Savage Run Read Online Free PDF Page B

scrapyard.
Pressing my hands against the filthy, water-stained window, I
glimpse inside, but other than the shadows, it’s completely
dark.
    It was an accident how I found out about
Sergio. A few months ago, I had been ordered to deliver
prescription medication to him, but when I arrived, no matter how
many times I knocked no one answered. Knowing I couldn’t return to
the hospital without a signature confirming the delivery, I stepped
inside. To my surprise, I found an open trap door in the floor.
Stressing about how I needed to get to my other deliveries before
time ran out, I decided to descend the stairs and noticed that the
light bulbs along the stairwell were lit—even though it was well
past seven o’clock in the morning. We Laborers have electricity
rationed to us from five to seven a.m. daily, and the government is
infallible at keeping the electricity shut off the rest of the day.
When I reached the bottom of the staircase, I overheard someone
talking about counterfeit IDs.
    And that’s when it all came together and the
idea of registering for the Savage Run came to me.
    I stopped breathing at this point and
quickly decided to make the other deliveries first. When I came
back to Sergio’s place, I found him eating lunch. I’ve made two
deliveries to him since then, and each time brought a bottle of my
father’s beer and smiled as I listened to him complaining about his
ex-wife. I never brought the whole fake ID thing up to him, but
he’s definitely some type of underground rebel, which is just the
type of man I need.
    I knock again—harder and longer this
time.
    Be home, please be home, I plead quietly to
myself.
    Suddenly the door flings open. Sergio’s dark
blond, curly hair is messy and he has bags under his green
puppy-dog eyes. “I did not order medication,” he says in a thick
Eastern accent, a frown on his lips. He’s holding a beer bottle and
smells like he hasn’t showered or changed in weeks.
    Although I had this entire refined speech
memorized, I can’t remember a single word of it. Instead, I just
blurt out, “I’m not here for that. We’re here for fake IDs.” I
inhale and hold it.
    His right eyebrow twitches once. He grabs my
elbow, pulls us inside, and slams the door shut. The room is a
dark, stuffy, beer-smelling cave.
    Pointing his index finger right in my face,
he says, “I don’t know what you talking about, but talking like
that is trouble for you and me both. Now get out of here!”
    “ No! I rescued my friend
Gemma from a cruel Master and he said he was going to kill her, and
he’ll kill me, too, so the only way to get out of this mess is if
we join the Savage Run. And for that I need my ID card to say that
I’m a guy.”
    He runs his hands through
his hair before studying me for a moment. “I don’t know what you
even talking about. I don’t have such fake IDs.” His tone is more
nonchalant than before, flippant even.
    I take a step toward him, my heart like a
drum. “I know what you do. You have a trap door below that rug
there.” I point and continue to say, “And if you don’t help us,
I’ll notify the authorities.”
    He frowns. “You do not have any proofs,
little pteetsa.”
    Pteetsa ? “Then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind when the Unifers search
your house.” I grab the rusty doorknob, silently praying he’ll buy
my bluff.
    “ Wait!” he says, hitting my
hand away from the doorknob. “Ah! Stupid girl! How you pay
me?”
    I repress a smile. “Your payment is that I
won’t give you away.” I expect him to go ballistic on me, knock me
unconscious or pull out a gun to get me to leave. He seems like the
type of guy who doesn’t take any crap from anyone, especially a
young Laborer girl without money or influence. “And if I survive,
I’ll…remember you and send you money. And more beer.”
    He starts to laugh, softly
at first, increasingly louder until his round shoulders roll.
“ You survive
Savage Run? You never will survive and I never will