The Elect: Malevolent, a Dystopian Novel by Tamryn Ward Read Free Book Online Page B

half-dead body. If that doesn’t work, nothing will. I sip. Someone groans. The other recruits are stirring, but I’m the first to wake.
    After downing half my coffee I go to the bathroom. I feel dirty. A long, hot bath would be so nice. But I know that won’t happen. I settle for some lukewarm water and soap to wash up. I find bandages and wrap my mangled feet.
    Feeling a little more human, I return to the main space. Jay comes into the room. I feel his presence before I see him. Every cell in my body vibrates. With Claire at his side, he stands at one end of the room, clapping his hands and yelling, “Wake up you bunch of lazy-asses!” He sees me but doesn’t acknowledge me. By now I’m thinking that smile yesterday was just for show, to rub it in the other recruits’ noses. I go to the table and grab some food for me and Mattie. She’s sitting where we slept, blinking and looking dazed, her copper hair hanging over half her face.
    When I sit next to her, she groans. “I hurt everywhere,” she whispers as she ties her hair into a knot on the top of her head.
    “Yeah, me too. Especially my feet. These shoes weren’t made for running. Here.” I hand her a piece of bread. “Maybe you’ll feel better if you eat. And if you need, there are bandages in the bathroom.”
    She blinks a lot as she accepts the bread. “Thanks.” Her eyes are red but she isn’t crying…yet. She’s just about to. I can tell. “I think I made a mistake.”
    “This is only the beginning. You can’t give up.”
    Mattie stares at the bread, flipping it over in her hands. “I had no idea it would be so physical. I thought we would be working with computer drones. Writing code. Programming robots. Not this. Not running.”
    I take a bite of my bread. It’s stale and bland. Nothing like the bread Mother baked. A pang of homesickness twists my stomach. “Maybe knowing computer code will be important later. Like I said, this is only the beginning. When we get to that stuff I’m going to need you. We can help each other through this. It may be the only way both of us can make it.”
    Mattie’s lips curl into a smile. It isn’t a big smile. It doesn’t quite reach her eyes. But it’s better than the watery frown she was wearing. “Yes, together. We’ll get through this together.”
    Jay clears his throat. “Good morning, recruits. Today is a big day. Your first day of training. We will be training you hard, preparing you for every possible danger you may face out there. I think by now you realize it won’t be easy. We can’t make it easy, or every single one of you would die your first day on the job.” He looks at Mattie. “There are now thirteen of you. Five trainees failed the first test last night. It’s time for your second test.”
    Another test? Already?
    Mattie and I exchange worried looks. Although the bandages seem to be helping, I’m too sore to run, or walk, or even blink my eyes. If the test has anything to do with computers or electronics, I’m in big trouble too.
    “Follow me.” Holding a gas lantern, he leads us through a door and down a long, dark staircase. The air is stale and cold. The corridor at the bottom is narrow, with red brick walls and a low ceiling. Water oozes from cracks between the bricks. The sound of something scratching up ahead makes my nape tingle.
    Mattie grabs my hand. “This is freaking me out,” she whispers. But her words bounce around the hollow space, amplifying them. Someone behind us snickers.
    “Is someone scared of the dark?” a voice taunts.
    I squeeze Mattie’s hand and give her an ignore-them look. She nods and squeezes back.
    At the end of the tunnel we climb another set of stairs. This one is longer, several flights long. We go up, hit a landing, turn and continue up another flight. Higher, higher. We are inside a tall building. Ugly graffiti covers almost every inch of the walls. The floors are numbered. One, two, three. Jay opens the door on the fifth floor and