behind.

He will come. He will come. They won’t kill him. He’s too valuable to kill.

Harry knows that. Right?

I have to keep moving.

The low stutter of an engine echoes off the side of the hills, audible to me only because I’m familiar with it. “Manny!” I yell, desperate. Standing in the middle of the freeway, mired in muck and blood and tears. “Manny, I’m down here!”

He can’t hear me. I know that. But yelling it feels good.

The outline of his old biplane appears in the sky, coasting towards me, using the freeway as an open runway.

“Sundog, this is Yankee,” I yell into my radio. “I’m right under you.”

“Copy that, Yankee,” he replies. “Show me some light.”

I flash my flashlight a few times, marking my position. The direction of his plane changes and he dips down, making a quick, emergency landing on the interstate.

“GET IN!” he shouts.

“I’m waiting for Chris!”

“THERE IS NO TIME.”

“I won’t leave until I know he’s alive!”

“Just get in the cockpit, Cassidy!”

I hesitate, guilt and fear twisting my gut. If I stay here any longer, I’ll die. Chris could have escaped another way. He’ll meet up with me. He always does. Sophia and Max and Derek and Uriah… they’ll meet up with me, too. I know they will.

I have to believe that.

I climb onto the wing and throw my legs over the side of the cockpit, hitting the seat with a thud. “What about everybody else?” I yell.

“I’ve got one passenger seat and you’re in it!”

Manny spins the biplane into a U-turn. I clutch the sides of the plane, squeezing my eyes shut. We gain speed, and suddenly the bottom drops out of my stomach, and I know that we are airborne. As we rise I begin to cry heavily. Great, heaving sobs. Chris is down there. Jeff is dead. Max is probably dead. Derek is missing. Sophia and Uriah could be anywhere.

Chris is down there. Chris is down there. Oh, God, what if they kill him?

I open my eyes, the freezing rain tears at my skin, making the situation just that much more unbearable. This is wrong. This is so, so wrong.

The plane rumbles on, and I’m numb to our surroundings and the time I spend in the air. At some point Manny begins circling and then we’re losing altitude. We land on asphalt, and I vaguely register that we’re at Headquarters. We’re back. There are very few troops here, besides the wounded that are being brought in. Our backup reserve of soldiers is being deployed and another convoy is moving out.

“Get out of the cockpit, Cassidy,” Manny says, killing the engine. His boots hit the wing and he grabs me by the shoulders. “Cassidy, don’t fade out on me, girl.”

No. This can’t be happening.

Loss grips my chest. Raw, painful. Real.

I slowly stand, bitter realization setting in.

Why can’t I just wake up from this nightmare? I wonder.

Because this is no dream. This is the new reality. This is the new world.

This is the beginning of the end.

Epilogue

A collapse. That’s what they’re calling it now. They won’t say what it really is. A takeover. An invasion. A systematic extermination. But I know. We know. Anybody that’s seen what Omega has done or suffered because of them knows the truth. This is no collapse. This is a war. A war that was designed to begin from the inside. Our society collapsed on itself because of our dependence on technology and that made us weak. And now here we are. Fighting to survive.

I don’t know why this had to happen. I don’t understand how one man — or a group of people — could be evil enough to inflict this kind of suffering on the world. But that’s human nature, isn’t it? If you let it run loose long enough, doesn’t it always come back to this? Fighting and tragedy and bloodshed. It’s happened all throughout history. Why should this be any different?

Regardless of what the outcome will be, I will not go quietly. I’ve lost too much. My father was right. Fighting with the National Guard is unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s a different environment. It’s more brutal. And at times, terribly unfair. Yet I still have hope. This is not the end. This is the beginning of the end of the war. This is when we will make our final stand, when we will make a choice about who we will be and what we will stand for.

I will find Chris. I will lead the militia right into Omega’s open arms if I have to. Nothing will stop me from being with him again. He came for me when I was imprisoned in a labor camp. This time, I’m coming for him. Harry Lydell stands no chance. Omega stands no chance.

I will find them.

Ready or not, here I come.

More titles from WB Publishing:

The Collapse Series by Summer Lane:

State of Emergency (Book #1)

State of Chaos (Book #2)

State of Rebellion (Book #3)

Book 4 (To release 2014!)

Writing Belle Publishing — also known simply as WB Publishing — is a digital publishing company dedicated to releasing only the most exciting and engaging fictional stories within the dystopian, survivalist and post-apocalyptic realms. Writing Belle is always looking for new and upcoming talent. If you’ve written a story you think would be perfect for us, visit our website and submit your manuscript to us:

http://writingbellepublishing.com/

We’re always looking for the next bestselling novel!

Acknowledgements

Writing a book is one thing. Writing a series is another. Penning the tale of Cassidy Hart and the survival of western civilization is quite a task, easily one of the most exciting and difficult of my life. Writing State of Rebellion was a literary sprint, an epic challenge. I’m as equally happy to be able to release it as everyone else is to finally read it. And it is somewhat of a relief to know that Cassidy’s story is not over yet. She and I have become quite close, and I’m not ready to say goodbye.

All books have a backstory, and The Collapse Series has one, too. I would like to thank my dad, for his technical expertise and tips that helped make the Freedom Fighters as effective as they were. This series would not exist without you. It is so important to me that my readers know this. Cassidy and Chris owe him a lot!

To my mom, thanks for being positive when I’m not! Even on the worst days, you always have a kind word to offer, and I’m so grateful. Thank you, Rocklin, for being Batman.

I mean… thanks for being a great brother, of course.

A special thanks to the ladies and gentlemen of NA Alley: Victoria Smith, Jaycee DeLorenzo, Carrie Butler, L.G. Kelso, Diana Long, Lynn Rush, Juliana Haygert and E.J. Wesley. To Ellen Mansoor Collier, thanks for being such an awesome friend and a one-woman writer support group! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa, Nancy and Pete, for everything. I love you both!