Burning Bridges Read Online Free PDF Page B

floor . “ I can ’ t do this, Ayden. Your mother is getting sicker and we can ’ t afford to send the twins to school. How will you make a living when we are gone? ”
    I glanced at my father with a stolid look. I felt sorry for him, but now wasn ’ t t he time. Milo was gone and it wasn ’ t the first time he ’ d run away .
    I sprinted out the door and the wind ca ught my hair an d bl ew it into my eyes. I ’ d left Misty alone, and I did feel horrible, but my father was t o o drunk to notice her hiding underneath the bed. She was just scared. We all were. We were surviving on sheer luck, hoping that the next family to go wouldn ’ t be us.
    At some point when I ’ d turned down a dirt path, the one that held the very few shopping outlets the city had, I noticed a hushed voice somewhere in the distance. I sent a silent prayer as I followed my instincts and pursued it.
    In a stark alley, I found Milo digging through the old dumpsters that lingered around the street s. He was so busy in his search that he didn ’ t even take ti me to not ice that I had been standing there. I ’ d found him, but seeing him like this made me want to turn away . He still wore his clothes from last week because he refused to give it to Mother. He ’ d said she was too weak to wash them , the inevitable apparently clear to him as well.
    I walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder, pul ling him back from the dumpster and ending his search for—no doubt—clothing or loose change.
    “ Stop! ” he yelled. “ I can fix this. ” He pulled away from me and continued to sift through the garbage.
    I stepped back and watched him, my heart breaking a little more. “ Milo, please, just stop and come home. ” Milo was only twelve ; he was supposed to be living a normal life. Instead, we l ived in the aftermath of war, surviving off of what was left.
    Milo let out a deafening screech and glanced around the dark alley as the sun set just behin d the rambled buildings. Finally c oming to a con clusion, he slumped to the dirt-packed ground in front of him and began to cry, heaving spasm after spasm.
    I sat next to him on the floor and pu lled him into my chest , shielding his hurt from the world . I didn ’ t cry , but I felt the pain as much as h e did .
    “ I just want to fix this, Ayden, ” he said through sobs .
    “ Milo, you ’ re only twelve , this shouldn ’ t be your problem. ”
    He lifted his head and looked at me , and I realized the amount of maturity on his face when he said, “ I have to do something. We need the money. Mom...mom can ’ t do much anymore. ” H is dark tresses stood out in odd places , and his eyes were burned bright from the tears . He had a young face— many years left ahead of him— yet his determination to fix our broken family made him older beyond comprehension .
    I pulled him back to me and rested my chin on the to p of his head. T he weight of this fallen world seemed to rest upon m y shoulders. “ I ’ ll fix this, Milo, ” I said to him. “ I can fix this. I know what to do. ”
     

 
     
     
     
     
    F I V E
    Echo
     
    T here is no life outside of this H aven. That is what my mother had always led me to believe. The four walls that created the border between us and Old Haven was merely just that—a wall. She, as well as everyone else, pretended like there weren ’ t innocent human beings, children big and small, fighting for their lives as we sat idly by. I ’ d heard stories, but I ’ d never seen for myself the so - called dangers of crossing the border.
    Twenty years ago, Alwaenia had been one country under one name, unified in a state of peace. My father had worked with the King of Delentia—the reason why they were such good friends—but they hadn ’ t received their official titles yet. War was inconsequential and laws weren ’ t as strict as they were now.  Hunters and Warriors were free to do things most would ’ ve been afraid to do now. Though some still dared to