Reintegration by Eden S. French

Author:Eden S. French [French, Eden S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: lesbian romance, queer books, cyborg, sci-fi, dystopia
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2017-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Lexi dreamed of railroads, and of smoke, and of Riva Latour.

She escaped her bunk before sleep could catch her again. Her hair had become a fluffy white mess in need of a wash and a little gel, and she fussed with it, to no effect, before dressing in yet another borrowed item from Riva’s wardrobe: a white button-down shirt. The jeans were still her own. Good jeans never had to be washed. They were the cockroaches of fashion, designed to survive anything.

Callie mumbled. She was face-down, butt sticking out of the sheets. Sweat covered her bare shoulders. Something was seriously wrong with the way this girl slept.

Lexi touched Callie’s warm forehead and searched for the odd, shifting shape of a mind dreaming. She was chasing roads beneath a black and orange sky. A dark shape swooped overhead, casting a wide, deformed shadow. Beyond the mountains, dead things opened their eyes to the night. Her mom was sitting in the back seat, and she didn’t dare turn around, because that old bitch was dead too…

Lexi dissolved the nightmare and coaxed forth better memories, which mingled in the haphazard manner of dreams. Now the sun was out. She was following a trail near some abandoned mines, looking for little things—springs, screws, cogs. Mineko was helping, turning rocks and peering at dust. As she knelt beneath an overhang, the afternoon light streamed through the gaps in the rocks, dappling her thoughtful face.

Lexi stroked Callie’s cheek as she withdrew her hand. “Sleep well, kid.”

As she walked the silent halls of the bunker, it seemed at first that nobody but her was awake. She paused in the galley. The lights were on, suggesting she hadn’t been the first to rise after all.

She took the steps to the surface slowly, tracing the rough wall with her fingertips as she climbed, and sauntered down the long hall.

The front door was open.

It was just before dawn, the sky still dark but tinged with an early hint of sunlight. Riva stood on the footpath, her arms folded against her chest and her face turned upward. She seemed somehow to belong out here, a thin, Mohawked silhouette against a black sky streaked with red. A natural element of this melancholy hour that was neither morning nor night.

Lexi held her from behind, and they watched the morning emerge. Even sunrise couldn’t make this street attractive, but the shadows were deep enough to conceal the worst of the decay, and the glow rising above the fractured cityscape held a certain tragic grandeur. After all, the sun didn’t give a damn what it rose on. It had risen on worse and would set on better.

“I didn’t sleep well,” said Riva, still staring at the sky.

Lexi planted a light, nuzzling kiss on her neck. “I hope you know it’s dangerous out here.”

“Don’t worry. I’m still within shrieking panic of the front door.”

Lexi tightened her hold on Riva’s skinny waist. “I’m going to tell you a story. Three years ago, Callie had a girlfriend. A cute little brunette who worked behind the bar at Zeke’s.

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