Monument 14: Savage Drift (Monument 14 Series) by Emmy Laybourne Read Free Book Online

playing. Her face relaxed.
    Kids from all around us were listening, too.
    Seriously, the Canadians were genius.
    Sahalia played a couple more songs, but was interrupted when Niko came over and practically threw himself down on his cot.
    “I tried to get to the base. Stupid guards wouldn’t call a shuttle for me. I said I’d walk and they threatened to arrest me!”
    “Hey, Niko,” Alex called. “You have to hear this new song Sahalia wrote.”
    “Alex, no!” Sahalia groaned. A smiling groan.
    “Come on, you have to. It’s so good, you guys.”
    “It’s kind of personal,” Sahalia said.
    “What is there about you to know that we don’t already, Sasha,” Astrid teased. “I mean, really!”
    Sahalia looked around at the four of us.
    “Okay, if you really want to hear it.”
    She clearly wanted to play it for us and wanted us to make her play it for us.
    “We do,” I said.
    “We really do,” repeated Astrid. She gave me a smile. Thank God.
    Sahalia started to play. The song was slow and thrumming with a steady rhythm, really pretty. And the words broke my heart.
    He says there is a place
    He says that there’ll be light
    I know not to trust a boy
    But I think he’s all right.
    He says that we’ll be safe
    He says they take in strays
    I don’t believe in God
    But I listen when he prays.
    Let there be a place that’s good.
    A green oasis in a hidden wood.
    Take us far out of harm’s way
    And find us shelter so that we all may
    Stay together.
    He says we have to hope
    He says we must not fear
    He doesn’t know I’m fine
    Just as long as he is near.
    Let there be a dream come true.
    A broke-down farmhouse on a shaded lane.
    Take us far out of harm’s way
    And find us shelter so that we all may
    Stay together.
    Together.
    Together.
    A stillness fell in our corner of the tent. All the kids around us had stopped to listen to Sahalia’s raw, raspy, beautiful voice.
    When she finished, everyone burst into applause.
    “That’s a really good song! You wrote it?” I asked.
    She nodded, blushing. Alex was all red in the face, too. Man, they had it bad.
    “Sahalia, that song could go on the radio in a heartbeat,” Astrid gushed. “You guys should make a video for it someday.”
    It was nice to see Astrid so excited.
    “Niko, did you hear how it’s about your uncle’s farm?” Alex asked.
    Niko nodded.
    He was looking up at the roof of the tent.
    “Didn’t you like that part so much?” Alex wanted Niko to join in.
    “I liked the part where it says we’re supposed to stay together,” Niko said.
    Then he turned his back on us.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    JOSIE
    DAY 31
    “Daddy! Daddy! Daaaaaaaddy!” Lori screams.
    “Shut up.” I elbow her in the ribs.
    She sits up, taking the whole blanket with her. Her breathing is jagged and full of sobbing to come, like a ripe thundercloud waiting to spill.
    I slide off the bed and stalk into the bathroom.
    Our two towels are dirty but I’d rather sleep on the floor with them than with broken-up Lori.
    Under the bluish LED lighting, my skin is the color of gunmetal.
    Back a million years ago, I used to be proud of the color of my skin. The glow, the depth and light in it. And smooth—never a blemish, never a scar.
    Who is that girl in the mirror now?
    Sunken cheeks, dark blackish circles under my eyes, and creases on either side of my mouth. Scar on my forehead from the ancient bus crash.
    My hair is tied up in my knots, but it’s dirty, dirty, and if I don’t get a hold of some shampoo soon and a comb, it’ll just dread into two clumps.
    I look like a zombie avatar of myself.
    I think of Brayden, so handsome. That jaw of his and how I liked to push my face into his neck, and feel his stubble. It was a fling, and I know we were only together because we were trapped in a store, but still, it was thrilling to be with someone so ruggedly gorgeous.
    I think about Niko, with his utter seriousness. Almost unable to be lighthearted, even for a moment. And who so believed