All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

level of caring meant I still had feelings and wasn’t numb like I needed to be. Caring for others was a weakness I needed to expunge from my existence.
    “Hey, Oliver,” I replied nonchalantly. My heart raced with him so close and so… alive. He was there, he was okay, he didn’t look to have any cuts or injuries. Oliver was whole, my venture into the city was worth that knowledge alone.
    “I’m so glad to see you here,” he started, a grin spread wide across his face. “Are you staying? Please say yes.”
    “I ran out of food, I’m only here for supplies.”
    The lines around his eyes crinkled with disappointment. I hated doing that to him. He deserved so much more. “I can help you find supplies. But will you stay for a little bit? I want to show you around. You did come all this way, after all.” He smiled hopefully. How many times did I have to knock him down before he remained down?
    Obviously once more, at least.
    “I don’t want to be gone long. I really just need my stuff and then I’ll leave.”
    “How about I do you a deal? You spend one hour with me, doing whatever I want, and I’ll get you food to take back. How does that sound?” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for my answer.
    The decision should have been easy. I didn’t know where I would find food in the broken city and I didn’t know what kind of negotiation was required to be able to take anything with me. Oliver did. I should have been all over the deal and ready to sign on the dotted line.
    But I wasn’t.
    Staying for even an hour in the city was akin to torture. I wouldn’t be able to ignore all the pain and suffering of the poor children left behind by the Event. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to handle it.
    I probably wasn’t.
    I would never be that strong.
    But I did need food. And a part of me really did want to stay with Oliver and see what was so important he wanted to show me. We had been best friends once, I still felt a traitor by turning my back on him now.
    “Deal,” I finally replied, not nearly as enthusiastically as he would have hoped. “But just for one hour. I have to get back.” I didn’t have to get back. There was nothing for me at the house on the hill, but it was far better than staying in the city.
    “One hour it is, come on.” Oliver started walking in the same direction he had approached from. I followed closely, not wanting to lose him in the destruction that was once regal buildings.
    We took the route that would have once taken us to our schools. In my mind I could picture how everything used to look. Brownstone buildings lined the perfectly tarred street with proud green trees lining the way.
    Now, there was rubble to my right and rubble to my left as we walked down the center of the street avoiding loose debris. It was crazy to think so much damage could be done in little more than a year.
    It would never have happened without the Event.
    “We’re going to the school?” I asked as we entered through the old school gates. One had been torn off its hinges, the other screeched when it moved. If Principal Decky was still here to see it, he would have cried over the conditions. He was always so proud of his school.
    “Not the school, but the hall at the side,” Oliver explained. He led me around the building, just like he said. The hall we entered used to be the performance center. It was a large building with a raised stage at one end and not much else. I had played the lead in two dance recital performances there.
    Seeing the hall now made me want to break down and weep. There were children of all ages everywhere, somewhere amongst them an infant was crying with high-pitched screams. Makeshift beds and cardboard partitions had been set up haphazardly to give some semblance of privacy.
    It didn’t work.
    There was no escaping any of it.
    We walked through as haunted faces stared back at me. Children as young as two and three were fending for themselves. They were far