The Dark Water Read Online Free PDF Page B

Odessa says quietly, “maybe she’s right. If we can get out of here, we can help people. We can save our families. My little sister. She doesn’t know anything about anything. We can’t let her die.”
    Jimmy thinks about it. “But if we don’t stop Sutton from taking over this place, then we’re no good to anyone. Not our family, not our friends.” He turns to Veronica. “You don’t have any guns, do you?”
    She shakes her head. “Just lots of syringes.”
    â€œDo you have anything? Anything that can stop them?”
    â€œYou really should go. With these cameras, I can guide you safely out of here. Listen to Odessa.”
    Jimmy’s face is set in stone. “I did. I’m sorry, Dess, but this comes first. We need the water to help people, which means we need to stop Sutton.” He turns back to Veronica. “Now, again,
think,
what can we use? What do you have?”
    Veronica takes a deep breath and seems to steel herself. Suddenly she looks more like the woman they saw yesterday, the one who could handle herself. Handle anything.
    She takes a walkie-talkie off a wall charger and hands it to Jimmy. “Okay, you two—go. Sutton knows this place, he heard you, so he’ll come here first. That should take another two or three minutes. Enough time to get moving.”
    â€œBut where are we going? What’s the plan?” Odessa says.
    â€œYou asked what we have if not guns,” Veronica says, opening the door for them and motioning them out. Odessa moves reluctantly, not sure she’s ready to leave the relative safety of the room. “You asked me to think?”
    â€œYeah . . .” Jimmy replies, wary.
    â€œI’ll tell you what we have. We have monkeys.”

4
    THE GATES ARE SO LARGE THAT IT TAKES A GOOD TEN minutes of walking to get past their wide arms. The trees behind us have faded away into a soft glow, but there’s another light coming up ahead, down a slope. The moss has given way to a road, paved in flat smooth stones, black and white at regular intervals, like a flowing chessboard.
    Below us, spread out in stunning beauty, a city opens like a sunrise. Tall buildings, towers and spheres and geometrically pleasing triangles jut high into view, filling the air with spires. I can make out balconies, large windows, rooftop terraces with gardens and trees. Big and small birds fly across the streets, their wings shimmering softly. It seems as if every inch of space has been accounted for, jammed together. The city’s bursting at the seams. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
    â€œThis is incredible,” I say, unable to help myself.
    â€œThis is Capian, my home. Your cities are like this, yes?” Straoc asks.
    â€œNew York, maybe,” Rob says. “But not really. Nothing like this.”
    â€œNot many of us venture to the gates, as they are usually closed,” Straoc says, taking it all in. “Not many of us ever see how beautiful it is from this same perspective, how perfect.” He pauses, takes a breath. “But soon that will change.”
    I think of the lake behind us, the portal back to the Cave. It sounds to me like Straoc’s planning on bringing up some friends soon. Not sure that’s a good thing.
    â€œHow many people live here?” Jo asks, rubbing at her wrists. The rope’s burning my skin too.
    â€œSeveral tens of thousands,” Straoc replies, pride in his voice.
    â€œWhat’s that?” Rob says, pointing with his bound hands beyond the city. Capian sits in more of a bowl than a valley, a crater almost, with the massive wall snug against the surrounding hill, like a crown. It’s divided in half by a wide boulevard, the only open space in the entire city. At the far end of the boulevard, above the city, is a mountain, lit brightly by the shine of the buildings below. It shoots straight up, as steep as one of the towers, but