Praise for Deviants
“A deliciously dark, harrowing world, brightened by dazzling characters and sparkling prose.”
—Kelley Armstrong, New York Times–bestselling author of the Darkness Rising trilogy
“A tense thriller with a strong, beating heart at its center.”
—Diana Peterfreund, author of For Darkness Shows the Stars
“McGowan launches The Dust Chronicles with a bang, painting her post-apocalyptic world with a dark brush and featuring a strong-willed and determined protagonist.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Keeps the suspense throbbing . . .”
—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Compliance
Winner of the NJRW 2013 Golden Leaf Award for Young Adult Fiction
“McGowan has topped the uneasiness of Deviants’ dystopian story with Compliance’s psychological tension . . .”
—CanLit for Little Canadians
“I can’t wait to read what will happen next.”
—Step Into Fiction
“I love this series.”
—The Reading Cafe
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2014 Maureen McGowan
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Skyscape, New York
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Skyscape are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781477817261 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1477817263 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781477847978 (paperback)
ISBN-10: 1477847979 (paperback)
Cover design by Jeanine Henderson
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901588
For my aunties Ruth and Grace Dafoe. He rules the world with Ruth and Grace. I love you.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
FREEDOM PAINTS THE illusion of safety, and I want nothing more than to yield to the fantasy. Surrounded by forest, fresh air, and friends, it’s easy to feel safe. I’m not even wearing my dust mask.
My brother, Drake, leaps onto a boulder and squawks, flapping his bent arms and repeatedly jutting his chin. Jayma copies him, and she’s so fragile, her bird impression trumps Drake’s gangly stomping, especially if I imagine my friend’s red hair as feathers and her dust mask as a beak.
Grinning, Cal shakes his head. “What in Haven’s name are you two doing? You look ridiculous.”
“We’re chickens,” Jayma says, her cheeks pink from the sun. “Haven’t you seen one yet?”
“Nope.” Cal moves his dust mask to the top of his head. “I’ve eaten the meat, though. Tastes better than rat.”
“What doesn’t?” Drake crows like a rooster.
Laughing, Jayma spins toward me. “Your turn, Glory.”
Leaning against a boulder, I raise my hands. “I’ll leave the imitations to you experts.”
Jayma slides down her mask, and its edges leave a crease on her freckled cheeks. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m great.” I look up to the sky through pine boughs and encourage the corners of my mouth to smile. The trick lifts my mood—to a point. Today has all the ingredients for happiness, and they’re mixed in the right proportions, yet tension binds my shoulders and refuses to let go. I shake out my arms, hoping to release it.
Jayma tips her head to the side. “Are you worried we’ll get in trouble for coming this far?” She looks toward Concord, the newly chosen name for the settlement we live in. “Is it against Concord’s Policies & Procedures manual to leave?”
“No way!” Drake leaps off the boulder, and a cloud of dust rises to his ankles from the carpet of pine needles. “There are no rules in Concord.”
“Really?” Jayma replaces her mask and adjusts the straps to make sure it’s tight. The asteroid dust that killed off most life on Earth three generations ago is sparse here—but still a risk. And Jayma hasn’t been outside the domed city of Haven for long.
“Concord’s not like Haven,” Drake says. “There’s no Management running things. No P&P manual. We can do whatever we want. Go wherever we want.”
“And exactly where are we going?” Cal asks him.
Drake wags his finger. “What part of ‘surprise’ did you not understand?”
Jayma looks back though the woods. “What if we get lost?”
“Look.” Drake traces his fingers over a mark on a tree trunk. “The last time I came out here, I scraped some trees. We’ve been following my trail since we left the water’s edge.”
“Did you hurt the tree?” she asks.
“I don’t think so.” Drake’s brow furrows. “Trees don’t feel pain like we do.”
“You know so much about the world Outside.” Jayma touches the scarred bark.
“Give it time,” Drake says. “It’s only been three weeks. You’ll learn, too.” He reaches for her mask. “Come on. Take that off.” Drake’s wearing his mask on the back of his head.
“No!” She backs away from him. “It’s not safe Outside without a mask. Not for me.” Not for a Normal is what she means. Not for her or for Cal.
“Don’t be scared.” Drake smiles. “There’s hardly any dust around here. Nothing but pine needles and rock.” He gestures around us. “You can take off your mask. Trust me. No one else is wearing one.”
My heart warms with pride as I watch my barely fourteen-year-old brother reassure my friend. It’s hard to remember he’s two-and-a-half years younger than Jayma and I. Four years younger than Cal.
