by C. B. Stone
Jacob looks back at me casting me a sharp glare. He has always hated the Elite—I do, too, if I’m being honest—and he’s not afraid to say it either. Contradicting something his dad said in favor of something the Elite say... well, if it wasn’t necessarily very nice of me, it was important to do. I lift my chin, my stubborn streak stirring to life as I glare back at him. He forgets sometimes we live in a world with specific rules and breaking them comes with dire consequences.
Besides, the world we’re standing in right now is ruined. That’s kinda the point. If they hadn’t been awful, cruel people, why is their world obliterated, nothing more than X’s on the doors to mark where their people died?
“Let’s keep going,” Jacob’s tone is gruff, revealing just a hint of anger, so I keep quiet as I follow him.
When we decide the place is safe enough, we split up after finding a map on a wall. Jacob goes to the left toward the library (of course) and I go to the right, heading down the hall toward the nurses office.
I don’t know if there will be anything there worth scavenging, but I figure it will still be my best bet. I pass at least ten doors with X’s on them, and knowing each one of them holds a room full of bodies elicits an involuntary shiver as I walk. I can’t help it, it just feels creepy. I know they’re nothing but bones, mostly, but sometimes, if the room was sealed up tight... that’s why we never check the rooms anymore. We go where we think there will be the best stuff, look around, and leave as quickly as we can.
The nurse’s office is toward the back, near the big gymnasium that students used for physical activities.
Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to go to a school like this... and then I decide it must have been terrifying. All those other kids, none of whom you could trust, and a teacher at the front telling you what to think.
I imagine it is a lot like Assembly. We have it every other day in the After World, usually, although less often as we get older. All of us, kids eighteen and under, gather in the courtyard in the middle of town and watch the large glass screen light up. Most of us can’t read, so when the scrolling words travel across the glass there’s a voice that accompanies it. It’s always a bland, toneless man’s voice. He lists off the three main rules that govern the After World.
Don’t repeat mistakes of the Old World.
Don’t seek love, don’t engage in war.
And above all else, don’t Believe.
There are other things after that, usually. An update on Rehabilitation camps, success stories and sometimes failed escape attempts. Occasionally we get news of political things, but politics are only for the Elite, so no one cares too much about those.
Most of us are more worried about surviving.
I reach the nurse’s office to find it’s mostly intact, only a few things obviously searched through. Some places look ransacked already when we get there, making me wonder if there are others who search the ruins like we do, or if people of the Old World were scavengers, too.
Pulling my bag off my shoulder, I start throwing things that look promising into it. Most of them, I don’t know what they are or what they do, especially since most of the labels look deteriorated, but it doesn’t really matter. People will trade for it anyway.
I stuff all of it in my bag, as much as I can fit, and I’m about to leave the room when I glance to my right and see something sitting on a desk. It’s covered in a thick layer of dust, but it still catches my eye. I can only make out the words healing and prayer, but that’s enough. My lips tighten, feeling a rush of gladness Jacob isn’t with me.
I leave as quickly as I can and pretend I never saw the book at all. I meet up with Jacob further down the hall. He’s found some books too—picture books in fact, which are great, because people will be more inclined to buy them since they don’t need a lot of skill as far as reading goes.
“What did you find?” Jacob asks as we head out.
“Nothing,” I answer automatically, mind recalling an image of the book I left behind again and again. I remember the words written on it.
Healing and prayer.
Eyes grim, I repeat again as we step out of the building to head home, “Nothing.” Thankfully Jacob leaves it at that.
Continue reading Rehabilitation (Unbelief Book I).
Author Secrets
HA... and there you are thinking I’m going to reveal big, dark, secrets. Sorry dear readers, not I, not this day. But I will share a few fun facts.
Ahem. ::Donning 3rd person hat::
C.B. Stone is sometimes called author, writer, or purveyor of stories. One might even dub her a yarn spinner, if you will. It’s very possible she might be considered just a little left of normal by most, but she’s cool with that. Really, she’s too busy avoiding normal to care.
On any given day, you might find Stone pounding away at a keyboard in sunny Miami, contemplating waves, contemplating life, and dreaming up more exciting stories to share with readers. Except Sunday’s of course. Sunday’s are God’s day, so you’ll often find her making her best “joyful noise” with her local church praise team.
When not pounding poor fingers to bloody nuggets and reinventing the definition of eye strain, C.B. Stone enjoys living it up, doing the family thing, the kid thing, and the friend thing. And in her downtime, reading the minds of fans.
Also being invisible. Being invisible is fun.
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More by C.B. Stone
~Absence of Song Trilogy~
Awakening
You are reading book 1 in the Absence of Song trilogy.
Book 2 release- February 2015
Book 3 release- March 2015
Other Books by Stone:
~Unbelief Trilogy~
Rehabilitation
Book 1 in the Unbelief Series- http://www.cbstonebooks.com/rehabilitation/
Ruin
Book 2 in the Unbelief Series- http://www.cbstonebooks.com/ruin
Revelation
Book 3 in the Unbelief Series- http://www.cbstonebooks.com/revelation/
Please visit http://www.CBStoneBooks.com for the most up-to-date information on books by C.B. Stone, including new releases and current up-coming release dates.
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