I growled, no longer holding in my anger. "My father died eight years ago, and my mother died nearly fourteen years ago."

Her voice caught. "The same year of the breach when they sealed off the upper hemi?"

My eyes flickered from Tamara and Vince and back to Emily, while my mind tried to make sense of this information it had received. I had wondered if it was possible that my mother would survive that event. But Dad, his death was different. "My-my dad's a hero. He died a hero."

"Damn right he did." She inched closer, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "But he died because for years he'd been covertly trying to help me. Thanks to some friends down there, they restored an undetectable amount of power to the upper hemi without others knowing, establishing a way for me and your father to secretly communicate. I begged your dad to promise to keep our communication a secret. We knew the risks. We all did. He promised that no matter what, he wouldn't tell a soul, not one soul. Not ever. But something caused Randolph to suspect we were communicating somehow. We weren't careful enough and it cost him and his innocent colleague their lives."

"I don't understand." My mind raced. "You're my mother?"

"Emily Sara Nichols." More tears glistened her cheeks. "I gave birth to you nearly twenty-one years ago, Connor. I named you after your father's father. Damien loved to tell you stories about Refuge Inc., the good parts about Adam, Elliot, and their dog, Titan. You fell in love with that old mutt Titan." She chuckled. "You'd love to hear about how they'd fight for each other. And for years I used to think that maybe their story gave you the courage to fight for something too."

I had never thought that this woman could be my mother. I felt foolish for not connecting the dots earlier. Being told she had died in the breach from Dad and everyone around me, there had never been a reason not to believe it. Obviously, the breach had never happened, and Dad had his reasons for not telling me. She knew a lot about me and Dad, making it difficult not to believe her now. "You've been alive all this time? This whole time." It was tough to process.

"That's right." Her lips stretched into a smile, showing a row of discolored teeth. "Every chance I had to talk to your dad I'd ask about you. Every single time. He'd give me a play-by-play of your day and your duties. I'd tell him to give you a hug and kiss for me, but of course he never mentioned those particular hugs and kisses were from your mother. I used to believe that you would never know. The last time I talked to him, before he was to go on that damned Resurfaced mission, he wanted to take a piece of you with him because he was so sure he wouldn't return. Do you remember the red ribbon with the three brass bells?"

I gasped. No one knew about those but Dad, Vince, and I. "He took them?" Excitement filled my heart and I looked at Vince wide-eyed. A bit of me felt ashamed that I hadn't cherished those brass bells as much as I could have, and I would've if I'd known that would be the last part of me Dad would hold.

Emily sniffed. "I knew from the moment you removed your gasmask that you were my son. You're a splitting image of Damien. You've grown up well and so handsome. I don't believe in miracles, but by definition this meeting sure does qualify as one."

I stared at her, not sure what to say or do. "It's been almost fourteen years. I don't even know you."

"I don't expect you to give me kisses and call me mommy." She took a step back, probably to give me breathing room or maybe provide some for herself. "I know so much about you and your friend, Mr. Moore." She nodded to Vince.

I shrugged, throwing my hands up in confusion. "How? If Dad died nearly eight years ago, how would you know much about Vince or anything about Tamara for that matter?"

"I still have friends below. Your dad still has friends below too. And they still care about us. I had to make sure Vince and Tamara were who they said they were, so I verified everything with our friends."

I thought back to the recent arrests I witnessed a few days ago. "Dr. Price Cutler and his wife, Sandy? They're helping you?"

She nodded. "Also, your friend, Dr. Smith, the botanist and a couple others."

"You know Dr. Smith too?" Shock and wonder hit me at once.

"He was a good friend of your father's. They worked together since the beginning, shortly after settling into the facility. He tells me how much you like the tomatoes down there and that you're a fine helper too."

My mind went crazy with questions and theories, but thankfully Vince stepped forward.

"My dad really did those things to all of you?" He glanced at me and gulped before returning his sights to Emily. "He really sent Connor's dad outside the facility because he was trying to help you guys?"

Her mouth dipped into a frown. "I'm sorry."

Vince stared ahead at nothingness, most likely in his thoughts. "I need a minute to-I don't know, to let this sink in."

"Yeah, me too." Tamara brought her hand to her throat, visibly taken aback. "It's a hell of a lot to digest."

"With our friends' help, we're monitoring their activity below as we speak and not sure what their next move will be. We have about twenty hours until our planned counter. So, while we figure it all out, why don't you guys go get a bite to eat and rest up for a couple hours." She called out and two men appeared in the doorway. "Take them to some private rooms where they can freshen up and relax a bit, and get them some food, please. They'll need fuel to make it through this crazy morning."

