All Chapters of Timing The Rebel : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The air reeks of smoke and metal. My lungs burn as I stumble between rusted train cars, hands trembling, ears ringing from the gunfire that shattered the silence minutes ago.“Axel!” I shout, but my voice is lost to the echo of engines fading into the distance.He’s gone again.The only sound left is my heartbeat — uneven, desperate — and the rain beginning to fall. I press my back against a railcar and slide down, the cold metal biting into my skin.He left me.Again.I stare at my shaking hands, still smeared with grime and blood. His blood, maybe. My throat tightens. “You said you’d protect me,” I whisper, the words trembling as they leave me. “You promised.”A flash of movement catches my eye — headlights flickering on the far end of the yard. I freeze. For a heartbeat, I expect it to be him coming back. But when the lights move closer, I see the insignia painted on the side of the black SUV: a silver crest, half-faded but unmistakable.The same emblem from the files on the flash

Liana’s POVThe forest swallows us whole.Branches whip against my arms as I follow Axel through the downpour. My lungs burn, my shoes slip in the mud, but I don’t dare slow down. Behind us, the sound of shouting fades beneath the roar of the storm.“Keep moving!” Axel shouts over his shoulder.I grip the flash drive tighter in my fist. The weight of it feels heavier than metal — like the truth itself is dragging me down.I can barely see where we’re going, but Axel seems to know the path by instinct. Every step he takes is sure, controlled, even though blood seeps through the rip in his jacket.He’s hurt.“Axel—”“Not now,” he says, voice tight. “We have to reach the clearing before they cut us off.”I bite back the words burning on my tongue and keep running. The rain grows colder, slicing across my skin. Trees blur past in streaks of gray. My heartbeat drowns out everything else.By the time we stumble into the clearing, I can barely breathe. There’s a small, rusted cabin tucked in

Liana’s POVThe first light of morning drips through the trees like liquid gold, soft and deceptive. The forest looks calm, peaceful even, but I know better. Peace is a lie dressed in sunlight.We move quietly, following the faint line of a forgotten trail that snakes east. My backpack digs into my shoulders. My boots squelch in the wet earth. Axel walks ahead, silent as ever, eyes scanning every shadow.It’s strange how silence can feel louder than words.After everything, there’s so much I want to say — and yet, the more I think about it, the less I know where to start.A bird calls somewhere high above. The sound feels almost alien. How long has it been since I heard something that wasn’t a gunshot or a lie?Axel stops suddenly and raises his hand. I freeze. A moment later, the distant rumble of an engine cuts through the air. My stomach tightens.“Drones,” he says, voice low.My gaze darts to the sky. Small black shapes buzz across the clouds, sweeping the forest below with beams

Axel’s POVSilence.That’s the first thing I remember after the light — not pain, not fear — just silence. A kind that feels heavy, like the world is holding its breath.When I open my eyes, everything is gray. Smoke curls through what’s left of the Genesis lab, twisting like ghosts around broken steel beams. The floor beneath me is cracked, soaked in a thin layer of dust and ash.I try to move, but my body protests. Every muscle feels bruised, my ribs ache, and blood trickles down my temple. I cough, forcing air into my lungs.“Liana…”Her name slips out before I even think. It sounds wrong in the emptiness — too fragile for a place that’s forgotten how to echo.I drag myself up, my hands scraping against the cold floor. My ears are ringing, but beneath it, I hear something faint — a slow pulse of machinery still alive, stubbornly refusing to die. The core hasn’t fully shut down.And she’s nowhere to be seen.Panic claws at my throat. I stumble through the debris, pushing aside colla

Liana’s POVThe night tastes like electricity.The storm above the ruins paints everything in flashes — silver, white, blue — like the world itself is glitching.Axel and I run through the rain-soaked streets, breathless, half-blind, the hum of the machines echoing behind us. Every thunderclap sounds like the city’s dying heartbeat.We don’t stop until we reach the old observatory on the outskirts — one of the few places untouched by Genesis’s reach. The doors groan open, revealing the hollow skeleton of the dome and shattered telescopes.Axel collapses beside the console, drenched and shivering.“We can’t keep running forever,” he says. “It’s tracking you.”“I know.” My voice shakes, though I try to steady it. “Because it is me.”That truth burns through me, heavier than fear. I can still feel her — the reflection from the terminal — inside my thoughts. Watching. Waiting.“She’s connected to my neural code. As long as I exist, she does too.”Axel looks at me, his eyes dark with somet