Read Hope (Book 2, Harvester of Light Trilogy; Young Adult Science Fiction) for Free Online Page A

apartment when we left ours.
    They both came to
the door with backpacks over their shoulders.
    “Come on boys,” my
father said.  “We don’t have much time.”
    By the time we all
walked out of the apartment building, there was a mad crash of people in the
street running for escape.  Gun fire could be heard in the distance but I
couldn’t see who was firing at whom.
    “Where are we
going?” I yelled to my father over the noise of the crowd and siren.
    My father grabbed
one of my hands.
    “Don’t let go,” he
ordered. “Doc Riley should be waiting for us in the park with a transporter.”
    I grabbed Zoe’s
hand and she tugged on Blues leash to pull him in closer to us to make sure he
didn’t get trampled by the throng surrounding us.  Ash and Kale followed close
behind.
    The scared crowd of
people around us made walking difficult.  The sound of gun fire seemed to get
closer and closer the further down the street we went. 
    “Damn fools,” my
father said only loud enough for me to hear.
    “Are the guards
shooting people?” I asked, having only seen the guards of the Southern Kingdom
be allowed to carry guns.
    My father looked
down at me.  “No.”  But he didn’t have time to elaborate.
    “You have… seven
minutes…to evacuate before detonation of self-destruct.”
    Finally, we broke
through the crush of people and entered Central Park.  The park area was almost
deserted, only a scattering of people were running through it.
    “Where are we
going?” I asked my father, running along beside him doing my best to keep up.
    “The pond.”
    I didn’t have
enough breath to ask why Doc Riley was meeting us at the pond.  Two minutes
later I had my answer.
    Doc Riley and Ian
were standing on the end of the pier which reached out to the middle of the
pond.  Behind them floating along the side of the dock was a black armored
vehicle I had never seen before.  It looked like the spurious child of a tank
and a boat.
    “You have…five
minutes…to evacuate before detonation of self-destruct.”
    “Glad to see you made
it,” Doc Riley said, giving me a brief hug.  “Climb in children and buckle up.”
    The interior of
the vehicle was larger than I expected.  There were ten bucket seats built into
each side wall and a driver seat and passenger seat up front near the glowing
blue control panel.  Ash helped me buckle Blue into one of the seats while
everyone else grabbed a seat of their own.  Doc Riley took the drivers chair
and my father sat up front with her.
    “You have…four
minutes…to evacuate before detonation of self-destruct.”
    Ash made to help
me into my chair but I pushed him towards the empty seat across from me. 
    “I can take care
of myself, Ash, just get in your seat.”
    I felt Ash put his
hands on my shoulders.  Before I knew it I was turned around and facing him.
    “You have…three
minutes…to evacuate before detonation of self-destruct.”
    In a blur of
motion, he put his hands behind my head and pulled me towards him.  His lips
crushed mine in a desperate kiss.  His mouth opened to deepen the kiss causing
my already racing heart to pump even harder inside my chest.  The warm feel of
his lips and tongue almost made me forget we were on the verge of being blown
up.
    “Dude!” Kale said,
breaking the moment.  “There’s time for that later!”
    Ash reluctantly
pulled his lips away from mine.  When I looked into his eyes, they seemed
almost glazed over like he was intoxicated.
    “Just in case,” he
said to me.
    He didn’t have to
finish the sentence.  I knew what he meant:  just in case we didn’t make it.

Chapter 5
    “You have…two
minutes…to evacuate before detonation of self-destruct.”
    I dropped into my
seat and quickly buckled the safety harness.  When I looked over at Ash, he was
staring at me like he might not ever see me again.
    “Hold on,
children,” Doc Riley yelled from the front.  “The first drop is a doozy!”
    Doc Riley was
never one