Everwinter: The Forerunner Archives Read Online Free PDF Page A

Juno," Jude says, stepping behind me to wrap his arms around me, making it easier and less conspicuous to whisper in my ear. "The footprints in the sand, the Box, everything."
    "I know," I nod. "I'll talk to my Father after my shift at the Gardens today. Until then, hide ."
    Jude squeezes me tight and gives me a quick peck on the lips. "I love you, Juno Quinn," he says. Then I feel his arms slip away and, by the time I turn around, he's melted into the crowd, g one. I touch my cheek where he'd kissed me, feeling a bit of the wetness left behind, flabbergasted. 
    Jude has never told me he loved me before.
    "I...I don–" I start to say to myself, when somebody cuts me off.
    "Juno! Hey, Juno Quinn! What can I getcha?"
    I shake my head from my stupor and look up dumbly to find I'm at the head of the coffee line, staring blankly into the eyes of the proprietor, Jaq Eldin. He hates it when people take too long to order; it backs things up. The people behind me mutter their annoyance as well.
    "Oh, uh, I'll have a –" I cut myself off again. My eyes have fallen on a clock set on a support post at the back of the kiosk. "Bloody ashes!" I curse, realizing I won't be getting my much needed cup of morning coffee after all.
    I'm late for work.
     
     
     
     
    4.
     
    "That'll be a half hour docked from your pay, Juno."
    I check the clock on the wall. I'm only ten minutes late, but it's hardly the first time. "But –" I begin to protest.
    "Wanna make it an hour?" Cantrell cuts me off, his tone harsh, his glare like stone. Cantrell is a short man, with darker skin than most and pitch black hair combed to one side. He's only a few years older than me, but he acts like he’s fifty.
    "It won't happen again, sir," I admonish, though we both know the chances of that are pretty slim. My boss just nods and gestures for me to get out of his sight. I dart away quickly, finding the change room and slip ping into my work bib in less than a minute. I pull my semi-short, red hair into a dirty ponytail, fully revealing the shaved sides of my head, and enter the Glass Gardens proper. 
    The heat is the first thing that strikes me, as it always does. It's like a thick, moist wall. The second thing is the pleasant aroma of fresh, dewy vegetation. Row upon row of various crops, plants and trees, extend as far as the eye can see from the head of the Gardens where I'm standing. Drought is a particularly prevalent problem in Eversummer, and so the Gardens were built to accommodate large scale food production without fear of losses. Above me, massive glass panes set into thick metal frames create seemingly random color patterns of light and shadow. Each pane is tinted uniquely, having been scavenged ages ago from ancient towers of the Forerunners. We haven’t the technology to produce such thick glass ourselves, and so salvaged what we could use. The remnants of Forerunner cities can be found all over Eversummer, though I've never seen one myself yet. They lie mostly in the Bleaklands, where air is hard to come by. My Father says they've all been picked clean now anyway; there is little left to find that wouldn't be blasphemous to possess.
    A few of my coworkers give me cursory nods or good mornings as I enter, but I'm in such a crummy mood from my lack of coffee that I mostly ignore them. I make for the corn belt, near the center of the Gardens, where I'd been working lately. I duck down the nearest row and find myself relieved as the tall stalks envelop me, knowing there are no prying eyes to find me. Thinking of Jude, sick with worry, I want to cry but push the bad feelings aside, pulling my machete from my tool belt and start hacking away at the lush leaves. The corn around me is ready for harvest. I click the radio transmitter, also attached to my belt, and a confirming series of three clicks follows. 
    Then I really start working.  
    I chop the stalks just below the golden ears of corn and gently guide them to the black tilled soil for REX to pick