New Life - Lora Carlson (ereader iphone txt) 📗

open like an idiot. Finally Jayson couldn’t take anymore of my idiocy. He grabbed the paper and read it.

“HOLY CRAP!” He shouted as he read my paper.

“She got Positive?” Asked Haylee.

“Yeah, I got Positive” I said, not letting myself burst into tears. I walked quickly into our room and pulled my only suitcase out from under my bed. I could sense someone behind me. Suddenly I was in Jayson’s arms and was bawling all over him. It was not one of my proudest moments.


“You have three days, Em, you don’t have to start packing now” He said softly. I wiped my eyes and grudgingly stepped out his hug and started towards the front door.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“I have one hundred kids to say goodbye to, remember?”

“Oh yeah” He said awkwardly. I waved and walked the 20 minutes from my house to Shawn’s. I slowly pushed the door hoping that no one would be there. I was wrong. As soon as Warren saw me he shouted:

“Guys! Emma’s here!” I grimaced when everyone cheered. I saw Ben walk out of the third medical room on the catwalk and I could tell he knew something was wrong. I tried to smile at him but I’m pretty sure it looked liked I was constipated or something. I looked back at the crowd of kids coming towards me and guess who was in the front. Wait for it...... Shawn! Big shocker! Not. He grabbed me and gave me a big hug. I saw Macy a few people back and gave her my I-need-to-talk-with-Ben-about-some-serious-stuff look. Since he is one of the very few boys who don’t have a crush on me, he is really easy to talk to. And he’s like my brother so that helps too. She nodded and disappeared. I heard a crash and a thud. Then a very feminine scream. Everyone including Shawn turned around to see if everything was okay. While everyone was distracted I ran up the stairs and down the catwalk to the room that Ben was in. I burst through the door and slammed it shut, locking it. I turned around and saw Ben’s look of sheer surprise. I giggled.

“Is there a reason you almost broke down my door?” He asked while cleaning a sharp looking knife. I looked at the knife and it started to rise out of Ben’s hands. It floated over me and I grabbed it out of the air.

“I don’t trust you with this” I muttered, setting it down on the table next to me. I walked over to the bed and sat down, not meeting his eyes. He didn’t say anything at first, he just sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder in a friendly gesture. When I finally had the courage to look him in the eyes, I couldn’t speak. The look of pure sadness in his eyes made me catch my breath.

“Ben, I....” I couldn’t finish. He looked away from me.

“I got a Positive.” He said quietly. My head snapped up. I looked at him with wide eyes.

“You got.... I mean....what?” I stammered. I came to tell him that I had gotten a Positive. Not the other way around.

“Yeah, I got a Positive. Sucks right?” He laughed without humor.

“Well speaking of Positives...” I said, trailing off. His eyes widened as he realized what I was saying. I stood up and said:

“Let’s go break a bunch of kids hearts” Boot Camp

“Harsh much?”

“Well we have a good reason.” I said coldly.

“Good point” He smiled, bumped shoulders with me then opened the door. I forced a smile and stepped through, looking down at the herd of teenagers. Shawn was looking around, pushing people out of way. I shouted: “Shawn! Up here!” When he looked up a waved at him. He just pushed past everybody, ran up the stairs and crushed me in a bear hug.

“Don’t ever do that again” He said.

“Shawn....I....breathe....air......needed” I gasped. Shawn didn’t hear me.

"Shawn, her face is turning purple” Ben said matter-of-factly. That Shawn heard. He let go of me right away, but held me at arm's length. I gulped air until I could breath like a normal person.  When I focused on Shawn’s face again I saw a really strange look on his face.
“Shawn...” I said wearily, not sure he was going to attack me or something. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs, out the door and to the side of the warehouse. Leaving Ben the the dust. He just stared at me intently. I tried not to squirm. He started to walk towards me slowly. When we were nose-to-nose he leaned down and kissed me. Softly at first, then with more feeling. I snaked my arms around his neck and played with his hair. He had one hand on my back and one on the nape of my neck. I pulled away, breathing deeply. He smiled. I looked up at him and said;

“This is probably a good time to tell you I got a positive” he froze.

“You, what!?” He screamed.

“Dude, it’s not like I can control The Results.”

