Read Online The Void of Mist and Thunder (The 13th Reality #4) by James Dashner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: James Dashner
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George’s to-do list. So I need to get caught up on everything that’s been going on.”
“Everything that’s been going on?” Paul repeated. “That’s like asking us to give you a quick wrap-up of the Civil War. You have any idea how much has happened in the last year ?”
“Well, actually, no, I don’t. Which is why I need you to tell me about it.” She folded her hands in her lap and raised her eyebrows.
Paul looked over at Sofia. “You tell her.”
Sofia had impatience stamped all over her face, and she started speaking immediately, as if she didn’t want to waste one more second. She began in the only place that made sense—how she, Paul, Tick, and Sato got recruited by the Realitants—and then she flowed into the problems they’d had with Reginald Chu and Mistress Jane. On and on and on she went, speaking so fast it gave Paul a headache trying to keep up, but eventually she got to the part about Jane trying to sever the Fifth Reality from existence and almost destroying the entire universe instead. She sounded like she was telling someone how to make breakfast.
Finally, she finished.
Gretel didn’t say anything at first; she just kept looking at Sofia as if she needed some time to absorb all the things she’d been told.
“Well?” Paul asked to break the awkward silence. “What do you think? Things as rosy as you pictured, living out here in your swamp palace?”
The old woman looked sharply at him, her expression turning grave. “Son, what you’ve just described to me is far, far worse than I imagined, even in my worst nightmares after the earthquake that hit this place. I think I finally understand why George sent you to me. Come, we need to enter my safe haven.”
She stood up, her eyes distant, and gestured for the young Realitants to follow. Paul and Sofia exchanged uneasy glances then joined Gretel, leaving the comfy living room with the warm fire and entering a cold, uninviting room with shiny steel walls. There was a bare light in the ceiling that flickered and a large safe in one corner of the room. Gretel shut the door behind them with a heavy, ringing thud; Paul spun around to see that it was also made of steel like the inside of a bank vault.
Gretel spun a wheel-handle and clicked a big lock. Then she walked over to the safe in the corner—a big, black square—and started turning the large combination dial. Paul stared, wondering what in the world they were about to see.
As Gretel continued to work at the safe’s mechanism, she spoke over her shoulder. “I don’t call it the safe haven for nothing. It’s a haven for my safes. A safe within a safe. What I’m protecting here is very important.”
Paul asked the obvious question. “What is it?”
There was a loud click, and then the door of the safe swung open. Paul and Sofia stepped forward to see what was inside. It was an old, tattered, dusty shoebox. Gretel pulled it out and set it on the floor. Carefully. Then she sat right beside it, folding her legs underneath her like a teenager. Paul and Sofia sat next to her on the ground. Paul’s eyes stayed glued to the box. He was so curious he almost reached out and opened the lid himself.
Gretel flicked both of them a knowing look. Then she lifted the warped lid and flipped it over. Inside the box lay a small cube of gray metal with a green button on top. The old woman lifted up the cube and held it out for everyone to see.
“Push this button,” she said in a mesmerized voice, almost like a chant, “and the Realities will change forever. For good. Or for evil.”
Chapter 15
The Ladies of Blood and Sorrow
Tick sat in the snow in the meditative pose of a Buddhist he’d seen once on TV—his legs crossed under him, his arms resting on top of them with his fingers pushed together and pointing upward, and his eyes closed. Couldn’t hurt, he’d thought.
He’d been trying for at least a half hour to push all other thoughts from his mind and focus on the riddle
“Everything that’s been going on?” Paul repeated. “That’s like asking us to give you a quick wrap-up of the Civil War. You have any idea how much has happened in the last year ?”
“Well, actually, no, I don’t. Which is why I need you to tell me about it.” She folded her hands in her lap and raised her eyebrows.
Paul looked over at Sofia. “You tell her.”
Sofia had impatience stamped all over her face, and she started speaking immediately, as if she didn’t want to waste one more second. She began in the only place that made sense—how she, Paul, Tick, and Sato got recruited by the Realitants—and then she flowed into the problems they’d had with Reginald Chu and Mistress Jane. On and on and on she went, speaking so fast it gave Paul a headache trying to keep up, but eventually she got to the part about Jane trying to sever the Fifth Reality from existence and almost destroying the entire universe instead. She sounded like she was telling someone how to make breakfast.
Finally, she finished.
Gretel didn’t say anything at first; she just kept looking at Sofia as if she needed some time to absorb all the things she’d been told.
“Well?” Paul asked to break the awkward silence. “What do you think? Things as rosy as you pictured, living out here in your swamp palace?”
The old woman looked sharply at him, her expression turning grave. “Son, what you’ve just described to me is far, far worse than I imagined, even in my worst nightmares after the earthquake that hit this place. I think I finally understand why George sent you to me. Come, we need to enter my safe haven.”
She stood up, her eyes distant, and gestured for the young Realitants to follow. Paul and Sofia exchanged uneasy glances then joined Gretel, leaving the comfy living room with the warm fire and entering a cold, uninviting room with shiny steel walls. There was a bare light in the ceiling that flickered and a large safe in one corner of the room. Gretel shut the door behind them with a heavy, ringing thud; Paul spun around to see that it was also made of steel like the inside of a bank vault.
Gretel spun a wheel-handle and clicked a big lock. Then she walked over to the safe in the corner—a big, black square—and started turning the large combination dial. Paul stared, wondering what in the world they were about to see.
As Gretel continued to work at the safe’s mechanism, she spoke over her shoulder. “I don’t call it the safe haven for nothing. It’s a haven for my safes. A safe within a safe. What I’m protecting here is very important.”
Paul asked the obvious question. “What is it?”
There was a loud click, and then the door of the safe swung open. Paul and Sofia stepped forward to see what was inside. It was an old, tattered, dusty shoebox. Gretel pulled it out and set it on the floor. Carefully. Then she sat right beside it, folding her legs underneath her like a teenager. Paul and Sofia sat next to her on the ground. Paul’s eyes stayed glued to the box. He was so curious he almost reached out and opened the lid himself.
Gretel flicked both of them a knowing look. Then she lifted the warped lid and flipped it over. Inside the box lay a small cube of gray metal with a green button on top. The old woman lifted up the cube and held it out for everyone to see.
“Push this button,” she said in a mesmerized voice, almost like a chant, “and the Realities will change forever. For good. Or for evil.”
Chapter 15
The Ladies of Blood and Sorrow
Tick sat in the snow in the meditative pose of a Buddhist he’d seen once on TV—his legs crossed under him, his arms resting on top of them with his fingers pushed together and pointing upward, and his eyes closed. Couldn’t hurt, he’d thought.
He’d been trying for at least a half hour to push all other thoughts from his mind and focus on the riddle
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