Savage Run

Savage Run Read Online Free PDF Page A

Book: Savage Run Read Online Free PDF
Author: E. J. Squires
Tags: Suspense, Romance, YA), SciFi, Young Adult, teen, Dystopian, Dystopian YA, scifi action
my mother. That the circumstances that
led up to her being dragged away from the Unifers weren’t my fault.
Nothing was. All I knew was that he believed it was true, so I did
too. I didn’t have the wisdom to see the lie he was telling me. And
himself. See how much he was hurting and finding only relief
through putting the blame on others. After that night, my father
threw the Palka away and never touched me again—I think he felt bad
about what he did.
    After lying in my bed awake for hours,
pressing my cheek against the expanding wet spot on my pillow, I
decided to run away. I climbed out of my window, found a secluded
spot in the woods, and was just trying to figure out a plan. When
Gemma walked by, it was well past midnight. My fingers and toes had
frozen stiff, and I had grown weary of watching the white vapors of
breath rising from my mouth. The first thing she said was that she
liked to walk outside at night to watch the stars—it made her feel
connected, as if everything had purpose. Her comment took me off
guard. Purpose? There is no purpose to this. She asked me if it was
all right if she could sit down next to me, and I nodded. Sitting
so close she studied my face for a moment. I know she saw the
bruise on my cheek, and I even think she had her suspicions about
what had transpired between my father and me, especially by the way
her face warmed with compassion, but she didn’t prod—just stated
that she was so glad she’d found someone to talk to.
    She explained that she and her mother had
just moved to our street that day from another Laborer sector right
off the east coast. Several had been relocated because there simply
was no more room. The Unifiers had gone through the city and
handpicked the women and children to be sent to Culmination. The
oilrigs don’t need pretty faces, they had told them, but the
cultural hub of Newland does. When they arrived, the Unifers
crammed her and her mother in with the Porter family. They’re nice
enough—a little too involved in the neighborhood gossip, but decent
folks.
    After telling her story, Gemma invited me
over to her home, and her mother offered me a cup of peppermint tea
and a bowl of rice and lentils. Ruth was the same woman I had
earlier passed on the streets, and I wondered if it was her who had
sent Gemma out to me, witnessing how my father had waited for me
with his Palka. This made me feel embarrassed, but they didn’t
bring it up at all. Not once. Sitting up until three a.m., we
exchanged stories about our lives and laughed until my cheeks
cramped. At the end of the night, Ruth said she would be my
substitute mother since I didn’t have one, and ever since that
night, she would ask how my day was and how things were at home. It
was that night of kindness that made me think that maybe, just
maybe, there’s some purpose to this crazy life after all. That it
might be worth living for a few rare moments of bliss. Although my
father never found out about that first night, he did catch me
sneaking out a few months later. That’s when he barb-wired my
window. But even though he had taken so many things from me and
continued to do so over the years, he could never touch the part of
me that holds my most cherished memories.
    But I am not Gemma and I don’t have a velvet
touch when it comes to difficult conversations. I’ll just lay it
all out in one clear, unapologetic statement.
    Just as I’m about to say it, she points at
my bike. “You have a flat tire.”
    My heart misses a beat. In all my planning,
I hadn’t planned for this. I look her straight in the eyes. “I
don’t have time to fix it. We’re going to register for the Savage
Run.” My lungs constrict as I wait for her reply.
    Gemma’s eyes widen. “This isn’t the time to
joke around.”
    “ Sergio can get us fake
IDs.”
    “ Who?”
    “ Never mind, it’s a long
story. Will you do it?” I ask.
    “ Wait—you’re
serious?”
    I pause a moment before I answer.
“Completely.”
    “
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