Solstice by Jane Redd

Author:Jane Redd [Redd, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Teen & Young Adult, Mysteries & Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Romantic, Romance, Science Fiction & Dystopian
Amazon: B01A1FVVE2
Publisher: Kindle Press
Published: 2016-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

My body shook as the tram sped past. We clung to each other, my hands around Rueben’s neck, his hands circling my waist, holding me against him.

The wind and the sound faded.

We weren’t dead.

I let out a breath, and then I started crying. Rueben just held me, not saying anything. He was shaking, too.

When I could finally talk again, I said, “How did you know to cross the track?”

“I figured the tram would tilt as it went around the curve,” he said in a thick voice. “I just hoped that it would lean enough to give us room.”

I sagged against him.

“We have to hurry,” he said. “There may be another one. You go first.”

It didn’t take anything else to get me going again. My ears were ringing, my heart hammering, and my body ready to collapse. But I refused to take any more chances.

We continued toward the lighter, the growing grayness a welcome sight. When we turned another bend, the opening came into view and I increased my pace, Rueben easily keeping up. The final steps out of the tunnel were like coming out of the pool of water: I was gasping, but I was alive.

The fresh air hit me like a gentle caress. It was still night and the heavy gray clouds had never looked so beautiful.

“We need to find a place to hide,” Rueben said quietly.

I looked around. It was a couple of hours from dawn, but some city lights were on. A light was on above the tunnel, marking its entrance, but it looked like we were behind some sort of a factory. I couldn’t see any doors or windows, just cement bricks.

“Come on.” Rueben grabbed my hand again, and as we walked along the back of the building. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” I said, truthfully. If I thought about it too much, I might collapse.

Rueben squeezed my hand, which was better than any medicine I could have received.

We rounded the corner of the building and stepped into a narrow alley that separated it from the next building. Several paces into the alley, we both stopped and stared at a metal door in the second building’s side.

“How do we get inside?” I asked.

Rueben lifted his hand and ran it over the console. Nothing happened. “Let’s keep moving.”

We reached the end of the alley where it opened onto a street. We were definitely in the factory district, a place similar to where my caretakers had spent most of their lives. I shuddered, realizing that it would be filled with busy workers in a few hours. How would we ever hide from so many people?

Rueben seemed to have the same hesitation. He stepped again into the alley and started walking back along it. Then he stopped, looking up. “Do you think you could break a window?”

I came to a stop next to him, following his gaze upward. “It’s too high.”

“Not if you get on my shoulders,” he said.

Before I could protest, he pulled off his shirt. Deep bruises covered his chest and stomach, in various stages of discoloring and swelling.

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