The Dawn of the Lost: Prequel to The Lost and the Wicked Read Online Free PDF Page A

training, and even if I did, I doubt it would help. I think it’s the air doing this. The fact that dozens of corpses litter the ground only solidifies my suspicions.
    His face turns a shade of blue. He’s choking. Before I can catch him he falls to the floor. I turn him, but it’s too late. His eyes have rolled back and he’s no longer breathing. I close his eyelids and turn toward the school building beside me, which appears to be mostly intact.
    Lucy! Ms. Lopez is her first period class. She may be bossy, but she’s still my girlfriend. I rush through the door, past the bodies of dozens of dead students. I try my best to not look into their faces. All of them have their eyes open, and every time I look into them, I feel a sense of guilt wash over me. Why am I alive while they’re all dead?
    Before I know it, I arrive at room thirty-two and swing the door open and the air instantly leaves my body. No one seems to be alive. Ms. Lopez has a piece of glass stuck in her head. Lucy is dangling out of the window, her hollowed lifeless eyes glaring accusingly at me.
    I have to get out of here. As I reach for the door, out of the corner of my eye, Inotice the slightest movement. My head must be playing tricks on me. I reach for the handle, but this time I see it again. It’s slight, but there is definitely something moving.
    Bracing myself for the worst, I trudge toward the motion. To my surprise though, the rise and falls are not of a dying person. No, actually Summer looks very much alive. There is some dust on her hair, and there is a small scar on her left arm, but besides that, she looks great.
    “Summer!” I shake her back to the present. She slowly opens her eyes. “Summer? Are you okay?” I can hear the worry dripping from my voice.
    “What happened?” she mumbles, glancing around. Her face turns a sickly pale and she lurches down on all fours. Sweat forms on her forehead. Her breaths become deep and ragged. She’s choking to death. Just like Rob. I have to at least attempt some CPR!
    “Hey, Summer!” I push her over to and lean over her. My lips meet hers, and I can’t help but think how soft and good they feel.
    Suddenly, she pushes my head back. “What are you doing?”
    “I thought you were choking. The same thing happened to Rob. He breathed in the green air and just fell down and died.”
    “Are you saying that the air is toxic?” she asks. I get up, trying to get over my shame. “That makes no sense. You and I are breathing well enough.”
    “Maybe we’re immune.”
    “Immune or not, I need to get home. I need to check on my dad.”
    Like a sudden epiphany, Gia rushes into my mind. How could I have forgotten about her? “I…I need to go check on my sister.”
    “ Your sister ? Where is she?”
    “She’s an eighth grader over at Virginia School.” I rush out of the classroom. Summer follows close behind. We remain quit as we pass the hills of corpses.
    We reach outdoors, and I almost trip over Rob. He barely died, but his body looks to be already decomposing. It emits a stench of death. His skin looks as if it’s leaking some kind of black liquid.
    I look past him, and over at the collection of destroyed classrooms. “Oh no.” I take a second to bring my breaths back to somewhat normal levels. “I have to go check on my sister.”
    “Wait!” I’ve seen enough movies to know that splitting up is not the best idea. Let’s meet somewhere. Around five?”
    That sounds like a good plan. We need to stick together if we are to survive. “By the Westchester city line?”
    “Yes. That sounds good.”
    “Ok. See you there at five.” I turn and take off toward Virginia. Please be okay.
    “Gia!” I shout, hoping against hope. The entire school has been reduced to a mountain of rubble. Unlike the high school, which is fairly new, Virginia Middle School was built over two hundred years ago. The infrastructure simply wasn’t meant to take this kind of beating.
    I run past mountain after