Testing Zero: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 1) by N. G. Simsion, James Roth Read Free Book Online Page B

This was living!
    They found an empty seat toward the back of the bus, stuffed their backpacks under their seat, and sat eagerly waiting for the bus to get moving.
    “Let’s get this show on the road,” Zero said. His eyes widened as the bus began to roll. He gripped the seat in front of him a little tighter once the bus navigated through the fence.
    The landscape beyond was overgrown and crowded with thick brush and trees, the ground covered with a layer of muddy water. He spotted some crocodiles bathing in the sun and more swimming in the deep parts. After about a hundred yards they reached the outer wall and the bus came to a stop. An adult who had been sitting directly behind the driver stepped out onto the road and walked in front of the bus to unlock the enormous wrought iron gate. Zero’s heart began pounding. He’d never seen the wall this close up before. He struggled to see the top, but from this angle he could only see about fifty feet up. The bus idled forward and then stopped again after it had cleared the gate. After the man locked the gate and climbed aboard the bus again, they were off, gaining more and more speed as they went. He gripped the seat in front of him until his knuckles turned white. Moving this fast was exhilarating!
    Within twenty minutes’ travel time on the road, the vegetation and swamp had changed dramatically. Mud and water turned into tall grasses. The trees weren’t as tall, and the forests weren’t so dense. The bus slowed as it climbed a tall mountain. As it crested the top, Zero’s jaw fell open and he inhaled deeply. His eyes grew large as he tried to soak in every bit of what he was seeing.
    “Breathe, Zero,” Lefty joked.
    “I—” Zero’s eyes scanned back and forth across the panoramic scene through the window. “I can’t help it. It’s just—I’ve never seen the horizon before. I mean, I’ve seen the horizon in picture books, of course, but that doesn’t do it justice. Look at it.”
    “It really is amazing. It’s a much nicer view than seeing only trees and a rock wall in every direction. As far as I’m concerned, they could stop the bus right here and just let me out. I could spend the rest of my life here just looking at this.”
    “Which wouldn’t be very long, I’m sure.” Zero laughed. “A jaguar would come out of the woods and swallow you whole while you sat mesmerized by the skyline.”
    Lefty shook his head back and forth, his eyes still bouncing from one point of interest to the next. “I had no idea the world was so different,” Lefty said.
    The bus began its decline down the back side of the mountain and the horizon disappeared again behind some trees.
    “Why do we have to go so fast? What’s the rush? All I can see now are trees zipping by,” Zero said.
    Over the next half hour, Zero analyzed every sight. He commented on every tree that looked different than those around the schoolyard. He gasped every time the horizon came into view, even when it happened for only a split second, often clapping his hands like an excited child.
    The bus driver stomped on the brake. A few people who had been standing in the aisles went tumbling to the floor. Others, like Zero, got their faces slammed into the back of the seat in front of them. The back of the bus slid partly to one side as it came screeching to a halt. Groans and curses echoed throughout the bus as people tried to figure out what was going on.
    Zero rubbed his forehead, wondering if he was going to have a bump or bruise where he’d just hit it. “Why are we stopping? This can’t be the place we go to take tests. There aren’t even any buildings around.” He looked confused.
    Lefty stood up and peered toward the front of the bus in hopes of seeing what was happening. “Uh-oh,” he said. “This can’t be good.”
    “What? What is it?” Zero stood and tried to see out the front of the bus, but now everyone was on their feet and it was difficult to see anything. It wasn’t until