The Underground (The Proclamation Trilogy Book 2)

Freedom has a price and Cat Ubalve may not survive paying it.

Cat wakes in a hospital with no memory of how she got there and the uneasy certainty that someone is watching her. The government is tracking her movements, her closest friend has been recruited to report on her, and the underground network she once hoped to trust is growing more dangerous by the day. Her best chance at preserving her future is to earn a coveted waiver from the Proclamation, but even success means surrendering another piece of her life.

As government control tightens, Will uncovers a disturbing truth about Tessa’s plans for rebellion. What began as resistance has become something far more ruthless, with innocent lives caught in the balance. Forced between an oppressive government and an underground willing to cross its own dangerous lines, Cat must decide who deserves her trust before the choice is made for her.

Continue The Proclamation trilogy with The Underground, a tense dystopian novel of loyalty, resistance, medical ethics, and the cost of fighting for freedom.

Excerpt from the book

Boston Hospital

Cat Ubalve slowly became alert and aware of her surroundings. It didn’t take her as long to regain her bearings this time. She sensed the men were in her room again. Her mother’s hand clasped hers. She could feel the tension and fear in her mother’s grip. Cat kept her eyes closed as the conversation went on around her.

“Please, what are you putting in her IV? Why won’t you let her wake up? What’s wrong with her?” Cat’s mother pleaded with the men in the room.

“Her brain needs to rest some more. We’ll check on her again later,” a male voice said without emotion.

Cat felt her mind growing groggy again as sleep called her away from reality. The voices faded away.

Brynn Certra entered the familiar hallway of the hospital. Normally, she wore her short medical student coat when she was here, but today, she was a visitor. She approached the visitor’s desk and showed her school ID badge.

“I’m here to visit Catherine Ubalve,” she told the man behind the desk.

He glanced at her ID and typed on the keyboard in front of him. “Room 314.”

“Thank you,” Brynn responded and turned toward the elevator bay.

The hospital was quieter than she was used to. Normally, nurses and doctors were rushing up and down the hallways with tablets in their hands. The elevator beeped to alert her of its arrival. She waited for the doors to open and then stepped into the empty car. Brynn pressed the little button with a three on it and the doors closed.

She walked quietly down the hallway toward Cat’s room. Her father had called her an hour earlier to tell her Cat was in the hospital. He didn’t tell her why or how he knew, but suggested she go visit her friend and classmate. Brynn was shocked by the news and got ready as quickly as she could. Someone had recently attempted to mug Cat on her way home from the medical center; Brynn wondered now if it wasn’t a random attack but something more sinister.

Just before Brynn reached Cat’s room, a young man entered the hallway from the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall. He had on a backpack and seemed familiar to Brynn. He smiled at her when he passed her, but didn’t say anything. Brynn tried to remember if they’d met before or how she knew him. He was too young to be in medical school, so it couldn’t be from one of their classes, but she knew she’d seen him before. She watched him walk to the opposite stairwell entrance and exit the hallway. When she’d first seen him, she had the distinct impression he was heading to Cat’s room too. She frowned and then turned back to check the room number. The door to room 314 was closed. Brynn knocked quietly and looked into the little window. An older woman looked up from the chair nearest Cat’s hospital bed. Brynn could see tears on her cheeks. The grey-haired woman waved her into the room.