Read Online Halo (Blood and Fire Series (A Young Adult Dystopian Series)) by Frankie Rose - Free Book Online Page A

when my feet suddenly go cold.
    I look down and the water is fast approaching my ankles. I let out a frustrated growl and close my hand around the stick. Shucking the satchel off my back, I root around inside, pulling out the small black flask that Penny filled with water for me. I open it and empty it out, figuring that water hardly seems to be a problem for me right now, and then I shove the stick inside, fastening the lid on tight. It goes back inside the satchel, and I triple knot the drawstrings so I’m not in danger of losing anything inside.
    The food is going to be ruined but there’s nothing I can do about that. By the time I’ve done all of this, the water is inching up towards my knees. There’s no point trying to run now; I wade forward as quickly as I can, but the rushing water against the backs of my legs makes staying upright tough. It doesn’t take long before I lose my balance and fall forward onto all fours. The word 'irony' held very little meaning for me before Cai ripped my halo off, but I’m truly beginning to understand its meaning now. For years I have been thrown into countless scenarios during my amphi-matches where I could easily have died over and over again, and yet I didn’t. And now, when all I need to do is get from one point to another, it looks like my number’s up. I laugh for the second time in my life, only it sticks like a bitter gasp in my throat.
    The river surges forward, and I am swept away.

FLOOD

    A bright light shines into my eyes, and I briefly think someone’s come into my room and opened my curtains too early. My body feels like it did the day after I fought and barely beat Falin Hetzin. It’s hard to breathe; my ribs ache, and my left forearm burns like crazy. It takes me a while to figure out why. I panic when I crack my eyes open. It’s stopped raining and the sun is shining, but I’m still half submerged in the river. My back is pressed against the siding of a small brick aqueduct. The river roars through it, disappearing down a long, dark tunnel. I’m within reach of the embankment, but I have no hope of pulling myself out of the water, because a huge tree limb is pinning me against my chest, crushing me back against the wall. On top of this, there’s a gash on my arm, and my blood is swirling into the water and rushing away with it.
    Weirdly, my jacket is gone, which is bad but not the very worst thing. The worst thing is that the satchel is gone, too. I consider the massive tree trunk pressing me back into the smooth surface of the cool bricks and think how a person wearing a functioning halo would react in this situation. I can’t even begin to imagine. There are so many conflicting feelings stabbing through me right now that it seems impossible that I’ll find a way out of this mess.   I need to pick one emotion and go with it otherwise I’m going to be stuck here forever. I choose anger.
    I smash my fists against the tree branch for a while, before I realise that it’s not doing me any good, and my knuckles begin to bleed. I focus all the fury that I have pent up inside me so that I can try pushing the branch away from me, but the current of the water is far too strong. By the time I’ve exhausted all of my energy, all of my anger is gone too, and I’m left with little more than fear.
    Fear has to be the most unpleasant feeling I’ve ever experienced. It leaves me frantic and filled with self-pity, and I end up getting angry all over again at how pathetic I’m being. I slump forward and lean into the branch, burying my face into my arms, careful to avoid the burning cut.
    I’m pinned there for longer than I care to admit before a miracle happens. Another huge log sweeps down the river and collides with the limb trapping me. The thing splits in two with an ear-jarring, splintering noise. I see it all happening in slow motion, and I reach out and grab onto a fistful of tangled tree roots before the log breaks, clinging on for dear life when the