Read Frozen for Free Online Page A

went to the capital first, then the surrounding areas.”
    “And it was taxed like crazy,” Bo chimes in. “I heard people muttering about that during my time in Taem. The farther water had to be shipped, the more expensive it was.”
    “Not exactly how disaster relief should work,” Sammy says. “The West got furious—threatened everything imaginable, including secession. The capital ignored it all, and that, according to my great-grandfather, was when they attacked.”
    “The virus?” Bree prompts. I know the one she’s referencing—the virus AmWest used to initiate war on AmEast—the very same virus that Frank’s lab workers transformed into the threat we faced in the fall.
    “A Western movement dropped it in Big Water,” September says. “They were trying to take control of some water sources in that territory, but the damn thing mutated, spread, took on new forms. Even killed a bunch of the West’s own soldiers. Domed cities went on lockdown, but outside, people were dropping like flies.”
    “And so began the Second Civil War,” Bo says rather casually, which makes me wonder how many times he heard these stories in Taem to become so numb. “The East staged a counterattack. Millions of lives were lost—to bombs, to disease. Point is, the country tore itself apart from the inside until two separate nations emerged: AmWest, their secession complete, and AmEast, led by Frank’s father, Dominic Frank.”
    “And your great-grandfather was in Taem during all that fighting?” I ask Sammy.
    “Yup, and the way he told it, Dominic was a decent ruler. It was only when Frank took over that things fell apart. Frank didn’t trust the people, so he stripped away everything he saw as a risk to a unified AmEast. Books, music, art—anything that could encourage debate or confrontation was declared illegal.”
    “That doesn’t even make sense,” Bree says. “Debate’s a good thing. And why didn’t Frank focus on AmWest? They were clearly the enemy, not his own people.”
    “Look, Nox,” Sammy says. “I get it. Really, I do. It’s messed up.”
    “There has to be a reason. A motive. Something .”
    September leans forward, firelight dancing on her face. “A few years after the War, when Frank was at college in Taem, his father—his mother and younger brother, too—were murdered. They were distributing water to communities in AmEast’s Western Territory—not far from where Group A now stands. AmWest soldiers stormed the square, shot Frank’s family and every Order member in sight. Then they took off with the water. The people of AmEast did nothing to stop it, and if there was a moment that caused Frank to snap, I’d imagine that was it.”
    “That’s not the way my great-grandfather told it,” Sammy says. “His cousin was there that day; he said AmWest was only looking to take out the Order, but Frank’s family was killed in the crossfire. When the bullets stopped flying, AmWest apparently gave a speech about how the Franconian Order wasn’t the solution to rebuilding the country. It was a brand-new division back then,” he says quickly, reading the confusion on my face, “aimed at instilling peace between the two countries.”
    “Regardless of its goals, AmWest never liked the Order,” Bo says. “They always felt that the people should rebuild the country together, not have it forced upon them at gunpoint by law officials wearing black. Sort of admirable, I think.”
    September scoffs. “Well, they’re not teaching Sammy’s great-grandfather’s version of the event in school.”
    “Of course not!” Sammy says. “Frank wants us to all believe the version where AmWest mercilessly assassinates his family. It paints him as an advocate for justice.”
    “Are you saying you think AmWest isn’t despicable?” September counters. “After the virus that started the War? The fight they continue today? I mean, they just attacked Taem over the summer!”
    Sammy rubs the back of his neck,