Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (reading comprehension books TXT) 📗

"You have any other superpowers I should know about? X-ray vision, maybe?" Silence answers me, so I try again. "You can't see me naked, can you?"

"No. Your urine-suit is in the way."

Humor? Can it be? "You really don't like this thing, do you? Have you ever worn one?"

"Five meters more."

I'm almost there. But then what?

Strange to think I'm actually inside my sleeping giants. Deep in these mountains, with no idea where I am exactly or where I'm headed, I'm blindly following a total stranger—just because she happens to be the only other representative of humankind in town. What would the giants have to say about that?

Maybe I'm giving them indigestion.

My boot scuffs across the cave floor as I drop from the ladder. I reach out my hand, and she takes it in her firm grasp. She turns me around, leading me quickly onward. Thoughts of the all-female enclave return, but now I wonder what kind of mutations they might exhibit, or if they're all gnarly and deformed. I guess it really wouldn't matter, since I can't see a thing down here—not even my own glove in front of my face.

"Watch your step," she cautions as we come to a ledge and have to step up. She takes my arm.

"Thanks. How close are we now?"

"Almost there."

"And there would be...?" I hope she fills in the blank, but my patience is wearing thin.

"You'll see."

"I hope so. Because right now: nothing."

"Are you afraid of the dark?" She takes my arm again as we mount another earthen step.

"No."

It took a while to get used to the total dark after lights-out in the bunker. When those white, humming fluorescents were on, it was possible at times to forget how deep underground we were. Bright as day. But at night, things could get a little suffocating. My breath would quicken. Sweat would prickle down the back of my neck. Irrational fear would squeeze my insides. Sometimes Julia slept beside me, and with her body snug against mine, I could forget about the darkness. Hell, I could forget about anything but her warm curves.

"Should I be afraid?" I ask. Her responses are so elusive, I have to do what I can to probe the matter. I'll break her down eventually. "Is there something lurking in here I should be aware of?" I keep my tone confident, but I can't help but wonder if I'm going to be fed to some hideous mutant beast. A sacrifice for the good of the many?

"Not that I can see."

"Well, that's a relief." I almost chuckle, but my heart isn't in it. "So I have nothing to fear."

"I didn't say that."

Is she toying with me? She's definitely warming up; that much is obvious. This interchange might even qualify as a borderline conversation.

"You like keeping me in the dark." I hope my clever choice of words isn't lost on her.

"Soon we'll be able to risk some light."

"Is something following us?"

"It was following you."

The rocks and gravel? I was hoping to create a mental block against that. "So...what was it exactly? Mother Earth out for revenge? I'd say we deserve it, after what we did to her." I wait for a response. Anything.

Silence.

I'm done waiting. I want some answers. I need them.

I feel her hand on my arm, guiding me forward, and I clamp down on her wrist, jerking her back as I plant my feet.

"What are you doing?" she demands.

Finally, some emotion out of her.

"I'm not going another step without some answers." She tries to pull free, but I twist my hold on her and draw her close. She struggles. Nothing doing. I'm stronger than she is, after all. "Tell me where we're going—what we're running from. Tell me now!"

"We're here."

"What?"

She tugs me forward and breaks free of my grasp, at the same time giving me a shove that sends me flailing blindly into the cave wall. The impact sends a sharp pain from my head down my right side, and I struggle to stay on my feet. But it's difficult to tell which end is up, and I land hard on all fours, cursing.

"You'll be sorry!"

Jackson spits out the blood and wipes his beard on the sleeve of his blue jumpsuit.

"You knew it could be either one of us, Milton."

My jaw works to speak, but the pain is too great—it might be broken.

"Why her?" my slurred words finally come out.

"It's random. Always is. You know that."

"Why Julia?" I scream.

I rise slowly, holding out my hands to show I'm not here to fight. I'm at an obvious disadvantage with her night-vision, anyway.

"I'm sorry." My voice echoes, then fades into silence. I can't sense her anywhere nearby. I can't even hear her breathe. "I just wanted some answers, that's all. Please."

My stomach tightens at the thought of being abandoned in here. My breath quickens. Needles prickle down the back of my neck.

"Don't leave me..."

2 LutherSeven Days after All-Clear

We're not alone. We feel it in the wind. Even in this desolation, there is life. A Presence.

The earth is wounded. One has only to look out across this barren land to see we have hurt her deeply. Her fields are deserts. Her waters are poison. Her children are missing. Does she weep for them?

We're not her children—we never were. Hers were the innocents we destroyed, the lives we caged and sold and devoured and, in the end, neglected to defend. Now they're gone forever.

Will we be judged? Will the Creator punish us for our great sin? Or have we already been punished enough?

Our destruction is our own. We can't blame it on anyone else. There is no one left. We must shoulder our burden of guilt as we struggle to survive this world we've inherited. As we coexist with an invisible Life Form we cannot begin to comprehend.

The sun disappears behind a range of mountains in the west. I can't help but marvel at the deep red and gold hues consuming the sky. Beauty remains