Apocalypse: Underwater City (A Dystopian Novella) PART 1 (The Hope Saga) Read Free Page B

team.”
    “True. But if you defy them, watch out.”
    “You’re paranoid. I think they just gave her some jail time to straighten her up.”
    “How do I know what they’re telling me is the truth? I mean, I never saw the surface. Does it even exist? Is any of this real?”
    “Go sh, Sky. Maybe we shouldn’t have watched The Matrix last night? It was just a movie, and that Canoe Reeds—d
    “Keanu Reeves,” I corrected, rolling my eyes again.
    “Whatever. You can’t seriously think this is all a dream and that our bodies are being stored somewhere? Next thing I know, you’ll be wearing a black trench coat and checking your neck for a microchip.”
    “Don’t be silly. Of course I don’t think that, but I do think someone is up to no good. I don’t trust Dante Marcellus as far as I can throw him. You shouldn’t go around gobbling up everything they feed you, Rachel. All we know about the world is what we’ve been told. If they’d just let one of us up there to go see for ourselves, I might believe them, but they keep us isolated in this underwater tank like prisoners, making us totally dependent on them. We can’t even breathe without them, because they have to pump in the oxygen to the city. Like I said, we’re rats in a cage.”
    “And, like I’ve told you a million times before, I think they’re just protecting us,” she said.
    “From what?”
    “I think the atmosphere up there isn’t as stable as what they’ve told us, and they don’t want us to panic.”
    “I just wish I could see for myself, that’s all,” I said.
    “They take good care of us. You said yourself that we couldn’t even breathe without them. And on top of oxygen, they give us food, water, and supplies.”
    “ But maybe you’re right, to some degree. Maybe they don’t want to dash our hopes and tell us—”
    “That the sky is red and black and the air isn’t breathable? ”
    “ That people’s toes are melting off when they set foot up there? That some sort of mutant cockroach/bigfoot hybrid survived and is eating people as soon as they step out of the tube?”
    Her eyes grew wide. “Uh…maybe.”
    “I don’t care what’s up there. I can’t live like this for the rest of my life. I refuse to.” My heart began to race as I thought of being encapsulated in that glass, undersea bubble for the rest of my existence. I gripped her arm. “I need to know, Rachel. I can’t live another minute not knowing the truth about what’s up there, if there’s really anything up there. I can’t take it. I just can’t.”
    “Look, I didn’t mean to get you all worked up. This is supposed to be a great day, your sweet sixteen and all that. It’s supposed to be…unforgettable.”
    “Hmm. You’re right,” I said. I peeked around the corridor and down the long hall, then walked back.
    Rachel looked at me curiously. “You’ve got that sneaky smirk on your face again, that look that always seems to land us in trouble. What’s going on in that crazy head of yours?”
    My face beamed. “Well…”
    She arched an eyebrow, intrigued. “What, Sky?” she asked. “What are you thinking? Or do I even want to know?”
    “You said it.”
    “I said it?” she asked, clearly confused. “What are you talking about?”
    I gripped her hands in pure excitement. “The sky, Rachel. I want to see it for my sixteenth birthday. Like you said, this is supposed to be a memorable, special day. So let’s make it one.”
    “Hmm. Sky wants to see the sky,” she mocked. “How…poetic. This is just like you—act first and think later.”
    I playfully nudged her. “You heard Melvin. They’ll be gone for hours. We can sneak up there, take a peek, and be back before they even know we’re gone.”
    My thirst for spontaneity always got me in trouble, and I’d never found anything wrong with trying to make the most out of every moment. I was an adrenaline junkie, I guess, and I always wanted to immerse myself in situations that posed a