riven, maggie morris [great book club books .txt] 📗

to do is put the sample into our DNA scanner and we’ll get feedback eventually.”

I hope they haven’t gotten rid of my clothes, I thought. The night we had gotten here, Dad had given us all new, grey clothes, and taken our old ones.

I stood up, grabbed Ben’s hand and pulled him out of the lab. “Go ask the night guards if they know where my old clothes are. I’ll wake up my Dad and ask him.” He nodded and squeezed my hand. I quickly yanked it out of his grasp and turned down the hall.

Dad’s bedroom was right next to the lab because of how often he went there, so I didn’t have to go far to find him.

I cracked open the door and tiptoed in, being careful not to wake up my mother. I gently tapped his shoulder, and his eyes flew open, his hand raised in defense.

“Oh, it’s just you Alice. I almost punched you. What do you need?” Dad said groggily, shielding his eyes from the light coming in from the door.

“What did you do with my clothes the night I got here?”

“Uh, well, let’s see,” he thought, scratching his head. “I think I gave em’ to Kansas, but I’m not sure what she did with them. You’ll have ask her. Now, I’m going back to sleep.” He rolled over and his breathing grew even.

“Thanks, Daddy. Love you,” I whispered. As I shut the door, I swear I heard a voice saying, “Love you, too, sweetheart.”

I smiled to myself and pressed my hand to the door for a few seconds, then skipped to the barracks.

Just as I had thought, Kansas was inside, scraping small shavings of a stick, fashioning it into a bow. She was our top protector, and when she wasn’t eating, sleeping, or on a mission, so I’d learned in a short few days, was always in the barracks.

“Can I help you?” I hadn’t even realized she had seen me until I heard her voice. Sitting by the fire, some of her hair falling in her face, she looked like a regal, warrior-like queen.

“Um, yeah. My dad just said that he gave you my clothes the night I got here. I was wondering if you still have them.”

“No. I took them to the woods and buried them. Any sign of our old life brings back to many painful memories. But if you need them, I can take you to them.”

“I need them. I know it’s late-well, early, but can we go now?” I asked, crossing my fingers behind my back.

“It would be unwise to travel at night. Besides, during the day it is still very dangerous, and you don’t know how to protect yourself.” Kansas frowned.

I glared at her. “I know how to fight!” She stood up.

“Punch me. Go on, I’ll be fine. Punch me right here,” she said, pointing at her chest. My eyes flickered uncertainly, but I drew my hand back and punched her. I cried out in pain as my uninjured hand hit her chest. It was like a tiny pinch compared to the pain I felt after punching the wall, but it still hurt.

“You see, your form was all wrong. Punching someone should only hurt the person on the other side of your fist, not you as well. The problems with your punching are that your legs are unbalanced, your thumb was tucked into your fist, you didn’t distribute your weight evenly, and you didn’t use the right amount of force.”

“Could you maybe repeat that, then explain it, please?” She sighed and moved around to my shoulder. Kansas bent over and moved my legs so they were parallel with my shoulders.

“Feel better?” I nodded. Then, she opened my fist, and reclosed it, this time my thumb on the outside. She made a few more small changes, and suddenly I felt very powerful. “Now punch me again.”

This time I did it without hesitation. Satisfaction burned inside of me when she winced.

“Nice job.”

“Now can we go into the woods?” I sounded like a little kid, but I didn’t care.

“No. You still aren’t ready,” Kansas said. She brushed by me and left the barracks, leaving me frowning in her wake.

I turned to follow after her. “Kansas, this isn’t about me wanting to be a big girl. This is about life or death, and being that it’s the life or death of my boyfriend and best friend, I’d say this is pretty serious!”

Kansas ignored me, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of moment. Liam was by the fire circle, stacking bowls. He had almost dropped one, and I was the only one to notice that and his shocked expression.

Dang it. I hadn’t even thought about Liam and what Bryce being alive would mean for him. In my mind, though, I knew what I would have to do. Bryce was my first boyfriend, and I would never be that unfaithful to him. As much as I liked Liam-loved, maybe even-I couldn’t be with him. It made things too complicated.

I stomped after Kansas, putting the boys out of my mind.

“You have to listen to me! I don’t care if I die, or get hurt, or anything as long as I get those clothes. No matter what I’d go up against, I would fight for the clothes, because I know if I get them, I can save two other innocent people.”

This time Kansas looked at me. And smiled. Actually smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Now that I know you have bravery in here,” she said, touching my heart, “and brains up here,” this time touching my head, “I know you are ready for this.”

