In Between Seasons (The Fall)
Read In Between Seasons (The Fall) Online
Authors: Cassandra Giovanni
In Between Seasons
Cassandra Giovanni
Copyright © Cassandra Giovanni, 2012
All Rights Reserved
PUBLISHER’S
CATALOGING-IN-
PUBLICATION DATA:
Giovanni, Cassandra
In Between Seasons
ISBN: 978-1477413685
1.
Post-Apocalyptic
—Fiction
.
2.
Love—Fiction. 3. Fighting—Fiction. 4. The Last Green Valley—Fiction. I. Title
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places
,
and
incidents are products of the author’s imagination
. A
ny resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, events or locations are wholly coincidental.
Any unauthorized
use of this document (i.e. scanning, uploading
, reproduction) using the Internet or paper method is illegal
and
punishable by law. I appreciate your support
and
respect of my novel.
Cover Art: Gio Design Studios
©
2012
Printed in the United States of America
To my husband for always knowing the look I get when I am “writing in my head” again
,
and
for
respecting my insane drive for the impossible.
To my m
other
and
f
ather for never giving up on my writin
g even when I did.
To my best friend, the biggest book worm I know, for being just that—my best friend.
Foreword
I didn't know what caused the government to collapse or why things were the way they were, and when I met Hunter he knew little more. When it started we were too young to see why, and when we were old enough we were too indoctrinated in fear to care. This is the toll
of following a leader blindly—
you openly accept that some things just are. Then the lies drown the truth, and you are left with little understanding of why. In the end
it doesn't matter.
Surviving the downfall is all that matters.
The last Green Valley CT, 203
1
In 2012 the changes that were taking hold of the world started to spiral towards their decent. A recession, which was far closer to a depression than anyone realized, had shaken the United States for years. 2012 would change everything. I wasn’t even born then, so why it changed everything, I didn’t know.
If I asked I would never get a clear answer, so I left it be. I knew that people like my parents had seen the collapse of the government coming, so once 2012 hit and things seemed to be getting worse instead of better, they started prepping for the worst. It turned out they were right, and by 2016 the government had melted down into martial law. From what I understood the citizens had prepared for this
enforcement of the government, and it was therefore, quickly toppled.
As far as I knew my parents hadn’t participated in what had happened to disassemble the martial law. My parents told me they had simply packed up our bags and supplies and gone to a house that my father had built “just in case”. Several choice friends of the family were also allowed to come live with us. The stories didn’t add up for me, and
as a child
I
had
often
asked why
. I was met with derision, and therefore once I had become a teenager I had dropped the reasons why things were the way they were topic completely. I closed myself up to what I thought were lies, and kept to myself.
Now a
t eighteen there was
only
one thing I
was certain of—the world was still at
constant war. The reason why—I didn’
t know,
I
wasn’t allowed to
know. A
ll I wanted to know was the truth. The only problem was that the truth was so far gone not even the ones that created the ocean of lies I was drowning in knew its depths.
“What are you thin
king about?” m
y sister Sara asked
,
twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers.
“Nothing,” I said as I pulled
at the strands of grass beneath me.
“Really, because that’s the look you get when you’re about to f
ight with Dad during school. I’
m so glad we’
re finally done with that.”
“You didn’t enjoy school?”
“I liked the parts
that you
weren’t fighting with Dad about,
”
Sara said
,
her eyes meeting mine before looking up at the sky and shaking her head.
“I
only fought with him on history
and some English,
”
I said.
“Never math or science though,” s
he said
,
shaking her head
,
“Every other point though, you fought on.”
“You have to admit that most of the things they tell us don’t really c
onnect up after a certain point,
” I said
lying
back
and
taking a deep breath.
I thought about how they had told us that the government collapsed without telling us why, and that living here protected us from everyone else because everyone else was bad. Why they were bad? Only my parents knew.
“Maybe they’
re trying to protect us by being purposely vague about what hap
pened to get us here?” Sara suggested
,
and
I could hear it in her voice that she believed everything they had ever said.
I knew that arguing my view was pointless. I had no stable ground to stand on. I only knew what they had told me, and it wasn’t much.
“Or maybe they’
re protecting themselves,
” I said under my breath.
“What was that?”
“I just wish I knew more.”
Sara sat up
and
looked down at me,
“Do you think anything good could
have happened to get us from
a civ
ilized place with telephones, cable
and
malls to this
—the middle of nowhere
?”
I
looked at our house in the distance. It wasn’t huge
,
but
it was comfortable. The glare from the solar
panels
burnt into my eyes
,
and
I had to look away
.
“
You have to admit
there are a lot of holes
in their logic,
”
was the only response I allowed myself to make.
“I’m so glad I haven’t had to list
en to this in almost six months,
”
Sara said as she rolled her eyes.
“You’re not bored at all? Gather wood for the furnace, cook dinner
,
and
stare at a wall?”
