Authors: Demitria Lunetta

In the After (38 page)

BOOK: In the After

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“Rice thought you could trade some of that stuff for supplies later. . . . Neither
of us knew what the post-aps were trading these days.”

“What post-aps?” I ask. Right now I’m more concerned with Floraes.

“You’re about thirty miles north of Fort Black.” Gareth points to the south and then
runs a hand through his silver hair. “You’d better take this.” He tosses me a small
black box that looks like an old-school transistor radio. I turn it over in my hands,
baffled.

“It’s a personal sonic emitter,” Gareth explains. “There aren’t many Floraes out here,
so it should work like a charm to keep them away. If they hear you coming, they’ll
flee. You’ll want to keep it always running, if you turn it on and there’s Floraes
inside the sonic radius, they’ll go berserk.”

“What’s the range?” I ask, filled with overwhelming gratitude to have such an amazing
gift. I just may live after all.

“Only about a hundred feet. It’s got about forty hours of battery life, but you can
charge it while it’s on.” He shows me how to pull out the solar panel and how to tell
when it’s done charging.

“Thank Rice for me,” I say. I suddenly realize that I may never see him again. After
everything that happened, after sharing a kiss that, at least to me, promised more,
this could be the end. I shake my head to clear the thought and force myself to swallow
the sting of finality.

“He said to tell you that this is one of the first prototypes. He wanted you to know
the original idea was one of Vivian’s.”
Vivian. Vivian is now going to keep me alive
.

I give Gareth a big hug. “I’ll miss you,” I say as I start to cry softly. I turn to
Kay and hug her as well. I can tell she’s tense, but then I feel her body relax, hugging
me back. When I look into her face, her eyes are wet and shining.

“Be careful out there. Fort Black is not New Hope,” she warns.

“That’s what I’m counting on,” I tell her, wiping my eyes. “Thirty miles is nothing.
I can be there by tomorrow morning.”

“She’s tough and smart,” Gareth tells Kay, giving me a wink. “She’ll be fine.”

“We’ve got to get back,” Kay says. “We would take you closer, but we’re working under
tight time restraints. They’ll check to see how many miles we traveled.” Gareth waves
good-bye and heads back into the hover-copter. Kay stands on the same spot, watching
me.

“Amy, one more thing. The director visited me when you were first sent to the Ward.
She told me what floor you were on. Your mother knows the problem I have with authority.
She knows I’m fond of you.”

“You think she planned on you helping me?” I ask.

Kay nods. “I do.”

The tears come again as I remember my mother’s face when she first discovered I was
alive. Then I shake the thought from my head. I don’t have time for contemplation.
Right now, I have to focus on staying alive. I switch on the sonic emitter.

I watch the hover-copter take to the air and disappear in the distance. Quickly I
change into my synth-suit and strap on my pack. It’s a little heavy, but I’m fit and
I know I’ll need the extra supplies.

I stretch my legs and listen. No Floraes yet. I set out at a walk, hoping that the
emitter will shield me until I reach Fort Black. If not, I have my gun and my knives,
though I am loath to kill Them, knowing They are people. Were people. But if it’s
my life or theirs, I won’t hesitate.

I start to run, slowly at first and then faster and faster. I quietly disappear into
the After.

About the Author

Photo by HEATHER STONE

Chicago native
DEMITRIA LUNETTA
holds a BA in Human Ecology and has spent countless hours studying the many ways
in which people are capable of bringing about their own destruction. In case the end
is near, she always carries a good book and a chocolate bar—the two items essential
for postapocalyptic survival.
IN THE AFTER
is her debut novel. Visit her online at www.demitrialunetta.blogspot.com.

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Credits

Cover design by Sammy Yuen

Copyright

HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

I
N THE AFTER
. Copyright © 2013 by Demitria Lunetta. All rights reserved under International and
Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been
granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

In the After / Demitria Lunetta. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world where nothing is as it seems, seventeen-year-old
Amy and Baby, a child she found while scavenging, struggle to survive while vicious,
predatory creatures from another planet roam the Earth.

ISBN 978-0-06-210545-5

EPub Edition April 2013 ISBN 9780062105479

[1. Survival—Fiction. 2. Monsters—Fiction. 3. Science fiction.] I. Title.