Read State of Nature: Book Three of The Park Service Trilogy for Free Online Page B

were gone.”
    “I know you did, Red. I know.”
    “And I’m sorry how things turned out,” he adds.
    “You’re a good man, Red.”
    A smile rises on his gaunt face, and he almost looks once again like the boy I said goodbye to all those months ago at the elevator platform in Holocene II.
    “You really think I’m a man now?”
    “I know you are, Red.”
    “It’s Alex,” he says.
    “Alex?”
    “Yeah. I know everybody always called me Red, but Alex is my real name.”
    I smile to think how far he’s come from the boy bully who always buried me in sand.
    “Take care, Alex.”

CHAPTER 6
Home, Home Again
    Hannah awaits us on the train platform—impatiently tapping her foot, of course.
    Several tunnelrats inspect the subterrene. They look a little tipsy yet from their afternoon milk; I hope they’re not driving.
    “You’re holding things up,” Hannah says.
    “Yeah, yeah,” I say. “What’s the rush about anyway?”
    “They’re expecting you below.”
    “That’s great, but I have a few questions before we go.”
    “Of course, you do,” she says.
    “How do I know that you’ll let us go when we get back?”
    “You’ll just have to trust me,” she replies, with a smile.
    Jimmy laughs so loud it echoes in the cavern.
    “But that’s just it,” I say, “I don’t trust you. Not one bit.”
    Hannah steps closer to me and lowers her voice.
    “Listen, Aubrey. I know things have gotten all mixed up. But I’m not a cold-blooded killer. You know that.”
    Jimmy laughs again.
    Hannah turns to him. “You better knock it off, Jimmy, or you can stay here, and I’ll give you something to laugh about.”
    Jimmy turns away and spits on the ground.
    Hannah turns back to me. “Now when you get back, we’ll get you three all snipped up, and I’ll happily have you dropped off up above. The drones still steer clear of the lake, and you can make a home somewhere near its shores. Sound fair?”
    “And what should I tell the people of Holocene II again?”
    “Just what we rehearsed together: that Eden is undergoing improvements and will be up and running in no time. Tell them that their loved ones are still here safe and waiting for them. Tell them that they’ll have even more bliss to enjoy when the new and improved Eden comes back online.”
    “And what if they ask about Red?”
    “They know he snuck around to see his girl, right? Isn’t that why we bumped into him in the first place?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, just tell them that he snuck into a train car headed for the Foundation and that he was somehow exposed to an unsterilized location. Tell them he’s contagious.”
    “Contagious with what?”
    “They don’t care, Aubrey. All they know is that the closer to the surface you go, the more dangerous it is. Don’t you get it yet? They’ve been down there all this time, and they don’t want to ask questions. The answers might scare them. They just want to work their twenty years and then enjoy their retirement. And all you have to do is assure them that they will. That’s it.”
    “And you think they’ll believe me?”
    “Of course, they’ll believe you,” she says. “You’re their favorite son. The boy who was called up to Level 1. You might as well even take some credit while you’re down there for these new improvements we’re making to Eden.”
    The entire time we’re talking, Jimmy stares at the ground and I can tell that he wants to cut in and tell Hannah off. And I can’t blame him, because I do too. But I have to do this. For Red, for him, for all of the people down in Holocene II.
    “Okay, I’ll convince them.”
    “Great!” she says, patting me on the back. “I knew you were a smart kid, Aubrey.”
    She reminds me so much of her father that I can’t believe I didn’t see the similarities before.
    “They have a supply train ready to come up that they’re holding,” she continues. “You can return on it as soon as you convince them to send it. Here’s a keycard to