Wasteland (Wasteland - Trilogy) by Kim Susan & Klavan Laurence

Author:Kim, Susan & Klavan, Laurence [Kim, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-03-26T07:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

AT THE SAME MOMENT IN PRIN, A FIGURE LAY EXPOSED TO THE MORNING sun, writhing in agony. Instinctively, Caleb grabbed the fiberglass shaft where it entered his shoulder. He could not risk having the arrowhead break off, lodging in his body. So he pulled it out in one swift motion and flung it away.

Then he realized his terrible mistake. Without the arrow to keep it plugged, the wound began to pump blood. Soon the front of Caleb’s shirt appeared black and glistening, and dark crimson began to pool on the packed earth beneath him. Caleb’s hands were stained red as he pressed hard against his chest, trying to stanch the flow that wouldn’t stop.

It was so early, teams on an Excavation had not yet shown up. He was far from the main roads, miles from the center of Prin. His only hope was to somehow ride into town to get help.

But when Caleb took his hands from the wound, a fresh bout of blood bubbled up through the soaked and torn fabric. He pressed his hands over it, felt the fluttering pulse underneath.

Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Across the parched field, past the metal tracks long overgrown with weeds, there was an abandoned truck that sagged on dusty wheels. Next to it, a small person was picking its way toward him.

It was not the hooded guard, the would-be assassin from the Source. It was bundled in a pale blue sheet, its head covered. Caleb felt a surge of relief. He tried to half rise.

“Esther!” he called.

“Don’t be scared!” it responded, and his heart sank.

It was female, but not the one girl he desperately wanted to see. As she came nearer, a strange, heady smell, like that of a thousand flowers, seemed to shimmer from her. When she crouched next to Caleb and saw all the blood, the girl gasped.

“I didn’t think he’d really do it,” she murmured.

“Who? And who are you?”

The girl pushed the sheet away from her face. To Caleb’s blurred vision, she was as unreal and exotic-looking as an animal from a dream: pale, with golden hair and strange blue eyes. He noticed the glittering rings on the girl’s fingers, the chains and bangles that dangled from her slim wrists.

“You’re from the Source,” he said. “Levi’s girl. Michal.”

Caleb fumbled on the ground for the arrow, which was sticky with his blood. “Keep your distance.”

Michal glanced at the arrow, then back at Caleb.

“I don’t blame you if you don’t trust me,” she said. “I should have warned you.”

“What do you mean?”

“After you left, I heard the guards talking. Levi told them if you weren’t gone by yesterday, to come after you. I kept an eye on the guards. And this morning, when one of them left with a weapon, I followed him.”

Caleb cut her off. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I need to get to town. Give me that.”

At first, the girl looked baffled. Then Caleb seized the cloth that protected her and started tearing it.

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