Outcasts Read Online Free PDF Page B

At sixteen, Omar was too young to rally older men to the rebels’ cause, and those who knew him knew he’d betrayed their village to Safe Lands enforcers. And even after he’d helped Levi, Jemma, and Zane escape the prison and apologized to everyone, people still treated him badly.
    “It’s going to take time, Omar. It hasn’t even been two months since Glenrock was destroyed.”
    “But working two jobs isn’t fair. And now I’ve got to worry about Otley’s men watching me too.”
    “Contrary to what these flakers in the Safe Lands believe, life is not fair, Omar. Sometimes you get dealt a bad hand. Sometimes you earn it. But you can deal with it or drown. I’m not going to coddle you. I need you to do your share.”
    “I’m fine doing my share. But why should I do more than everyone else?”
    “You have a lot to make up for. You want people to respect you? Show them you’ve changed. Stop whining. Stop sucking on those poison sticks. Start acting like you want out of here someday.”
    Did Omar want out of here? “I don’t know what I want.”
    “Figure it out, Omar. Or it’s going to be more of the same. And stop hanging around with those flakers. Red, especially.”
    “They’re people, Levi. Like you and me.”
    “They’re the enemy. Stop pretending they’re not.”
    “I’m a flaker too. It won’t be long until my skin looks like theirs. So does that mean I’m the enemy?”
    “This is about us and them. Catching their sickness doesn’t make you one of them. Don’t be stupid. And stop treating your body like a canvas.”
    “Stop telling me what to do.”
    “I’m elder, Omar. Telling you what to do is my job. And for now, I want you following that Kendall woman. Bender thinks she might have the messages.”
    “You just said Bender thought Otley had the messages.”
    “No, I said Otley got to Chord before he delivered the messages. But Otley didn’t get them. If he had, Bender said this place and our bunker would be compromised and they would’ve already raided us. Either Chord hid them or he gave them to someone. Bender thinks it’s Kendall Collin. Find out.” Levi walked away, not giving Omar a chance to argue.
    Not that he wanted to.
    Now, Kendall Collin, the girl with the sweet face and the silky brown hair … that wasn’t a bad assignment. Omar would very much like to get to know her better. He sucked in another hit from his vaporizer, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the thrill, letting the fog seep from his lips. He could never tell how much time passed when he vaped the hard stuff. He nodded off again, thinking of Kendall Collin.
    “Hey, trigger.”
    Omar opened his eyes. Red stood before him, looking glossy in a short silver dress with black boots that went up over her knees. She sometimes mimicked the clothing, but never messed with her hair, which was vermillion red, not carrot orange like Belbeline’s had been.
    Walls, he missed Bel.
    Omar looked past Red to the bottom of the theater. Levi, Jordan, and Zane were still there, standing in a huddle by the entrance, but everyone else had gone.
    “I thought you were sleeping,” Red said.
    “Not sleeping.” He held up his PV.
    “Ooh, gimme.” She snatched his PV and took a long drag.
    Red reminded him of a warrior. There was a hardness to her. An inner metal. He’d met her three weeks ago when he’d started up with Bender and the rebels. Omar and Red were both angry deep down, their souls ravaged by this city. They seemed to understand each other’s pain.
    She sat on his lap crosswise and put her arms around his neck. She smelled nice, softer than the spicy smells Belbeline wore.
    “Want to go dancing tonight?” she asked him.
    “Can’t.”
    She ran her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck. “Why not?”
    “Levi’s mad at me for missing my meeting with Chord.”
    “Yeah, that’s a bummer about Chord. He was a valentine.”
    Her words pricked Omar’s nerves. He hated how Safe Landers shared each other.