After the Fear (Young Adult Dystopian) by Rosanne Rivers Read Free Book Online

mess with a Herd officer.
    I grit my teeth against the pain which comes in pulses now that the fight’s over. My hand is the worst. It’s as though someone has injected pins into every nerve ending. I’m almost glad when we turn into city Juliet’s hospital, but then I remember what Dylan said about treating me at ‘camp’. Why are we here?
    ‘Dylan—what?’ I manage to get a few words out as the lift we’re all huddled into passes the 23rd floor and keeps going up, up, up. Blondie, or Alixis as I should say, looks at me, chewing on her bottom lip. The medicinal scent makes me feel faint.
    Dylan doesn’t respond, but I think his grip around my waist tightens for a second. Then the lift beeps and the doors fly open and we’re not looking at a ward at all but we’re high in the night sky, the roof of the hospital spreading ahead of us like a desert.
    And just like a mirage, Dad stands at the far end, next to a huge metal spinner which I’ve only ever seen miles high in the air before. I can’t help myself. I wrestle from Dylan’s hold and attempt to scramble over to my father. My shouts must be stifled by the spinner’s whir because he doesn’t respond, just stands there stoically, un-loving and unknown. The blades slice through the air, casting a foggy wind around the vision of Dad. It wavers for an instant, and I pause, blinking away grit from my one open eye. The image begins to distort, as if the atmosphere is manipulating itself, and I see him. Not my father. Only needles and pain. Mr Winters stands in his Liaison’s coat, looking at me through grey-ringed eyes.
    All my instincts tell me to run, but my body and mind have disconnected. Dirt crisps away from my face as my hair whips at my cheeks, the wind urging me forwards then pulling me back. Alixis strides past me, followed by the two men. Then Dylan passes with a tap on my back, his silent way of telling me I must follow. It might be my imagination in hyper drive and tainted with delirium, but I imagine there’s a warning in that tap. A threat. So I move.
    Mr Winters follows me with his eyes. I wonder what will happen to Dad now; whether Mr Winters will sack him; whether he struggled to get to me in the Stadium; whether—a flurry of self-loathing battles in my stomach—he saw me spear that man in the neck.
    Clambering onto the spinner, I sit next to Dylan and strap myself in with a wince. The machine only seats seven so the Herd officers stand back, shielding their eyes with their hands while Mr Winters climbs beside the pilot in the front.
    There are no windows, just huge gaping holes on either side—open doorways which I’m still hoping will close even when the engine roars louder and I know we’re about to ascend. Dylan places cool, soft pads over my ears. I catch his eye. It’s the first time we’ve really looked at each other since before the tryouts. I want to smile, to do anything so he’ll show a flicker of emotion about the fact that I’ve survived, but he gives me nothing. Those never-ending blue eyes have become hard pools of frosty water. Without warning, Dylan darts his attention to Alixis.
    We’re setting off. The aircraft lurches upward, swaying as though we’re dangling from a piece of string before we rush into the sky. The force pushes me against the back of my chair and my fingers whiten as I cling to my seat with my good hand, convinced I’m about to topple out and squish on the hospital roof. One of the men who sits in the back of the spinner lets out a ‘whoa’ as we ascend.
    I’ve heard people say that when a bomb detonates, you feel the impact before you hear the explosion. Well, right now I’m feeling that bomb, waiting for the explosion to catch up with us. The constant roar of the engine rumbles into one long continuous noise.
    Despite the lurch in my stomach, I inch my face closer to the gap in the side and gasp. The city is below us, expanding and yet shrinking with every passing second, as if I’m zooming