Numbers Ignite
Authors: Rebecca Rode
Tags: #Teen & Young Adult, #Literature & Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Science Fiction, #Survival Stories, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Dystopian
To every girl
who has ever had to start again;
and to my husband
for whom I would cross the desert
a thousand times over.
PRAISE FOR NUMBERS GAME
“Brilliant . . . Offers new things to the world of YA and there is much to look forward to in the next books.” ~In'Dtale Magazine
“The perfect gift for someone who likes Kiera Cass.” ~NewInBooks.com
"Best dystopian fiction I have read since
Red Queen
!" ~Sheri, Reviewer
"Gripping, from beginning to end . . . a tale as action-packed as
Divergent
yet as introspective as
The Giver
. . . . Sure to be an instant classic in the genre." ~R.J. Craddock, author of
The Children of Cain
series
"WOW! I loved this story. From start to finish it was fast-paced with interesting characters." ~Tina, Reviewer
"Better than Scott Westerfeld's
Uglies
." ~Karen, Reviewer
"Amazing! It captivated me from page one and kept me wanting more, even at the end . . . It has romance, but it's not just another love story, it really digs deep . . . I would recommend this to anyone, literally anyone." ~Kat, Reviewer
I stood on the threshold of an abandoned stucco building and reached out, fingering a flake of orange-pink paint on the splintering wood. My senses had played tricks on me over the past few days as I stumbled through this awful desert wasteland. Choppers overhead that never appeared, the smell of pine trees where there were none, giant puddles of elusive water, and cities that vanished when I drew close.
A sharp pain registered in my finger, and I pulled it away to examine it. A splinter had pierced the skin. I pulled out the piece of wood and stared at the tiny wound, watching it fill with blood. Definitely real.
A town in the middle of the desert. The people of Old America were a special kind of crazy.
I tried sucking on the sore finger, but my tongue was too dry and swollen. Water. That was my first priority in this creepy place. Any water left outside would have evaporated long ago under the hot desert sun, but maybe there was something in one of these buildings. There had to be. The mountains—and Vance—were at least another week away. If I didn’t find water or food soon, I wouldn’t last through tomorrow. I couldn’t wait to find the thieves who had befriended me and then stolen my supplies while I slept, including the nutrition pills they hated so much.
They’d be sorry. Assuming I could survive until then.
I stepped inside the musty house. A section of the roof had fallen in decades ago. Broken roof tiles and debris filled the small space, which opened up to the darkening sky above. A light wood table knelt on two legs in the far corner, revealing the only clear area in the entire structure. Tables meant cooking areas. It was as good a lead as any.
I picked my way through the debris, stumbling and sliding, until I reached the table. It was covered in roof tile pieces and mouse droppings, but there was no sign of food containers or water packets. Kneeling carefully, I peered underneath.
Bones.
I yelped and scrambled away too quickly and fell backward onto some debris. The ancient pile of roof materials, undisturbed after decades of rest, groaned in protest under my weight. I jumped up, ignoring the sudden dizziness that seized me. Within seconds I had leaped through the door. I plastered myself against the wall and panted.
It wasn’t like I was surprised that someone had died here. Every citizen knew what happened back in 2024, the destruction leaving gutted towns and darkened cities dotting the country. We’d studied it in ridiculous detail, including the political factions that had split Old America in half. Historical clips depicted people rioting, looting, shooting each other in the streets. A president assassinated, then the next and the next, until finally nobody would step up. The wreckage of government buildings and monuments and then entire cities as law enforcement was disbanded.
Worse, their weapons had emitted toxins that bounced around in the atmosphere, latching onto water molecules and burning them up before they could hit the ground. That was the beginning of the end. Water became currency. Those who hadn’t been killed in war hid in the wreckage of their homes, watching their crops and livestock die off, and then their family members. I’d known all that since Level One school.
The thing was, NORA was supposed to be far from all that—and yet death was right here in front of me, just days from the border. The human remains under the table were proof. The decayed body flashed through my head again, as hard as I tried to stop it, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to forget the sight as long as I lived.
The skeleton of a child.
I leaned against the outside of the building, closing my eyes against the bright sunlight. When my heart finally slowed, I shaded my eyes and squinted at the huge expanse of land between me and the mountains. So far away. Even if by some miracle I made it, how would I know where to find them? Vance and his settlement could be anywhere. It could take days of wandering before I found them.
You can go back.
I shoved that thought away. It wasn’t an option. And, frankly, I was done with this town as well. No more grave robbing for me.
The blue sky was fading into pink as I reached the edge of town. It felt as if an entire world, endless and dead, lay between me and Vance. The thought of spending another night on the hard desert floor, shivering in the chilly night air and jerking awake at every sound, made me grit my teeth in dread.
Voices.
I froze, then relaxed. I’d heard voices in my head for the past two days, and they never turned out to be real. It was just the creepiness of the ghost town getting to me. Or maybe the dizziness of my dehydrated mind.
The voices grew louder. The words sounded scrambled, strange. It took me a moment to realize they weren’t speaking English. And they were arguing. Footsteps crunched on the road.
Instinct took over then. I leaped behind the nearest structure, a tiny building that had probably once been a shed. An entire wall was gone, and the roof had fallen in and buried various pieces of equipment, but there was enough left to hide me. I sat back on my haunches, not daring to look around the corner, every muscle taut as I listened. The arguing had intensified, although I still couldn’t understand what was being said. As the men passed, I gathered my courage and looked around the corner. Two dark figures made their way along the road, backs toward me.
A headache throbbed behind my eyes. It would’ve been better had my brain made this all up. There were still people here. Scavenging was definitely out of the question now.
But maybe if I begged for just a little water…
No. I couldn’t risk being recognized.
When the voices died off, I slowly stood. The sun had begun to touch the horizon, painting the usual brown a colorful blue and purple. If I hadn’t already lived out here for eight days, it would be a beautiful sight.
You can go back.
It would be easy enough. NORA sent out scouting planes once a week. I could head back toward their usual route to the east and be home in days.
No
.
As exhausted as my mind was, as weak as my body felt, I knew that would never be an option. My ex-boyfriend, Dresden, had stolen the throne from me. My stepfather, Konnor, had gladly handed it over. If Dresden got his hands on me, he’d either throw me in prison for life or parade me around like a prize, using me like he’d used me since the beginning. That wasn’t even the worst part. Sooner or later I’d have to look into the accusing eyes of those who had lost loved ones. They’d died for nothing. They were dead and I was still here, and that was the worst part of all.
With one last glance at the empty road, I headed back the way I’d come. It would be safer to go around the town than through it. If its previous inhabitants had left anything of value, those men had probably found it already. Time to put some distance between me and the skeletons of the past.
I made my way down the slope, picking my way carefully through the sagebrush. It hadn’t taken long to learn that lesson. My pant legs had torn long ago, and my calves looked like they’d been whipped, all crisscrossed with dried blood. Now if only I could make it down before dark fell—
Fire shot through my ankle.
With a shriek I stumbled backward and fell, lifting my foot to wipe the fire away. A soft
click-click
, a rattling, sounded from my left as a long animal slithered off. Pulling my ankle closer, I could see two tiny dark circles in the skin.