Unafraid

by Megan Lynch

  Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee

  Who shall say that Fortune grieves him

  While the star of hope she leaves him?

  Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me,

  Dark despair around benights me.

  THE END

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  Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy?

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  Please Add Your Review! And turn the page for a sneak peek of UNDONE, book 3 in the Children of the Uprising!

  Sneak Peek of Undone

  Jude Reeder walked into the cavernous room and drew an even breath. This is just a simulation, he reminded himself. Just do your best. Even though there were many people already here, the floor plan was so expansive that it almost didn’t feel crowded. Almost. He assessed the risks. The only way out was the way he’d come in, through two black sliding doors. There were no windows in the room, which would suggest that the meetings that normally took place here were private, even secretive, though that wasn’t quite the case today. Today, the room was packed with young people about Jude’s age, which was sixteen. In his training, they’d drilled into Jude to always be five minutes early—any earlier, and he’d be noticed. Any later was, of course, simply too late. Jude found a spot next to the doors and kept looking around, gathering bits of information he might need for later. He moved his eyes from person to person, sneaking glimpses at the faces of the sleek black watches that were wrapped around every wrist.

  There were no guards around. They probably didn’t expect anyone like Jude to be in the room, only fresh-faced interns eager to please and easy to impress. This was a welcoming ceremony for a whole herd of them in the capital of the United States, after all. Only a fool—or someone who either had a lot to gain or nothing to lose—would try to sneak in.

  When the simulation stage was over and he would finally be sent to the United States, he’d be the only one in a room like this who’d known hardship. However, since camouflage was the key to this entire mission, he’d have to pretend, just for a few months, that he was like the others. That he’d never been compelled to fight for his life. That he had two working hands made of flesh and blood and bone. Not a false one made of wires underneath flesh-colored rubber. In his mother country, where he’d been locked up for being an embarrassment to his government, where citizens voluntarily locked themselves up while consuming government narratives, where he’d miraculously escaped with his mind intact, if not his body, exactly—he would have had to pretend to belong.

  None of the other new interns were talking to each other. Most were just looking down at their watches, waiting for the program to start. An empty podium stood on a low stage at the front of the room, and although a few adults were scattered throughout the room talking to each other, Jude hadn’t yet guessed who was in charge. He walked along the perimeter, closer to an older man who was talking to a young woman.

  “Of course, it’s a difficult responsibility, governing the entire world. But every place has resources, and it takes surprisingly little to keep workers alive. We’re always working on efficiency. That’s why what you’re doing is so important.” The man’s silver hair glimmered in the fluorescents as he turned to Jude, perhaps surprised to find him listening. “And you? Are you an efficiency intern as well?”

  Jude fought the urge to hunch over his watch and instead straightened his back and looked at the man’s eyes. “Yes.”

  “Ready for your first day?”

  Jude hoped the young woman next to him would respond, but she had already retreated into her wrist. Jude reminded himself of his training: respond casually—and there were concrete ways to be casual. He went with the mirroring technique, crossing his arms and leaning his weight on one leg. “Yes, absolutely.”

  The man chuckled. “Yes, as you said—absolutely.” He uncrossed one of his arms and extended it. “Chuck Pennington.”

  Jude shook it. “Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Dale Downs.”

  Chuck Pennington looked down at Jude’s wrist. “Something the matter with your watch, Dale?”

  Jude realized that the man would not let go of his hand. He looked down at his watch to find the face was displaying the “record” icon, threatening to reveal to Chuck Pennington that their conversation was being recorded. Instead of pulling his wrist away, Jude squinted at Chuck’s watch. “Yours too?” he asked.

  Pennington’s eyes and opposite hand instantly shot to his watch to check, while Jude quickly tapped a finger on the screen of his own. “Must have been a reflection,” Jude said, but Pennington was already distracted.

  “Yes… Good to meet you, Dale.” Pennington walked away, eyes on his own watch as he tapped out a little message.

  Jude tried to let the interaction go as he took his seat. There was every chance in the world that Pennington had been tapping out a message to his wife, or his child, or a colleague about something that had nothing to do with Jude. They were seconds away from starting the program, but Jude would look suspicious if he simply waited. He opened a game similar to the games being played around him and tapped aimlessly. The game had been a clever design of the engineers back in the UK. It projected false pupils on Jude’s eyes to make it seem as if he was focused on his watch, leaving his real eyes free to roam the room. With his head bowed toward the screen, he followed Pennington with his eyes. Pennington tapped his watch once more, gave a nod to someone in the back of the room—Jude turned his head to cough so he could have a look, but didn’t see anyone—and took a seat next to the stage.

