The Block by Ben Oliver

Author:Ben Oliver [Oliver, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781338589337
Google: Jka5zQEACAAJ
Publisher: Scholastic, Incorporated
Published: 2021-05-03T23:00:00+00:00

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We carry Malachai though the overgrown trees and into an almost-perfectly-preserved town, a place that hasn’t been touched since the Third World War ended with a flurry of nuclear blasts. There are some of the earliest battery-powered electric cars from the 2040s, and even a few gas and diesel cars from earlier, odd metal streetlights that curve at the top to shine light down onto black pavement, quaint brick houses in old-fashioned shapes and styles, billboards with paper posters advertising satellite television packages and cell phones.

As we move slowly through the town, I can’t help but feel I’ve stepped back in time. I’m about to point out a rusting old motorcycle to Molly when I see that she is looking around, nervous, perhaps scared.

“Everything all right?” I ask.

“Just keep your eyes and ears open,” she says. “A lot of wild animals around here.”

And, as if her words have turned the volume up in this strange part of the world, I begin to hear the crunching of dried, scorched grass, the distant howls of creatures that sound as though they’re either in excruciating pain or a blind and insane rage.

We pick up the pace, moving between buildings with broken windows, through alleyways covered in brick dust and debris, across the motor court of what I imagine must have been some kind of car refueling station. We stop one more time to catch our breath, Malachai by this time beginning to moan as he regains consciousness.

Finally, we come to a three-story building with VRCADE written in angular neon tubes across the front. Molly lets go of Malachai’s arms, leaving me holding his legs in front of the elaborately decorated double doors.

“In here,” she says, pushing her way through and holding the doors open as I drag Malachai into the dark room beyond. I notice that the dreamy quality to her voice is starting to fade, just as it would if the effects of Ebb were wearing off.

I put down Malachai’s legs, stretch my back, then look around to find myself in a room full of corpses.

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