Read Online Behind the Stars by Leigh Talbert Moore - Free Book Online Page A

them up with dirt.”
    My breathing grew shallower with every word, and the space seemed to move outward from me like I might faint.
    “Long boxes? Like coffins?”
    “Maybe.”
    I thought of Cleve being pulled away to load them. I studied his stony face still not acknowledging my presence. “Was it... a mass grave?”
    “Don’t know.” My brother turned away from me.
    Behind us, our fellow prisoners pushed us on. I tried to breathe normally, to ask questions. Cleve’s hazel eyes met mine, but they were hard, like something had changed in him.
    My voice cracked as I spoke to my brother. “Do you think they were casualties?”
    Braxton shrugged. “Could be casualties. If there were any signs of a war going on.”
    “Any signs? What do you call all this? What’s happening to us here?
    “Don’t know. But I haven’t heard a single shot fired or a single bomb exploding.” He looked at me, and his eyes widened. “It’s something else. Something that can’t be explained.”
    My face pinched. “Like what exactly?”
    “How do you think they can hold us without the police or the National Guard coming? They’ve got powers, that’s how.”
    I looked down and saw my fists clenched white against my legs, and for a brief moment, I thought about the cows, thought about Cato greeting her brother. I relaxed my hands and rubbed my palms together slowly.
    “That’s crazy, Brax. Nobody’s got powers. This was planned. A sneak attack. We’re going to get out of here and learn they’ve been working on this for years. Like those terrorists who bombed New York City. When we were unconscious, that’s when it happened, and now they don’t need to blow stuff up because everybody’s been caught off guard.” I had to stop for breath, but it hiccupped in my throat before I could say my last words. “Or killed.”
    My brother shook his head. “It don’t add up. There’s no smoke in the sky. And what about our military? Who could do something like that from so far away?”
    “Lots of countries. This is modern times. Who knows what all drones and missiles they’ve got now. They tried to do it from Cuba a long time ago, remember?”
    “Nope. There’s something more going on. Something unexplained.”
    We took our trays of steak and vegetables and started for the long tables. Cleve was still ahead of my brother, silently walking. “Tell me more about those boxes. What did they look like? What was in them?”
    “Don’t know, but they were heavy. That main one, Ovett, said we’d better take a good look. Said they’d deal with rebels the same way.”
    “What does that mean?”
    He caught my eyes again. “It means you gotta quiet down about trying to escape,” he hissed. “You gotta do whatever they tell you to do.”
    “No.” Determination tightened that fist in my chest as we took our seats. “We’re getting out of here, Brax. I’m finding Jackson and—”
    He gripped my arm so hard I winced in pain. “You listen to me, Prentiss Puckett. It’s all over. This is World War Three and the Apocalypse and alien invasion all rolled in one. You can’t fight it.”
    “Alien invasion?” I jerked my arm back. “You’re as crazy as D’Lo! What did that stupid guard say to you guys?”
    “He said enough. And he did more. I’m not burying my little sister.”
    My throat hurt and tears burned my eyes as I looked at the food in front of me. He was letting me down just like I knew he would. No surprise there.
    Cleve’s eyes were on me, I could feel it as the others took their seats around us. I didn’t eat, and through my peripheral vision, I could see he didn’t either. Everyone wolfed down their steak and vegetables, but all I could think about was pine boxes and rebels.
    “Where did you bury those boxes?” I asked my brother softly.
    “I told you. Down in the bottom a ways from here.”
    I couldn’t say my worst fear, so I went at it sideways. “Would you have known if Daddy was in one of them?”
    He