Edge of Mercy (Young Adult Dystopian)(Volume 1) (The Mercy Series) Read Free Page B

winter still haunted me.
    But for now, I had a bowl of morning grain and vegetable mush in my stomach and a shelter to go back to at the end of the day. I didn’t like to think about what had happened. Instead, I focused on the here and now, and when I allowed myself, what would happen tomorrow. I wondered if all our hard work tilling the soil and harvesting plants would be enough to get us through the coming winter, and what would keep us busy through long days stuck inside with only each other’s company? Maybe some of the community’s history would come out with the passing days. So much was still a mystery.
    I looked at Zeke’s broad back. Did I dare ask again? Every time I asked a question, the only answer anyone ever gave was “the Council will tell us,” or “the Council already made a decision.” Apparently, no one questioned the Council. I was learning to keep my questions to myself.
    There was one question though that I’d asked within the first few weeks of coming here and instead of a comment about how the amazing, wizened Council had already covered that particular tidbit, I was told never to ask that question. I shook my head at the memory because that question just wouldn’t die, not as long as my sister and I continued to shelter here.
    In the community, there were exactly thirty-three men between the ages of eighteen and sixty, fifteen boys between the ages of eight and seventeen. That count included me. To everyone here I was a boy. Star made one baby girl, but there were no women or other girls. Where were all the females?
    Zeke shifted a shovel and hoe to his other shoulder and continued to hum a tune as we walked together. I watched him out of the corner of my eye and noticed how all the hard work in the fields had filled him out in the past couple months. He’d been the first one to befriend me, and my impression of him then as a scrawny, simple boy made me feel safe enough to ask questions. Unless I was visiting my sister in the inner sanctuary or taking care of my personal needs, I rarely left his side.
    Should I ask the question again? Did I really want to know the answer? Would he even give me more than that first hushed whisper?
    Something told me whatever happened to the females was too painful for Zeke and the others to talk about. Once, I’d even overheard some of the boys discussing the toll it had taken on Zeke’s father. Apparently, he refused to leave his room since the incident, and he was mentally and physically ill as a result. For now, the Council tolerated his behavior, but I had to wonder what could cause such trauma. What happened here?
    I shook my head and glanced toward the copse of dark trees across the fields. Another time maybe. I pulled a deep breath into my lungs. The fear churning in my belly wasn’t enough to keep me from doing what I had to do.
    Yeah, I was a boy to all those around me, but that didn’t stop my body from reminding me just how female I really was. I’d volunteered for laundry duty, so I was able to gather scraps of fabric for the inevitable that happened each month. Although I still didn’t grasp why I had to hide my gender, my mother’s insistence when we moved into our own underground bunker years ago, and the fact no women were here kept me silent on the subject, and everyone seemed convinced that all was as it appeared, except maybe Thomas with his sharp, dark eyes.
    “Zeke, I’ll catch up to you later. I forgot to take care of something.”
    “Forgot to drain the lizard, didn’t you?”
    As if. One of the problems I encountered on a daily basis was the ease of vulgarity. Men didn’t censor themselves when women weren’t around. It was eye-opening and plain gross most of the time, but I just smiled and nodded as I headed off toward the forest. I’d lived here long enough to catch a few eyefuls and knew what a man looked like, but I had no idea how draining a lizard was anything like…it wasn’t even worth thinking about.
    A few of