After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nail.
    And?
    I want to know more. Paivi figured if she could get him to tell her his plan, she could gauge just how much he trusted her. Then she'd feel more comfortable returning the trust.
      Tonight, after roll call. It's time to start getting the plans together . He swung the hammer into the nail.
    They sat on top of the structure that Paivi had been assigned to help with. The mountain soared over them and the sun beat down, relentless as ever. The buildings were nearly done. The large wooden shacks contained only two doors. One door faced the camp, and one faced the new gate in the fence in back. The crews of prisoners put the final touches on the new gate. The barbed wire at the top glinted in the sun. It was wide enough to drive a truck through. There was a clang as they attempted to close it for the first time and tested its movement.
    Paivi searched some of the ATC guards' minds around her as she sat and handed Peter nail after nail. She wished Molly was there, because at least they could talk about whatever. But Molly had been stuck mixing concrete at the other identical structure just yards away. She wasn't quite comfortable mentally chit-chatting with Peter just yet. She had to find out more about this plan first.
    A new agent watched over them today. He was muscular and sweating profusely in the blistering sun. His tan t-shirt was wet and clung to his chest, accentuating his rippling muscles. From the way he spit orders at the other ATC guards, she figured he was a little higher up on the food chain. He flipped through papers on a clipboard almost compulsively.
    Absently, she handed Peter yet another nail. The air around her rang with hammering.
    She looked carefully at the new agent, sending little wisps of her energy sailing across the yard. It might have been dangerous. She didn't know if Peter could tell what she was doing.
    Inside the agent's brain, she didn't have to look for long. She could see the image of the building she sat on. A long rectangle with a flat roof. Paivi saw the entrance and the exit. She also saw the small doors; almost the size of cabinet doors placed every six feet around the building. They were crude, just a hinged flap of wood with a metal handle. A sign over the door read 'Showers'.
    Why did they need more showers? There were already plenty in the camp, even if they were pretty desperate ones. And these were so far away from the barracks. It wouldn't be very convenient. She stifled a yawn and handed Peter another nail before focusing a little harder.
    The muscle-bound agent was thinking hard about the building. Blood pounded in his head, making it difficult for her to focus. In his mind's eye, EOS prisoners entered the building. Agents dropped canisters through the small wooden doors. And out the back of the building, ATC guards dragged lifeless bodies to waiting trucks.
    They weren't showers.
    The ATC was going to exterminate them. She gasped and teetered on the edge of the roof and nearly lost her balance.
    Peter dropped his hammer and grabbed her arm.
    "Are you okay?" he asked aloud.
    She met his eyes.
    We're building our coffins, Peter.

Chapter 6
     
     
     
    Wendell Stevens cowered in the corner of the President's bedroom. His bedroom. How could he just let her float in here? But he had no control. She came and went as she pleased. And this night she was particularly upset.
    She had somehow discovered his plan.
    "You! How dare you!" She roared at him from the ceiling, floating great and terrible in a cloud of blood-red light. Her eyes were no longer green but a raging fire that burned into him like an inferno. "These are human beings! With feelings and families and some tiny bit of life that they've managed to scrape together even though you tried to take it all away. And now you want to end it, to bury them forever?"
    "You don't understand! They have to die! That's the only way this country will be safe." He whimpered as she blazed like the sun.
    "They need to die to hide