Eversummer: The Forerunner Archives Book 1 Read online

  22.

  The grassy plain ripples with a soft warm breeze blowing in from the ocean. The young man lets the air hit him, breathing it in with a hearty smile.

  Freedom!

  He never thought he'd be free again.

  They'd have to stay here, of course–probably for the rest of their lives–but as far as he was concerned, that’d be just fine. The sun stays just above the horizon on the Fringes of Eversummer, its rays not as harsh as they are further west. That’s good, because his eyes are sensitive. They all have sensitive eyes. He'd been taken from Everwinter at a young age–they all had–and so his eyes hadn't time to adapt to living in total darkness. Some might consider that a blessing.

  Ha!

  If only they knew what he and the others had been through…

  "Hey! You! Can you help me?"

  Startled, the young man whirls, ready for anything, mind reeling. He’s never seen anybody else out here yet. Dead ahead, the straight, unwavering line of the Engie tracks crosses from horizon to horizon.

  And somebody is coming from that direction.

  An Engie passed here not more than an hour ago. 

  "Hey!" the voice calls again, high pitched, adolescent. "Can you hear me?” The voice belongs to a young boy, dashing toward him through the grass. The boy's forehead is covered in bloody streaks, but he seems none the worse for wear. There's also a strange, clumpy grey substance on his skin, a growth of some sort. But there are clear patches as well.

  A new mutation?

  Anything is possible now that mutations are the norm. 

  "Yes, I can hear you!" the young man calls back. He breaks into a trot, covering the distance to the boy in minutes. The boy looks winded but happy to see him, eyeing the young man warily. 

  He's probably never seen a mutant like me before, the young man thinks. "What's wrong?" he asks.

  "This way," the boy says, leading him back toward the Engie tracks. "My sister is hurt."

  Sister? The young man thinks, suddenly suspicious that this might be a trap of some sort.

  But who would set up a trap out here? 

  Nobody lives out here anymore.

  The boy comes to a trampled section of grass. The first thing the young man sees is blood. It's everywhere, splashed all over the grass. The second thing he sees is the body; a large, man-sized hulk, motionless on the ground. And finally, he sees the sister this little boy is worried about. She's on her back on the grass, unconscious, dripping blood from a wound on her side. He kneels down beside the girl, dumbstruck by her rose red hair and remarkable beauty.

  He does a double take.

  This girl is not a mutant!

  "Yeah, I know," the boy nods, pointing to his sister. He reaches up and peels some of the grayscale from his own cheek. "See? It's just a disguise. We're human. The last ones left, we think. Please, mister, can you help her?"

  The young man hesitates, pulling himself together. He puts his arms under the girl, lifting her onto his shoulder.

  "Come on," he says, "we have to get her someplace safe."

  And that’s how Traylor met Tien.