Reddened Wasteland Read Online Free

ground. He may not have agreed with everything The Union stood for, but
he had to agree that terrorist attacks were a bad thing.
    Immediately he began looking for signs within the
tunnels, discreetly eying his fellow miners with scrutiny as they passed. He
listened for quiet whispers or muffled footsteps, but things seemed to be just
as they always had always been.
    He thought to check out the employee lockers, but
wanted to find Velar first. She probably was curious about his meeting and she
was also the only one who would give it to him straight. If he tried talking to
the other workers, they would likely just kiss his ass and throw someone else
under the bus to try to get ahead in the world.
    He made his way to the lower level, where the women
brushed bucket loads of soft, red dirt off of the precious metals before they
were transported to the surface. That job required precision and delicate
hands, so the level was staffed by a majority of women while men did the hard
labor on the other levels.
    He spotted Velar scrubbing away at her usual table
with a metal bristle pad in her hand. The sweat beads and flecks of dust that
peppered her face somehow made her even more stunning. It was difficult to
stand out amongst the settlers – almost everyone had the same tan skin and
brown eyes – but she was definitely special. He wasn’t the only one who noticed
it, the girl had no shortage of admirers.
    He thought maybe part of it was her pin-straight hair.
That wasn’t the only thing that made her attractive, but it did give her a
unique appearance that sparked the interest of many of the settlers. Almost
everyone in the settlement had curly or wavy hair due to the years and years of
breeding. Humanity was in a bottleneck phase. Straight hair was an oddity.
    Alerik was actually a very rare
breed himself, almost no one in the settlement had blue eyes. Just a handful of
people in the several thousand that remained. Maybe that was why he and Velar
got along so well. Just two oddballs in the sea of brown and curly.
    Velar felt eyes on her and looked up from her task.
Her eyes landed on Alerik standing by the doorway and her stomach did a flip.
She tried not to act excited, though she had trouble hiding it. She was
deliberate in her movements, walking slowly so as not to seem too eager to talk
to him.
    “Glad to see you are still amongst the living,” she
smiled, lightly biting her bottom lip before she caught herself and quickly
corrected it. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.
    “Got a minute?” he asked before gently grabbing her
shoulder and guiding her out of the room, not waiting for a response.
    “ Okay then ,” she thought.
    As soon as they were out of earshot from the others,
Alerik leaned against the wall. He was trying to appear casual, though worry
was apparent on his face.
    “Velar, I was called into the office because there has
been suspicious activity in the mines. I need your help. Have you overheard of
any strange whispers? Seen any bizarre behavior? Anything abnormal or
suspicious?” he arched a brow.
    “Uh, n—no,” she shook her head, “Of course not.
Alerik, I would tell you if something weird was going on. Honestly, I haven’t
seen anything.”
    “Well, just keep a look out for me, will you?” He
asked with a half-smile.
    She nodded, “If I hear anything, you will be the first
to know.”
    “Okay, you should get back. Meet with me after work. I
need to talk to you about a few things… Away from here,” He said cautiously.
Footsteps could be heard heading towards them from deeper in the tunnel.
    They exchanged silent nods before heading back to
work.
    ***
    Later that night, Alerik was pacing in his apartment
as he thought over the day and waited for Velar. A knock on his door
interrupted his thoughts. As he strode past the reflective, polished aluminum
siding on his wall he paused to run his fingers through his hair and check out
his appearance. He laughed at himself and shook his head – Why was