Read Flux for Free Online Page B

chest. With a grunt she shoved the nearest one. He shoved back and she coughed, winded.
    “Look, she bought us dindin,” yelled the boy next to him, a kid with a mean yellow squint called Snakebite. Snatching Nellie’s grocery bag, he opened it.
    “We’ll eat later.” Ducking down, Pullo grabbed Nellie around the knees and upended her over his shoulder. Immediately she exploded into a frenzy of kicks and punches. Someone shoved her face into Pullo’s back, muffling her cries. Enraged, she bit deeply into his T-shirt, worrying the flesh underneath until a punch to her head dissolved her into a whimpering mass. The ground arced dizzily beneath her, taking a pendulum swing as Pullo rounded a corner. Coins rained from her pockets, the boys pushing and shoving to get at them.
    “She’s got money?” grunted Pullo. “Check her pockets.”
    She was ransacked, the boys whooping as they brandished fifty-dollar bills.
    “All right,” said Pullo. “Let’s keep going.”
    She tried clawing her way up Pullo’s ponytail, but her head was punched a second time and she sank into a jarring upside-down swoon. Blood collected thickly along her eyelids and pounded in her upper lip. She thought she could feel Pullo starting to tire, a stagger creeping into his walk. Maybe he would set her down soon and she could make a run for it. Tendrils of an upside-down plan began to form in her dizzy brain, but all thoughts of escape vanished as Pullo passed through a doorway, banging her knee carelessly against thedoorjamb. Dumping her onto the floor he sank, gasping, beside her. A door slammed shut behind them.
    “You got her.”
    Still swaying inside the darkness of her head, Nellie recognized Deller’s voice. Someone kicked at her back. She didn’t move.
    “What, you kill her already?” Deller demanded.
    “Playing dead,” panted Pullo.
    “I’ll give her dead,” said Deller. “Dead meat.”
    This time she rolled to avoid his foot and the room danced a half circle, skittering as she tried to sit up.
    “She was going to get herself pretty at the barbershop,” jeered Snakebite.
    Nellie squinted, fighting the swing in her head. So this was the Skulls’ headquarters, a dim shabby room lit by a single candle that burned on a nearby table. Several broken-down chairs leaned at various angles against the opposite wall, and the single window was covered with cardboard. Turning her head slowly, Nellie scanned for exits. Immediately behind her was the doorway through which she’d been carried, and to her right was another that led further into the building. The only other exit was the black cave that loomed inside her head, threatening to engulf her completely. Should she try tuning into the molecular field to locate a gate to another level? No, too dizzy. Wait a bit.
    Sinking carefully into a three-legged armchair, Deller watched her survey the room. A tiny thrill of satisfaction shot through Nellie as she saw the heavily bandaged hand in his lap, and she let go a tiny grin. “Shake and make up?” she asked softly, and a collective gasp rose from the boys behind her. Deller’s eyes widened, but he raised his good hand as someone grabbed Nellie’s shoulder.
    “She needs kicking,” Pullo protested.
    “She’ll get kicking,” Deller promised, “but first she gets a haircut.” Pulling some money from his pocket, he held it out. “Snakey, fetch some shaving cream and a razor.”
    Nellie’s eyes narrowed, darting between Deller and the rest of the gang. “They got money,” she spat contemptuously. “They stole a hundred and forty off me.”
    Deller’s gaze shot dangerously toward the other boys.
    “We were going to show you,” whined Snakebite, giving Nellie a swift kick in the leg.
    “ Show me?” Deller hissed.
    “Give it to you.” Reluctantly the boys handed over the money and Deller made an awkward one-handed count.
    “You got your own private bank account, Bunny?” Deller asked, granting her a curious