The Yellow Pill Read Online Free PDF

it.
    She must have hid
her fear poorly since Jin leaned towards her and whispered that he wouldn’t let
anything happen to her.
    Frey felt her stomach
lurch, like her insides wanted to fuel her fear. Idiot. I’m not worried
about me. It was clear that Jin had somehow started hanging out with the
wrong sort of people, and Frey knew it almost always led to the same thing. I’m
worried about you…

Chapter
4
    Frey rolled to
her side, rubbing her eyes, judging the time to be around noon. Her eyes stayed
on the coarse blanket, seeing Father Patrick tiptoeing back down in her minds
eye. Sleeping at the orphanage always made her feel safe. Her smile faded as
she thought of Jin. She rubbed her face with both hands before clasping them
behind her head. “Damn idiot,” she said.
     
    Frey walked along
the rooftops of China Town when night came. Her eyes scanned the streets for
any sign of Jin’s familiar movements.
    Once
she spotted Tim, his small frame snaking between the masses of people, his too
big clothing almost comical on his thin frame. He wasn’t being chased by anyone
so she guessed he was staying out of trouble for now. A small smile played on
her lips. Probably ran before he could crawl.
    Frey
gave up trying finding Jin and walked towards the west, the scrap yard visible
between the buildings. The chances of falling to your death escalated when you
couldn’t see where you put your feet, so it was pretty much deserted at night.
A shudder passed through Frey as she looked at the dome, reminded that no stars
were projected tonight.
    Friggin makes me uneasy…
    Her
head snapped back to the scrap yard. What the hell was that?
    If it
had been a rat, it had to be a bloody big one. It shouldn’t have pulled her
attention like a moth to flames, but it did… Suddenly she wondered if the man
with the smooth shirt still lay were he had fallen or already reduced to a pile
of bone by the scavengers. Or maybe someone had gone looking for him… and the
thing he had been carrying.
    Frey
jumped over rooftops, only then realizing she was running. She knew it was
stupid but couldn’t stop herself more than she could stop the citizens craving
the Yellow Pill. The scrap yard opened up like the big explosion of junk that
it was.
    She
stayed in the protection of the buildings, gazing around the mounds of metal.
    There!
    A
group of black shadows moved out of view.
    The
distance and darkness made it hard to make out more than just contours. She
followed, sneaking from one pile to the next. Frey strained to pick out any
sounds, but to no avail. The group moved out of view a second time. When she
spotted them again they were just climbing one of the piles of metal debris.
With the blackness of the dome behind them, only the odd reflection separated
them from it.
    She
followed as silently as she could, easing her head above the ridge. But they
were gone...
    Frey
scrabbled up the last bit, turning in a circle on the top. There’s nowhere
to go!
    She
picked her way through the scrap yard faster than was wise, stumbling up the
slope to the very top. Now that she stood there looking around into the
darkness she wondered if she was going crazy…
     
    Exploring new buildings could be a very good or very bad idea. Good in
that they could actually contain something of value, bad since they might
shelter bad people. At least it was taking her mind off what had happened on
the scrap yard.
    No sign of anyone living here so far.
    Frey hoisted her worn, dark blue backpack higher on
her shoulder. It was empty now, but she was hoping to leave with it filled.
    Frey strolled along the open spaces on the top floor,
surprised but not complaining that there still wasn’t any sign of life. Frey
moved from room to room, a couple of computers. They were big and bulky, the
screens black and dusty. There wasn’t enough power to supply one of them
anywhere she knew, but parts were always harvested and everything that
might be valuable, taken to the markets.