  A young man not much older than Jude took the podium.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  The room rumbled as most of the crowd mumbled their reply.

  “Congratulations again on being selected to intern for the worldwide efficiency program. I’m Kyle Belslinger, and I currently have the honor of leading my cohort. By this time next year, one of you will emerge as the leader of yours and will introduce the man responsible for leading all of us to the new recruits.” Kyle Belslinger went on for a while about what a great pleasure it was to serve, how much responsibility it was to measure efficiency, how satisfying it was to increase production for those who owned the means, and where the bathrooms were located. Finally, he said, “Please welcome Chuck Pennington, five-star general of the Metrics Worldwide Government and leader of our operation.”

  The room exploded with applause. Each intern seemed to be trying to make their claps louder than the others. Jude followed suit, cupping his hands to amplify the sound.

  “What an honor, what an honor!” Pennington grasped the podium with both hands and thrusted his ribcage over it, dwarfing it as he hovered, and seemed to smile and scowl at once. “Thank you for agreeing to serve in the efficiency program.”

  Like any of them had a choice, Jude thought, and was silently thankful that he actually did.

  “Efficiency is the heart of our society. If productivity is our collective mission in life, using the minimum amount of time and resources is not only a job, but a calling. You are embarking on one of the most important assignments in the entire worldwide system.”

  Jude fought the urge to roll his eyes and wondered if anyone actually bought this.

  “You are helping your fellow human beings by maximizing the quality of their life, which is to say their output. This particular group is so important because you will be the ones working on efficiency in the transportation system. What an exciting opportunity! You will be the ones to study commuter patterns, put yourself in the shoes of a typical Two or Three, and decide which routes to cut and which to expand. You will have responsibility beyond what you’d imagined for yourself, but you will learn to wield it according to Metrics values, for the good of all people.”

  Heads nodded.

  “As I look out at all of you and see your young, fresh faces, I can see—quite understandably—that some of you aren’t able to fathom the immense power you’ve been entrusted with. I’d like to close with a short anecdote to give you a glimps
e.

  “When I began my career at the Metrics Efficiency Program, Transportation Division, we were still struggling with the issue of pedestrian deaths. Today, pedestrian deaths have become so rare among registered people that it’s hard to imagine a time when they were so commonplace. But this was almost thirty years ago now, and it happened so frequently that even Twos would sometimes die in vehicle deaths. When we moved away from individual cars and almost exclusively to trains, we were able to actually save lives with efficiency. The closer to the cities we got—where the higher tiers and their jobs were—the slower the trains could move and the fewer deaths we had. In order for the trains to move slowly enough to stop in emergencies near the cities, the faster we had to speed them up on the outskirts. The transportation department, under our leadership, had an enormous hand in creating the housing plan that accommodates all levels of citizens now. This way, Twos and Threes can live close to their workplaces, and Fours and Fives can get to work quickly without risking their own safety.”

  A question hung in the air, unasked: And the Unregistered? One of the key policies of the Metrics Worldwide Government was the one-child policy. The second, third, or fourth child in a family was considered Unregistered and received no rights under the law. Prisoners, regardless of their tier, were also automatically classified as Unregistered upon incarceration, which meant that Jude had the unique experience of living as both a Two and an Unregistered. But the government wasn’t worldwide at all—though its citizens believed it was. Jude and his friends had discovered that Metrics was a semi-large country that had isolated itself and was now beginning to suffer for resources. The way they found to save resources for all their registered citizens was to murder all of the Unregistered and tell the public that they’d been relocated. Most people in this room probably believed that the Unregistered were still alive and well in a society of their own thousands of miles away from here.

  Pennington cleared his throat. “The Unregistered were, up until the relocation, still living in zones where the trains were moving extremely fast in order to transport them to their jobs, if they had one. I was happy when the number of pedestrian deaths declined over the years, but any at all were difficult to accept. And the damage it did to trains was very expensive. I, myself, advocated for their relocation in order to prevent these deaths.”

  Jude knew it was ridiculous that he was angry after everything that he’d learned, everything that he’d experienced, but he slowed his breathing, remembering the technique Daniel had taught him to control it. He focused on making his exhales longer than his inhales.

