Bound to Ashes [The Altered Sequence: Book 1]

5 • Ecodome

[Dev]

Back at the labs, we were never allowed outside. We only knew what was out there based on flashcard illustrations. T is for tree. G is for grass. And when we did escape, after the revolt, the world had already succumbed to the droughts and bombings of war. The color green isn't exactly prominent in my memory.

But now I'm overwhelmed by green.

It's so much nicer looking when it's not on a package or billboard sign. It's alive. Actual trees with actual leaves flicker and dance in front of me, rustled by a soft breeze. A breeze not laden with silt and sand. The trees seem so purposeful, rising out of the soft grassy ground, holding the leaves like gentle arms. The air tastes sweet.

A huge field of tall plants surrounds me. Most of them are all the same plant, probably.... They have drooping leaves that grow out of a thick stem and flutter in the wind. Thick pods cling to the stems. I smile. So that's where they were getting all the corn fuel from.

My mind buzzes. I know we were just in a metal room underground, but it's hard to muscle past the sense of open and outside and airy. The air feels cool on my skin, the sun—the lights, not the sun— warm just like the real thing. I can't remember the stale taste of the basement behind us.

"Yeah, it's a little weird the first time," Alessandra says behind me, smiling up at the tree in front of us with her hands in her pockets. "But you get used to it." Vinder is standing back, watching us carefully. "You see why we need your help, now," Alessandra continues.

I don't want to say anything because I know it'll come out as if I'm unhappy she showed me this. It's amazing in here. I feel like I can finally breathe. "I can definitely see why you... want this."

"But...?"

"But why do you need our help?"

The tree casts shadows over her, light spots scanning over her face erratically. She bites her lower lip and says, "The facility in the north is protected. Not by people anymore, probably, but by machines. We could use some, well, some more combat-trained individuals."

Oh, so that's it. Suddenly the green feels fake and the wind feels aggressive. Alessandra is still in control.

"But," she adds, "It's not just that."

I look down at her small frame and fiery eyes. She swallows and doesn't break eye contact.

"I feel like we owe it to you."

The words hit me like her darts—stinging, seeping cold, foreign.

She continues, "we've been really horrible neighbors, right? So if we're going to trek halfway across the known universe to try and get into the other Ecodome, I think you should come with us. We could use the protection, and you could use the second chance you never got."

I almost stumble backwards. I glance over my shoulder at her and step away. She doesn't say anything to stop me.

They forget my hearing is better than theirs, and I hear Vinder say, "Is that okay... is he...?"

"Just let him go for now," Alessandra says. "He should think."

Yeah, Dev, think. The second chance we never got? It doesn't make sense... why she wants to help us and why it makes me so mad. I push through rows and rows of green, and more green, and all this color, it's almost too much. I feel like I need a patch of grey or brown just to put things on pause.

I can't get Alessandra's voice out of my head. The second chance you never got.

But there's no way she's on our side. I scowl at the grass under my feet. It would be too easy for them to just use us. Too easy. They'd use us and throw us away like the scientists did. They threw words like trust around like ammunition. Just as damaging, just as cheap.