Crashed - Rainbow Love (sci fi books to read txt) 📗

Summer looked over each of her shoulders once, before crossing the hot, paved road. She did not often come across other people in that part of the mountains, but she’d seen animals be hit by cars before, and she did not want to suffer the same fate. When the coast was clear, she scampered across, and the sparkling cement scorched the bottom of her feet. Summer disliked wearing shoes in areas so moist, since thee were so many streams, puddles, and most of all, mud. It would be terrible to ruin the one pair of sneakers that she had.
To her gladness, she found a cool, clear stream not far into the woods across the road. She dipped her feet into it one at a time, and the cold, rushing water felt like ointment, against her sore, dirty feet.
She decided that she would allow herself to follow the river for half an hour, before she would get out and try and make a bed for the night. Any longer, and it would be getting dark on her, and she might catch ill from the cold.
Quickly, she discovered that this new neck of the woods was a beautiful place. Instead of mud at the bottom of the stream, there was smooth, grey stone, cut by time and weather. Without anything dark to mar its beauty, the stream was sparkling clear, and surprisingly blue. The trees were enormous conifers, spaced out by a few yards in between, that littered the immediate ground around them with silky, orange needles. The rest of the ground sprouted thick, green grass, littered with pink wildflowers. The air smelled thickly of pine, and although no breeze was able to penetrate into the woods, the sun was very warm, and it made Summer’s skin tingle. Every so often, she stopped walking to check her pocket watch, and when she did, she took a long swig of the stream water. Usually, she did not drink water form a stream without purifying it by boiling it first but the water seemed so clean, and free of pathogens, that she could not resist.
Eventually, though, her toes were cold from the water, and when the sun sunk low into the sky, the her shadow grew long, and her watch told her a half hour had passed. She tucked her watch into her pack, and filled her canteen with the water from the stream. Then, she stepped onto the narrow beach along the edge, and the white sand stuck to her wet feet.
She surveyed the area for a moment, noticing how the animals that she had occasionally seen during the day had vanished for the night. A fat tree with a small, flat patch of granite showing through the grass was where she decided to spend her night. She sat at the base of the tree, and emptied her pack onto the granite flat. Sifting through the pile of random items, she eventually came upon a well worn pair of socks, tucked into some leather sandals. Her noes nearly numb from cold, she slipped her feet into them, and they immediately began reflecting heat. Next, she went about gathering what she needed to make shelter out of the small area.
Before too long, she had managed to get a small fire going on the granite flat, and had set up a handful of nuts on the edges of the coals. After getting that figured out, she rolled out her sleeping bag at the base of the tree. She sat on its faded, plaid fabric, and when she did, a plume of dust rose. She poked at the fire with a green twig, sending a few sparks skyward. She carefully repacked her things, making sure to account for everything, and then she tucked it into the bottom of her sleeping bag, so it could not possibly go missing.
As the sun fell below the horizon, Summer sat, partially in tucked into her bed, munching on roasted nuts, and an apple from her bag, washed down with stream water. Her hair was tangled, and her arms felt dirty and damp with sweat, but when she saw the dark shapes of animals creeping on the other side of the stream, she decided that the best idea would be to stay put until morning, right next to her fire. Besides the uneasiness of the night creatures so nearby, she felt surprisingly peaceful in her bed.
After discarding the core and shells from her dinner, she tucked herself into her bed, and fell slowly asleep beside her dying fire.

§ § § § § §

“Is she sleeping?”
“I think so.”
“Shut up, stupid!” A slightly more feminine voice commanded.
“Jeez-um, lighten up,” a deep voice replied, but there was a trace of shame in his voice. Somebody kicked up a little dirt with the edge of their shoe. Summer slowly came into consciousness, and began to panic at the sound of their voices, but she refused to give any sign of being awake. That would be stupid.
“Call Joey. But please,” The girl said. “Be quiet, about it. Go do it over there, by that other tree.”
“That tree? Okay, just a second,” a squeaky male voice said. There was the sound of him walking away, and then static on a walkie-talkie. Summer cracked her eyes, but just enough to see through her eyelashes. She was positive that shadows covered her eyes mostly, anyway. She saw that the girl was about her age, but much prettier in her opinion. She had perfect, white skin, with smooth, black hair. Her face ended in round, gentle angles, but her posture spoke defiance. The boy with the deep voice was tall and thin, but very muscular. He had soft, blond hair, and although she could barely see, Summer was positive that his eyes were blue. Everything about him said shy, and gentle. Then, the blond boy spoke.
“Wow...... The whole thing is kind of unbelievable, don’t you think?” He asked softly. What whole thing? Summer wondered. The dark haired girl sat on a rock.
“I guess so. I just think that she is lucky. She didn’t have to go through what the rest of us did. She doesn’t have any idea. She thinks that everything is still like before the Crash. It’s just..... ugh,” she replied. Summer was deeply confused. She had no ideas what they were talking about. The Crash? Summer hopefully waited for some sort of explanation, or something to lessen her confusion.
“Well, yeah, but, at the same time, whatever the Leaders have planned for her is surely gonna make up for what she missed out on. And by what she thinks that she knows about the world, her situation is the worst ever,” the boy said. Summer decided that she liked the boy a lot- for defending her, from whatever the heck was going on.
“Whatever. I just think that she is one lucky chic,” the dark haired girl responded glumly, resting her head on her hand.
Suddenly, a short, curly headed boy with a face covered in freckles burst through the bushes, panting.
“Joey....” pant, pant. “...in the cart...” pant, pant. “...with Johanna. Got the.... ropes.” He collapsed on the ground beside the stream, slurping water. Obviously he had been running. The girl bolted upright, but held out her hand for quiet.
“Okay. As soon as we get here, we.... do what we need to do. No matter what our opinions are,” she added, glaring at the blond boy. “Understood?”
“It just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do,” the boy whispered. The girl gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head, before a shuffling noise behind some trees turned every body's attention. Suddenly, all eyes were on Summer, and she struggled not to twitch or move her eyes. “It’s time.” Then, a pair of dark hands reached down, and grabbed Summer by the shoulders from behind, thinking she was asleep. That happened at exactly the same moment as she screamed, piercing through the trees. The owner of the hands jumped back, and there was a struggle for a moment, before a dart entered Summer’s body. She swayed, and fell sleepily to the ground.
“She going down?” The girl yelled, working furiously with some ropes at Summer’s arms. The blond boy just shook his head.
“I think she is already under.”

Text: Me
Editing: Me
Translation: Me
Publication Date: 02-21-2012

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