The Before Read Online Free PDF Page A

you?”
    He stopped less than a foot away from me—which was about eighteen inches too close for my comfort. “I thought I might have trouble from you again.”
    “No. No trouble.” I blinked innocently. “Curfew ended at eight this morning. I checked online.”
    He leaned in close to me, forcing me to crank my neck to look up at him. “You being a smart-ass?”
    I tried not to flinch from the sour coffee stench of his breath. “No! Not at all. I followed your advice. From last night. You said we should read the details of the curfew on the NPDCO’s website and I wanted you to know that I had.”
    He leaned a little closer, so that his face was inches from mine. The predatory gleam in his gaze sent shivers of dread down my spine. “I don’t have time to deal with smart-ass little punks like you.”
    “I’m not—”
    “I’m going to need to see that license again.” He spit out each word, like they were little darts that could actually bite into my skin.
    The aggression radiating off the guy made my pulse quicken. Again, I fought against my fight-or-flight instincts. Against this guy, neither would do me any good and both would get a face full of concrete.
    Moving slowly, I pulled my wallet from the back pocket of my shorts and handed him my driver’s license. He swaggered back to the patrol car, and for long, interminable minutes I stood there, fuming. Even though I wanted to, I didn’t ask why he needed to see my license again. We were right in front of my house. He knew that. What other information could he possibly need?
    I should have called for my mom. I should have refused. I was under eighteen. Theoretically, that gave me some protection from this kind of thing, right? Theoretically, he shouldn’t even be talking to me without a parent around, right?
    Yeah. I’m sure that’s what those other “aggressive combatants” told themselves too. Right before those other officers “discharged their weapons.”
    Finally he returned with my license and thrust it back at me.
    “You need to get your sweet ass back in that house and stay there until your transport orders come in, which I think you’ll find will be damn soon. I don’t want to see you again until then. If I do see you out wandering around, that would cause me to seriously question your judgment and your mental facilities. Now go.”
    He didn’t need to tell me twice. Heart racing, I scrambled back to the house.

Chapter Seven
     
    Lily
     
    I eased the door closed, bolted it shut and just stood there for several long moments, my back pressed to the door, trembling. I wanted to kick something. Or hit something. Or at least slam the door over and over again, but I didn’t dare. I hadn’t told Mom I was going out and if she realized what I’d tried to do, she might freak. The fact that I’d failed was enough to make me freak, too.
    What the hell?
    What the hell was wrong with this guy?
    What the hell was wrong with the world?
    Was all of humanity really just one health crisis away from savagery? Was fear really this powerful? This uncontrollable?
    I glanced out the peephole and saw the cop car slowly moving down the street. The fact that he’d left didn’t make me feel any better. I tried to see it from his point of view. In every city south of here—San Antonio, Houston, Austin—cops had been the first line of defense against the mutants. And the first to fall. He was probably just scared out of his mind. He was terrified. He was taking comfort in exerting what little control he had left—by terrorizing me. I shouldn’t take it personally.
    But, yeah, that didn’t exactly make me feel any better. He was still an asshole. And he was still watching my door.
    Finally, I pushed myself away and walked into the kitchen to find something for breakfast. We were down to stale granola bars, but it was better than breaking open the MREs.
    I grabbed one and headed for the living room, where I found Mel and Mom sitting together on the sofa in