Read Online Walking Ghost Phase by D. C. Daugherty - Free Book Online Page A

Emily and swayed with the rhythm of a pendulum. The smell of freshly mowed grass lingered in the air, so Emily glanced at the blue sky and inhaled.
    Raven looked up, too, but at the towering walls. “Hard to believe they used to keep gold here.”
    “ It's not the same building,” Matt said. He tapped his knuckle against the concrete wall.
    “ I know,” Raven said. “Oddly, I kept that memory—when they showed the Senator removing the first bar on TV.”
    “ Yeah,” Emily said. “He seemed like he was about to pass out.” She smirked. “Do you think I could trade that memory for one a little more important?”
    “ Like the day I signed those papers?” Raven asked. “I don't remember them at all. My mom read them to me a few days after I got home, and the whole time I'm just sitting there wondering what I was thinking. I mean, my parents would have gladly paid money for the treatment. I don't want to be here. I had a plan. I wanted to go to college.”
    “ You'll get the chance. That bastard on the transport said we only had to stay for six months.” Emily shrugged, unsure if she tried to convince Raven or herself. “But you're right. None of us want to be here.”
    “ That guy, Damon, does. I bet he'll finish his time, and on his way home he'll make them drop him off at the nearest recruiting center.”
    “ At least he can do pushups.” Emily looked at Matt. “Thanks for volunteering to do mine. I thought for sure Vasquez was going to kill you. How's your stomach?”
    “ I somewhat anticipated it.” He laughed under his breath. “But if I hadn't said anything, how many more pushups could you have done?”
    “ Without his hand on my back?” She rolled her eyes toward the sky, as if she thought deeply about the question. “None.” She expected him to laugh again, hoped he did, and for a moment she just stared at him. “Do you mind if I ask you something? It's personal, so I won't be offended if—”
    “ My parents died when I was three years old,” Matt interrupted. “My grandfather raised me, but he passed away two months ago.” He glanced over Emily. “You were going to ask why no one saw me off, right?”
    “ Yeah. How did you—?”
    He leaned clos er, near her ear, and whispered, “Do you know me? Have you ever seen my face?”
    She stepped back and studied his blue eyes. A blur of images—broken fragments of partial memories and strange faces—flashed through her mind. “Maybe,” she said, her tone uncertain.
    “ It's a yes or no question.”
    “ No.”
    “ Then what else could you have asked?” He winked at her.
    She slinked away and returned to Raven 's side.
    A few minutes later, they rounded the corner, where two transports dropped off the last arrivals. As the newcomers passed Emily on their way to the back of the line, a pudgy young man stopped beside her. Sweat rolled down his forehead, and he wheezed. Then he lurched forward at the waist. A stream of his partially digested breakfast spewed over his bottom lip and splattered inches from her feet. Without hesitating, she jumped off the sidewalk, avoiding his multi-directional aim.
    When th e last trickle of vomit crawled out of his mouth, he held out his hand in an apologetic gesture. Emily's throat tightened. Not wanting to put her empty stomach in fits, she slowly turned back to the line. Or the remnants of it. Matt was the only person still upright. He stepped around three grotesque puddles, hopped off the sidewalk and joined her side. From every direction, a chorus of gags and coughs drowned out the buzzing sound. Emily finally realized the purpose of the fans—not to keep anyone cool but to blow away the putrid smell. She placed her hand on the back of a gasping Raven. “At least the Army isn't stupid.”
    Raven 's tan faded, and a gurgle bubbled in her throat. “Oh no,” she whispered. Emily grabbed a handful of Raven's hair and lifted it off her neck and cheeks. Raven then emptied her stomach of a breakfast