Eden Read Online Free PDF Page B

rushing
our enemy.  At the corner, the man is barely hanging on to his rifle—he would
have lost it already if not for the strap over his shoulder.  He's trying to
reach the blade that sticks out of his flesh, but he hears my footsteps
slamming toward him.  He whirls, bracing the gun on his hip and aiming it
straight at me.  I dive for his ankles just before bullets blast.  Jonas
screams my name.
    My dive carries me into a belly slide. I wrap my hands
around the guy's ankles and pull with all my might.  He flies backwards, his
gun spitting bullets into the air.  Trying to get up, he twists and kicks at me
simultaneously.  I reach down, grab my knife, and sink it into his leg.  He
shrieks.  Blood flows around my hand.  Then Jonas is there, planting a solid
kick on the guy's chin.  His head cracks when it hits the pavement.
    Jonas is panting, wide-eyed as he helps me sit up.  My shirt
is bloody.  "Did he get you?  Did he get you?" Jonas whispers
frantically, checking me over.
    I brush his hands away, wipe the blood off on my pants, and
sheath my knife.  "I'm fine.  Except that I think I made hamburger out of
my stomach."  I frown as I lift my shirt to examine the road rash.
    Jonas stands up, takes a step back, still panting and
staring at me.  "You scared the hell out of me," he finally says.
    I toss him a look.  "You'd think you'd be used to it by
now."
    Then there's the grin, and his hand, firm around mine,
helping me up.  That's when we hear it.  Metal on pavement.  Footsteps.
    "Run!"  We both mouth it at the same time, and
we're tearing away down the street, not even sure how far away the Sentry is,
if it saw us, if it's after us.  The only real question is did it see us ? 
We're both on the execution list.  Any Sentry that finds us will kill us.  Or
at least try.
    We skid around a corner, and there's a door.  Jonas
shoulders through it and shuts it, quietly as possible, behind us.  Wherever we
are, it's dark inside, and we're likely to hurt ourselves or make a lot of
noise trying to go anywhere.  So we huddle together in the dark space, trying
to breathe as quietly as possible... listening to the sound of everything
outside.  More booms shudder in the distance.
    After a long span of minutes, I'm convinced the Sentry
wasn't after us... or at least if it was, something else distracted it.  God
knows there's plenty of stuff happening out there to get erased for.  The
Sentries must have piles of offenders.
    "I think it's OK," I whisper to Jonas, tipping my
head up to the dark shadow of his face.  Only then do I realize how we're
clinging to each other.  How his arms hold me tight against him, my fingers
twisted in his shirt.  And how I really don't want to pull away.
    He hesitates, too.  We're just standing there breathing. 
And I want more than anything to tell him the truth and let whatever happens
happen.
    "Jonas," I whisper, my fingers tightening in the
fabric, "I—"
    His lips press suddenly against my forehead, silencing me. 
"Don't," he whispers, and he starts to draw away.
    Before I can stop him, there's another huge rumble from
outside.
    He turns toward the door.  "What's happening?"
    As we emerge, I'm wondering the same thing.  How serious is
this attack.  Kobee and Spec didn't seem too excited.  It must be normal.  But
it sounds like war.
    We have a peek down the street and find no more Sentries. 
It seems quieter now.  As a matter of fact, with the exception of that last
blast, the fighting seems to be fading off into the distance.
    "We should go back," Jonas says, his hand on my
arm like he's afraid he'll lose me.
    I shake my head.  "I want to see."  I can't
explain my morbid curiosity, but I need to see what has happened.  I
start down the street toward the first blast, where smoke is still rising in a
huge column.  Jonas has no choice but to follow.
    "I think this is a bad idea," he says as we stride
toward the tower of smoke.
    "You might be right," I murmur.