riven by maggie morris (best summer reads of all time TXT) 📖

beneath my feet. A squeak caused me to jump, and I realized I had stepped on an old chew toy.

“Careful,” Kansas said, “we don’t want to draw any unwanted attention to us.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. My stomach turned as I spotted another rotting human carcass, similar to the one in the middle.

Kansas placed her arm around my shoulders, guiding me to the edge of the pit. “There are bad people lurking around here. The ones who survived alone, the broken ones. The most dangerous ones.” I nodded absently, staring at the destruction in front of me.

It really was incredible, the power the sun held over us. It was the mother of everything, the creator of our earth. I didn’t believe in a god, only science. To me, the sun was our god. Take it away, and everything else goes away, too.

“We need to get your clothes and get out of here,” Kansas nudged me, breaking me from my trance.

“Sorry,” I mumbled for the second time, “I just got lost in thought, I guess.” She patted me sympathetically on the shoulder.

“They’re just around here. Help me look,” she said, beginning to rummage through the burnt and broken items. I squirmed internally, wondering what I would do if I uncovered a body.

As my hands brushed various belongings, some sharp and some bulky, a feeling spread through my hands that could only be created by something soft. I grabbed the items resting on top of it and shoved them to the side. My clothes, looking a little dirty, but still in good shape, were lying underneath.

But what caught my attention the most was the pale purple corsage that sat next to the clothes. I picked it up sliding it onto my wrist. It was in perfect condition. I marveled at the thought of that, something from many years ago in our old world, but still so untainted by the destruction all around. It was beautiful.

Realizing Kansas was still searching, I turned around. “Found them,” I told her, straightening my back. She nodded and extended her hand. I placed the shirt and pants in it, and she brought them to her side, placed them in her pocket and turned to look at me.

“Thank you. Now, I’ll be seeing you later.” My head snapped up.

“What?”

“You’ve brought me what I need. And now you’re are no use to me.” Kansas turned to the rope and pulled out a knife. She cut through it, a whistling sound filling the air. I let out a strangled cry.

“How are we supposed to get out now? And what are you saying?”

“I have my own means. You, however, aren’t GOING to get out. You’ll starve down here, and the vultures will feed off your body. And everyone back at the village will never know what really happened. And soon, I will kill them all, too.”

My eyes widened. “But...I trusted you Kansas. We all did. You seemed like such a good person! Why are you doing this?”

She shook her head sadly. “You see, I am a good person. On my own planet.” She lifted her arm and from a hidden device I had not noticed, shot out a grappling hook. The hook retracted, and Kansas disappeared over the edge.

“NO! WAIT! KANSA DON’T-don’t leave me down here,” I whispered. I sank to my knees and rubbed the fake petals of the corsage between my fingers.

Tears streamed down my face. I always felt weak when I cried, like as the savior of our The Sanctuary, it entitled me to be strong. But still, the tears came.  So I sobbed. I let the impossible hopelessness of my situation sink in, and felt it throughout my entire body.

Then the scream sounded. It was definitely a woman, but what other woman would be out here besides-Kansas. Snarls and grunts coming from the edge of the pit were so loud that I could hear them from my sitting position on the rubble.

It snapped me out of my crying. I stood up. There must be SOME way to get out of here. Surely there were at least a few things I could use. I looked around frantically. Come on, Alice!  If there was ever a time for one of your genius ideas, now would be the time!  I was already being driven mad by this place, talking to myself.

Then, I spotted it. A ladder, held together by duct tape. Only the tips of it poked through the rubble, but it was easy to tell how big it was. I craned my head backward, looking at the severed end of the rope,  still dangling a good fifteen feet up.

Please let the ladder be tall enough, I thought. I stumbled across the bones and bodies, trying not to fall. But only a few feet away from the ladder, as I put my foot down, I landed on a corner of a toy truck. It slid out from underneath me and I went down.

The ground was surprisingly soft underneath my butt. I placed my hand down to steady myself, and suddenly realized why it was so soft-I was sitting on a fresh body. I screamed and scrambled off of it.

My heart beat fast in my chest as I saw it was a little girl, her hair in a dirty halo around her head. Her chest was caved in, right where I had been sitting on her. I shuddered and turned away.

Voices filled the air. They were hushed, like the owners of them were trying not to be heard. I glanced up. Vultures were circling above a group of men at the edge of the pit. They must have heard me scream!

The mutters turned to shouts as they spotted me. Then they turned and ran. Panicked, I spun around and looked for the ladder. It was right beside me, luckily. The group of men would be here soon. I brushed a few items off the top of it, and pulled it out.

