Book 1 - Page 26 (1/2)

With a little twinge of pain, I wondered if those had just been stories, like the one he was reading to us—full of promise that could never be realized. Because I knew the question would hurt him, I didn’t ask it. Maybe he saw it in my eyes because his sharp features drew in on a frown.

Presently Tegan came over with a different paper. “What’s ‘evacuation’ mean?”

I shrugged as Fade took it and scanned the words. Maybe he could figure it out from reading the rest. Not for the first time, I admired his mind as much as I admired the way he fought.

“I’m not sure,” he finally admitted. “But I think it has to do with people leaving. The person who wrote this seems angry. ‘Evacuation plans are slanted toward the rich and powerful. This is going to be Katrina all over again,’” he read aloud.

“Powerful, like the elders,” I muttered. “So whatever happened, the important people left first.”

“There were people left behind,” Tegan said. “That’s why we’re here.”

It was a sobering thought. We came from those who hadn’t been important enough to get evacuated. Though I might not be sure what the word meant precisely, I was positive its opposite was “left behind.”

“We could spend forever here and not learn more than this,” I said.

I was a little disappointed not to find all the answers in a single book, waiting for us turned to the right pages, but I now realized my expectations had been too high. A place like this couldn’t tell us where to go, or what lay beyond the ruins. If we were brave enough, we’d have to find out for ourselves.

“I’d like to look a little longer,” Fade said.

“Fine with me.” But I sat down. I was done poking around the dusty pages, looking to dead words for my answers. On the table beside me, I found what must be a child’s book because it was mostly pictures.

On a whim I opened it. “A is for Apple. B is for Bear. C is for Cat.” Intrigued, I went through, learning new words, things, and creatures with each flip. This book was st.u.r.dier than the others, so the pages had held up better. They still felt stiff. At W, I paused, wide-eyed.

“Tegan!” I called. “Come look!”

She got up with a sigh. I think she was ready to leave too, but we were indulging Fade, as neither of us really wanted to set out before nightfall anyway. We both preferred walking after dark.

“‘W is for Wolf,’” I read and tapped my finger on the picture. “Have you ever seen one of those?”

“Not for real. Just the human kind.”

“But you knew what they were?” I was disappointed and chagrined. Apparently I was the only ignorant one. Our schooling hadn’t included much Topside lore, and most of what I’d been taught was wrong. I comforted myself with the fact that Tegan didn’t know about Freaks or Burrowers. She didn’t know what my scars meant. Unfortunately, my knowledge was useless up here.

“My mom had this exact book. She taught me to read with it.” She sounded odd and choky.

There was no way it had survived her captivity, so I held out the book to her. “You want it?”

Her eyes got bright and teary. “Thank you.”

Tegan took it and hugged it before stas.h.i.+ng it in her bag. I fiddled with a few more books before losing patience and going to look for Fade. I found him sitting on the floor, surrounded by books. They were huge and old with tiny words. My head ached just thinking about trying to puzzle all of them out.

“Learning much?”

“Yes,” he said. “But not about the things I wanted.”

“Like what?”

“The old days.”

I sighed. “Are you almost ready? It will be dark soon. I think we should get out of here as soon as we can.”

Before he could answer, a long keening noise echoed through the halls. I recognized it, and it chilled my blood. Fade’s black eyes met mine. “Where’s Tegan?”

Library

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Stalker shouted. “Come on, Semyon. There’s someone here who’s dying to see you.”

Fade closed his eyes. “He has Pearl.”

I didn’t care that much about Pearl, but I could see he did. “He’ll have brought the rest of his Wolves.”

Now I had a mental picture of them too: fierce and fanged with silvery gray fur and s.h.i.+ning eyes. Stalker’s human versions couldn’t look like that, but if they came close, we’d have an awful fight on our hands, further complicated by Tegan and Pearl. Fade wanted to save his old friend for his father’s sake. I’d concede her loss if there was no other choice. But not Tegan. We’d saved her. He couldn’t have her back.