“I have better things to do,
”
Sara said.
“Like what?”
I asked.
“And you have Trevor—you hang out with him a lot.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes
as I lay
down,
“Dad wants that relationship not me.”
“At least you have someone,” s
he said
with
her jaw clenched.
“You can have him,
” I said
,
and
a small smile twitched at the edge of her lips that I didn’t understand.
The deafening sound of a siren suddenly began to pulsate through the air.
What should have struck me was fear, but all I could feel was the siren shaking into my bones.
“What the hell i
s that?” I asked
,
sitting up.
“It’s an intruder,
” Sara said
,
grabbing at my arm, “We have to get to the house.”
“An intruder?” I questioned as I
s
hook
my head against the noise that was jarring my vision.
“Yes
, now
move your ass
Kate,
” Sara
said as she jumped up
and
began pulling me to the house.
“Who would want to find us
?”
I said
,
thinking that no one in their right mind would
want to
come
here.
“Someone who wants t
o hurt us. I don’t understand how you’re the favorite wh
en you never listen to a word
Mom
or Dad
say.
”
“Why would someone want to hurt us?”
Sara had dropped my
arm
and
was sprinting ahead of me.
I remained jogging
keeping my teeth clenched against the sound of the siren. I knew someone would want to hurt u
s. T
he reason would
have to do with whatever my parents did
and
were hiding from me.
“So what’s going on?”
I asked
as I shut the door
and
leaned back up against it.
Trevor began
screaming
and
pointing behind me
,
but
before I could react
there was glass
raining down around me like diamond daggers bouncing off my flesh onto the ground. I felt the warmth of fingers sliding across my arm
and
locking me in place
,
so I
couldn’t run. The sound of the door unlocking was like a clash of thunder in the midst of a tornado
.
Then i
n one swift movement
the door swung open
,
and
the h
and was wrapped around my wrist yanking
me
out the door as I struggled
to get m
y feet t
o move in time with his
.
“Kate, Kate!
” Trevor screamed
,
and
when I looked over my shoulder my father
was
holding him back.
Trevor was weak
and
all show
,
so there was no way he would be able to take the guy who had me by the arm.
M
y father’s eyes were wide
,
and
his mouth hung open in fear as he
fa
ded from view
,
but
I didn’t share that fear.
I felt numb because I knew he w
ould do nothing
,
and
no one else w
ould either.
My eyes lan
ded on the back of my kidnapper. H
e was wearing a tight black t
-s
hirt, jeans
,
and
despite his
backpack I could see the strength of
his shoulders flexing as he ran
. I was i
n awe; this was who would
kil
l me? I didn’t say anything
,
but
kept running sligh
tly
behind him
. His grip never loosened
even
though the angle that he was holding his arm
at
was awkward
.
After what felt like an hour
his feet stopped moving
,
and
I almost ran him over
. The force of my body jarring against his broke
his grip on me. I looked down at my wrist
and
saw the pink of my flesh was changing into a purplish green
. I rubbed it to try to ease the tightness of my skin
,
and
w
hen I looked up he
was standing in front of me
with
his arms crossed in front of his chest.
When
our eyes met his whole body shuddered in shock.
I found myself
trying to keep
the same thing
fro
m happening to my body as I looked at him
.
“What?” I demanded
,
putting my hands on my hips
. I thought
by
concentrating on his eyes I
might be able to control my reflexes, but
I was wrong.
His intense dark
green
eyes stopped quivering
and
seemed to stare through me,
“W
hy aren’t you trying to run
?”
“It would be rather pointless wouldn’t
it
?” I said
as my eyes fell
from the scar that
ran from the corner of his nose
to his
lip
s. I tried not to let my eyes wander
down to his strong chest muscles
,
but
still they did
,
“I mean look
at
what you did to my wrist.”
“Huh?” h
e mumbled
,
and
I h
eld my wrist out for him to see,
“Oh, sorry.”
“Se
riously?” I replied
, “You kidnap
me
and
then
you say sorry for giving me a bruise?”
“Honestly da
rling, you don’t seem too upset,
”
h
e said
,
and
I found myself just sta
ring at him with nothing to say,
“Why is that?”
I shrugged
,
and
rubbed my wrist again,
“I’m not entirely sure.”
“Aren’t you
scared of
me?” h
e asked
,
putting his hands in his back pockets
,
and
leaning slightly back.
I looked b
ack up at him an eyebrow raised,
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
“So I am s
cary
,
but
you don’t seem scared?
”
h
e laughed, and it broke his countenance of bad boy. I found my self in a trance again as I tried not to stare at his chiseled chin and perfect lips.
The thing was, although he was intimating, the look in his face wasn’t one that struck fear in me. I had learned over the many years of lies who to trust and who not to trust. The man standing before me had no reason to lie to me. If he wanted to kill me he very easily could. I knew at that moment that he wasn’t planning on killing me…yet.