Read Immurement: The Undergrounders Series Book One (A Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Novel) for Free Online

by the time we’ve buried Frank and covered up the gravesite. We march in silence in the half-shadows, brushing up against flaky-barked tree trunks as we thread our way through the dense woods. In the distance, a thin river of morning fog weaves its way past the moon over the snow-tipped Sawtooth Peaks that straddle the horizon. The sun will soon be up, and even though we’re safer here than in the open canyons, we’re taking a huge risk traveling at dawn.
    We hike south for close to three hours before Mason hesitates at a fork in the trail. Big Ed silently takes the lead, and no one questions him. This is a world he knows best.
    You can only see what’s in front of you, Derry, but you can hear in all directions.
    I step over a granite knob and stiffen, one foot poised in midair.
    A rattler shakes its hollow scales in warning. A cold sweat wraps around my neck. I take a deep breath and close my eyes to focus. The clicking is insistent, louder to my right. Three o’clock. Ten feet.
    I edge slowly left, melting with relief as the rattling fades. When I look up, I’m startled to see Mason staring down the barrel of his gun at the brush the snake retreated into. He straightens up and slides a furtive glance in my direction. “Just a precaution. Big Ed taught you well.”
    I give him a double-edged smile, the kind that expresses gratitude, but hints at disapproval. The last thing I need is Mason acting like my security detail in Owen's absence.
    Suddenly Big Ed whistles a wood thrush warning, flutelike and clear. We drop to the ground and ready our weapons.
    “See anything?” I whisper to Mason.
    He swishes with his hand for me to be silent and points off to the left.
    I peer over a vast umbrella of ferns. Thirty feet away, on an exposed embankment, Becca is slumped with her back up against a splintered stump, her head drooping into her chest. There’s no way to tell from here if she’s sleeping or dead.
    Big Ed makes his way back to us, his face puckered. “I don't like the look of this. No sign of Reid anywhere.”
    Mason gestures up the hill. “I’ll check her out. She could be booby-trapped.”
    I watch with trepidation as he approaches the tree stump and moves cautiously around, searching the ground for wires or traps. After a few minutes, he kneels down and studies something on Becca’s leg. He grabs a fistful of her hair, and pulls her head back just long enough to flash the yawning, ragged slit across her throat. I press a hand to my mouth.
    “Bled out,” Mason confirms when we reach the tree stump.
    My skin crawls. It would have been a death wish to go after Owen on my own. I’m rapidly developing an appreciation for Mason’s military expertise after all.
    A twig snaps like a firecracker to our left. Big Ed swings his rifle and trains it on a clump of ferns twenty feet away. I hunker down behind a cluster of trees, heart thumping, as the unmistakable sound of someone crashing through the brush grows louder.

Chapter 6
    A streak of fur charges straight toward me. My gun goes slack in my hands. “Don’t shoot!” I yell to the others as Tucker pins me to the ground. He heaves hot breaths like a steam engine braking hard, and I bury myself in the salted butter scent of his sweaty fur. For a moment I’m heartened by his boisterous greeting, and then a foreboding feeling overtakes me. What is he doing here?
    Seconds later, Jakob bursts through the brush and comes to a halt in the middle of the clearing. He grips his shotgun with both hands, sweating and flushed, his eyes snapping left and right. He’s missing his trucker cap, and his white blond hair sticks up in random tufts, like he’s crawled through the undergrowth to get here. He staggers a few steps toward us. Big Ed reaches for him by the shoulders and props him up against a tree. I run to him and he clutches me to his chest with one hand, trying to catch a breath. The familiar scent of sawdust and worn leather fills my nostrils.
    “I couldn’t