True Born Read Online Free PDF Page B

in case there is some kind of uprising.”
    His eyes crinkle in amusement. Our father slaps his gloves against his leg. “I suppose that’s the case. Of course, Lucinda, if anything happens, you girls will be safe.” Our father pats my knee.
    But as Shane drives off with him a few minutes later, we know something else to be true. A lot of kids have extra mercs. Burly men who stand around the gates of the school, hands twitchy on gun triggers, smoking and pacing. The school has put out far more sentries, too. Blue-armed uniforms patrol the grounds and scan the nearby buildings for signs of trouble.
    On the tall old brownstone just opposite the school someone has spray painted a pair of bright red eyes. They’re trick eyes that seem to follow you no matter which way you turn.
    ...
    A burst of gunfire wrecks the silence of our third period test. In seconds we are all at the window. A lone gunman stands on top of the brownstone and sweeps the school with bullets. Ms. Hojin makes us duck just as we hear the glass breaking in the windows all down the front of the school. As it shatters and falls, the glass sounds like an earthquake. Suddenly it’s like a war has broken out, as any sentries and bodyguards still standing fire back. Ms. Hojin is on her feet in an instant and at the emergency phone. The alarm bleeps, and the steel security barriers collapse over the doors and windows, trapping us in the classroom. Soon the announcements blare distorted over the intercom. We’re told to stay quiet, stay in our rooms until officials let us out. Not that we have a choice.
    The gunfire disappears as we hear bigger booms to the east where the downtown core is. A while later, like in a dream, we’re evacuated. Robbie Deakins finds Margot just as we get to the hall near the main door. His eyes are bright, almost feverish with excitement as he pushes a crumpled note into her hand.
    “You guys okay? I heard Old Man Hicks was hit in the ass.” His overly long front teeth gleam as he laughs.
    “What’s going on?” Margot asks. “Rabble again?”
    “Yup, but my dad says there’s something to it this time. Some new preacher is in town getting them all stirred up.”
    Robbie’s father works at the Ministry of Defense. Our families know each other. Robbie is one of the boys on our “safe” list, invited to every party. Which just goes to show how much our parents collectively don’t know.
    “ Gotta dash. Give me a call, gorgeous. ” Robbie flips his hands near his face like he’s holding a phone. He pushes a lock of his dark hair out of his eyes and flashes his dimples at Margot.
    “ Wait. ” I grab his arm just as he’s about to flee. “Robbie, who are they after?”
    For a moment he looks confused. He backs up, shaking my hand off. “You’re kidding, right?” Robbie asks. His Personal stalks up behind him. Robbie glances over his shoulder and says something to the impressive man wearing a bulletproof vest. He hands another one to Robbie, who slips it on over his collared shirt like it’s a dinner jacket. “What, did you grow up in a tower or something, Lucy? Where have you been?”
    “Don’t you talk that way to my sister,” Margot yells as he turns and flees. We’re left standing in the hallway while all around us our classmates and their security swarm. I see a tall man with bluish, shiny skin standing silently near a classroom door waiting for his charge. I catch his eye, and he nods back at me politely before turning his attention to a pimply-faced freshman. A True Born.
    Margot crumples up the note Robbie has given her and tosses it on the floor. Her bangs float off her face as she harrumphs in exasperation. “What a dozer.” Margot sneers.
    “What does he want?”
    “To get into my pants.”
    “Are you going to let him?”
    “I’m not interested in little boys,” Margot says with a worldly sigh. She plucks at my arm and motions. Shane waits, grim-faced, beside the door. As he ushers us out he tries