Read Sinners 01 - Branded for Free Online

the open door from his bedroom. His eyes narrow
     at me as he shakes his head. He opens his mouth, then closes it, and scratches the
     back of his neck. Then he shrugs his shoulders and closes the door behind him again.
    Weird.
    I don’t know what to expect, but it seemed as if he had something to say before he
     stepped outside. As I’m pondering his awkward facial expression, the door from the
     main hallway swings open, and Cole reappears, holding another paper bag.
    “Here’s your breakfast.” He holds out the bag.
    I shake my head, trying to be polite. “No, thank you.”
    “Eat it.” He unrolls the bag and holds out crackers.
    At least they haven’t solidified like the roll. “All right. Fine. But I could use
     some water first.”
    He crosses the room, hands me a bottle of clear water, and watches as I gulp it down.
     He places a hand on his hip, takes a step back, and starts rocking on both feet. I
     can’t hold eye contact with him for more than a second. His stare makes me uncomfortable,
     and the way in which he enters and leaves through the two doors always reminds me
     that I have no privacy.
    “Come this way,” he demands.
    “Where are we going?” I ask, feeling suddenly nervous.
    “Don’t question me,” he says. “When I tell you to do something, you do it.” He points
     his finger in my face and he’s close, too close. It’s the first time I take notice
     of the stubble on his chin.
    “Okay.”
    I follow him into his room, breathing in the fresh smell of oranges. It’s set up almost
     like a large studio with everything in one room except for the bathroom. To the left
     sits his bed, and to the right is the entrance to his small bathroom. His clothing
     is piled at the foot of his bed along with Zeus’s food dish and crate. His kitchen
     area sits in the far right corner and is small but clean with the doorway to the main
     hall next to it. Against the wall, near the kitchen, sits a wooden table with two
     identical chairs and a safe mounted above it, where I assume he keeps his weapons.
     A small laptop sits on his table. On the screen, I see a view of the main hallway
     and a view of my bedroom.
    Outside the window above his bed, the siren screams again. “When you hear that.” He
     points to his window. “Your ass better be at work.”
    I figured that.
    He sits at the table and points to the chair across from him. “Sit,” he says as he
     packs up the computer for more space. “We have a lot to cover. There’re certain rules
     you have to obey, and if you don’t, you’re toast.”
    “Do you have a pen and paper?” I ask. “So I can take notes.”
    He pulls on the collar of his shirt. “Don’t move. I’ll be back.” He leaves through
     the doorway in his room and the door locks behind him. I check just to make sure.
    Cole returns with a pen and a piece of paper. He sits back down and slides them across
     the table.
    “Where’d you go?” I ask.
    “The guards have a station on each floor for reporting purposes… Now can I start?”
     he asks, raising an eyebrow.
    “Yes.”
    I try to steady my hand while I write, but the letters look like a third grader wrote
     them. I can’t stop wondering why, out of all things, he chose to be a guard. I bet
     it’s the control, but I’ll never ask.
    He tells me there’s no public transportation within the Hole. He explains how the
     buses take the sinners to high-speed trains that transport them to their jobs if their
     jobs are up north in High Society or farther away. However, very few people are authorized
     to come and go freely—none of which are sinners, of course. The majority of the population
     is branded red, black, or yellow. He says the blue tend to die off quickly, either
     from suicide, disease, or murder. Orange keep to themselves and green hangs out with
     purple. Stay away from all reds—no matter what.
    He tells me that the gangs are growing, violence is increasing, and everyone’s starving.
     Some areas