Children of Ash: A Meridian Six Novella Read Online Free PDF Page B

the ribs. She didn’t make a noise. She just curled into herself, like a fist.
    I touched her shoulder. She jerked away, as if she expected me to harm her. I smiled. “Relax. You’re safe.”
    Mica broke free and ran to her. She knelt to hug him hard. “Are you okay?” She pulled back to look him over.
    “I’m okay. Matri’s really nice. She even gives me a candy after—”
    “Mica,” I said, “please go wash up.”
    “But, Bravo just—”
    I shot him the look I’d perfected over the years. The one that even the naughtiest young couldn’t ignore.
    Bravo hugged him again. “It’s okay. Do as she says. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”
    He complied, skipping off to chatter with the other youngs as they went to the buckets at the rear of the bunker. I didn’t like that she’d been the one to convince him to follow orders. I’d need to reestablish the pecking order as soon as possible.
    I approached her slowly, stopping at a distance that wouldn’t threaten. She needed time to adjust. “Welcome.”
    She frowned and surveyed the two-dozen children gathered around behind me. “Why are you the one in charge of the youngs?”
    “They have different work from the rest of the prisoners. The vamps needed an adult to oversee them.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “What kind of work?”
    I waved a hand. “We’ll get to all that as soon as you’re settled in.”
    She ignored my implied order that the conversation was over. “Why am I here?” She looked at the young faces surrounding us. “I don’t see anyone else my age here.”
    “You, I will train to take over once my time is done.”
    Her mouth fell open, but no words came out. Good. We’d have a talk soon enough about how I’d damned her, but for now I needed her to shut the hell up so we could get busy with the work of indoctrinating the youngs into the camp.
    “Your new uniform should arrive soon. We have special ones with a patch that identifies us as prisoners with certain privileges.” Her brows rose in surprise. I soldiered ahead before more questions came. “In the meantime, I have a spare you may wear.”
    “Thank you, Matri.”
    “Thank me by following my orders. If you do a good job, you’ll find your time here will be less hellish than it is for other prisoners.”
    She crossed her arms. “And if I don’t do a good job?”
    “You will be reassigned to the mines.”
    Her face paled. No doubt she’d heard the nickname the other prisoners had given the mines.
    “You don’t want to spend the rest of your life in the Grave, do you, Bravo?”
    She shook her head. I rewarded her with a genuine smile. “Good. Run along, dear. We have a lot to do before sundown.”

Eight
    M eridian Six

    C hildren’s laughter bounced off the corridor’s packed-dirt walls. On my way to my sleeping cell, I paused to listen.
    It had been so long since I’d heard such a happy sound. In the barracks where I’d been raised, there had been lots of other children, but very little laughter. Now, I sometimes got to enjoy the gift of Rabbit’s giggles, but his voice was already changing into the deep chuckle of an almost-man.
    Edging forward, I peeked around the corner into the room where the sound originated. Zed waved his arms to punctuate his animated voice as he told the children a story. The candle in the center of the circle illuminated their faces and made their eyes twinkle with wonder…or was it adoration?
    My stomach clenched. Maybe it was my exhaustion or the stress of the conversation with Saga, or maybe it was seeing such unfamiliar innocence in such a dark place, but the scene depressed me. Something like a clenched fist unfurled in my chest and tears rushed to my eyes.
    I fell back before any of the children or Zed could see me and ran down the hall to my room. By the time I reached the doorway, the tears fell freely.
    Closing the door behind me, I turned to indulge in the privacy of the dark room. But a light flared in the corner—a