Read Online Divided by Kimberly Montague - Free Book Online
Authors: Kimberly Montague
Tags: Romance, paranormal romance, Young Adult, teen, teen suspense, teen paranormal romance, apocacylptic, teen paranormal fiction
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Sonya come into the living room, smiling at Dev and me. I could tell she was happy just seeing me happy, and it meant a lot. No one could be a better sister.
"When did your pals pass out?" Gabriel was sitting in an armchair across from us, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
Dev looked down at his watch. "It's been twenty-five minutes."
"The pills knocked me out for eight hours straight." Evelyn perched herself on the arm of the chair Gabriel was sitting in and continued talking. "I'm sure their metabolism is higher than mine, not to mention I was on pain pills too, so maybe we can count on five hours."
Gary's mom brought in several cans of soda.
Gabriel put his arm around Evelyn. "So, let's be on the safe side and say it takes you thirty minutes to get back, you need to leave here by." He turned around to look at the clock.
Dev squeezed my hand, and I looked back to him. He closed his eyes, and I could feel the stress return to his body.
"O two hundred hours," he said angrily. "So let's get this talk over with. They studied us for a few months, taking blood, doing tests. At first, it seemed like they were allowing the infection to spread by purposefully waiting too long to quarantine cities. Harm and I think they were trying to build up as many infected fighters as they could. Problem was they didn't know how or why the infection didn't affect us like the psychotic Infecteds. They know that now, but it's too late. After Albuquerque, the infection has gotten too far."
I put my hand on Dev's chest. "Wait, what do you mean they know that now?"
His thumb started rubbing circles on my hand. "I've been exposed to the bacteria. It comes from a tree whose roots have been growing in our well since before I was ever born. They even have a vaccine for it, but it takes too long to make and after Albuquerque, it's obviously unreliable."
"Albuquerque?" Gabriel's head flinched back slightly. "I've heard brief things about the quarantine there."
Dev wiped his hand across his face. "I just left there. It was—I'd say 75% didn't make it. They—"
"What?" Gabriel stood up.
Gary's dad sat heavily on the couch next to us. He put his hand out to Dev in disbelief. "Albuquerque, New Mexico? That's—but that's hundreds of thousands of people. You can't mean—"
Dev ran his hand through his hair. "Press release puts the death toll at 56,000. They'll stay under quarantine for another two months with cell phone signals, internet connections, all forms of outside communication completely blocked. But after that, the media will find out the real number. It was the worst I've seen it, but that's because of the vaccine. Actual death toll is over 350,000."
"No," Gabriel gasped.
Evelyn put her hand to her mouth, and Gary's mom reached out to take Gary's dad's hand.
I shook my head, unable to comprehend the deaths of so many people. We'd lost over 1500 in Bishop, but that was just nothing in comparison. "But you said the vaccine made it worse? I don't understand."
"It's unreliable. It was supposed to build up resistance by giving time-released doses of the infection." His eyes tightened, and his voice became terse instead of the sadness it had held before. "They released it to high school students in Albuquerque during blood drives. Kids got sick like I did, but worse. Some died right away, stronger kids survived only to become fully infected and without resistance. They—had to—well, they didn't make it."
"They had to kill them?" Gary's anger matched everyone in the room.
"Yes. And still, they kept injecting. They monitored the emergency rooms, but Infecteds popped up everywhere. They couldn't control it, and this new strain they created spreads faster. It wiped out most of the population in forty-eight hours. But thirty-three did survive and are now being trained to join the team, so they think it was partially successful."
"Successful?" Gabriel looked disgusted. "The death of hundreds of thousands for just thirty-three is
"When did your pals pass out?" Gabriel was sitting in an armchair across from us, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
Dev looked down at his watch. "It's been twenty-five minutes."
"The pills knocked me out for eight hours straight." Evelyn perched herself on the arm of the chair Gabriel was sitting in and continued talking. "I'm sure their metabolism is higher than mine, not to mention I was on pain pills too, so maybe we can count on five hours."
Gary's mom brought in several cans of soda.
Gabriel put his arm around Evelyn. "So, let's be on the safe side and say it takes you thirty minutes to get back, you need to leave here by." He turned around to look at the clock.
Dev squeezed my hand, and I looked back to him. He closed his eyes, and I could feel the stress return to his body.
"O two hundred hours," he said angrily. "So let's get this talk over with. They studied us for a few months, taking blood, doing tests. At first, it seemed like they were allowing the infection to spread by purposefully waiting too long to quarantine cities. Harm and I think they were trying to build up as many infected fighters as they could. Problem was they didn't know how or why the infection didn't affect us like the psychotic Infecteds. They know that now, but it's too late. After Albuquerque, the infection has gotten too far."
I put my hand on Dev's chest. "Wait, what do you mean they know that now?"
His thumb started rubbing circles on my hand. "I've been exposed to the bacteria. It comes from a tree whose roots have been growing in our well since before I was ever born. They even have a vaccine for it, but it takes too long to make and after Albuquerque, it's obviously unreliable."
"Albuquerque?" Gabriel's head flinched back slightly. "I've heard brief things about the quarantine there."
Dev wiped his hand across his face. "I just left there. It was—I'd say 75% didn't make it. They—"
"What?" Gabriel stood up.
Gary's dad sat heavily on the couch next to us. He put his hand out to Dev in disbelief. "Albuquerque, New Mexico? That's—but that's hundreds of thousands of people. You can't mean—"
Dev ran his hand through his hair. "Press release puts the death toll at 56,000. They'll stay under quarantine for another two months with cell phone signals, internet connections, all forms of outside communication completely blocked. But after that, the media will find out the real number. It was the worst I've seen it, but that's because of the vaccine. Actual death toll is over 350,000."
"No," Gabriel gasped.
Evelyn put her hand to her mouth, and Gary's mom reached out to take Gary's dad's hand.
I shook my head, unable to comprehend the deaths of so many people. We'd lost over 1500 in Bishop, but that was just nothing in comparison. "But you said the vaccine made it worse? I don't understand."
"It's unreliable. It was supposed to build up resistance by giving time-released doses of the infection." His eyes tightened, and his voice became terse instead of the sadness it had held before. "They released it to high school students in Albuquerque during blood drives. Kids got sick like I did, but worse. Some died right away, stronger kids survived only to become fully infected and without resistance. They—had to—well, they didn't make it."
"They had to kill them?" Gary's anger matched everyone in the room.
"Yes. And still, they kept injecting. They monitored the emergency rooms, but Infecteds popped up everywhere. They couldn't control it, and this new strain they created spreads faster. It wiped out most of the population in forty-eight hours. But thirty-three did survive and are now being trained to join the team, so they think it was partially successful."
"Successful?" Gabriel looked disgusted. "The death of hundreds of thousands for just thirty-three is
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