Stung by Wiggins Bethany

Author:Wiggins, Bethany [Wiggins, Bethany]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Published: 2013-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

We cling to the wall’s dark shadow, leaving its protection only when we are forced to—the militia are stationed every quarter mile—not standard protocol according to Bowen. They’ve upped security, probably because of me.

Every few minutes, Bowen pauses and listens to the quiet of nothing, as if he’s expecting … something.

We walk for what feels like hours, and I keep expecting the sky to brighten, the sun to rise. A slow, persistent ache grows in my lower back, and blisters form on both my heels. When I think time must have paused, trapping us in this forever night, the darkness takes on a different hue, like the fuzzy gray of predawn.

Light flickers and glimmers between buildings, turning slowly from gray to red, and I realize my mistake. Not sunrise. Firelight.

Bowen pulls me to a stop and drags me into the closest building—an old apartment building with a walkway between numbered doors and a few tattered doormats littering the ground. He eases a door open, number 1C, and we step inside.

A hint of firelight shines in through a shattered window, between a broken pair of blinds, illuminating an overturned table and the frame of a sofa. He presses me against a wall, his damp hands tight on my shoulders. Firelight glows against the side of his face, leaving the other side black and featureless.

“There’s someone out there,” he whispers. “We’ve got to get away unseen.” A wail, eerily human—yet not—echoes into the apartment building, and Bowen grapples with his gun, aiming it toward the window. “If they catch you,” he whispers, eyes glued to the window, “you’re a boy! But don’t get caught! If I give you this signal,” he pumps his fist three times, “that means run. Go to the north gate and turn yourself in. Don’t get caught!” He lowers the gun and looks at me again. “You stay behind me. Do not make any noise! And stay in the shadows!”

His hand goes to his belt, and he removes something, a Taser, and presses it into my hand. He shows me how to use it and sets it to kill. And then, our feet silent, my heart thundering like a bass drum in a symphony, we step back into the night.

We haven’t gone ten steps when the bass straining against my ribs is joined by more drums. Pounding. Throbbing. An entire bass-drum section being played at once. A sound that makes my throat constrict, makes me want to whimper.

Many footsteps, marching in synch.

Bowen whips around and grips my shirt, yanking me down behind the nearest hiding place—a blue postbox cemented to the sidewalk in front of the apartment building. The two of us barely fit behind it, sandwiched shoulder to shoulder in a crouch, backpacks against the cold metal, waiting, hiding. Icy sweat drips down my back.

Shadows dance on the buildings around us, framed by the flickering, growing light of a moving fire. I peer to my left and see the light’s source. Men, dressed in a mishmash

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.