"Yes, Emily." The two men outside the door waited for us to follow.

"Uh, thank you." I attempted a smile of appreciation, but for some reason it didn't stay on my lips.

"No problem." She nodded. "And if you like, you all can call me Em. Your dad used to."

I followed Vince and Tamara out the door and down the darkened hall.

One of the men who escorted us up as our captor ordered the many people to make room as we walked by. They stepped back or flattened themselves against the walls to allow us through. Many of them looked just as confused as I felt, but no one said anything above a whisper to their neighbor.

"Up here to the right." The man pointed ahead. "Damn people below overrode the power up here. We had to make do with what little we managed to confiscate. Bathrooms are up there in the corner. The women's and men's are across from each other. You can't miss it." The layout was similar to the lower hemi levels, but none of us said anything to stop him from explaining. He went on. "Water pressure's low. It comes out as a drizzle, but that helps us ration it. Most of the water is used in the hydroponic garden and for plumbing, filtration, and other ways we need it to stay afloat. Trying to return the additives to our water would've alerted Randolph to our power usage up here." He huffed. "Levels Thirteen through Twenty are functional, but most of the engineering machines and refrigeration are down. We have to conserve our energy too. That's why it's dark around here."

Tamara brought her hand to her chest. "You been living like this for years?"

He nodded. "We call it surviving."

I couldn't fathom living in such conditions. "How many people survived the breach?"

"You mean the explosion that cut us off?" he clarified. "Hundreds died that week. Over the years, we had to say goodbye to hundreds more. Many couldn't survive the circumstances. For the rest of us still alive, still surviving, we're the strongest and the most likely to get back what is ours." We stopped by a large room containing a row of rooms. "Here you are. Just pick which one you like. They're all pretty much the same, a hole in the wall with a bed. I can take you to the cafeteria to get some food if you want."

"I'll stay." Vince looked to me, a distant look still in his eyes. "My leg's bothering me. Bring something back, will you?"

I moved closer to establish a bit of privacy between us, in case he wanted to say something the others shouldn't hear. "You sure?"

He nodded and retreated into the closest room.

Tamara and I followed the man, leaving Vince in his room to rest. We walked the dark, dingy hall until we made it to our destination.

Once inside the cafeteria, a handful of people holding their small food trays scantily covered in greens and bread scurried by, eyeing us the entire time. I wasn't sure if I should smile or even acknowledge the stares, so I did neither.

"Help yourselves." The man pointed to a table of small, withered veggies and fruit, and what looked like stale bread. A vast change from the large, plump tomatoes I was used to eating as a treat. "The rule is, don't put it on your tray if it doesn't fit. It's a hard rule to enforce when so many are starving but try your best."

I spotted the small aluminum trays stacked at the end of a long, buffet-style table. "Thank you."

He nodded and waited by the cafeteria door, leaving us at the table alone.

"I'm so sorry, Connor." Tamara patted my shoulder. "I would have never guessed you'd reunite with your mom out of all people, and all these insane secrets would come out. This all must be crazy for you." Her words were soft and full of care.

"Insane secrets? Tell me about it. It still feels like I'm going to wake up any moment and be back in my bed." I shook my head. "No red lights, no alarms, no panic and commotion, just a warm bed and everything back to the way it was before waking up."

"It's hard not to believe what Em's told us so far about everything, especially about Dr. Randolph. I mean, she was so convincing and what she says adds up. Most of it makes sense. I wonder how Vince is taking it."

"Me too." I swallowed a lump that lodged in my throat, suddenly fearing for Vince's mental well-being. "I would have never believed Dr. Randolph was capable of something like this, and what he did to my father..."

"What are we gonna do?" Tamara lifted the small aluminum tray and stared blankly at it. "We'll have to get back down there to let everyone know what's really been going on for the past fourteen years."

"You know what telling them will do, right?" I stared into her dark brown eyes and a scared, worried woman stared back. I'm sure I projected just as much fear in my facial expressions. "Things will never be the same again. It'll cause rebellion within the facility. The one thing Dr. Randolph was trying to prevent. People will take sides, fight against each other, and possibly end up taking more innocent lives. And it would be on us. Are you ready for that?"

