Read Online Bound to Ashes (The Altered Sequence Book 1) by Maranda Cromwell - Free Book Online
Authors: Maranda Cromwell
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running down the halls—
Dead end. Blank walls face me. Alone in the tight hallway my breathing sounds like a raging windstorm.
What did you think was going to happen? You’d find the exit just like that? My grip on the gun tightens. Dammit, Dev, you impulsive son of a—
“Hey.”
I spin around and there she is at the end of the hall. I don’t let go of the gun, but I don’t point it at her, either.
“Come on,” she says, walking forward. “There’s really no time for this.”
Like hell there isn’t. The sweat rolls down my forehead. Now the gun’s pointed at her chest, at her heart, one little tug and all my problems will be gone.
She keeps walking forward steadily. “I’m trying to help you.”
Humans never helped us. They made us, exploited us, tried to kill us, dumped us, left us for dead—
Her collarbone rests on the tip of the gun. Her weight presses into it and I can feel it through the metal.
“You’re not gonna shoot me,” she says, smiling. Goddamn smiling . The hot anger and squirming confusion slip through my grasp, I can’t sort them out. She tilts her head slightly to the side and casts her eyes down thoughtfully. “You’ve got nothing to lose, right? Just... hear me out. Hear my pitch. After that, if you’re still convinced we’re going to betray you, then you can shoot me. Okay?”
She looks up at me and the gun shivers, but from my hands or her body I can’t tell.
Vinder finally catches up and stops at the end of the hall, eyes darting from Alessandra to me and I watch it click in his mind what’s going on.
Can one little twitch of my fingers really change so much? Will I be throwing away an opportunity or making one? My arms slacken, the gun falls to my side. I can’t tell if I’m making a smart choice or being the biggest fool.
Her smirk grows and she says, “Thanks. Let’s get going.”
She turns around, leaving me and a bewildered Vinder in her wake. He glances at me, swallows, and jogs after her down another hall. The silence in their wake is deafening.
How are you going to get out of this one, Dev...?
The double doors sit at the end of the room with a collage of warning signs posted around them. ‘Authorized Personnel Only’, ‘Danger’, ‘Warning’.
The two humans stand in front of the doors, regarding them slowly for a moment. They seem so small. Almost looks like they forgot I was here. “Is this it?”
Alessandra doesn’t turn around but says, “Yes.” Her little shoulders rise and fall in a heavy sigh. A sigh of finality. “This is what’s sitting up north, waiting for us. This is what we need your help to find.”
She pushes the doors open, they creak and sputter with rusty hinges, and a bright light fills the hall. We step inside and my eyes adjust after a moment.
5 • ecodome
[Dev]
Back at the labs, we were never allowed outside. We only knew what was out there based on flashcard illustrations. T is for tree. G is for grass. And when we did escape, after the revolt, the world had already succumbed to the droughts and bombings of war. The color green isn’t exactly prominent in my memory.
But now I’m overwhelmed by green.
It’s so much nicer looking when it’s not on a package or billboard sign. It’s alive. Actual trees with actual leaves flicker and dance in front of me, rustled by a soft breeze. A breeze not laden with silt and sand. The trees seem so purposeful, rising out of the soft grassy ground, holding the leaves like gentle arms. The air tastes sweet.
A huge field of tall plants surrounds me. Most of them are all the same plant, probably.... They have drooping leaves that grow out of a thick stem and flutter in the wind. Thick pods cling to the stems. I smile. So that’s where they were getting all the corn fuel from.
My mind buzzes. I know we were just in a metal room underground, but it’s hard to muscle past the sense of open and outside and airy . The air feels cool on my skin, the sun—the
Dead end. Blank walls face me. Alone in the tight hallway my breathing sounds like a raging windstorm.
What did you think was going to happen? You’d find the exit just like that? My grip on the gun tightens. Dammit, Dev, you impulsive son of a—
“Hey.”
I spin around and there she is at the end of the hall. I don’t let go of the gun, but I don’t point it at her, either.
“Come on,” she says, walking forward. “There’s really no time for this.”
Like hell there isn’t. The sweat rolls down my forehead. Now the gun’s pointed at her chest, at her heart, one little tug and all my problems will be gone.
She keeps walking forward steadily. “I’m trying to help you.”
Humans never helped us. They made us, exploited us, tried to kill us, dumped us, left us for dead—
Her collarbone rests on the tip of the gun. Her weight presses into it and I can feel it through the metal.
“You’re not gonna shoot me,” she says, smiling. Goddamn smiling . The hot anger and squirming confusion slip through my grasp, I can’t sort them out. She tilts her head slightly to the side and casts her eyes down thoughtfully. “You’ve got nothing to lose, right? Just... hear me out. Hear my pitch. After that, if you’re still convinced we’re going to betray you, then you can shoot me. Okay?”
She looks up at me and the gun shivers, but from my hands or her body I can’t tell.
Vinder finally catches up and stops at the end of the hall, eyes darting from Alessandra to me and I watch it click in his mind what’s going on.
Can one little twitch of my fingers really change so much? Will I be throwing away an opportunity or making one? My arms slacken, the gun falls to my side. I can’t tell if I’m making a smart choice or being the biggest fool.
Her smirk grows and she says, “Thanks. Let’s get going.”
She turns around, leaving me and a bewildered Vinder in her wake. He glances at me, swallows, and jogs after her down another hall. The silence in their wake is deafening.
How are you going to get out of this one, Dev...?
The double doors sit at the end of the room with a collage of warning signs posted around them. ‘Authorized Personnel Only’, ‘Danger’, ‘Warning’.
The two humans stand in front of the doors, regarding them slowly for a moment. They seem so small. Almost looks like they forgot I was here. “Is this it?”
Alessandra doesn’t turn around but says, “Yes.” Her little shoulders rise and fall in a heavy sigh. A sigh of finality. “This is what’s sitting up north, waiting for us. This is what we need your help to find.”
She pushes the doors open, they creak and sputter with rusty hinges, and a bright light fills the hall. We step inside and my eyes adjust after a moment.
5 • ecodome
[Dev]
Back at the labs, we were never allowed outside. We only knew what was out there based on flashcard illustrations. T is for tree. G is for grass. And when we did escape, after the revolt, the world had already succumbed to the droughts and bombings of war. The color green isn’t exactly prominent in my memory.
But now I’m overwhelmed by green.
It’s so much nicer looking when it’s not on a package or billboard sign. It’s alive. Actual trees with actual leaves flicker and dance in front of me, rustled by a soft breeze. A breeze not laden with silt and sand. The trees seem so purposeful, rising out of the soft grassy ground, holding the leaves like gentle arms. The air tastes sweet.
A huge field of tall plants surrounds me. Most of them are all the same plant, probably.... They have drooping leaves that grow out of a thick stem and flutter in the wind. Thick pods cling to the stems. I smile. So that’s where they were getting all the corn fuel from.
My mind buzzes. I know we were just in a metal room underground, but it’s hard to muscle past the sense of open and outside and airy . The air feels cool on my skin, the sun—the
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