Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) Read Online Free

fascination
with me, those big, baby blue eyes studying me like I was an exotic
animal in the zoo or something,” he chuckled. “I tried desperately
to ignore her advances, you see, still clearly recalling that
horrible devil of a woman from college. But the more I resisted,
the more emboldened she became, and she would just intensify her
assault,” he shook his head, taking a swig and offering another to
Toby, who didn’t respond.
    “In all honestly, I was baffled beyond belief
at why anybody would try to pursue me, the aura of isolation I
worked so hard to perfect usually enough to keep people away. But I
was eventually forced to agree to a single date, her persistence
wearing, hoping that after she learned more about me, about my
distrust of others and socialization in general, or lack of
personality as most people saw it, she would leave me alone.
Unfortunately, my plan backfired.
    “Samantha grasped at my distrust, turning it
to her advantage, making me feel as if she was the only person in
the universe who understood me, who I could trust, that would never
betray me. So I followed her, like a donkey chasing a carrot, and
in the end I fell deeply in love, until, like every other time, I
was betrayed,” he took a long draw, swishing the warm whiskey
around in his mouth before letting it slid down his throat, “I
learned by accident that she had a fiancé, you see, and was beyond
devastated. I turned back to the drink and everything, my entire
world, started crumbling around me. I lost my job for no apparent
reason. I was forcefully evicted from my apartment, even though I
had paid a year ahead. Then my family disowned me, going as far as
removing me from family register in the corpies public record
office. I’m telling you, Toby, it made no sense. I tried to find
employment, but it was useless, no one would even talk to me. So
when I ran out of money, I had no other choice but to flee. I
joined a small separatist group, planning on starting over out
west, near the desertification zone the corps abandoned years ago.
But most of them were caught in those first few days by the corpies
pursuit forces, brought to the camps I think, but I was able to
escape and...and here I am,” he finished, deciding against going
into detail about the terrifying nights he endured while fleeing
from the corpies, they being too fresh, and Toby having apparently
fallen asleep. Though it took Trent only a moment to realize what
type of sleep had taken Toby.
    Eternal sleep.
    He pulled the blanket over Toby’s face, his
last breath having ended peacefully sometime during Trent’s tale,
then picked him up in his arms. He carried him gently out into the
bright morning sunlight, smelling of fresh dew and nature
unspoiled, finding a clearing before a single large oak tree in a
nearby meadow. After checking once more, finding no life left in
the old man’s bones, he started collecting stones, building a small
cairn, then carved “Toby” on the oak’s trunk with his already
dulling knife.
    “May you find peace away from this cruel
world,” Trent squatted before the cairn, splashing a last shot of
whiskey for the old man he hardly knew, then taking a long draw for
himself.
    He stood, staring absently across the
unfamiliar landscape. A gentle breeze rolled over meadows of
yellowing grass that swayed into the distant horizon, only broken
by small knolls of scraggly bushes amongst oaks, maples, and
birches, while the tightly packed warehouses that had been lining
the railroad tracks for the last 200 kilometer or so, finally came
to an end.
    A glint caught his eye, born of a small
spring near the warehouse he exited, surrounded by green grass and
lilies. He called it a spring, but it was more likely the result of
a leak in an old abandoned water system or well. But he could care
less; water is water , no matter its source. Trent
refilled his jug, unable to resist the urge to study his reflection
when the ripples smoothed; though no longer did