Beta Planet: Rise Read Online Free PDF Page A

everything. They aren’t what you think they are. They say the planet is recovering but I don’t see it. You have no idea how… heinous they are. Unscrupulous. Nefarious. Even corrup —”
    “Sabe, give it a rest. Geon just woke up a day ago,” Allea interrupted, shaking her head in dismay. “…and yes, CARE is still here and is the only way we can ensure the survival of the existing human population.”
    “It’s not the only way, Allea,” Sabien muttered as he took his first bite of his breakfast ration and wrinkled his face in disgust.
    Geon wondered about CARE and what they were doing to upset Sabien so much. Perhaps Sabien was exaggerating, he thought to himself. He does seem to have a flare for the dramatic. Even still, something doesn’t feel right.
    “Let’s hurry up and eat so we can show Geon the city.”
    “Yeah, what’s left of it,” Sabien muttered, looking back at Allea.
    Kumuki dropped his spork in his bowl with a clank and looked to the others with smile. “Anyone wanna share some of their food? I’m still hungry!”
    Sabien slid his bowl across the table to Kumuki as Geon tried his first bite. Yep, they were right, he thought. It’s absolutely putrid. It had the consistency of wet sand, and the flavor of spoiled vegetables and rotten fruit. And then at the tail end of the bite, as Geon worked it around his mouth, trying to push it down but having a hard time opening his throat, there it was… the subtle, spoiled taste of… fish . It was unlike anything he had ever tasted or could remember. It didn’t taste so much like fish as it tasted like bad fish smelled . He forced down a few more bites before pushing the bowl away. Kumuki grabbed what was left of his as well and wolfed it down.
    “All right group, let’s zip,” Sabien said as he tossed Geon a grey jacket and some shoes and they filed one by one out of the house and into the city.

Chapter 3
    As Geon walked out of the sliding door, he didn’t know what to expect. He knew the world would look different than his only memory of it, but he couldn’t imagine how. Was there still destruction? Was there still war? How many people were left? How many people were hurt? He looked down at his left hand, feeling anxious and worried… different … than everyone else. As he stepped outside and down a small set of stairs he pulled his left jacket sleeve down to cover as much of his Biolimb as possible.
    “Welcome, Geon, to the Earth as we now know it,” Sabien said with a dramatic waive of his hand.
    The sky was overcast and dark, even though it was early in the day. Geon looked up and tried to pinpoint exactly where the sun was but couldn’t seem to locate it. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief as the world came into focus in front of him. Everything was so… grey. Destroyed remains of buildings and rubble were everywhere around him, as far as he could see. There were no trees or grass in sight. The air was cool, thick and slightly moist. The faint smell of mildew lingered in the air. It reminded Geon of the seaside boardwalk he and Allea used to walk on with their parents when they were young. Everything was so quiet. The only sound was the soft blowing of the wind around them. The ground around Geon was torn and rocky, with huge slabs of concrete and twisted metal littered everywhere. There was no one in sight. Geon felt his stomach drop and tighten and his throat clench and go dry. Growing up near the coast with nature all around him was a stark difference from the world he saw now. It was worse than he imagined.
    The others stood in silence as Geon looked slowly around, standing in one place and gathering his bearings. In the distance, waterways snaked in and out of the streets ahead, between the remainders of buildings and other structures. He turned further and looked back at their home. It stood elevated off the ground by six large heavy concrete blocks, one on each corner and two in the middles of the long sides, about five or six