Repossession (The Keepers Trilogy) by Rachael Wade Read Free Book Online Page B

my glasses on. “Better than nothing.”
    The morning sun beat down on us as we ascended from the Black Hole, and I was instantly grateful for the sunglasses-and-Twinkie swap. It wasn’t ideal to be moving around in the open during daylight like this, but we had to get moving if we expected to make any headway west.
    We walked for hours, stopping only to take a sip of water or catch our breath, sticking to wooded areas and developed but deserted industrial areas as much as possible, opting for places that offered us prime hiding sites. Every now and then, we’d run into a pack of foragers or families on the hunt for the nearest Black Hole. We’d point them in the right direction and move on, helping when we could and staying out of view when Jet felt uneasy.
    Being on the open road proved more dangerous, due to Keeper Agents and human travelers more than anything else. If we weren’t running from patrol brigades, we were attempting to steer clear of hungry, sick, desperate travelers who weren’t afraid to eat the meat clear off our bones. The Invaders’ ships passed by above us throughout the day, and we had some close calls with some of them on foot, but thanks to Jet’s navigational skills and killer aim, we escaped each run-in with nothing more than a few minor cuts and bruises. He was damn good with grenades, and between the two of us, we could nail some pretty clean shots.
    “Where’d you learn to shoot?” he asked me, right after we’d collided with a group of Invaders. They’d been sneaking around an old gas station, where we’d met them head on while trying to rummage through the station’s storage room for supplies. We laid them out with a grenade and three neat shots to the head, dodging their Aqua Bombs and Venom Spheres with ease. I already learned what kind of threat the Aqua Bombs posed, and according to Jet, the Venom Spheres were worse. They didn’t kill you on impact, but instead paralyzed you, allowing the Invaders to transport you and then do whatever they pleased. Apparently, the group we ran into couldn’t decide whether they wanted to drown us or paralyze us and take us back to their playground.
    Sweethearts, aren’t they?
    The moment we took them out, we stuffed as many of their toys into our backpack as we could.
    “Shooting was a dad-daughter thing,” I said. “As soon as I was old enough, he started taking me to the gun range. We went every Saturday. Religiously. His dad was a cop, taught him all he knew about the firearms they used in the field. I loved it. Great way to blow off steam.”
    “Amen to that,” he said and chuckled, stopping beneath a massive oak tree to plop down and drink from his canteen. After the gas station incident, we’d nestled ourselves away in a nearby wooded area along a main highway. “I knew shit about guns until I volunteered for service and went into training. I was going to school to be a pilot before all this.”
    “Oh, yeah?” I asked with genuine interest, planting my hands on my hips while I stared down at him. Seeing Jet as my captor was the only thing that felt foreign now. Denying the desire to get to know him would feel like betrayal.
    I couldn’t do that.
    He lifted his shades and nodded. “Yup, flying was my life. Nothing like being up in the air. It’s quiet, peaceful … nothing can touch you. You’re safe from the world, and you’re in charge of this graceful machine, gliding thousands of feet above everyone and everything … fucking beautiful. Just you and the sky.”
    “Sounds nice right about now. Ever been in one of those things?” I pointed to the ship passing above us. Through the trees, I could make out the round steel exterior, could hear the eerie hum of the engine. The Invaders’ ships reminded me of submarines—the most high-tech, efficient submarines on the planet. Complete with round porthole windows, they were built like tanks, incapable of being taken down by any of our military birds or ground