“Are you serious? This is great! We’ll find Bryce and Claire in no time!” I shouted, feeling elated.

“Gather a few things. We’ll leave at dawn, and won’t return until sundown. Oh, and bring one of those grachers. They’ll come in handy.”

“Alice!” I grinned at Kansas, who was already jogging away, and spun around. Ben was walking towards me quickly, as if he had somewhere to be and was late. “They told me to ask someone named Kansas where they were.”

“That’s alright. I already got it taken care of. You can go now.”

 

“So how long is it going to take us to get there?” I ask Kansas. We were flying down a grey dirt trail on the back of Bramble. We had left Jen behind so the pups wouldn’t be alone. Shadow, as well, stayed back.

“Only about an hour more. It’s way out here, the place that we like to call The Land of the Forgotten. It’s a lot quicker traveling by gracher, though.” I clung weakly to her stomach with my good arm, the one that I had not punched the wall with, and prayed I wouldn’t fall off of Bramble.

I wandered into my thoughts. I missed my foster parents tons, but all the love I’d had for my real parents returned when I saw my grandma’s eyes. It was better off this way.

Horror struck through me as I realized that my foster parents were probably dead. Everything we had built together as a family was crushed in an instant. But you can’t save everyone.

I shuddered. Those words had been going through my mind a lot lately, and it made me wonder if I was just being ignorant, if maybe I could’ve saved more lives.

“It’s not your fault,” Kansas whispered. “I used to belong to a modern Shoshone tribe when I was a girl. One day the village was bombed by Iraq, who we were currently at war with. When the planes flew over, I grabbed my sister, who was a baby at the time, and ran away. We were the only ones that survived. I can’t help but think that I could’ve saved more people if I hadn’t been such a coward.”

“But you were just a little girl!” I protested.

“So are you. I was only three years younger than you are now. Though my experience was devastating, your’s is far worse. Just don’t be too hard on yourself, is all I’m saying.”

“Thanks,” I said quietly. “It helps to know I’m not alone.” She smiled and grew quiet.

Before, the silences had been awkward. Now, the silence was comfortable. We didn’t talk again until Bramble slowed.

“Are we here?” I asked Kansas. She nodded,

“But wait for me to check the surroundings before dismounting. There could be anything lurking in these woods.” I began to panic as I lost sight of Kansas. The moderate grey clothing we were required to wear blended in with the dead grey trees. Just as I felt my blood pressure rise, Kansas reappeared.

“We’re good-for now. Stay close,” she warned. I hopped off Bramble and tied his reins to a tree. “Follow me.”

Hesitantly, I trailed after Kansas. I kicked the back of her foot, accidentally, when she stopped suddenly.

“Here we are.” I shuffled forward. Lying before be was a huge pit. Flashes of color stunned my eyes, being so abnormal in the vast world. Thousands of items laid in the pit, and all of them were symbols of the old world.

And sitting in the middle was a body, a piano, and a vulture. I sucked in a breath. Looking hurt, Ben gave me a sad smile and headed into the lab.

 

XII

“There’s more,” Kansas whispered in my ear. I scanned the rest of the pit. Thousands. Thousands of bodies. There was blood, limbs, and smoldered skin everywhere. And then the smell hit. A stench so strong and gross that I nearly passed out.

My throat tightened  and I gagged.

“Why is this here? Why haven’t you burnt these bodies by now?” I asked covering my nose.

“We’ve debated it. Part of the reason is that there are valuable things in the pit that will help us rebuild our world. And these things remind us of our old life. Though it only causes pain, sometimes longing for things is the only way we feel human,” Kansas smiled weakly, staring at something that only existed in her mind. “But the main reason is that this pit was created when the ground froze and split, sort of like what your skin might do when it gets dry. We’re worried that if we burn through it, the crack will spread closer to us and could ruin everything we’ve worked towards.”
“That’s incredible, but horrible. How can you stand to enter the pit with all these bodies?”

“Ignorance. And it helps if you move quickly and hold your breath.” Kansas pulled two handkerchiefs out of her satchel and handed me one. I immediately wrapped it around my mouth, just like a bandit would.

She then extracted a rope from her satchel, too, and fastened it around one of the grey trees. Tossing it into the pit, she began climbing down.

I bit my lip. I was smart, but I wasn’t the most athletic. I had little fear that I could get down, but I worried that I wouldn’t be able to climb back up. Sensing my hesitation, Kansas looked up at me, flashing a reassuring smile.

“You’ll be fine,” she persuaded. Her serenity took hold on me, and I joined her in climbing down.

The pit was about twenty feet deep, and when I touched down, I felt bones and useless items break