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

too young to know how to survive, especially in this world. Tears started to sting my eyes but I wouldn’t let them fall. I had to be numb, I just had to be.
    It was the only way to survive.
    A child of about five almost knocked me over as he ran past. I jumped out of the way and gripped the wall to keep my balance. He disappeared into the crowd just as quickly as he had buzzed by.
    “It’s a bit chaotic in here,” Oliver said apologetically. He wasn’t kidding. There were people everywhere. Some were merely sitting in private misery on the floor with their meager possessions. Others were bustling about intent on some task or another. But it was the ones just standing, looking lost, that made my heart contract.
    “Do all these kids live here?” I asked, because just the thought of it made me want to run in the other direction and forget everything I had seen.
    “Some do. Some are just here for the food or company.”
    “Is anyone looking out for the young kids?”
    The sad look on Oliver’s face answered me before his words did. “Everyone’s doing their best but nobody was really equipped for this, you know? It’s pretty hard looking after others when you can’t even do it for yourself.”
    We passed a set of double doors that were wide open. I jumped when I saw the ghost standing in the space between. She was probably about forty-something and staring intently at a little girl curled up asleep on the floor. The kid was aged about four, maybe five at the most.
    I didn’t make eye contact with her, I couldn’t. The moment the woman realized I had seen her she would harass me until I did whatever she wanted me to. I kept walking, trying to take a few deep breaths to stop my shaking hands.
    We wove our way through the maze of makeshift beds and people until we joined a long queue. About a hundred feet away I could catch glimpses of the food serving area.
    I leaned in closer to Oliver. “Where does everyone get their food from?”
    “Here, mostly. Volunteers cook and serve once a day for lunch. After that, everyone is on their own.”
    “Where do the volunteers get the food?” If they had a source, I wanted in on it. I wouldn’t take any more than I needed, but I did need something. I couldn’t go back empty handed and waste the whole horrible experience.
    Oliver leaned in closer again so we couldn’t be overheard. “Mostly from stockpiles that were found after the Event. Nobody is making any new food so it all has to come from old stock.”
    “There aren’t any farms anymore?”
    “Who would run them?” It was even worse than I had thought it would be. Of course there wouldn’t be any farms, it was stupid of me to assume children would take over where their parents left off. Kids of farmers had no more obligations than the rest of us.
    We spent the longest time possible in the shelter line as we shuffled forward inch by painful inch. I longed to leave and go to my house on the hill. The hall was too noisy, full of nothing but sadness and grime. At least my house only held the endless chatter of the ghosts and not groans from the living.
    The smell of food made my stomach grumble loudly as we reached the front of the line. A girl of about sixteen handed me a plate that was half-full of canned vegetables. They were probably stale but they were hot and edible, it didn’t matter what they tasted like. I would have eaten cardboard by that stage.
    “You’re not going to eat?” I asked Oliver as he kept by my side, plate-less.
    “No, I’m fine.”
    “But you waited in line for so long and-” He held up a hand to stop me mid-sentence.
    “I’m fine, Everly, really. You eat up while we talk.” He led me out of the hall and down a corridor. We found a patch of grass outside in the cloudy sunlight and sat down.
    I forced myself to eat slowly and not make a pig out of myself, even though I wanted to shovel the food into my mouth as quickly as possible. Soggy, stale carrots had never tasted so good