Wasteland by Ann Bakshis

Author:Ann Bakshis [Bakshis, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ponahakeola Press
Published: 2015-05-21T22:00:00+00:00

The following morning, Claire cuts up fruit for us to put in our bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. The stuff tastes like paste, but I know it’s all they have, and we need the sustenance, so Quin and I eat every bite.

Thomas is to take us into the Boroughs today to meet his friends, Naomi and Jagger. Claire gives me the sack of apples we had picked the day before. I give her a hug; she grips me hard in return.

“Good luck, Trea.”

I pull my head up in surprise, as I’d never told her my name.

I don’t see any monitors around the house, so I doubt they saw the spectacle from Tyre.

How did she know?

I catch up to Quin and Thomas at the edge of the camp. We have to walk slowly due to Thomas’ sluggish pace. It takes us a better part of an hour before we are near the gated entrance of the Boroughs. I halt, fearing I will be recognized the minute we’re near the Regulators. Thomas has come prepared. He removes a pair of broken glasses from the inside pocket of his coat. The frames are bent, the lenses chipped, and I can’t see anything properly through them, so Quin props me up against him and I begin to walk with a limp at Thomas’ suggestion, using his cane for emphasis.

We stop in front of the Regulator’s tower, waiting to be allowed entrance into the Boroughs. The rectangular stone structure rises up three stories, towering over the electric fence that emerges from the wings that extend out in the distance on either side. A gravel road beyond the gate stretches down past lines of broken-down buildings, some spewing black smoke into the air. Several people are walking up the road, some entering the buildings, others continuing on.

Thomas rings a bell on the gate then stands back as it swings open.

No one comes out of the tower to greet us, but the gate slowly closes the farther we walk in. I turn back around and see Thomas standing on the other side, tears in his eyes. He smiles, turns around, and begins to walk back to the camp.

“He’s not coming with us?” I whisper to Quin, as we continue to walk.

“He can’t, but he’ll be back for us in three days.”

“How are we going to meet him? They’re not going to let us out.” I say, as we pass under part of the structure connecting the two halves of the tower.

“He told me where we need to go. It’ll be all right, Meg.”

I hear voices coming from above us as we walk past the building, so I turn my head skyward.

Two large screens are affixed on either side of the post, displaying a blurry image. I slide the glasses down my nose so I can see what is being shown. The image is of a shuttle ablaze, smoke billowing skyward as flames shoot out in all directions. In the right hand corner of the screens is a

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