The Defiant by Lisa M. Stasse Read Free Book Online

fingers fumble for the cord that leads to the safety chute. I can’t find it.
    The alarm is beeping faster next to my ear. I flail as I try to find the emergency rip cord. If I can’t locate it soon, then I’m going to die. I will hit the earth at approximately 120 miles per hour.
    I look down at the ground again. It’s getting even closer.
    A strange, almost peaceful feeling starts to come over me. It’s like a feeling of comfort and warmth. I’m probably not going to survive this free fall . Somehow my parachute has malfunctioned.
    I shut my eyes. Maybe it won’t be so bad. To hit the ground that fast will mean that everything is over quickly. No more stress. No more pain. No more fear. No more battles. Just an end to everything.
    But then I push the feeling away and lunge my hand behind my back again, desperately searching for the cord. Death is no answer. It’s the easy way out. And it would separate me from Liam. It would also mean that I’d play no role in bringing down the UNA. If I die in battle, then that’s different. That’s how I want to die if I have to. Fighting . But to die here would mean nothing.
    I yell out as the tips of my fingers feel something hard andplastic. It’s the orange ball at the end of the emergency cord. I struggle for it as I continue falling. The noise of the alarm and the wind keeps blaring in my ears.
    Then I finally manage to grab the cord. I have no idea if it will work, but I pull it with my full strength as I let out a savage yell.
    Instantly, I’m thrown upward as though by a giant, invisible hand. The force is so violent that it rattles my whole body, jarring my jaw and snapping my head back. The emergency chute has worked. I’m now drifting in the sky, peacefully.
    I exhale shakily. My body is cold. I look at the ground. I’m still going much faster than I thought I would be. But I’m high enough that I’m going to survive the impact. I gaze around. I see a shadow passing a few hundred feet away from me. Is it Liam? Gadya? I call out to them but get no reply.
    I can’t see anyone else in the freezing darkness around me, but I know that they must be in the sky somewhere. I stare down at the few lights beneath me. I can’t see the field too clearly. It’s just an area of blackness waiting to swallow me up.
    I keep drifting downward. The parachute straps are biting into my underarms. A gust of wind drifts me sideways.
    I continue moving lower. Now I can finally see the ground beneath me a little better. It’s a grassy field. But it’s so dark, I can’t see if anyone else has landed yet.
    Now I’m only a hundred feet above the ground. Now fifty. I’m drifting in silently. The noise of the wind has become just a peaceful whisper. It’s hard to imagine that a minute ago, I almost died.
    Now I’m just ten feet above the surface.
    Finally, my feet touch the ground and I start running, trying to keep my balance.
    But I trip over my feet and tumble onto the ground, landingwith a bone-shaking crash in the grass. The emergency parachute falls down heavily behind me, making a rustling noise. I lie there for a moment, the wind knocked out of me, until I manage to stagger back up to my feet.
    I take off the parachute straps and immediately start gathering up the parachute. I can’t let any trace of it remain. Working quickly, my heart in my throat, I manage to get it stuffed into the backpack. I button it up and sling it over one arm.
    Later, I will inspect my pack and try to find out why my main chute didn’t deploy. I need to know whether it was an accident, or whether it was some sort of sabotage attempt. Although all of us are supposedly fighting for the same goal, I know that it’s possible there are spies among us.
    Around me is only silence. I don’t see anyone else. I feel alone, scared, and cold. I look up in the sky, searching for Gadya, Liam, or any of the other