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PART V
THE SPRING
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61
BEA
A girl arrives on-site with a small pot of cement powder and Maude squeals at her. “Are we building a house for leprechauns? I said we needed a barrel of the stuff, you nincompoop.”
“I’ll get more.” The girl scuttles away.
“Looks great,” I say. And it does. It’s the tenth dwelling we’ve built. At this rate we’ll have a place for everyone to sleep by summer. Maude rubs her nose along her sleeve.
“Where’s lover boy?” she asks.
“Mine or yours?”
“Oh, get out of it, Bruce and me’s just pals, that’s all.” Her skin burns red.
I take a few gulps of air from the face mask hanging around my neck. “We’ve had more petitions from Premiums asking to join the settlement. Have you time to interview them with me?” I look at the pod in the distance. It sparkles faintly. Now that people can come and go freely, and have seen what we’re building, they want to join us.
“I need to refill this,” Maude says, tapping her air tank. “I can meet ’em when I go to the recycling station.”
Dark clouds murmur. A droplet lands on my arm. “Rain,” I say, and smile.
“Oh yeah, the plants’ll love it, but what about me barnet?” She pushes her scraggly hair behind her ears and pulls her hood over her head. She shuffles away towards the small hut we’ve built for Jo and her baby. Abel takes care of them, and maybe they’re a couple, but it doesn’t stop him visiting Alina’s grave every day. And he’s obsessed with planting. It’s because of him the nursery is blooming.
“Where’s she going?” Ronan asks, appearing on the half-finished roof of the building.
“You can’t work in the rain. Come down,” I tell him.
He waves away the suggestion and tightens the straps on his dungarees. Quinn is coming our way, and as he passes Maude, they exchange a few words before moving on.
He stands behind me, puts his arms around my waist, and nuzzles my neck. “Wanna take a trip into the city for a few days? Just the two of us,” he says.
I hold out my hand and allow the rain to pool in it. “We tried that once before and it didn’t work out,” I say.
“Just ’cuz something doesn’t work out the first time . . .” He trails off.
“Maybe we should invite Ronan, just in case,” I say. “Or Maude.” I laugh.
“We can handle it. We don’t need anyone else,” he says.
“Are you talking about me?” Ronan calls from the roof. He never stops working, and he’s been teaching me how to paint. When I spend time with him, Quinn is quietly jealous, but I suppose that’s okay. And normal.
“Quinn and I might take a trip. We wondered if you wanted to come with us,” I say.
He laughs loudly—sarcastically. “Yes, I’d love to join you on your snog -fest.”
“I promise we won’t snog,” Quinn says, and kisses the back of my neck.
“Stop slacking off,” Ronan says, and returns to work.
Quinn smiles and lets me go. “Do you want to see something?” he asks.
I follow him to the garden where Abel is on his knees in the dirt. “There,” Quinn says, pointing. I crouch and touch green shoots that have burst through the soil, clawing for light.
“Pear trees,” Abel says, smiling. “And I reckon the strawberries will be ready by summer.”
“At this rate, we might live another few years,” I say.
“We made it this far. It would be irresponsible to die now!” Abel says.
“I better get to it,” Quinn says, passing a trowel from hand to hand. “We have a lot to do.”
And he’s right. We all have a lot to do. A lot to learn. A lot still to be afraid of. But today, I’m glad of the rain on my hand and my own shallow breath.
The elements finally belong to us all.
And for now, that’s good enough.
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About the Author
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Credits
COVER ART © 2013 BY CHRISTIAN FUENFHAUSEN
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used to advance the fictional narrative. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
RESIST Copyright © 2013 by Sarah Crossan 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 e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
The text of this book is set in 12-point Fournier
Book design by Paul Zakris
Crossan, Sarah.
Resist / by Sarah Crossan.
pages cm
Sequel to: Breathe.
Summary: Alina, Quinn, and Bea, now outlaws and outcasts, make their way to the last enclave of the Resistance but once there, they discover they can count on no one but each other and may, in fact, have to betray those they considered allies.
ISBN 978-0-06-211872-1 (hardback)
Epub Edition May 2013 ISBN 9780062118721
[1. Science fiction. 2. Survival—Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction.
4. Insurgency—Fiction. 5. Environmental degradation—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C88277Res 2013 Fic]—dc23 2013011914
13 14 15 16 tk 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
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Table of Contents
Cover
Disclaimer
T
itle
Dedication
Part I: The Journey
1. Alina
2. Bea
3. Ronan
4. Quinn
5. Bea
6. Ronan
7. Alina
8. Ronan
9. Bea
10. Alina
11. Quinn
Part II: The Choice
12. Alina
13. Bea
14. Quinn
15. Ronan
16. Alina
17. Bea
18. Alina
19. Ronan
20. Alina
21. Bea
22. Quinn
23. Ronan
24. Bea
25. Quinn
26. Bea
27. Alina
28. Quinn
29. Alina
30. Bea
31. Alina
32. Quinn
33. Alina
34. Bea
35. Ronan
36. Alina
37. Ronan
Part III: The Betrayal
38. Quinn
39. Alina
40. Bea
41. Quinn
42. Alina
Part IV: The Return
43. Ronan
44. Alina
45. Ronan
46. Bea
47. Ronan
48. Quinn
49. Bea
50. Alina
51. Quinn
52. Bea
53. Quinn
54. Bea
55. Quinn
56. Ronan
57. Quinn
58. Alina
59. Quinn
60. Bea
Part V: The Spring
61. Bea
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher