Read Online Cry For Tomorrow by Dianna Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

know what? This little mystery is just going to have to wait for another time,” said Jennie with a deep frown, “‘cause if we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the bus. Let’s go.”
    “Coming.” I shouldered my pack, but paused before following my friend and took a good look around me at the assortment of mostly abandoned apartment buildings and defunct offices and stores. There were only a few other people visible on the street, some moving with purpose, but most were just wandering as if they had all day to get where they were going. Two women bicyclists, riding side by side, parted to ride past me, the usual escort of phantoms swirling about their spinning wheels with little effect and less notice. I watched them for a moment before running after Jennie.
     
    I was still thinking about the phantoms as we hurried along the street toward the bus stop. When the ghouls had begun to appear en masse forty years ago, there were a lot of theories put out by the scientists and government, but no one had come up with a definitive answer. The best scientists in every country on earth had been called upon, but none had yet been able to find a way to communicate with, or affect the actions of, these phantoms. To the best of my knowledge, most of the phantoms were harmless, at least when there was only one to contend with. Problem was that they were drawn to the vibration created by motors of any kind and especially loved large gatherings of humans. If they’d appear one at a time they be dealt with, but they did not. They arrived in swarms, clogging the mechanical components of autos, airplanes and factories. Because of the danger they’d created, our world and way of life had been totally changed. There were no longer airplanes that could fly across continents or oceans, gas-powered vehicles were unable to function, and most of the giant, mechanized factories had literally ground to a halt. The only vehicles able to operate with a degree of freedom were those that moved huge amounts of air around them, such as hover-craft or helicopters.
    We reached the bus stop just as the big blue and red car squealed to a stop on the mono-rail that carried it above the damaged streets of the old city. Actually a trolley, it was powered by the electric cables protected within the mono-rail. With the deterioration of the inner-city streets, and the need to make transportation available to those willing to work, the city had had to find some safe way to transport the dwindling populace from one side to the other of the sprawling urban areas.
    As usual, the bus made a lot of stops at this time of day, and we knew it was going to take us the better part of an hour to reach our destination. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible, watching the news being flashed across a giant screen above the driver’s head. I was half asleep, barely listening to the steady patter, when something the announcer said snapped me fully awake.
    “ The local police are investigating more reports of attacks by a rogue reaper. In spite of the accusations, the Company continues to deny any knowledge of—or connection with—the reaper that has killed at least two dozen of our citizens. His victims now include prominent business man Jordan Oaks, owner of the local food chain, Quik-Shop, as well as the thirteen vagrants discovered in the old city district two days ago. ” The handsome thirty-something announcer blinked his large, brown eyes sadly, and smiled reassuringly before going on. “Again, we will have more information on the deaths discovered this morning as soon as our reporter on the scene, John Baines, is able to get a statement from the police commissioner.”
    “I wonder if that’s the same reaper you and Jake saw last night, or if there’s more than one of them killing like that?” Jen’s brow was creased with worry as she returned her gaze to the streets we were passing.
    “I don’t know, but I do know that no one was very interested in