Read Online Until We End by Frankie Brown - Free Book Online Page A

point is, a lot of soldiers just accepted it. People were dropping like flies, and the soldiers were scared. The government used that fear to turn civilians into our enemies. A bunch of people were relieved just to have an enemy they could actually point a gun at.”
    Goosebumps spread up my arms. “Twisted.”
    His answering smile made my stomach flip. Who could
smile
at something like that?
    â€œThere’s something that I can’t figure out, though,” Jackson continued. “McKenzie says that when your house was raided, they didn’t kill your brother. Though it’s clear he resisted.”
    â€œHe’s
eight.”
    Jackson waved his hand like it didn’t matter. “And I wonder why it took them so long to secure your neighborhood? Before our brigade left, all the residential areas were reported as secure. But your neighborhood was, apparently, left untouched.”
    That was new information. I’d never wondered why no one bothered me and Coby at our house, but now that I saw the kind of people out in the world, it seemed unbelievable that we were left alone for so long. I worked in the greenhouse every day for months, believing the world was deserted and dead, but it was actually much more crowded than I’d thought.
    â€œWhat are you trying to say?”
    â€œI’m saying that we think there’s something you aren’t telling us. That greenhouse in your backyard was impressive, but obviously mismanaged. The food in your pantry wasn’t nearly enough to support two people for any amount of time. You told Brooks that you hadn’t left home in months, so we know the food wasn’t a recent acquisition.”
    I thought fast. “We had lots of fish. And the potatoes were growing fine!” No, they weren’t.
    â€œSo you survived on fish meat and potatoes for nine months? I doubt it.” He shook his head. “I’m not
too
worried about your food, Cora Jane. What I wanna know is who you are.”
    â€œNo one.”
    He continued like I didn’t even say anything. “That was a pretty elaborate set up in your backyard. You said your dad built it?” I nodded. “And then the soldiers took your brother instead of killing him when they raided your house, even though he resisted, something I haven’t heard of happening in months. And then, coincidence of coincidences, we get tailed by a patrol as we leave. So are you no one?”
    I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. “Look, the greenhouse was just a stupid hobby of my dad’s. It came in handy after the virus, yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything.” He didn’t look convinced. I clenched my hands to stop their trembling. “You’re overreacting. It’s not a big deal. All I want to do is find my brother.”
    He looked at me closely for a few minutes, searching my face for the truth. But the truth was he brought up some really good questions. I just didn’t have any answers for him.
    Lu leaned forward.
    â€œDo you play?” she asked, gesturing to the chessboard. I raised my brows. They didn’t need to know that was I in the chess club in middle school or that I was the Southeastern champion in eighth grade.
    I shrugged. “I know how.”
    â€œOne game,” Lu said. “If you win,” she paused and gave the wager a little thought, “you can have my lunch rations for breakfast.”
    Okay, that made things interesting. “And if you win?”
    â€œYour stockpile.”
    My breath caught. If I refused, that’d be as good as admitting that I’d been lying. They might not know exactly where my hoard was, but if they put their minds to it, they could find it. They’d been to my house. They had to know it was there somewhere.
    â€œI don’t have a stockpile.”
    â€œThen you have nothing to lose,” she countered.
    I rubbed my sweaty palms against my pants. I was confident in