Read Dead Zone for Free Online

He closed his eyes and tried to pretend that he wasn’t headed toward the battle, that he wasn’t in Oregon, that he wasn’t only a few hundred miles from the battle zone. He tried to draw on memories of home—of Mount Pleasant in the autumn, the big cottonwoods dropping their leaves, the crunch of frost on the grass, Aubrey in that old orange sweater she used to wear before she started shoplifting all her clothes.
    He heard footsteps and let go of her instantly.
    “Disappear,” he said. She didn’t hesitate.
    A moment later, two soldiers on a nightly patrol turned the corner and saw him. One of them pointed his flashlight right into Jack’s eyes. “Where are you going, soldier?” he barked.
    Jack reached over and patted the Quonset hut. “Had to use the latrine.”
    “Taking the scenic route to get there,” the other soldier said.
    “Disorientation.” Jack absently pointed to the lambda insignia on his jacket. “One of the side effects of my ability. It’s worse when I first wake up.”
    One of the soldiers pointed in the other direction. “Straight that way, two buildings down, on your right. You shouldn’t miss it, unless your nose doesn’t work.”
    “Thanks,” Jack said. He paused, hoping the soldiers would leave, but they didn’t. So he whispered a quick good-bye to Aubrey and headed to the latrine.
     
    By the time he was out of the bathroom, Aubrey’s scent had moved back to her barracks. It was so easy for him to eavesdrop, but he avoided the temptation and returned to his own bed. The lights were off, except for a few lambdas who were reading with flashlights. One of them was Edgar, a kid who never got tired and never slept—ever. He didn’t have super speed or super strength, but he could run forever and never break a sweat or have his heart rate increase. Jack wondered what the army would do with him. Another kid had a knack for languages. After two weeks of reading dictionaries, he was fluent in Russian, plus half a dozen dialects like Chechen and Avar.
    Jack lay down on his bed. It always took him a while to tune out the noise around him and fall asleep. He’d tried earplugs, but they’d made him able to hear the blood flowing through his own ears, and that was maddening.
    “We’re leaving tomorrow,” Rich said quietly from the next cot over.
    “Tomorrow’s graduation,” Jack said.
    “I know, but they’re moving us all out. Bringing in a new bunch of recruits.”
    Jack sat up on one elbow. “How do you know that? I didn’t even know that.”
    Rich grinned. “Technology defeats super senses!”
    “Where did you find access to a computer?”
    “The mess hall. They have one in the back office for ordering supplies and that kind of thing.”
    “Do you know where we’re going?”
    “No. All it said was that assignments were going to be made by General Freeman, but he hasn’t input them yet. I got the impression that he doesn’t like computers.”
    “So this is it,” Jack said, rolling onto his back. “I wish we’d gotten more training. I don’t know if you and I will be assigned to the same unit, but I’m a spy and you’re a guy who is searching for the EMP device. That means both of us will be going to the front.”
    “I wish they could just keep me back in the Pentagon or something,” Rich said, “and have me wage a cyberwar on the Russians with some drones. I’d be so much more effective.”
    “But somebody needs to find the EMP device,” Jack said. “It’s all they talk about—HQ, I mean. It’s taking down planes and tanks and missiles and everything. If we don’t stop the Russians here, before they can cross the Cascade mountains, they’ll have a free pass to, well, anywhere they want to go. And did you hear they’re forcing everyone out of Alaska? It’s the end of November, and they’re making people leave their houses. That’s got to be a war crime.”
    “At least it’s been a mild season so far,” Rich said.
    “Thank God for that,” Jack