Edge of Mercy (Young Adult Dystopian)(Volume 1) (The Mercy Series) by C. C. Marks Read Free Book Online Page A

center of my chest. Others might see it as a privilege. I thought Thomas probably saw it as a burden, and I understood the burden of responsibility for the well-being of others. Though I loved Star, my anxiety about what would happen to her if I didn’t keep the truth under wraps ate at me constantly.
    Most likely, if anyone ever found out, we’d be tossed into the Dead Forest. But what if they separated us? What if they kept her here and threw me out? I shivered at the thought and decided to turn my mind back toward things I could control.
    “Thomas, can you carry Star when we go down? Plates of food mixed with Star is a certain disaster.” My stomach churned at the idea of asking for his help, but somehow I knew he wouldn’t say no.
    He nodded, but his look was thoughtful. “I have to be somewhere by sundown, so we’ll have to go now.”
    Jacob looked up with wide eyes. “Hey, where you going by sundown? Why aren’t the rest of us invited?”
    “It’s council business, and none of you goof-ups need to be a part of it,” He rose from the table, lifting Star in his arms. “Especially not goat-crap for brains number one,” he stared at Jacob, “and goat-crap for brains number two.” He pointed at Zeke.
    The table erupted with laughter and more good-natured ribbing.
    Zeke stood with a toothy grin on his face. “That’s okay. I’ve got an appointment of my own. A room of thrones waits for me, and none of you are invited, no matter how much you beg.”
    More laughter followed, but I rose too, gathering my empty tray. My evening was only getting started. I still needed to drop off the guards’ plates and Quillen’s too and spend some time playing with my sister. Not to mention, I also still had laundry duty tonight. It would be another late night before I crawled into my space on the floor, but I had a responsibility to the community, and I didn’t want anyone to say I wasn’t taking care of my responsibilities.
    It wasn’t long before I had two plates in hand with Zeke holding three by my side and Thomas on the other, Star giggling in his arms. She tentatively put her finger to his lips, and he pretended to bite at them, causing her to laugh merrily. Zeke and I laughed at the exchange but stopped when insanity incarnate rolled into the cafeteria.
    Victor, the only Chosen to ever return from The Dead Forest, staggered into the dining hall, raised the metal cup in his hands, and yelped loudly. He couldn’t be more than seventeen or eighteen-years-old and barely taller than me, but a small crowd close by the entrance inched away as if even being within a few feet of him posed a serious threat.
    “Lookie here! It’s a celebration!” He wobbled unsteadily to the center of the room and glared at the silent audience. His dark eyes shone wildly and glinted with an edge of danger. Everyone stared in his direction, and a feeling of unease pervaded the air in the room. He was unpredictable on a good day, but this clearly wasn’t a good day.
    He reared back the hand holding the cup and hurtled it and its contents across the room until it hit the stone-like wall at the back of the dining area. The cup pinged and bounced into a table of some of the older men of the community. They stood with heated scowls.
    “Why the hell wasn’t I invited? That’s what I want to know? Am I not good enough to eat with the upstanding members of the community?”
    No one answered, but I could feel charged emotion pricking my skin. Everyone was as tolerant as they could be with Victor. He never worked the fields. He slept in the most protected area, deep in the lower levels of the main fortified building. He wasn’t assigned evening chores even. The anomaly of his situation, being the only person ever to survive a night in the Dead Forest and live to tell about it, came with a high level of reverence. Even if he came back way out of his mind, way off his meds, as we used to say, or however you described someone who’d gone