Jude’s eyes flickered open, and he inhaled. He could smell hot spices in the air.

Turning on his side, he found his small bed empty.

He rolled off the bed and pulled on his pants, a grin spreading across his face when he saw Octavia standing naked in his kitchen, her back to him as she stirred something on the two-ring hob. That was something he could get used to seeing every morning.

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist before pressing a kiss on her bare shoulder. The sight of her made him as hard as he’d been when he’d worked on her muscles.

She glanced at him and grinned. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long. We missed the briefing.”

“You needed it. Besides, if anything important had happened, we’d have been informed.” His fingers traced circles on her bare stomach.

Octavia rested her head against his chest for a moment before grinding black pepper into the powdered egg scramble she was making. “I hope this will do. You don’t have much food in here.”

“I only use this place for sleeping,” said Jude. “But whatever you’re doing, it smells amazing.”

“Overcooked powdered egg will never be amazing.”

He smiled as she finished seasoning the food. This felt like a normal day, a day he wanted to repeat a thousand times and never get bored of it. He could wake up and find his woman making them both breakfast. They’d eat, then go back to bed and lose themselves in each other’s arms for a few hours. They wouldn’t have to think about fighting the State, or staying alive, or whether they should risk going outside.

“Do you have any plates?” asked Octavia.

“I’ll get them.” Reluctantly, Jude unwrapped his arms from around Octavia’s waist. He pulled out two white plates and set them on the counter.

A small smile played across Octavia’s face as she dished up the food.

Jude felt the same tug of happiness. Maybe they could pretend nothing bad was happening on the outside. They could live together in glorious isolation, fucking, feeding each other, and pretending the State were nothing but a nightmare.

He held on to the dream for a few seconds. It was his new favorite dream.

Octavia passed him a plate before walking to the side of the bed and sliding into a shirt and pants.

“I won’t object if you want to eat naked.” Jude sat on the edge of the bed, a plate in his hand.

Octavia grinned as she sat next to him. “I think we both know where that will lead to if I do.”

“Which isn’t a bad thing.” Jude tasted the powdered egg. “This is good.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You can cook me breakfast next time.”

“I’d be happy to cook for you.” He shoveled in more egg, his stomach growling with hunger.

Octavia let out a quiet sigh. “I hate to spoil the mood, but we need to plan our next move against the State. And we need to know what happened in the briefing. Won’t Danni be angry we weren’t there?”

“She knows we needed downtime. Despite how hard she tries, she’s not a monster. The others will be working on it.”

“I still think we can make use of my networks,” said Octavia. “There are people out there hiding from the attention of the State. We can get them on board.”

“That’s worth considering.” Jude felt reluctant to lose the happy space they were in, but knew they had to focus back on the State.

“We can’t fail at this,” said Octavia. “A multi-pronged attack could be what we need to disable the State. We’re not the only ones fighting against them. There are small pockets of resistance growing everywhere.”

Jude nodded as he took their empty plates to the counter. He walked back to Octavia and took hold of her hands.

“The people I have links with trust me,” said Octavia. “They hear me every day. If I go on air and tell them what we’re planning, I know they’ll help.”

Jude detected concern in Octavia’s voice. “There’s a problem?”

“Not a problem exactly,” said Octavia. “My channel links are in my van. I didn’t bring them with me in my hurry to leave. I’ve keep the contact information off-line to protect people’s identities, just in case my system was ever hacked.”

Jude twisted his mouth. The van wasn’t far from their base. “We could collect them. If Heath and Danni think your connections are of value, it will be worth the risk.”

“They are,” said Octavia. “They’re good people. They won’t let us down.”

“And we won’t let them down.” Jude cupped Octavia’s face in his hands and kissed her.

The alert outside Jude’s door pinged.

Pressing another quick kiss to Octavia’s lips, Jude walked over and opened the door.

Heath nodded a greeting. His gaze drifted past Jude, and a smile tugged at his lips when he saw Octavia. “How are you both doing?”

“The serum is doing its job,” said Jude. “I can barely feel my ribs.”

Octavia joined him by the door and tucked an arm around his waist. “I’m also feeling better.”

“That’s good to know,” said Heath. “Kade’s got everything he can from the message we recorded from the State.”

“We’ve got a plan as well,” said Octavia. “I’ve got contacts on the outside. We can use them to spread a warning about this vaccine. We can stop the State before they get any of it out.”

Heath nodded. “That’s just what we need. Can they be relied upon?”

“I trust them completely,” said Octavia.

“According to the messages we’ve decoded, the State have been running trials of this vaccine in isolated communities.”

Jude scowled. “Checking how effective it is without raising alarm among everyone else.”

“That’s what we’re thinking,” said Heath. “The mass rollout of the vaccine happens in forty-eight hours, so we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“My contacts will help,” said Octavia.

“We’re leaving the base in an hour,” said Heath.

“So soon?” A stricken look crossed Octavia’s face.

“What’s the problem?”

“We need to get to Octavia’s van to access the contact information,” said Jude.

“Can you get to your van and back in that time?” asked Heath.

Jude shook his head. “We’ll be cutting it fine. And Octavia is still recovering. She’s not fit to be on this mission.”

“I am.”

“No. You said you’d help from here. I don’t want you in danger.”

She tilted her head. “Things change. I need to help you. And I feel so much better. I can do this.”

From the stubborn look in her eyes, Jude knew he wouldn’t win this argument. When they had the time, he was going to get Octavia to understand the meaning of downtime.

“We can coordinate when we’re on the road,” said Octavia. “If we go to the van now, I’ll contact everyone and let them know what’s going on.”

“In the meantime, we’ll head to the vaccine site and shut it down,” said Heath. “You meet us there.”

Jude shoved down his concern about taking Octavia into this. She was made of strong stuff; she’d proven that already.

