Afterburn: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Next Book 1) Read Free Page B

couldn’t keep up. Kokona was teaching Japanese to Marina and Rachel, and that was even harder. If the Zaps someday invented their own language, Stephen was sure the English language would die as fast as everything else from the old days did.
    “Nobody will know if you don’t tell,” Stephen said. How could such smart people be so dumb sometimes?
    “Our instructions were very clear,” Marina said. “Keep the door locked, monitor the cams, and don’t talk on the radio.”
    Stephen tapped anxiously at the mic. “But what if it’s important? Like life or death?”
    “Everything’s life or death, Stephen. That’s just how it is now.”
    Stephen hated this stupid bunker. Being a teenager was hard enough without TV, sports, and friends. And it wasn’t like he could get his diploma and head off to college, either. Worst of all, he found himself thinking more and more of Marina as something besides a sister. They weren’t related. They weren’t even from the same country. They just happened to have been raised by the same people.
    Hard to believe they’d bunked in the same cell their first year here, but then Stephen had started feeling really awkward about the whole thing. He pretended like he just wanted a room to himself so he could plaster comic-book covers all over his walls, but he forced himself to sleep as far away from Marina as he could.
    Her presence didn’t bother him when Rachel and DeVontay were around, because they were usually all so busy doing chores he didn’t have time to think. But when they were alone and taking care of Kokona, it was almost like they were the grown-ups and Kokona was their baby, and…
    I’m going to go nuts if I don’t talk to a real human being.
    The radio interrupted his thoughts.
    “Alpha One Niner, do you copy, over?”
    He snatched the handset the way he’d seen Franklin do it and depressed the mic key. “Hello,” he said, as Marina shot him a horrified look.
    “Alpha One Niner, can you confirm, over?”
    “I don’t know,” Stephen said into the mic. “I’m just Stephen.”
    “ Stephen? What’s your unit ?”
    “I don’t have a unit. It’s just me.”
    When Stephen released the mic key, Marina said, “Are you crazy?”
    “Yeah,” Stephen said to her, before the person on the other end of the broadcast could reply. Kokona added, “Franklin’s not going to like this.”
    “Stephen, this is Bravo Victor Romeo, copy. We’re on a sweep of the Blue Ridge Mountains and looking for survivors. What’s your location?”
    Stephen didn’t need to know the codes to understand the speaker was military. And he was crafty enough to avoid using any sort of language that might give away their position. He would play it as a dumb kid, see what information they would share.
    “I’m not sure,” Stephen replied. “Somewhere in the mountains, I think. I don’t know if it’s North Carolina or Virginia.”
    Marina scooted into the room and rested Kokona on the little metal desk that held the radio, then sat on the edge of it and glowered down at Stephen. She smelled like Ivory soap. Even her dark green T-shirt cast a clean scent. Stephen didn’t know how she did it. No matter how many times he scrubbed, he always smelled like armpits and dirty socks.
    The soldier’s voice grew more informal. “Are you alone, Stephen?”
    “Yeah, just me.”
    Marina elbowed him in the arm. Kokona said, “Ask him if there are any Sun People out there?”
    “You’re lucky to have made it this long. How old are you ?”
    “Sixteen,” Stephen lied.
    “Let’s see if we can pinpoint your position and arrange a rescue mission. Sound good?”
    “Sure,” Stephen said. “Are you the Army?”
    “ U.S. Marines. Got some units up and running but we’re still putting the pieces together. As soon as we get organized, we’re going to kick some Zap ass and blow them mutant bastards back to the Stone Age .”
    Kokona pursed her lips and frowned at the violent boast. Stephen