The Unreadables

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“Wha-” I sputtered.

Then everything happend so quickly it made me dizzy. I heard the Reader pull back the trigger. Then I saw someone jump through the window and felt small but strong hands clamp my arm and yank me off the chair. The bullet just missed my head and drilled a hole into the red dentist chair.

I probably would have sat there and died before I could fully register what was happening. But then a girl, the one who had yanked me off the chair, pulled me up and yelled, “Run, idiot!”

She grabbed my hand and dragged me along, and my brain started working again. I did as she said, without a second thought. I heard the Reader shout and the SPF started to chase us. We dodged bullets, escaped hands reaching out to end us. 

I felt like I was running from death itself.

And for the first time, I felt real fear.

Suddenly a hand clamped the girls shoulder, pulling her back and dragging me with her. Panic welled up inside me, but she drew out a switchblade, whirled around, and slashed a deep cut across his hand. The SPF officer was so shocked he let her go. We took of running, just a foot or two away from the doors.

“We can’t let the Unreadable escape!” An officer yelled behind me. 

What? I thought. I cant be…

We reached the doors and the girl let go of my hand to shove them open. We slipped outside. I instinctively tried to stop as the brightness of the sun blinded me, but she tugged me along.

We ran through the crowd. I wasn’t even sure the SPF were chasing us anymore, but the fact that the girl was still running and the flashbacks of a gun to my head made me run faster. 

I remember we ran over the tattooed girl from earlier’s guitar case, scattering her music sheets everywhere. I remember everyone staring at us, but not their expressions. Everyone had turned into a blur.

We ran out of town square, turned onto a street. It was deserted except for a few people walking home. Because of the Reading, everything was marked with, Sorry, We’re Closed signs .

The girl suddenly took a sharp turn into an alley way, jerking my arm like she intended to pull it out. Then she stopped.

As we caught our breath and I tried to steady the fast beat of fear in my chest, I finally got to get a look at the girl.

She was small, but strong. She had wispy dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes. But what I noticed the most was that she looked about two years younger than me, and she looked like she was used to fighting and escaping the police.

When my breathing slowed and I could finally speak, everything tumbled out at once.

“What the…Unreadable? Why? What the hell? He tried to kill me dammit! Why did you…who are you?”

“Slow down there.” she said. “You’re lucky. You lived.”

“Why?” I said, trying to keep in all the questions.

“Well, you were just discovered as Unreadable. That gun? For most of the Unreadables it’s the last thing they ever see. And as for me, I just saved you’re life. You’re welcome, by the way. I’m Cayden.”

“Um…” was pretty much all I said. I was so overwhelmed that words were all mixed up, like my life had suddenly become.

“You are…?”

“Oh…I’m Eric.”

“Well, see ya,” said, and climbed up the fence and hopped over to the other side.

“I’m going home.” I muttered. 

She looked back at me through the wires of the fence, her expression now solemn and deadly serious. “You can’t, Eric. You’re an Unreadable now. The local police are probably there already, and definitely the SPF. It’ll be hushed down, but they’ll be looking for you. Citizens will think you’re dead. And if you try to return home…”she sounded pained, and her brows knitted together, like she was concentrating on remembering something. Or not remembering. “If you try to return home, you will be.” 

Than  she took of down the alley way, turned a corner somewhere, and disappeared. Just like that.

She took the time to save my life, God knows why, and then she left.

It was all too much. In the past half hour my life had been shoved off balance in a very bad way. 

Feeling lost and scared and confused, I sat down, pulled my knees to me, and buried my face in my hands. I was on the verge of tears because I didn’t know what else to do, but I managed to hold my self together. My throat went dry, my heart felt like it had sunk out of my body, and I was terrified.

I was Unreadable.