Jackson by Leigh Talbert Moore Read Free Book Online Page A

might ask me to do that day after school or convincing Jackson to take me to the movies. Now there were aliens and drugs and death. A soft creak made me tense, and I turned my head to see Gallatin stepping through the door carrying a pail, a worried look on his face.
    “I brought you something to eat,” he said.
    “You’re joking, right?” I almost didn’t recognize my own voice, it was so hard and bitter.
    “It’s not from the general supply. It’s from my own rations.”
    “Then eat it yourself.”
    Gallatin’s shoulders fell and he dropped into the chair. It was the same chair he’d sat in the day Bully was born. The day he’d saved my life.
    “Prentiss, please. You haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
    “You honestly think I could eat anything you gave me?”
    “I want you to know, this was never supposed to happen.”
    “It never would’ve happened if you’d never come here.” At that I began to cry.
    He put his head in his hands, and I turned my face toward the wall. For a while it was silent. Then a cicada began to screech outside the window.
    “I changed Yolanda’s memory,” he said softly. “I wanted to tell you myself. I’m sorry.”
    “It never stops, does it?”
    “I hate this so much.” His voice was a growl as he stood and walked to the other side of the room. “Everything’s falling apart, and I can’t fix it. Now I’m supposed to focus on being a Guard, forget what’s happened, forget about you and me. Us. As if I can do that.”
    His back was to me as he spoke, anger radiating in his words. “I’m sick of hiding. I’m sick of people being hurt and dying. I want to stop running. I don’t care about reclaiming Gliese. I want a home. I want peace.”
    I lay in his small bed a few moments longer before I slowly pushed the sheet back. My coveralls were on the floor by the window, and I picked them up and stepped into them. As I pulled the zipper up, my fingers grazed the pendant still hanging around my neck. The pendant of a warrior.
    His back was to me, his elbows were on top of the dresser, hands in his hair. I placed the thin copper disc on its leather cord beside his scarred arm, and for a moment, all the good feelings I’d had for him rushed to the surface. They were ferocious and insistent. My arms wanted to circle his waist and comfort him, allow him to comfort me, but like he said. I was strong.
    Instead, I turned and went to the door. “I need to see my brother now.”
    And with that, I left him alone.

Chapter 19
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    T he sky was grey and light rain was falling as I walked across the yard to the dining hall. It was the first time it had rained since we’d been here, and from the looks of the clouds, it wasn’t stopping any time soon.
    Breakfast was over and everyone was inside the dormitory lying in their beds, mourning Flora. I went to Braxton’s bunk and was struck by the change in his demeanor. His face was brighter and in spite of the heaviness that hung in the air, he smiled as I approached.
    “You weren’t at breakfast,” he said, holding out his hand to me.
    I stepped forward and took it, allowing him to pull me down beside him and into a hug.
    “I know this is hard, but Flora’s body lasted longer than the doctors ever said it would,” he continued. “Her anemia was severe, and her heart did all it could for as long as it could.”
    I pressed my lips together as angry tears stung my eyes. Yolanda would believe this same story. That anemia had killed our friend and not an overdose of behavior-modifying drugs administered by aliens against our will. The realization pricked my emotions, making twisting my insides even further.
    “We’ve got to bury her soon,” he continued. “Between the heat and no embalming procedures, we can’t spare time. I was going to try and put something together for this afternoon.”
    “Where is she?”
    “Some of the women have her in the kitchen area. She’s wrapped up tight in a clean sheet,