Ruins of the Fall (The Remants Trilogy #2) Read Online Free

four miles out,” Jana says. “It’s still red.”
    The surviving contingent of Remnants—about a hundred strong—clamber for their rifles.
    “We gotta move out,” Jana says.
    “Where?” a soldier calls.
    “Just follow me.” She starts to run towards a processing facility, maybe three hundred yards from the station platform. Plain concrete. It bears the Circle’s official insignia.
    It’s like a stampede, fear overtaking the group who, only hours before, undertook a suicide mission to save me. Funny how the mind works. Certain death is acceptable.
    Uncertain death is far more frightening.
    “Did you see,” Carina whispers into my ear as we hurry along the ruined road. She touches the chain around her neck—empty, the cross taken by the Circle. “The people along the Hyperloop. Praying.”
    “Praying?”
    “The fire in the distance.”
    I nod, but don’t speak. Wishful thinking on her part, but I leave her imagination alone. I get the impression she wants to cling to my shirt sleeve. This isn’t New Manhattan, and she’s never been outside its comparatively kind walls. But she doesn’t—three years in the HIVE must’ve toughened up the naïve, idealistic young woman I once knew.
    I sprint along the pitted concrete, following the Remnants. I consider breaking off in the confusion to toss my lot in with whoever killed our welcoming party. But it strikes me that they’re not a friendly bunch either—and if Jana’s right, and no one needs me any more, I can only imagine that my fate will not be kind.
    When we reach the building, I stop to read the pitted sign over the door.
    EXECUTION CHAMBER
    Scores lots of points for brevity and clarity, although it lacks lyricism. This must be where I was destined to go when I was sentenced to die. I spot a non-functioning camera in the corner.
    And they were gonna broadcast the whole thing. Can’t say I miss the old Circle.
    Carina and Evelyn have disappeared inside by the time I stop daydreaming.
    “Everyone hurry up,” Jana calls from the doorway as she ushers the surviving Remnants into the building. “Blackstone’s search parties have been a pain in our ass.”
    Bodies push past, so I stand tight against the wall to avoid getting hit.
    “You sure it’s safe in here?” I say, eying the sign. Flecks of rust creep at the edges.
    “We’re not gonna die,” Jana says. “At least not from anything in here.”
    “How comforting.”
    “The world we live in,” Jana says, bringing her rifle up to examine the blackened landscape.
    “Should’ve let me keep sleeping.”
    “What’s the fun in that,” Jana says with a grin. Then she reaches into the folds of fabric and flicks me the key to the cuffs. I snag them out of the air.
    “You’re sure about this?”
    “Worthless might’ve been a little harsh,” she says, checking the munition in the rifle. “After all, you caused this shitshow.”
    “Thanks?”
    “That counts as a compliment in these times, Luke,” she says, flashing those white teeth again. “You take what you can get.”
    Don’t know if this is a subtle dig at my modus operandi to date, which can best be summarized as save my own ass . But there’s no time for psychoanalysis. I don’t want her to change her mind, so I unlock the cuffs, rub some feeling back into my wrists and then stare her straight in the eyes.
    “Why’ Blackstone wanna kill you so damn bad?” I say, breathing heavy, my body poorly acclimated to actual physical exertion.
    “People always want to destroy what they don’t understand,” Jana says with a faraway look in her eye. “It’s not just Blackstone. It’s all of them.”
    This is a prime opportunity to provide her with an alternative to handing me over. Prove my worth. But nothing comes to mind. Nervous voices filter out from the concrete building.
    All I can do is stand by Jana and wait. Maybe solidarity is enough.
    I follow her gaze, to the approaching legion of dirt bikes.
    “It’s gonna take a lot