Read Online Jackson by Leigh Talbert Moore - Free Book Online Page A

eyes flickered to his. “I don’t hate you.” My voice was a cracked whisper, and I felt the burn of tears threatening to come.
    “I’ll always remember the week we spent. Bully. And while I know you only did it out of pity, Prentiss, when you kissed me... It was—”
    “Stop.” My voice was desperate. “I can’t do this.”
    “I’m sorry.” He looked down. “I hope... maybe one day you’ll remember those days instead of these.”
    “So I’ll remember?”
    “Possibly. If you’re far enough away and don’t come back.”
    I looked up at him, studying his face. His tan skin and hair, his golden eyes, the scars. His lips, our dance, I would remember everything. Relief mingled with devastation raced through my insides.
    “There’s something else. Ovett’s men, during the collection... well, he deviated from the plan.” He paused and crossed his arms over his bare stomach. “He said he was worried there wouldn’t be enough room for all of you in the camps, so he gave an order. It’s why we have to leave sooner.”
    Yolanda’s story of Russell flashed through my mind... Cleve... my chest grew tight. “What did they do?”
    “They injected them.” He stopped again and glanced at me, worried. “When we travel through space, we take a drug to make us sleep. The idea was it would be strong enough to make the humans sleep through the thirty-six hours. Possibly longer, but—”
    “They’re not dead.” My heart beat faster, and I wasn’t sure if I were relieved or afraid. “They’re waking up”
    “Yes. The band in the woods is made up of most of them. They’ve been hunting.”
    I thought of Jackson lying unconscious in the woods, exposed for days. “I have to go.” I couldn’t take this any more, this conflict, but he caught my hand.
    “Wait. I also wanted to tell you there’s a cave. It’s just past our spring over the next hill. Directly above the rock lip where... where we danced.”
    Frowning, I looked up at him. “How do you know about a cave?”
    “I’d hoped to take you there.” He looked down, lacing our fingers together, but I pulled mine away. A small flinch, and he finished speaking. “You’re an amazing person, and I hope you find your dreams, Prentiss. However you remember me, I want you to know, I’ll never forget you.”
    Tears blurred my vision. I wasn’t amazing. It wasn’t true. But he’d given me the encouragement I’d needed to be something more than I’d believed possible on my own. I shook my head, denying the ache his words pulled through me. D’Lo and Jackson were waiting outside, and I ran through the door back to them. When Dee saw me, he caught Jackson’s wrist and pulled him over his shoulder. I sniffed and wiped my eyes hard.
    “This way,” I said, setting off in the direction of the barracks. “We just have to get past the soldiers’ quarters, but they’re not as full as you think.”
    Silently we slipped past the cabins and through the break in the fence. I could make it to the spring in this darkness, but we’d have to feel around for the rock ledge once we got there. I wasn’t sure I could remember exactly where it was. That moonlit night was a gauzy blur in my memory.
    Down the first hill and up the next. Just as we crested the second, D’Lo made us stop and put Jackson on his feet against a tree. Jackson groaned, and I stepped over to examine his face. It was still dark, but I could see the stains of blood on his cheeks, and I remembered seeing them on his chest.
    “Jackson?” I said in a too-high voice. “Are you okay?”
    To my surprise, his eyes fluttered open. He looked at me and frowned then he moved his head back. “Prentiss?” His voice was slurry.
    “Jackson! It is me. It’s Prentiss.” The sound of loud voices back in the camp made me jump. “We’ve got to keep moving, Dee.”
    Instantly D’Lo caught Jackson’s wrist and pulled him over his shoulder. This time, my boyfriend made a grunting complaint at being hoisted