"Connor, it's already too late. That's exactly what's happening, if you want it to or not. Dr. Randolph set that in motion when he sealed off the upper hemi. He sent the higher officers to Ten with the precise order to neutralize anyone without a gas mask, making everyone think we're ridding the facility of infected people. When in reality we were killing innocent people, who were never infected and had been trapped up here for years, trying to come back down. And their only crime? They hold the power to change this entire place with their truths. This was probably the actual reason we've been training all these years. As soon as they found out the people from the upper hemi had broken through, we were sent to kill them. To silence them. And the timing was perfect too. Almost like Randolph knew they were going to break through before they did."

I thought back several hours to when I was headed to the hydroponic garden to meet Dr. Smith and overheard a conversation. "I heard a couple of people from Control discussing reports that were coming in, and they thought they 'had a couple more weeks' and had to 'notify Dr. Randolph immediately.' I didn't know what they were talking about then, but thinking about it now, it sounds like Randolph knew people were going to break through and planned the entire 'contamination breach' to have them killed."

She looked at me, wide-eyed. "It's not okay to fool us all into killing innocent, uncontaminated people. Now we have the power to change this entire place with the truth and put someone worthy in the leader chair. That's our purpose."

"You're right." I nodded, impressed with her calculated quick thinking. "But we would've never known if we didn't disobey orders and gone up to Ten. Ignorance is bliss, you know? Look how good everything was when we had no idea. And if we strip that away from everyone below, they'll resent us. Maybe it would've been better if we hadn't gone up."

"Then we'd be fighting on the wrong side of this battle." She frowned. "They may resent us, but we owe them the truth. We ended up here because it's us who will bring real justice to this place. It's meant to be. Just like Emily said. Today was nothing short of a miracle."

"You could've still been down there with your folks and your friends. And I would've been up here with Vince, fighting you on the opposite side if you hadn't come up here."

"Never." She shook her head. "I don't care what the orders were. I would never fight against you or Vince."

Her reaction made me wonder. "Why did you come? You could've stayed, but you followed me. Why?"

"The same reason you came." She glanced at me then turned away sheepishly. "I knew you'd do anything to make sure Vince would make it back to you alive. You'd risk your life for him. I would've never been able to stop you from coming up here, not as long as Vince was up here. So, I followed you to make sure you'd be safe. There was no other choice."

I looked to her, dissatisfied with her excuse. "You risked your life for me, Tamara. For us." Concern and appreciation for the risks she'd made came over me, but I needed to know why she did it.

"Okay. Talk about insane secrets." She rolled her eyes. "Well, I care about you, Connor." She chuckled nervously. "Okay? There. I said it. You care about Vince, and I care about you. If the worse had happened to Vince, you would've shut down. And it would have been damn near impossible for you to recover from the pain. It would've been a damaging blow, and I couldn't bear to see you grieve again."

Was there more than concern in her intentions? "You-"

"Yeah, all right?" She avoided eye contact, visibly embarrassed by her confession. "I may have feelings for you, but I know your heart belongs to Vince. I know you'd never feel that way about me. Some things just aren't meant to be. But some things, like you and Vince and you and Emily, are. And that makes it all right."

Stunned, I blinked away the shock. "Tamara, I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. Why would you? I pretended to hate you." She chuckled. "I teased you relentlessly. I tried to make your days a living hell, which could've doubled as a sign..." she paused as if she was reluctant to expose any more of her emotions, "...all because of my insecurities. Because I'd never be Vince. So how would you ever guess?"

"Why didn't you tell me or talk to me about it?"

"What difference would it have made?"

"We could've been good friends. All this time we could've worked together and learned from each other like friends do."

"What do you think we're doing now?" She grinned. "I don't want it to get anymore awkward between us. I get it, Connor. You can't choose who you love." Her bottom lip trembled and she looked away, instantly reminding me of how I felt in the showers when I tried to explain to Vince those same feelings.

"Come here." I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her in.

"It's okay, Connor. There's no need."

"Listen, I understand is all." I pulled her close into a comforting embrace. "I just want you to know that I understand." My respect for her tripled instantly, for having the guts to confess her feelings for me, knowing they wouldn't be reciprocated. It took a lot of nerves and must've been painful, but I admired her honesty. And if I was honest myself, when I looked back I could see those moments where I should've known. She would often tease me about Vince being my "responsibility" when we were alone, and even if she suspected my feelings for Vince, she never spread rumors or called me out for it. My heart swelled with appreciation.

Finally, she wrapped her arms around my back and relaxed against my shoulder. After a brief embrace, she gently pushed me away and cleared her throat, attaining her composure. "Okay, okay, Connie-boy. Enough now. It's already starting to get weird."

I smiled when she did. The first true, striking and infectious smile I'd seen on her face.

~~~

Share your thoughts below! Do you believe Emily? What do you think about Tamara's confession?