Read Lightning for Free Online Page B

from here all the way to the northern end of this safe zone. We’ll finish the search of the northern end as we cross into the tiny strip that’s the only place left in New York.”
    â€œWhy do you care? The rest of New York and North America are covered yards deep in ash. The land is barren and uninhabitable.” Selah swept her hand over the maps, trying secretly to get a sideways look at them. Every time she showed interest, Glade rolled them up, which just piqued her curiosity more.
    Glade rubbed his brow. “It’s time to tell you, but to say I don’t have all the facts sounds like sheer lunacy.”
    â€œTell me what?” Selah straightened.
    He looked down. “When Bodhi transitioned you to a novarium, it started a chain reaction that needs to be completed by you connecting with a Third Protocol Lander, who we can only find in the West.”
    Selah started to laugh. “You really had me going. I thought you were going to be serious this time.”
    Glade sat stone-faced. “I am serious. Much of the data and even the reasoning for this process have been lost and sometimes deliberately sabotaged to misdirect the searches. I’ve got bits and pieces of a very long story that I don’t have time to go into.”
    Selah stood. “So that’s all you’re going to tell me?” She blinked hard. Her head felt light from standing so fast.
    â€œI don’t know any more that would really help you at the moment.”
    â€œSo what’s this process happening to me?”
    Glade shook his head. “I don’t know. We were subjected to mind-altering drugs before we left the Mountain 150 years ago. They gave us a folder afterward telling us our basic information and showing us a video where we all agreed todo this. To protect the integrity of the operation, we won’t get to fill in all the blanks until we find the Third Protocol and the process is finished.”
    Selah took that opportunity to look over the map. There were several dotted lines coming from the sea that converged in the area of Dominion. Another map blocked her from seeing their origin. She wanted to study the map, but he’d eventually look up if she didn’t keep talking.
    Selah played with the corner of the offending map, rolling and unrolling the edge. “Then what does novarium mean?”
    â€œIt means you are the new one . The one who holds the keys to the kingdom.”
    Selah knit her eyebrows together. “Riddles, you’re talking in riddles.”
    Glade looked at her like he was having second thoughts about sharing. “That’s all you need to understand right now. And no, to answer your question before you ask, other Landers don’t know more about being novarium than you do. They’re guessing and perpetuating myths that have grown up in the absence of facts.”
    Selah’s fingers stopped in mid-roll. “But historical accounts said the four states positioned in the ring of the volcano caldera were blown to pieces. No one could have survived. You think there are people alive for us to find, on the other side of the country?”
    Glade sighed. “At this point, our existence depends on it.”
    Instead of raising her voice at another of his riddles, she bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Then at least explain why you won’t help me find data on how to get Bodhi helpwith his lost abilities.” Selah hoped his generous mood might extend a little longer.
    â€œYou’ve only known him for the three months since your Birth Remembrance. Why do you want him? He came here as a Second Protocol Lander. There are at least half a dozen young men in this community who are the third and fourth generation of our First Protocol. They are more in line with the type of man you should be with.”
    â€œI love Bodhi.” Selah felt the words stick like a heavy lump in her throat.
    Glade looked over at her. “What do you know