Octavia looked up at him. “It’s time to go.”

***

IT WAS ALREADY LATE evening when Octavia and Jude headed out of the bunker.

Jude rode a low-slung, hydrogen-powered bike. She was on the back, her arms wrapped around his waist.

Octavia hoped no one had discovered the van and destroyed it. She was attached to that hunk of junk. Even though it was no longer any use to her, she didn’t like to think of anyone mistreating it.

She pressed her cheek against Jude’s back. Thoughts of their sleepover filled her head. Jude was amazing. She’d never met anyone like him. There was no point in denying it; she’d fallen for him. She wanted this man in her life forever. There was no way she was going to let him go.

Jude raced through the night, the roads their usual eerie quiet with the State curfew in place. “It’s not far now.” The quiet hum of the bike’s engine made it easy to talk.

In response, Octavia tightened her grip, enjoying the feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers.

The bike slowed. Octavia leaned around Jude, recognizing the road where they hid the van.

Stopping the bike, Jude slid off. “This is the place.” He pulled a receiver from his pocket and hit the button.

Octavia smiled as her old, rusty van revealed itself. It was just as she had left it; dented, filthy, but intact.

“We’ll store the bike inside the van.” Jude wheeled the bike closer. “We don’t want any drones getting nosy when they spot it parked on the side of the road.”

“No problem. It will fit.” She helped him lift the bike into the van before stepping inside and taking a deep breath.

It already felt musty and damp. Hell, how had she survived so long in this rusty hunk of tin? Octavia pulled out a stool and sat down. She tested the radio and was relieved to find it still operational.

“I’ll get to work on messaging my contacts.”

Jude looked around the inside of the van. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Set up the transmitter signal jammer. It will make it harder for the State to pinpoint our location.”

“Will do.” Jude eased past, his fingers brushing the back of her neck as he did so, and switched on more equipment.

Octavia stroked the tatty bit of plywood she used as a desk. “Is there any chance you could get this thing moving? Maybe we can get it back to the bunker?”

He flashed her a smile. “What do you think is in the bag I brought? I know you’re attached to this old thing. I figured, while we’re here, I can take a look and see if I can get this back on the road.”

Octavia wrapped a hand around his neck and drew him down for a kiss. “Thank you.”

“Anything to make you happy.” Jude turned toward the controls and focused on getting the signal jam in place.

Octavia activated a secure message and opened her encrypted list of supporters. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. This is a red warning message. The State are planning a worldwide mandatory vaccination program. This vaccine is not safe. It will remove members of the population the State no longer believe are valuable. If you know of any local vaccine sites, I ask you to let me know. I am also looking for volunteers to help destroy the vaccine plant. All offers of help will be appreciated.

She sat back in her seat and read the message a couple of times. It would have to do. They were short on time. Lincoln was already heading to the vaccine plant to assess its security before the rest of them moved in.

Octavia keyed in the coordinates of the vaccine plant, hit send on the message, and let out a sigh.

“Is everything good?” asked Jude.

“As good as it’s going to get.”

“The signal jam is in place,” said Jude. “The State will have no idea where we are. I’ll check the engine and see if we can get this thing moving.”

Octavia watched him leave, his bag of tools in one hand. It felt good to be helping again. She fired up the music system and celebrated getting the word out about the attack by playing her favorite heavy metal tune.

As the song ended, Jude poked his head through the door. “Try firing her up. I’ve rigged up a temporary fix. It should get us back to base. We can make the proper repairs then.”

Octavia hopped up from her seat and slid into the driver’s seat. She pumped the gas and turned the engine. It coughed a few times before dying.

“Give me a minute,” shouted Jude. “There’s something loose rattling around in here.”

“Almost everything is loose in there,” muttered Octavia.

“Okay, try again.”

She turned the key. After a few bone-racking shudders, the engine woke up. Octavia grinned and slapped her hands against the steering wheel. “You got her working!”

“Only just.” Jude opened the door, climbed into the passenger seat, and sat his tools by his feet. “This will get us to base.”

“That’s all we need.”

“I’ll cloak the vehicle again before we move,” said Jude.

“Heads up, people.” It was Lincoln through the open comms link. “I’m at the vaccine plant. I’m sending images. You will want to check this out.”

Octavia glanced at Jude. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Have you got a port screen in here?”

“Yes. It’s in the back.”

Jude climbed from his seat, grabbed the port screen, and returned. He opened the link Lincoln had sent through. “Holy shit, it’s enormous.”

Octavia’s eyes widened as she saw the vast, slate-gray building. “It looks more like a fortress than a factory.”

“Maybe it used to be,” said Jude. “They’d need a place that is secure, given what they’re doing.”

“We’ll need a hell of a lot of firepower to bring this place down,” said Lincoln. “I’ve just done a sweep over the site in the copter.”

“Arlo will have a stash of bombs,” said Jude.

“Even this place might defeat Arlo and his bombs,” said Lincoln.

Worry gnawed at Octavia’s gut. When she’d sent out that call for help, she hadn’t expected her friends to be facing off against something like this. She hated dragging others into something so dangerous. But without them, they wouldn’t succeed.

“We need someone from our side to coordinate this attack.” Heath came on the comms channel. “Tobias is working with Hive Two, not far from the vaccine plant. He’ll help. This is his speciality.”

A startled yell shot through the comms line, followed by the sound of an explosion.

Octavia stared at Jude. “Who was that?”

“Fuck! I’m under attack,” yelled Lincoln. “The damn copter’s been hit.”

“Where are you?” asked Heath. “Can you land safely?”

“Give me a...” Lincoln’s comm died.

“Dammit, Lincoln!” said Jude. “What’s going on? Report back.”

There was no reply. Lincoln had vanished.