Read The Burn Zone for Free Online
Authors: James K. Decker
high above to pick out.
A gate, I thought. Someone gated me down safely. Was it one of the soldiers? The haan hadn ’ t shared free-floating gate tech with us yet, but there was no way she had done it—it had to have been one of them.
Something tinkled onto the pavement, and then bits of glass began to rain down onto the sidewalk and street as the falling debris caught up with me. I shielded my head, ducking under an awning as someone hollered. A loud pop echoed down the street as a metal rod trailing one of our living room curtains speared through the windshield of a parked car in an explosion of glass dust.
“ Shit! ” someone yelled as the car ’ s alarm began to whistle. The wind blew the torn curtain like a flag, and as the last of the glass skittered and spun away, I snapped out of it.
Dragan.
I pushed away from the concrete wall and crossed the street to where the kid sat stunned on his airbike.
“ Hey, are you okay? ” he asked.
“ I need your bike, ” I said.
“ What? No way, kid — ”
“ I need your bike! ”
I snatched a shard of broken glass from the smaller pieces littering the sidewalk and felt the edge bite into the crooks of my fingers. I slashed at him with it, spraying drops of blood across his shirt as he ducked back. He tried to slide off the bike and lost his balance, tumbling down onto his butt. Before he could get back up, I threw the glass at him and straddled the still-warm seat.
“ Hey! ”
I cranked the throttle and then opened up the graviton emitters. The street beneath me lurched away on a rush of wind, and horns blared as I cut through the layers of traffic above. In seconds the cursing kid dwindled to the size of an ant, and then was lost altogether beneath the rows of streaking headlights.
Shit....
I pulled back on the stick as our building ’ s neon sign rushed back in reverse, spinning as I tried to steady the bike. I cut too quickly and the undercarriage swung up toward the sky. I clamped my thighs down against the sides as my stomach flipped in weightlessness.
“ Shit, shit, shit.... ”
The building face sheared past as I completed the loop and wrestled the machine back under control. Wind rushed over me as I picked up speed. I spotted our balcony, where a single curtain still fluttered, and closed in.
When I cleared the railing I leaned forward and crouched below the windshield. The bike accelerated and the nose went straight back through the hole in the glass where I ’ d gone out. The remains of the window exploded into the living room as the bottom of the bike tore through the carpet and ripped into the floor underneath. Through the racket, I could hear Tānchi screaming bloody murder.
The undercarriage caught on something and the bike jerked to a stop, throwing me off the seat and over the broken edge of the windshield. I tumbled through the air, then rolled across the carpet and slammed into the opposite wall.
Pain shot through one leg as I pushed myself back up onto my feet. The soldiers were gone. I didn ’ t see anyone else except Tānchi .
“ Dragan! ” I yelled. No one answered.
Tānchi continued to scream as I looked frantically around the room.
“ Dragan? ” I lurched down the hall, but he wasn ’ t in any of the other rooms either.
Limping back, my shoes kicking through broken glass, I approached the spot where he ’ d struggled with the soldiers. There were boot scuffs left behind in the debris, heading back the way they ’ d come. I knelt down, my body shaking from the adrenaline, and I realized I was alone. Amid the wreckage, glittery specks of glass powder drifted slowly up from the floor in a stray graviton riptide. They twinkled, twirling in slow motion like the specks inside a snow globe. He was gone.
The only father I ’ d ever known was gone.
~ * ~
Chapter Two
29:41:32BC
I stepped through the
A gate, I thought. Someone gated me down safely. Was it one of the soldiers? The haan hadn ’ t shared free-floating gate tech with us yet, but there was no way she had done it—it had to have been one of them.
Something tinkled onto the pavement, and then bits of glass began to rain down onto the sidewalk and street as the falling debris caught up with me. I shielded my head, ducking under an awning as someone hollered. A loud pop echoed down the street as a metal rod trailing one of our living room curtains speared through the windshield of a parked car in an explosion of glass dust.
“ Shit! ” someone yelled as the car ’ s alarm began to whistle. The wind blew the torn curtain like a flag, and as the last of the glass skittered and spun away, I snapped out of it.
Dragan.
I pushed away from the concrete wall and crossed the street to where the kid sat stunned on his airbike.
“ Hey, are you okay? ” he asked.
“ I need your bike, ” I said.
“ What? No way, kid — ”
“ I need your bike! ”
I snatched a shard of broken glass from the smaller pieces littering the sidewalk and felt the edge bite into the crooks of my fingers. I slashed at him with it, spraying drops of blood across his shirt as he ducked back. He tried to slide off the bike and lost his balance, tumbling down onto his butt. Before he could get back up, I threw the glass at him and straddled the still-warm seat.
“ Hey! ”
I cranked the throttle and then opened up the graviton emitters. The street beneath me lurched away on a rush of wind, and horns blared as I cut through the layers of traffic above. In seconds the cursing kid dwindled to the size of an ant, and then was lost altogether beneath the rows of streaking headlights.
Shit....
I pulled back on the stick as our building ’ s neon sign rushed back in reverse, spinning as I tried to steady the bike. I cut too quickly and the undercarriage swung up toward the sky. I clamped my thighs down against the sides as my stomach flipped in weightlessness.
“ Shit, shit, shit.... ”
The building face sheared past as I completed the loop and wrestled the machine back under control. Wind rushed over me as I picked up speed. I spotted our balcony, where a single curtain still fluttered, and closed in.
When I cleared the railing I leaned forward and crouched below the windshield. The bike accelerated and the nose went straight back through the hole in the glass where I ’ d gone out. The remains of the window exploded into the living room as the bottom of the bike tore through the carpet and ripped into the floor underneath. Through the racket, I could hear Tānchi screaming bloody murder.
The undercarriage caught on something and the bike jerked to a stop, throwing me off the seat and over the broken edge of the windshield. I tumbled through the air, then rolled across the carpet and slammed into the opposite wall.
Pain shot through one leg as I pushed myself back up onto my feet. The soldiers were gone. I didn ’ t see anyone else except Tānchi .
“ Dragan! ” I yelled. No one answered.
Tānchi continued to scream as I looked frantically around the room.
“ Dragan? ” I lurched down the hall, but he wasn ’ t in any of the other rooms either.
Limping back, my shoes kicking through broken glass, I approached the spot where he ’ d struggled with the soldiers. There were boot scuffs left behind in the debris, heading back the way they ’ d come. I knelt down, my body shaking from the adrenaline, and I realized I was alone. Amid the wreckage, glittery specks of glass powder drifted slowly up from the floor in a stray graviton riptide. They twinkled, twirling in slow motion like the specks inside a snow globe. He was gone.
The only father I ’ d ever known was gone.
~ * ~
Chapter Two
29:41:32BC
I stepped through the
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