The Farm by EMILY MCKAY Read Free Book Online Page B

you’re the first person I’ve seen here that I knew in the Before. As far as I know, you’re the only person I know here on this Farm.”
    A flood of questions rose up inside of me as the implication of his words registered. He’d been on the outside. He’d seen what was beyond the fences. He knew what was out there. I opened my mouth to let out that flood of questions, but felt my throat close over them.
    He’d also been glad to see me. Me, even though we hadn’t really been friends. I thought about what he hadn’t said. The way he’d cut himself off earlier before finishing his sentence.
    All my questions sort of hung there in my mind. I could have asked if he’d been to our hometown. If he’d seen my mother. I could have asked, but I didn’t. I was too afraid that I knew the answer, and I wasn’t ready to hear it aloud.
    “Where were you before now?” I asked, my fear making me sound angry. I wasn’t brave enough to ask about my family, but if he’d been somewhere else—
anywhere
else—then he might be able to tell me what awaited Mel and me once we got out. I hadn’t been beyond the electrified fence surrounding the Farm in over six months. Sometimes I’d go up to the roof of the science building and stare out into the town beyond the fence, looking for signs of life. Signs of anything outside. For miles around, there was nothing but empty buildings, deserted cars, and the path of destruction left by the Ticks.
    Maybe this was what every town looked like now. But I had to believe that somewhere out there, civilization chugged on. Truckloads of food arrived every week. That food came from somewhere, right? I never saw anything during the day.
    At night sometimes, you could hear the Ticks out there, howling in an obscene cacophony. Like someone was skinning a dozen puppies alive. But we never saw or heard humans from beyond the fence.
    “Have you been out there?” I asked softly, wanting to hide how anxious I was for any shred of information about the outside world. “What’s it like? Are the Ticks everywhere? Have they killed . . . everyone?”
    I’d mindlessly walked closer to him. He searched my face, and there was something unsettling about the intensity with which he looked at me. His eyes seemed to scour my face, taking in every detail, as though he had been desperate to find me. Like I was somehow important to him. I shivered and stepped back.
    Jeez, he must have been alone a long time if he was this glad to see me.
    He glanced out the window again. “I don’t want to talk about what’s happened out there.”
    He sounded so damn vulnerable, part of me just wanted to let it go, but I couldn’t. I’d never be able to trust him unless I knew more about where he’d come from and how he’d gotten here. Even though I’d known him in the Before, I couldn’t afford to just trust anyone these days. And maybe there was some tiny part of me that still
hoped
.
    I was about to risk Mel’s life with this crazy escape plan, and I owed it to her to find out everything I could about the outside.
    “Please,” I begged. “Can’t you tell me anything about what’s out there? I know nothing about what’s going on beyond that fence. When our parents sent all of us here, they were told it was temporary—just for our protection. Just until they could find a way to kill the Ticks. And when they couldn’t find a way to kill them, they said that as we got older, our blood would be less appealing to the Ticks and that they could set us free, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening. It’s been months since we’ve seen or heard anything from the outside other than food deliveries. Are there still any humans out there at all? Did you see any sign that the police or the army was fighting back? Is there any place that’s safe?”
    He sent me a suspicious look. “Why do you want to know all this stuff about what’s outside the Farm? There’s no way out of here.”
    Crap. Had I tipped my