Crimson Sky: A Dark Sky Novel Read Online Free Page B
Author: Amy Braun
under my shirt. I opened my mouth to ask what it was, but she spoke before I did.
“Take your sister and find somewhere to hide. Don’t let anyone see the key, do you understand?”
I jumped when a piece of the wooden door cracked and rained splinters onto the floor. The Hellions shrieks drowned out Abby’s cries.
“But you’re coming too?” I asked.
Mom shook her head sadly. Her long blonde hair was tangled and messy, and her green eyes were as sad as they were when Dad was killed.
“I can buy you time.” She looked at the ground. “I have to buy us all time,” she muttered.
I tried to ask what she meant, but another sharp crack made me jump and back away. The Hellions could hear Abby screaming, and it was turning them ravenous.
Mom grabbed my arms and pushed me toward the cellar door. She sent me through, then looked at me from the doorway.
“You need to survive, Claire. You can save us. Not just your sister, but everyone.”
Tears choked me. “What about you?”
My mother smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. There was pain in them, and a look of regret.
A last look. I choked again, trying to breathe and hold my sister close to me.
“Mommy…”
She knelt down touched my shoulder. The door was disintegrating behind her. The Hellions would be on us.
“You’re a strong, smart, brave girl, Claire. You have mine and your father’s talents. One day you’ll use that key, and you’ll save us all.”
I didn’t understand. Why was she wasting time telling me this? Why wasn’t she coming?
Mom pressed a kiss onto the top of my head, then bent and did the same to Abby. My baby sister’s cries lessened for a moment as her mother caressed the top of her head. As if she knew it would be for the last time.
Then without a final word, she slammed the door in our faces. I stood in the dark, staring in horror, listening to wood shatter and the rasping screeches of the Hellions while my mother began to scream…
Chapter 2
Despite the full night’s sleep and painkillers Abby had given me, I wasn’t feeling up to an entire day of scavenging. Not that Garnet would take any excuse, even though he was the one that caused most of my pain.
The throbbing agony in my stomach and ribs and soreness in my legs was replaced with stiffness every time I moved. I ate as much as we could spare, repacked my belt with tools, flashbangs and torches, and walked into the main intersection.
Garnet’s head scavenger, a tall, gangly man named Ben, shouted out the same orders he did every time we needed to scavenge.
The guards would take the fifteen healthiest, fittest people to a designated area of Westraven and have them pick it clean of supplies. Food, water, weapons, clothes, machines, tools, even damaged items were to be picked up, since engineers and Electricians could repair them. Anyone who strayed out of bounds would be left behind. Anyone who tried to run would be shot in the leg, and brought back to Garnet for proper punishment.
Garnet allowed children to scavenge because they were small and could fit into places adults couldn’t, which meant that Abby was allowed to come with me. My sister might not be an engineer, but she always found the little screws and bolts and gears I needed to put my inventions together.
The guards split up the groups and took them to different entrances aboveground. The Behemoth was a constantly hovering threat, and it was impossible to tell when the Hellions would launch a raid. Scavenging Day never went on for longer than a few hours, and stopped completely if even a single skiff dropped out of the Behemoth’ s belly.
When Abby and I rose from the manhole cover, the first thing I did was take a deep breath of clean air. It tasted a little bit like dry dust in some areas, but I would take it over the stale humidity in the colony any day. My brain was a little fuzzy from the
“Take your sister and find somewhere to hide. Don’t let anyone see the key, do you understand?”
I jumped when a piece of the wooden door cracked and rained splinters onto the floor. The Hellions shrieks drowned out Abby’s cries.
“But you’re coming too?” I asked.
Mom shook her head sadly. Her long blonde hair was tangled and messy, and her green eyes were as sad as they were when Dad was killed.
“I can buy you time.” She looked at the ground. “I have to buy us all time,” she muttered.
I tried to ask what she meant, but another sharp crack made me jump and back away. The Hellions could hear Abby screaming, and it was turning them ravenous.
Mom grabbed my arms and pushed me toward the cellar door. She sent me through, then looked at me from the doorway.
“You need to survive, Claire. You can save us. Not just your sister, but everyone.”
Tears choked me. “What about you?”
My mother smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. There was pain in them, and a look of regret.
A last look. I choked again, trying to breathe and hold my sister close to me.
“Mommy…”
She knelt down touched my shoulder. The door was disintegrating behind her. The Hellions would be on us.
“You’re a strong, smart, brave girl, Claire. You have mine and your father’s talents. One day you’ll use that key, and you’ll save us all.”
I didn’t understand. Why was she wasting time telling me this? Why wasn’t she coming?
Mom pressed a kiss onto the top of my head, then bent and did the same to Abby. My baby sister’s cries lessened for a moment as her mother caressed the top of her head. As if she knew it would be for the last time.
Then without a final word, she slammed the door in our faces. I stood in the dark, staring in horror, listening to wood shatter and the rasping screeches of the Hellions while my mother began to scream…
Chapter 2
Despite the full night’s sleep and painkillers Abby had given me, I wasn’t feeling up to an entire day of scavenging. Not that Garnet would take any excuse, even though he was the one that caused most of my pain.
The throbbing agony in my stomach and ribs and soreness in my legs was replaced with stiffness every time I moved. I ate as much as we could spare, repacked my belt with tools, flashbangs and torches, and walked into the main intersection.
Garnet’s head scavenger, a tall, gangly man named Ben, shouted out the same orders he did every time we needed to scavenge.
The guards would take the fifteen healthiest, fittest people to a designated area of Westraven and have them pick it clean of supplies. Food, water, weapons, clothes, machines, tools, even damaged items were to be picked up, since engineers and Electricians could repair them. Anyone who strayed out of bounds would be left behind. Anyone who tried to run would be shot in the leg, and brought back to Garnet for proper punishment.
Garnet allowed children to scavenge because they were small and could fit into places adults couldn’t, which meant that Abby was allowed to come with me. My sister might not be an engineer, but she always found the little screws and bolts and gears I needed to put my inventions together.
The guards split up the groups and took them to different entrances aboveground. The Behemoth was a constantly hovering threat, and it was impossible to tell when the Hellions would launch a raid. Scavenging Day never went on for longer than a few hours, and stopped completely if even a single skiff dropped out of the Behemoth’ s belly.
When Abby and I rose from the manhole cover, the first thing I did was take a deep breath of clean air. It tasted a little bit like dry dust in some areas, but I would take it over the stale humidity in the colony any day. My brain was a little fuzzy from the
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