Naturals Read Online Free PDF

strode over to a transport that sat ablaze in front of the building. It was the source of the smoke we had seen earlier.
    “Why would they burn a transport?” I asked.
    “In case anyone survived. They didn’t want to leave them a means to escape,” Robert replied.
    McNair inspected the vehicle, walking around it in a circle, each time expanding his distance from the burning machine. Eventually, he stopped and picked up a container and a grin crossed his face. He jogged up to the compound and began to pour the container’s liquid all around it. Eric rummaged through one of his new supply bags. He pulled out a box of matches and held it up. McNair nodded, but when Eric started to walk toward him, McNair raised his hand to signal stop.
    “Give them to Henry,” he commanded. I wondered why McNair chose Henry for the task. It was hard not to notice a new and strange bond between the two.
    Henry didn’t wait to be told twice. He snatched the matches from Eric’s hands and lit one so quickly I could barely comprehend what was about to happen. As he threw the burning match to the building, a slow fire began to outline it. But with every second that passed, the fire became more intense, growing exponentially stronger and stronger until it raged and consumed.
    And as the fired ravaged the chosen ones’ home, I wondered if Henry’s hatred would burn him, would consume him straight through.

Chapter 3
     
    “Not feeling so well?’ Robert asked as I wiped the sweat from my brow with my sleeve. Not feeling well was a bit of an understatement. The strenuous travel and constant meals of animals found in the woods had taken their toll on me. I was used to the life of the compound, a life that, while it offered little choice, was at least a life of ease. I didn’t have to worry about keeping warm at night or wonder if the rabbit or squirrel I would force down my throat would find its way back up.
    I wanted a bed. I wanted to stop walking.
    I wanted to feel safe again, even if that sense of safety was false.
    “I’m fine,” I replied, finding it easier to offer this answer, because I could tell Robert was worrying about me. I didn’t know if I wanted him to bother. I wasn’t sure how much I owed him for helping set me free, and how much I still blamed him for my sister’s death. I knew I wanted him as my ally, but that didn’t mean things were easy with him.
    Robert nodded and handed me his canteen of water. I took it and chugged it. My urine had turned an alarming shade, and I was beginning to think my body was going to turn on me. It wasn’t used to such difficult activity, and I wondered if it was up for the journey. “I’m told we’re almost there,” he offered.
    “McNair said that to me three days ago,” I countered, rolling my eyes good-naturedly.
    “I’m sorry this journey has been so tough. We’ll be to the Isolationist camp soon, and then everything will get better.”
    I found myself staring at Robert. Our relationship was difficult, but I was starting to see him for what he could become—not only my friend but my family. If I could convince him to go back and save Louisa, then he might help me rally the others once we reached the camps. He would stand next to me and help reunite what remained of our family. “Will it be better?” I asked quietly.
    Robert offered a sad, small smile. “I certainly hope so.”
    My eyes scanned the horizon as Robert and I sat there in silence, taking turns drinking from the canteen while McNair let us rest. My eyes found Henry, who was bending down, picking up stones and chucking them as far as he could. He hadn’t talked to me much since finding the dying girl at the compound. I didn’t blame him. I knew this was the way he dealt with things. It was the way I used to deal with things, too.
    “And will he be better?” I asked, nodding toward Henry.
    Robert sighed. “You want the lie or the truth?”
    I let free a short, bitter laugh. “That seems to be the