The Outcast Ones by Maya Shepherd Read Free Book Online Page B

scared of him though. F701 presses herself harder against me.
    “Maybe they’re hungry,” says the man with the nice green eyes.
    “Bad luck.” The other voice is cold. I freeze and remember a conversation that might have been real or somewhere in my imagination: “She’s not with them.” This is the same voice, I’m certain of it. Suddenly I’m not so afraid of him any more and I stretch my head to see him properly, but the door is closing already.
    “Outcasts,” hisses D276, just as disgusted as the stranger was when he had to wipe up the bile.
    My eyes go wide with surprise. That has to be it. But how long have they lived here? Why are they holding us captive? Do they want revenge on us—are they crazy enough for that?
    “The Legion will rescue us,” says D389 quickly and nods as if to convince himself.
    “They would have to know where we are,” argues D276.
    “They have locator devices. They’ll find us.”
    “But we’re contaminated with radiation.”
    “They can cure us.”
    “We’re going to die.”
    It’s hopeless. Even if the Legion finds us, they won’t be able to save us. What will they do with us?
    F701 starts to tremble again. Her body shakes so much that she keeps bumping against me. Her wailing makes a return and she sways again, back and forth, back and forth.
    “Stop that,” hisses D456. “Don’t behave like a crazy person.”
    But F701 can’t stop. Her sobbing just gets louder. D456 looks away. The others seem clueless and no one knows how to make F701 be quiet if we don’t have the right medicines.
    Strange sounds come out of her throat, sounds that make me hurt on the inside. It’s like the sadness of the angry man. It causes a reaction in my heart. I’m not angry at F701, and I’m not scared of her, because I know she’s only scared herself. I lay my hand on her small arm, like D523 once did to me.
    But unlike me on that faraway day, F701 isn’t frightened. She calms under my touch. Her big eyes stare at me. There’s a dampness shining on her dirty cheek. Almost automatically I lay my other hand on her face and wipe away the wetness. Her lips quiver and she tries to understand what’s happening. I don’t understand it any more than she does. Why did I do that? But the fact is, it helped her. She’s not sobbing any more, and her trembling has stopped.
    Even though we’ve been kidnapped by the outcasts and our future is uncertain, there’s one positive thing I can find in all this: for the first time in my life, I can see a starry sky, or at least a tiny part of it, through the hole in the ceiling of our cell. The stars shine brighter than I ever imagined. They lie on the dark blue sky like sparkling stones, restful in their slow movement. They remind me a little of my home in the safety zone, where each day’s repetitive cycle protects us. Sometimes I found my life boring, but now when I am in fear of dying, I long for the regularity and predictability of the Legion.
    Everything was so easy and uncomplicated. Maybe the Legion commanders kept some secrets from us, but I’m sure they had a good reason for it. They never warned us about the outcasts, but who would have guessed that these madmen would invade the safety zone and kidnap us? We would only have worried needlessly. It was right that the commanders didn’t tell us about them, although we always knew it was possible to be cast out if we caused too much danger for ourselves or the community.
    The next morning, the heavy iron door opens again. The man with the lovely green eyes enters. In his hands he holds a big brown lump. This lump is giving off a strange but wonderful smell. I can’t describe it, because it’s not like anything I know.
    The man holds out the lump towards us, while his other hand holds a silver canteen. “Breakfast!” he explains, grinning, but gets only questioning looks in reply. Breakfast—what’s that?
    He shakes the canteen and we hear the familiar splashing of water. My mood