The Outer Wall: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 3) by Simsion N. G. & Roth James

Author:Simsion, N. G. & Roth, James [Simsion, N. G.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Inky's Nest Publishing
Published: 2016-04-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Zero tried his best to keep up as they ran through the woods, but it didn’t take long for fatigue to beat him down. His muscles hurt so bad that he didn’t pay any attention to the many scrapes and gashes in his skin.

They ran for miles—probably three or four, but it felt like twenty. They continued to crash through the brush until Zero’s toe caught an exposed tree root and he tumbled to the forest floor. He landed face down and made no attempt to get up.

“Come on, man,” Lefty said. “We’ve got to get as far away from here as we can. No stopping now.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Zero sat up, linked his fingers on top of his head, and struggled to catch his breath. “I haven’t slept in about thirty-two hours, and in that time I’ve only had a little bit of soggy bread to eat.”

Lefty offered Zero a hand and helped him to his feet. When he was upright, Lefty wrapped his arms around him and squeezed. He held on for a long time—long enough for the moment to become awkward—before he finally let go. “Thanks for coming after me, man. I have to admit, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Zero smiled back. “You bet.”

They found a nice shady tree and took advantage of some much-needed resting time. Zero began to tell Lefty the details of his journey, beginning with the moment when Lefty had been hauled off to Exile. It made him feel very proud. He typically ran from anything confrontational, scary, or risky. It had been completely out of the ordinary for him to taunt and run from that panther a few days ago, and that was nothing compared to what he’d gone through to get to Lefty. It felt almost as if he was telling someone else’s story.

“I just realized something,” Lefty smiled broadly. “It seems like the farther you go outside the fence, the braver you become. Living inside the safety of the compounds was your crutch, keeping you from truly strutting your stuff.”

“I don’t know about that.” Zero hung his head, embarrassed now. “I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done for me.”

“That’s my point!” Lefty slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re nothing like me…at least, you didn’t used to be anything like me. But now—”

“Now there’s no going back.” Zero unzipped the backpack and began rummaging through it. “I wish we had some canned foods or something.” He pulled out a chunk of bread and squeezed it. It squished through his fingers like sludge. “Bread doesn’t do well in water.” His stomach growled.

“Wow, man. We’d better find you some food or the Elites are going to track us down just by following the sound of your stomach.”

“I told you. Other than some soggy bread that tasted like the river, I haven’t really eaten since I left Quirigua.”

They emptied their backpack of all of the soggy and spoiled food, then zipped it back up. Lefty took

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