Rage Within Read Online Free PDF

had been sitting. Aries could see the backs of two of the hoodie-clad guys disappearing into the crowd.
    “Are you okay?” she asked.
    Sara nodded. Her lower lip was trembling.
    “Can you believe that?” Joy said. “Bunch of jerks. There’s always someone who has to go and make things violent.” She turned and shouted at the crowd. “Come back and do that again, you cowards!”
    Sara giggled nervously.
    They started making their way through the crowd and toward Davie Street. It was slow moving; there weren’t a lot of open gaps to sneak through. Aries noticed that several stores were locking their doors and putting Closed signs in the windows. She didn’t blame them in the slightest.
    “At least we’re moving away from the cops,” Becka said. “I doubt my parents would be impressed if I got arrested. My brother would love it, though.”
    “Where are these people coming from?” Sara said. She dodged being shoved by a kid with a skateboard and wraparound sunglasses. “You’d think it was New Year’s Eve. I’ve never seen such a crowd. And we were down here for the Olympics. Remember? It wasn’t nearly as crazy as this.”
    “Word travels fast?” Aries said. She watched a family cowering in a doorway, the father trying to maneuver one of those fancy jogging strollers. “It is strange. You’d think people would have better things to do with their time.”
    From somewhere down the street, loud blasts filled the air. Someone beside them screamed. Becka immediately covered her ears with her hands.
    “That sounded like gunshots,” Joy said. “Come on. Move faster.”
    “Where’s it coming from?” Sara asked.
    “Behind us,” Aries said. She strained her neck up to try and listen. “At least I think so.”
    “I’m not sticking around to find out,” Joy said, pushing her way between a bewildered couple wearing matching Windbreakers.
    But in front of them, things weren’t getting any better. One of the pro-life people broke into a fight with a girl who might have been a Greenpeace member; it was hard to tell. She was screaming at him when he picked up his protest signand waved it around several times before bringing it down on her head. As blood dripped from the gash in her forehead, another protester, maybe animal rights, grabbed the wooden board, and a violent tug-of-war broke out.
    A man stood a few feet away from the girls, with dirty sweatpants, no shirt, and a Santa hat perched on top of his head. He was holding a badly painted banner, waving it high above his head.
    The End of the World
Is Here
    He was chanting something over and over. It took Aries a few seconds to make out the words.
    “From our lips to God’s ears. From our lips to God’s ears.”
    It was so comical, Aries burst out laughing before she could stop herself. Sara looked at her like she was crazy.
    But it was the banner, not Sara, that pushed the chuckle down into her stomach. The way it stood out above the endless sea of heads. Something about it suddenly made her throat close, and goose bumps broke out against her skin.
    The banner was right.
    No. Absolute garbage. People had been predicting the end of the world forever. And some crazy guy in a Santa Claus hat couldn’t possibly know the truth about something so big. The world wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
    Right?
    He speaks the truth.
    The voice was so subtle, she didn’t realize it was just herthoughts. She actually caught herself looking back, trying to figure out where the voice came from.
    Great, now you’re going bonkers. Wonder if he has a matching hat for you.
    It didn’t help that the crazy guy had noticed her watching him and started making his way through the crowd. She froze, and people pushed into her, shoving her back and sideways, but she couldn’t move.
    Then Sara reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her onward. A new wave of people passed between them and the man, and his banner disappeared.
    “Come on,” Sara said. “Or we’re gonna