  “So you see, you have an enormous responsibility in shaping the lives of people all over the world. Be vigilant, but don’t be afraid to make tough decisions for the greater good. One could say that it is because of our speeding up and slowing down program that many of you are here today. The time we’ve saved you in being on the train may have enabled you to study harder, and your parents to earn more to send you to the prestigious schools represented here. Now, do the same—do better, even—for another generation!”

  The room thundered with applause, and most of the interns jumped to their feet in an attempt to begin a standing ovation. Jude tried to follow the example of the young leaders and rise, but a hand on his shoulder gently but firmly pressed him back down.

  A woman’s lips were close to his ear, so close that he could feel her warm breath when she said, “Come with me.”

  Jude fought the urge to run, fight, or mope, and slowly rose with her hand still on his shoulder. Now he could feel something sharp on his back as the woman led him into the aisle, past the raucous crowd, and back through the sliding black doors. She jabbed the sharp object harder into his back as he stepped through the doors.

  Once he was out, he turned, quick and deliberate, grabbed the pointy thing, and looked into the woman’s face.

  In his good hand, Jude clutched the pencil. Samara glanced down at her own hand, surprised, maybe, that it had been taken so quickly.

  “That hurt!” Jude said, and Samara grabbed the pencil back and chuffed him softly.

  “Why didn’t you check your watch for the icon? We were all waiting for you to do it, but you didn’t, and you let Pennington see it! What were you thinking?”

  Jude looked down at his watch again and groaned. “It comes back on every few minutes, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does. You wore one of these for eleven years. How do you not remember this?”

  Jude looked at the faces around him. Denver and Stephen were behind Samara, waiting for him to answer. Daniel, still wearing the earpiece, the twin of Jude’s, in his own ear, stared at him. More strangers surrounded them, all members of the team that would eventually infiltrate the Metrics government in the attempt to liberate the USA, were staring at him, disappointed by his simple blunder. The United Nations was spending an ungodly amount of money on these training simulations, their eyes seemed to remind him, and he couldn’t go screwing it up every time. He needed to prove himself if he wanted to be a part of this team. You didn’t need to be perfect to save the world, but you sure as hell had to be competent.

  Jude shook his head at the floor. “I’m sorry. Let’s go again.”

  Samara smiled and gave Jude another little jab. “You were doing great before then. But this time, try not to meet Pennington at all. The fewer important people know who you are, the better.”

  “Got it.”

  Jude rubbed his back briefly where the pencil point had been stuck, checked his watch, and breathed deeply, his shoulders rising and falling.

  The doors opened. He walked inside, where the crowd of young interns were, once again, waiting for their program to begin. He did the same thing as everyone else in the room—checked his watch.

  Don’t stop now. Keep reading with your copy of UNDONE available now.

  Don’t miss the start of the Children of the Uprising with book one: UNDONE.

  When Their Home is in Danger,

  Will The Plan be Undone?

  * * *

  The liberation of their homeland depends on Bristol, Samara, Denver, and Jude. Each has a unique role to play, but the same mission. Yet, when the first phase of their plan is botched, the political climate of their new country turns on the little assembly of American refugees and forces them back into the shadows.

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  Now, in a race against the clock, they must come together to save those they love back home and find their place in a new world. Will they be able to save their homes, their freedom, and their lives?

  * * *

  Suspenseful, romantic, and awash in the spirit of social justice, the conclusion to the Children of the Uprising series has arrived.

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  Acknowledgments

  To thank everyone who had a hand in this book’s birth wouldn’t be possible, but there are several incredible people whose influence really needs to be acknowledged.

  To Ryan, my husband and best friend, who comforts me when the state of the world and the way humans treat each other gets me down, and who helps me translate that sorrow into stories.

  To Finnegan Dean and Clark Francis, who, at this point in their development, couldn’t care less that their mother is an author. Thank you, boys, for always showing me what’s really important and teaching me organization and focus.

  To my family: Mom, Dad, Nanny, Brian, Kevin, Jamie, Rich, Dianne, Lindsay, Tim, Elissa, and Michael. Not one of you ever sprinkled any doubt or discouragement when I said I wanted to write this series. Your encouragement is a big reason this book (and its predecessor) exists.

  To the editors and the publishing team: Jennifer Chesak, Amanda Roberts, Melissa Hollingsworth, Tina Moss, and Yelena Casale. Thank the Lord for you people! Truly, I’m thrilled to work with you and I am in awe of your grammatical, structural, and character development skills. Thanks for believing in Bristol, Samara, Denver, and Jude, and making their story shine.