Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) by London Cole Read Free Book Online Page B

“So tell me, mister. Or I’ll tickle it out of you.” Her hand started creeping towards my side.
    Ugh, I don’t have the energy for this right now. “All right, all right. When I looked really closely this morning at the skulls, I saw the faces that used to be on them. I knew the faces. Then this evening when we ended up back there, I didn’t even have to look hard before I could see who the owners of the skulls were. It’s like they became much clearer, if that makes sense.”
    “Baby, none of this makes sense. I still kind of think you’re crazy,” she said, but didn’t lay her head back down. “You say you recognized them. Who were they? Friends of yours? Did I know them?”
    I took a deep breath and held it for a second before answering. “Yeah, you knew them, at least a little bit. I’m not really friends with them.”
    I told her that, but left out another part. A big part that I wasn’t ready to tell her, and I wasn’t sure she was ready to hear. Then I passed out like the dead.

    I woke midmorning in a spooning position tight against Kelsie. She was still sleeping, and I had to be careful so as not to wake her when I untangled myself to get ready to meet the Council.
    Standing next to the bed, I let out a yawn so big it made my face hurt and stretched. Looking out the window at the overcast day, my sleeping brain started waking up. I remembered that Ash season was almost upon us. It was only a month away.
    When the War had nearly destroyed the world, gargantuan quantities of pollutants and ash and toxic gasses were blown into the atmosphere. It caused us to have an Ash season every year. Ash season came during the hottest part of the year when the heat pushed all of the ash and heavy gasses that normally stayed high in the polluted atmosphere down to ground level.
    At least, that was the best theory we had. We didn’t know for sure why it happened. We just knew it did. It normally lasted one month or so, and during it, humans couldn’t be outside without a respirator, unless you were a seriously jacked up mutant. The buildings had to be sealed and special air units installed for you to be inside without a breather.
    The dark was nearly absolute during Ash season, which meant that we had to have large batteries to power everything. Most of our power came from the sun, and when it’s covered by smog and ash, our solar panels are useless. By the end of the month we were normally out of power and all wearing respirators, whether indoors or out.
    Tempers flared, too, being cooped up with each other for a month. That’s why Kelsie and I made such great roommates. We play fought with each other all the time, but never took it seriously. But still, it was a good way to vent stress. We’d seen many families and friendships torn apart by being stuck indoors for a month.
    With the limited resources available nowadays, finding the materials and chemicals necessary to repair and build more respirators was becoming more and more of a challenge. It was easier to create larger ones for the buildings than lots of personal-sized ones for everyone. It was also one of the many reasons that there was a population control in effect. Luckily, unlike some Guilds that practiced very violent population control, including killing and banishing unplanned children, most of the Sven understood it was a life and death issue and followed the rules. Which meant there was a system called “the List.” The List was something that anyone wanting to have a child or even experience coitus had to get on. Well, the females that is. Males just had to pair up with someone on the list. It took some girls years to get on the List, and you had to fulfill all the requirements at the time you were called or you got the boot. And you never got another shot at having offspring.
    Being an Acquisitions Specialist meant that during this time of year, right before Ash season, I had to kick up my efforts to find materials for the respirators. My