Stars Gods Wolves by Dan Kirshtein (good books for 8th graders .TXT) 📗

it quite so severe, however. Her lower lip dropped before the door opened.

The vault door swung open, finally, revealing a young boy who had grown very tired after dragging his gravely wounded father through the snow and debris. The boy, Ain, was covered in his father’s purple blood. “Mom,” he pleaded as he gave his father one last drag into the bunker.

“Ula, honey! Into the corner! Close your eyes!”

The girl obeyed, horrified.

Bale groaned again, his face nearly white from pain and blood loss. His open jacket revealed a torn-open midsection that was spilling purple blood everywhere.

Jae’s jaw dropped. She pulled her husband up to the couch, and they rested him there. Ain dashed off to find bandages.

Bale’s voice was faint, gurgling. “Found him at the entrance. Would’ve killed him if–” Ula opened her eyes, briefly, to see her father cough up blood.

Jae, tears in her eyes, shushed her husband before Ain ran back to the room. Finding no bandages big enough, he simply grabbed the entire first-aid box and handed it to her. She had no medical experience; she just did her best to put pressure on the wound, covering it with bandages and towels and gauze. The revealed wound was just too big. Her hands, covered in purple, trembled against him.

Bale shook his head. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered through a frown and glazed eyes. Jae shook her head, now sobbing, as she looked into her husband’s eyes. “I couldn’t.”

Ain went to close the door, looking down and seeing the trail of purple that led to it. As the boy grappled the large, rolling door, he glanced up. He watched four black figures standing in the gray snow.

The boy’s tired face dropped to despair as he rushed to close the door. Had he not been so exhausted, he probably would have closed it faster. But the adrenaline had worn off long ago. The figures did not run, for they would not long suffer a closed vault door. The door clanged shut, and Ain ran to his sister.

Ula asked questions, as she always did, as she was carried away from her dying father. Ain could hear the beasts from the other side of the door, heard metal crunching. The boy rushed into the bedroom and opened a small hatch on the floor. “Shut up,” he told her, choking on his own fear. “You shut up and you stay shut up, okay?” He rushed, but made sure she understood.

The hatch was not large. It was just small enough for a girl of ten to fit inside, and it was just remote enough that there was a chance the monsters wouldn’t find it. “You’re gonna hear noises.” He was out of breath, somehow still able to shudder. “Horrible noises.” He slid the girl into the compartment and gave her a key. “But you don’t come out until it’s all quiet, you understand?”

She looked at him, tears in her eyes, key in hand, helpless. They knew it was the last time they’d see each other.

“You understand!”

“I’m shut up!” she replied, tears in her eyes. She was so small in that little compartment, so alone.

He smiled through tears as he leaned back to look at her; he’d never before been as proud of her as he was at that moment. “Good girl.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “With my love.” It was their version of “I love you”, and she would have answered it, had she not also been crying. Her trembling lip was the last thing he saw as he closed the hatch. After it locked, she did indeed hear the noises. Horrible noises.

4

Maxia. Now, that was an experience. We had orders to go and pick up Collier and bring him to Heru for processing. The Human colony there was kind of like a small town: a lot of brown huts and stuff, not really settled in. It was really disgusting. Like, we’ve hit Human colonies before, but we never actually saw the villages up close like that.

Anyway, we land on their docks and we come up on them. We’re in full armor, carrying rifles, looking like tough bastards. And this whole crowd comes up to meet us: men, women, and children. Me and the boys were not prepped for this. We were expecting one guy, but this crowd comes up, and they’re quiet. Real quiet. I’m thinkin’ we got a fight on our hands. Orders are orders, though, you know? We gotta get this guy, even if we gotta go through them. So I’m, like, lookin’ around, yanno? I’m getting ready.

But then they make room for Collier to come through, and he just walks up to us. And he’s got this woman on his arm. And he’s crying, and she’s crying. And that’s when I realized they weren’t there to fight us. They were saying goodbye to him!

A fuckin’ war criminal getting a send-off like that.

Can you fuckin’ imagine?

Meeting Transcript: Former Warriors Support Group

Sabile

June 8th, 2311

Sabile:Research Station 2

It very well should have been the middle of the night, but time had proven to be an abstract thing when one travels from planet to planet. So, during what was considered to be the middle of the night on Sabile, a slight clamor was heard in the station’s kitchen. Josie was on all fours, waist deep in the bottom cabinets, scavenging as if it were one of her missions.

The determination of the military mindset had become habitual to her, as did the joy in finding what she was looking for. “Yes!” She heard her own whisper bounce back at her among the pots and pans. She slowly crawled backward, carefully extracting a teapot while trying not to make much more noise.

A short time later, Josie stood, drowsily, in the doorway of the lab. She was in her pajamas, which was just a T-shirt and shorts, and she sipped her tea as if it was the triumph of an age.

She watched Martin sit at the slab, the