Children of the After: Awakening (book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

half a day since she had eaten, she likely would have retched,
but instead a knot formed in her stomach as tears fell freely from her eyes for
what seemed like the millionth time that day.
    Out ahead where once the city’s skyline had been
magnificent, especially at sunset, now remained only disfigured and crippled
fixtures of wilted and twisted steel that reached to the heavens like the
fingers of arthritic hands in prayer. Beneath them, the piles of ash and tinder
that were once homes blended with the asphalt roads and parking lots. Like the
night before, the day down below was nothing but empty blackness. In the months
that they hid away in the vault, the world around them had burned. The scene
reminded her of the book report she had done on Hiroshima at the beginning of
the school year. She wondered if they were being poisoned by radiation this
very moment.
    Hearing a sound from somewhere behind her, Sam returned to
the vault after wiping away her tears. Finding Will still asleep, she returned
to the doorway and waited patiently, listening for any sound that could mean
that Jack was returning. She didn’t wait long.
    Maybe fifteen minutes after she returned to their shelter,
Jack appeared once more, a gaudily colored robot toy in his clutches, and she
couldn’t help but smile at his thoughtfulness. Before the event she had doubted
that he cared about her or Will at all, he was so busy with track and his friends,
but now she had no doubts. Beaming at him, she was again surprised as he pulled
out a much needed and all too familiar item from his back pocket that caused the
corners of her mouth to rise to the point they actually hurt.
    “You know you’re awesome right now, right?”
    “Right now?” Jack replied. “I’m always awesome, just you’re
too dorky to see it.”
    “Whatever, you’re still the hero of my vanity, like for
reals,” Sam said, taking on the best valley girl voice she could manage.
    “If you say so, dork. But you’re welcome.”
    “And I’m pretty. Tell me I’m pretty, Jack. Like you used to
when I was little,” she mocked.
    “Pretty weird.”
    It felt good to joke as Sam began to pull the brush through
the insane tangles in her hair. A good wash and conditioning would go a really
long ways, but for now this would have to do.
    * * * * *
    Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Will rolled to his side to
find himself in Sam’s bunk, with the open door of the vault straight across
from him. As usual, Sam and Jack were whispering just outside the door. Rolling
further towards the edge of the bunk, he stopped abruptly when something hard
dug into his side. Reaching down he dislodged the hard angular object and
pulled it free from his sheet and blanket. His heart leapt into his throat.
    Down to every detailed sticker he inspected the robot, his
eyes and mouth wide in disbelief. Sam walked in, and then Jack too, but Will
barely noticed as he turned the toy over and over in his hands. Bending the
robots joints and posing him as if he’d just won a wrestling match with both
arms up in the air, Sam’s giggle caught his attention as he looked up from his
toy.
    Looking back at him, both Jack and Sam were smiling. Their
eyes hinted at real happiness, something he hadn’t seen in a while, though they
both faked it for him almost daily. No, today it was real. Will hoped there was
more good news.
    “Hi, guys,” Will greeted his older siblings.
    “Hey, little man,” Jack responded. “I thought you might like
that,” he added, gesturing to the toy.
    “Hey, Sam. You got your hair fixed!” Will almost shouted,
having almost forgotten what she looked like with her long black hair when it
was silky and smooth.
    “I sure did. You got your robot and I got a brush.”
    “What did you get, Jack?”
    It almost felt like Christmas, the change so drastic from
the day before, he couldn’t help but feel giddy inside.
    “I got to see you and Sam smile, buddy. That’s enough for
me.”
    “If you say so,