It was surprisingly heavy, considering it was mostly made of duct tape, but I managed to drag it back to the edge of the pit without falling again.

Moving fast, I created a semi-flat platform from some old boards, balanced it on that, and secured it with some old twine. It’s now or never. I ascended the ladder, shaking as it wobbled beneath me, wishing to go fast but instead going very slow.

Hearing voices behind me, I looked down. Mistake. I lost my balance and shook wildly, causing my foot to slip. Better yet, the men were down below, one with a gun pointed at my head, and the other sprinting towards the ladder.

No, no, NO! I regained my balance and climbed the last few rungs. The man was ten feet away. If I fell from this height onto the even ground I would break my neck for sure. Thinking fast, I extended my hand to the still out of reach rope. Then, I jumped.

My hand clasped around the fraying brown rope just as the man reached the ladder and pushed it. I would’ve been relieved, but there was still a gun pointed at me and I was hanging over fifteen feet of open air.

Using all my upper-body strength, just as I had with the vent, I lifted one hand slightly higher on the rope, then the other.

That accomplished nothing. I was a foot higher, but still had the same issues. A gunshot sounded, and I lifted my feet just in time. Instead of shooting straight through my calf, the bullet grazed my ankle. Wet seeped into my socks.

I shook my head, taking my attention off my bleeding ankle. My arms were starting to shake from the effort of supporting my body weight. Knowing I only had a few seconds before they would have reloaded, I pulled myself up five more feet, to the edge of the pit.

My arms stopped shaking due to a boost of adrenaline, and I was able to lift myself up the edge. Safe at last, I laid on the ground, breathing hard.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. After ten seconds of weakness, I pushed myself off the ground. I could hear shouts from the pit, and I knew the group would find another way to kill me. I needed to find Bramble.

I glanced around wildly, trying to recognize any landmark that could tell me where I was. All I saw were trees.

I stumbled through the forest, struggling to find something, anything, that could tell me where I was. Branches tore at my face and ripped through my hair, when suddenly, an acrid stench wafted up my nose.

I shoved through the limbs, following the scent. I gasped when I saw what was creating it. A bloody, mangled body was lying on the forest floor. I nearly cried out, but stopped myself just in time. I peered closer.

No! It couldn't be… I could barely make out the face through all the blood, but then I noticed a distinctive scar. It was Kansas. My eyes began to water, but I forced the tears down. Kansas was a traitor. She didn't deserve to be grieved. A loud shriek caused me to jump, fearful at first that the group of men had found me. Then a shadow passed overhead, and dread filled my stomach.

Vultures were circling above, slowly surrounding me and Kansas. Even though she betrayed me, I felt pathetic for leaving her to the vultures. But I backed away, calmly at first, then turning around, breaking into a sprint, running, running far away from the vultures and their presence of death. I was running so fast, flying through the dust, trees slapping and scratching my face.

I didn’t stop even once I broke out of the forest, onto the dried cracked ground. I continued across the desert-like plain, the sun hanging ominously above me, as it would continue to do forever.

It was then that it hit me, as I gazed up into the fiery blue star we called Arlitica, that Kansas and I had brought Bramble with us. And either those murderers had gotten him, too, or he had broken free. I would’ve seen him...wouldn’t I?

I sank to my knees and buried my fingers in my hair. I had no idea where the heck I was, and Bramble was missing, Kansas was dead, and there were vultures and murderers waiting for me back in the forest.

Tears slipped out yet again. I stared at the grey dirt and watched the water drip from my eyes, stain the ground for a split second, and disappear. I brushed my eyelashes with my pointer finger, scraping off a tear dangling in front pupil.

Suddenly, the sky shook. I don’t know how that was possible, but the air around me quivered, breaking its usual stillness. I lifted my head, looking around wildly.

A small sphere in the northeast corner of my vision was descending slowly.

What…I thought, trying to grasp what was happening. Aliens, maybe? Of course, to make everything worse. But the ball continued lowering, blue waves casting off of it from the reflection of the sun.

I shielded my eyes squinting to see as it landed on the ground. Now that it was closer, I could see it was huge. At least 100 feet by 100 feet, though it seemed slightly taller than wide. It was about thirty yards away, which I figured was a safe distance.

I watched in agonized silence as the roof of the sphere unfolded and rose, the floor inside lifting as well. Stairs fell down, and I could see bodies moving. The shadows were on the top of the orb, but when the things stepped into the sunlight, I could finally make out features.

I gasped, and my heart squeezed. I clutched my chest my breath shortening. Then I couldn’t breathe at all. My vision slowly faded out, the last image I saw being Claire and Bryce’s faces as they climbed out of the orb, looking as normal as ever.