Read Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) for Free Online Page A

dare to dream of a future together? We haven't talked yet about what he said in the Craniopolis.
    Without an expiration date, you ... I ...
    So much was happening around us at the time that I convinced myself it didn't mean anything, but the truth is I knew exactly what he was saying.
    I push the thought of a future with Sven to the back of my mind like I do every time it surfaces. I keep telling myself it's a moot point, but it draws me back in like a siren's call. What if he didn't have an expiration date?
    The Septites think it's unnatural that a human would be attracted to a clone. And I suspect by the wary looks the military clones give me when I'm with Sven that they don't approve either. A human can't–shouldn't love a clone. Big Ed might disagree, he's hip to whole the idea of clones being God's creatures just like the rest of us. I know what I see when I look into Sven's eyes. He's capable of love like any man.
    On a whim, I decide to stop by the riders' barn first and check up on Big Ed, although mostly I need some perspective before I see Sven again.
    I spot Big Ed dozing in a chair in the corner, his gray beard draped over his chest like an old, knotty fishing net. I take a few hesitant steps toward him, reluctant to wake him, but Tucker jumps to his feet when he sees me, barking a raucous reunion that startles Big Ed awake. He peers up at me, eyes rheumy with sleep, then smacks his gums together and pushes himself up in the chair with a grunt. "You're back. All good?"
    "We found the horses. Ida took a bullet in the leg, but she's going to be all right. Jakob's taking it out right now."
    Big Ed stares at me for a moment, before hefting a shaggy brow upward. "Something else on your mind?"
    I sigh and pull up a chair beside him. "It's about Sven. You saw what he did for me in the Craniopolis--he offered to sacrifice himself to save Owen. I know he loves me and I want to be with him, but with an expiration date hanging over his head, what kind of future would we have?"
    Big Ed puts a finger behind his spectacles and rubs his eyelid like he's waking up his thoughts.
    I fidget on the edge of my chair.
    He clasps his gnarled hands in his lap and looks over at me. "You get him 'til death do you part, same deal any of us get. There are no guarantees."
    "But, Sven's a clone." I rake my fingers through my hair in frustration. "I'm not even sure if he's human. A lot of people are going to be weirded out by that."
    Big Ed cocks his head to one side. "There weren't no natural union of man and woman in his making, but it ain't my place to say he's any less human than you or I. A man willing to sacrifice his life for you is a man capable of love."
    I groan. "So you don't know if he's human either?"
    Big Ed smiles. "If it helps any, he sure looks like he's made out of skin and bones same as you and me."
    I grin back at him. "Which might explain why I'm falling for him."
    He pats me on the knee, eyes drifting to half-mast. "In that case, don't you have someplace better to be?"

    H eart fluttering with anticipation , I jog up the courthouse steps and run right into Rocco. He throws a quick glance behind him, and then grabs my arm and pulls me aside, a tad too roughly for my liking.
    "Take your hands off me," I say, glaring at him. "What do you think you're doing?"
    He releases me, his eyes steely. "Sven wasn't expecting you back so soon."
    I frown at him. "Is something wrong?"
    Rocco runs a hand across his jaw. "We're relocating to the Craniopolis tomorrow. Sven's in Jerome's office finalizing a security plan with Trout."
    My stomach knots. "What? Why?"
    "Sven thought it would be for the best. He planned to be gone before you got back."
    I clench my fists. "Sven would never leave without telling me unless he was pressured into it. Did someone warn him to stay away from me?"
    Rocco shrugs, a blank look on his face.
    I narrow my eyes at him. " You'd better not have had anything to do with this!" I elbow past him and march down the