Legacies Reborn by Pittacus Lore Read Free Book Online Page B

a moment of stunned silence from the rest of them before the others start firing into the bank without any real target. I wave my hands again, and the two unarmed aliens float in front of the restof their troop, shielding me from gunfire long enough that I can bolt to a spot behind a leather sofa farther back inside and at least put some distance between me and the monsters. But the alien shields don’t hold up for long before they turn to dust too, so I send a desk flying out towards the blaster fire. I think I even hit a couple of the bastards.
    Maybe I stand a chance against these dudes after all.
    That’s when I realize the ship is repositioning to shoot into the bank again. I can hear some sort of whirring that sounds like an engine warming up.
    And I’m hiding behind a dinky couch.
    I swallow hard. My head pounds.
    â€œMom . . . ,” I whisper as I raise my hands in front of my face.
    A fireball flies through the air from somewhere down the block. There’s an explosion, and suddenly the street goes dark.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    WITH THE SPOTLIGHT OUT, I’M SUDDENLY BLIND as my eyes try to readjust to the darkness. Blaster fire sizzles against the leather sofa, and I duck down, pressing myself as flat onto the floor as I can in case the ship’s guns go off. The world slowly comes back into focus in the inch of space between the floor and the couch that I can see through. Weapons fire constantly, though there seem to be fewer and fewer of them. I peek around the couch just in time to see what looks like some dude—I think it’s a dude, he’s just a shadow to me—hanging on the edge of the alien ship. He must have a flamethrower or something, because fire is filling the cockpit. Then he leaps off it, landing on the street again while the ship spins and crashes into a building across from the bank. It’s some real Spider-Man shit. There’s a big explosion, and I duck down again, covering my head.
    I think this guy just saved my life.
    I wonder if it’s the army that’s finally come to annihilate these pale motherfuckers. Whoever it is must have won, because I don’t hear any more of the alien weapons going off, and I can make out voices from the street that sound human.
    Okay. So I’m not dead. That’s good. I’m also not that far away from Mom’s restaurant. Or at least I’m a lot closer than I was an hour ago.
    Slowly, I stand, keeping my eyes on the street outside. After a few small steps, I almost trip over the duffel bag full of money that the robber had been carrying. I stare at it for a second, and suddenly my head is flashing back to the last time I saw my mom, arguing with her about Benny and keeping our apartment. Even though I don’t think any of that matters now—if our apartment is still there at all—I pick up the bag. I know I gave Jay and the others shit about being felons when the city’s going to hell, but this totally isn’t the same thing. It’s a lucky break. I’m not going to just leave, like, hundreds of Gs on the floor here. Mom and I might need it to survive. And isn’t that what all of this has been for? Us living through this and starting over? If— when I find Mom, this cash means we could go anywhere, do anything we wanted. Go somewhere far away from all these ships, even if the world does go to hell.
    Only now I look like a robber. If it’s the army thatsaved me, they may not even know I’m in here. They were probably just killing any aliens they came across. If that’s the case, maybe I can sneak out the back.
    I sling the duffel bag over my shoulder right as two figures come into view, silhouetted in the broken window. I duck back down behind the sofa.
    â€œJust keep walking,” I whisper.
    â€œHey, it’s all clear out here,” one of them says.
    Crap. They must have seen me. Stupid.
    Then, a light comes on. I think it’s a flashlight or really powerful