Read Matthew's Chance for Free Online

the hum of the truck’s engine.
    He frowned and tilted his head back, taking a closer look toward the passenger cab. He could make out three people inside through the back window—but what most caught his attention was the apparent age of the truck and the disconnect between that age and the sound of the engine.
    Sal, or someone, had retrofitted the truck to run entirely on electric. He could see the gleam of solar panels that had been fitted to the top and sides, and the roll of solar sheeting that would stretch across the bed of the truck when it was empty. The truck probably didn’t need a drop of halfgas to run most days.
    Matthew wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a truck like this one before, except as a broken shell in the more abandoned areas where the old quake had done the most damage. He’d gone on a field trip once before the wolves came, when he was just old enough to remember having done it, and he’d visited one of the abandoned places. He’d thought it was fascinating to see the decaying buildings and all the things that had just been left behind when it was over, as if so many people had died that there hadn’t been enough left to come back and claim what remained.
    His nose started itching again. Without thought, he made an aborted move to raise his arm. The ropes stopped him.
    But he noticed the slack that hadn’t been there earlier.
    In his effort to avoid hurting Matthew with the ropes, Sal hadn’t tied the rope as tight as he could have and Matthew was able to struggle against the bonds until he had one hand free.
    The truck turned and headlights cut through the woods, bringing a stark relief to the thick forest they were turning into, what looked like old growth pine. Matthew had no idea where they were or where they were headed, but if he could get loose…
    He didn’t care.
    He had faith in Ash’s ability to find him. He would just hole up somewhere until that happened.
    The truck hit a rut in the road, and his wrist knocked against the bed of the truck. Matthew gasped and rolled over, holding his arm to his chest until he could breathe without wanting to scream.
    He might feel better everywhere else, but his arm was going to give him trouble and the biotech wasn’t going to be enough to heal it without assistance. Gage had ground his boot into Matthew’s hand early on during the beating and he’d probably broken every bone in Matthew’s hand by the time he was done.
    Matthew blew out his breath and sucked in another, and then he scrambled up over the side of the truck, glanced quickly at the dark window in the back of the truck’s cab and jumped.
    He hit the ground hard. For a moment he couldn’t even breathe as he stared up at the night sky and the stars overhead. Then he groaned and rolled and stumbled to his feet just as he heard the scrunch and skid of tires in the thick bed of pine needles that covered the rough old road.
    He grabbed his middle and started running.
    A door slammed and Sal’s voice raised high, “Paul! Get the hell back here!”
    Matthew didn’t hesitate to keep going. The clear sky and nearly full moon meant the forest wasn’t as dark as it could have been and he could see well enough not to run headlong into a tree. His feet weren’t so lucky, and he felt something jab into one of his socks hard enough to puncture his skin. Whatever it was—a sharp stick, the edge of a rock—just missed impaling his arch. He gasped and slowed down, hoping the thick branches of pine would hide his outline.
    He reached a thick oak tree and slammed himself up against the rough bark and then around to the other side, and listened as best as he could over the rush of blood pounding through his body.
    Someone thrashed through the trees behind him, and then—
    A bloodcurdling roar, from the other direction. Matthew clenched his fists against the tree and sagged against the trunk, feeling every ounce of weakness that plagued him in that moment.
    He hoped to God that was Ash.
    But