“But.....” He was so sad. I don’t think that amount of sad is physically possible.

“Look, I should have told you sooner but I didn’t” I bit my lip and walked away. Ben and I told everyone goodbye and decided to go to Tyton City together. Oh I told Shawn goodbye and hugged him. But it was awkward.

On the third day after I got my Positive I was sitting on my suitcase playing Kings in the Corner with Ben, Hanna and Haylee when there was a knock on the door. I sighed and stood up.
Jayson was at the door talking to the man in the black suit. I hugged Hanna and Haylee one last time and stood next Ben.

“Miss Moore, Mr. Passionate, Please come with me” I looked at Ben and he shrugged. We dragged our bags to the limo and hauled them into the trunk. Yes, Tyton City sends LIMOS to pick up recruits for the ARMY. In case you're wondering, The Cause is where Wisconsin used to be in the US of A. Like a bazillion years ago the US of A was destroyed and Australia took over the world so to speak. Tyton City is where Madison would be. The Cause takes up the rest of Wisconsin. All the other states have different “clans” where they used to be. Right now we’re at war with Asia and Europe. Africa, Canada and South America are allied with us. It’s a mess. And now Ben and I have to fight this stupid war. I don’t even know how people got Embers. Whatever. I slide into the limo and scootch to the end of the bench seat. Ben scoots in next to me and pats my arm. I look out the window and watch my life go by as it’s left in the dust.

I woke with a start when Ben shook me.

“Emma, look” He pointed out the window. I looked and my eyes were glued to the window.

“It’s so....pretty” I said. The grass was a bright green and there were trees in little clusters everywhere.

“Look up ahead” Ben tapped my shoulder. I looked through the front window and saw Tyton City. I can explain Tyton City in one word: White. Everything was white. Except for the chain-link fence that had a “High Voltage” sign on it.

The fence goes all the way around Tyton City. We drove up to the fence and stopped in front of a gate with four guards on either side. A guard walked up to the drivers door and leaned down. The window rolled down and the driver leaned towards it. I couldn’t hear anything, but I was busy looking at the other guards. The all were in white cloths with army vests covered in explosives. They were all holding guns. The guard and the driver both leaned back. The driver drove away as he rolled up his window. As we drove away I watched the guards. We drove down a dirt road and up the a white wall that surrounded Tyton City. Like a castle. It was completely smooth. The driver stopped the car and got out. He walked over to my door and opened it.

“Get out” He said gruffly. He stood to the side as Ben and I slid out of the limo. We walked to the back and grabbed our luggage after the driver popped the trunk. We stood and watched as the driver drove backwards then spun the car around. Then drove away. Ben coughed as the dust blew into his face. I chuckled then looked around.

“What are we supposed to do?” I asked Ben when he stopped coughing.

“Wait?” He guessed. I turned and looked at the white wall. As I walked up to the wall I saw a gray line on the surface of the wall. I touched it.

“It’s a door” I said loud enough for Ben to hear me.

“How could there be a door? It’s completely smooth” I looked back at him.

“Look at the grey line, It’s a crack. Like a door” I said, keeping my finger on the line.

“Emma, there is no grey line.”

“Ben, I’m touching the grey line, how can it not be there?”

“Well, I can’t see it.” I look back. Right were my finger was a grey line formed the shape of a door. I move my finger over a put my hand on the door. I push. I feel the wall getting hotter as I push harder. I pull my hand away really fast, because it felt like I had my hand in a furnace. I look at where my hand was and see a neon blue hand print. It slowly pixelized into the door. Then the door slid into the wall. I look at Ben. He shrugged and walked past me into the wall/door/thing. I followed him. As I stepped out of the doorway the door slid back into place, nearly hitting my butt. I looked back at the wall and couldn’t see the grey line. It must be a one way door. Creepy. I turn back around and look in front of me. In front was the wrong way to look.

Four guys were walking our way. They were huge. I don’t mean like 6 foot huge, I mean like 6’10’’ HUGE with broad shoulders and enormous muscles. Three of them looked like statues while the fourth had a sly grin on his face. He walked up to where Ben and I were standing. He stopped and looked us over.

“Check out the fresh meat boys” He said, not breaking eye contact with