Shadows Read Online Free

selection in your favor,
you have betrayed us all. ”
    Beside the
dais, a young woman stood next to Xavier ’ s mother. She
held her hands beneath her belly. There was no visible bump, but
there must have been one forming. She clearly felt self-conscious
and out of place.
    “ We must
fight for life, ” Johns bellowed. Her voice would have
carried without the microphone. “ For us to live,
there must be balance. If we lose that balance, we lose our lives.
Our silo is fragile. The walls are cracked, the stairs shake, the
deep floods. Our food is precious, our water is precious. For life
to continue, there must be equilibrium. To bring a life into this
world is to see one depart. ”
    Susan
swallowed the lump in her throat. Whoever the girl was, Xavier
loved her. For some reason, her implant had failed and
she ’ d fallen pregnant. They were unwed, which made the
stigma worse in the closeted community of the silo. Xavier must
have told her he could fix this, that he could rig the lottery.
What had seemed like a way out had turned into a disaster. The
girl ’ s head hung low. She couldn ’ t have been
much older than Susan, and Susan understood in other circumstances
it could have been her.
    Xavier must have taken the
responsibility for both the pregnancy and the lottery, deciding to
take the walk so she and the unborn child could live. But what life
would they have? A single mother cast out from society would have a
tough time raising a child alone in the silo. Susan hoped the girl
had strong, well-connected parents. Perhaps that's what the sheriff
had said to Xavier's mother, perhaps the hope of new life had
provided some consolation for her loss.
    “ Life for
life, ” Mayor Johns cried. “ It is the way of the
Order. The Order is all that keeps us alive from one generation to
the next. ”
    Sheriff Cann emerged with
his prisoner already his suit. A deputy followed the condemned man,
carrying the helmet.
    Xavier had
his hands bound in front of him in handcuffs. The numbers one, two,
three and four were printed on the front of his suit, but they were
upside down. Charlie must have seen the quizzical look on Susan's
face at this unusual detail, as he whispered to her, saying, “ I guess this is your first cleaning ... The pouches are
numbered to make the cleaning easier when you look down at your
chest. All Xavier needs to do is to follow the
numbers. ”
    For his part, Xavier was
looking around as he was marched to the airlock. His silver suit
and silver oxygen tank were jarring to behold, high-tech and out of
place within the plain confines of the silo. One of the deputies
carried his helmet.
    “ Ordinarily,
they ’ d take him by an internal door, ” Charlie said,
providing a commentary. “ But they want this
to be public. They must think there were others involved, so
they ’ re sending a message. ”
    Although
Xavier was been marched sternly toward the airlock, he craned his
neck, looking over his shoulder, wanted to see his loved ones for
one last time. He must have seen his girlfriend as he cried out,
saying, “ They ’ re liars, all of
them! Don't believe them. When lies are believed, there is no
truth. ”
    Xavier was
wrestling with his bound arms. Sheriff Cann struggled with his bad
leg. One of the deputies ran in, grabbing Xavier by the upper arm
and forcing him into the airlock. All the while, Xavier
screamed, “ I won ’ t clean. I swear, I
will not clean. ”
    Mayor Johns spoke over the
top of Xavier, looking to wrest control of the murmuring
crowd.
    “ He poisons
minds. His words are like the outside air, caustic and bitter. Mark
my words, this is what happens when an individual dares to think
they ’ re more important than the whole of society. No one is
more important than the silo. The silo is all that matters. The
silo is our mother, our father, our past and our
future. ”
    Charlie nudged Susan,
directing her gaze back to the great stairwell. A squad of IT
security guards had come up from