Jayma tentatively pulls the mask away from her face and raises it to rest atop her forehead. Drake nods in encouragement, and she draws a shallow breath.
“You can do better than that,” he says. “Like this.” Drake bends, then stretches back, arms over his head, as he draws in a lungful of air. “It’s great to be alive!”
She laughs, but then her nose wrinkles, and she claps her hands over her mouth and nose.
Drake crosses his arms over his chest. “Do I need to do my chicken imitation again?”
She drops her hands to reveal a grin, then mimicking his movements, she stretches back and yells, “It’s great to be alive.”
“Loude
r!” Drake bends back as he pulls in a long breath. “To fresh air and freedom! Say it!”
Jayma tips her face toward the sky. “To fresh air and freedom!”
“That’s better,” Drake says as if he’s her GT instructor. He had to quit General Training when he was only ten, after I accidentally hurt him with my Deviance and his legs became paralyzed, making him a parasite inside Haven. After that, he had to stay hidden to avoid being expunged by Management.
Jayma closes her eyes as she draws another breath. She twirls, arms stretched wide, and on the third rotation, one of her arms swings into Drake.
She laughs. “Sorry.”
“It didn’t hurt. You can touch me anytime.” His cheeks redden.
She looks up at him with a half smile and full-on adoration—almost like the way she used to look at Cal’s younger brother, Scout. My brother steps a little closer to Jayma.
Drake and I were separated for less than four months while I was back inside Haven helping to save other Deviants. But the combination of fresh air, hormones, and freedom created the perfect storm to transform my brother from boy to young man—smitten young man. Then again, he always liked Jayma.
“Have you ever seen a pine cone?” he asks her.
“What’s that?” She takes a small step back.
“Nothing dangerous.” He grins. “Pine cones hold seeds. Let’s go find some.” With one hand on its trunk, Drake spins around a tree and then heads into the woods. Jayma follows.
“They’re cute together.” Cal steps up beside me. “Jayma’s coping well.”
Shading my gaze from the sun, I look up into his blue eyes flashing below the dust mask on his forehead. “Does it bother you?” I ask. “Seeing her with Drake so soon after . . .” My mouth goes dry. His brother’s death is recent and raw, and I see a hint of pain as he tries not to frown.
“Scout would be glad to see her happy.”
“Still”—I nod toward them—“Scout and Jayma were dating partners. Are you sure you’re okay with this? Whatever this is?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
I lean against the boulder again, studying Cal. Sunlight gilds the whiskers on his jaw and sharpens the angles of his face. Even the crooked bump where his nose was broken can’t mar my ex-boyfriend’s good looks.
In fact, I think the nose break made him more handsome. More rugged. And in spite of all that’s happened, I want to reach my fingers across the distance that parts us. But it wouldn’t be right. Not even to comfort him. The comfort would be short-lived and unfair.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
He straightens his shoulders. “Better. Good. But I miss Scout. All the time.” He takes off the pack that holds his weapons—two long swords and a few knives—and sets it down on the forest floor with a clang.
“And what about Mrs. Kalin?”
His jaw shifts. “I hate her for what she did.”
“So you don’t think that Scout’s death was for the best?” I ask quietly. “She wasn’t justified?”
He turns to me. “Don’t worry. Mrs. Kalin’s not in my head anymore. I can’t believe she ever convinced me that her torturing and killing my brother was for the greater good—for science.”
My fingers graze his hand. “None of it was your fault, Cal. Zina caused the accident, and Scout was already hurt when he went into the Hospital. And later, Mrs. Kalin messed with your mind. She planted thoughts to make you accept it. There’s nothing else you could have done.”
He nods stiffly.
“How do you like Concord?” I ask.
“It’s great, but I’m not used to being idle. I want to do more to help.” He taps his foot against his weapon pack. “I should have gone on that Freedom Army mission.”
“Cal, the FA unit left the day after we got here.”
“Burn went.”
At Burn’s name, my heart stutters and my hand goes down to the knife he gave me, stashed on my belt. “That’s different. Burn’s been in the FA since he was a kid—and he didn’t just lose his brother.”
Cal stares at the ground. “The FA doesn’t trust me because I was in COT.”
“So was I.”
“Yeah, but you were working undercover for the FA.”
“The FA will trust you, too,” I tell him. “In time.”
Nearly the entire Freedom Army is away on missions, leaving only a few members to man the guard towers. And Cal’s right, they don’t fully trust him, yet. Suspicion was cast on me, too, when the FA first found out I was in Compliance Officer Training.
“Once Rolph, the FA Commander, is back,” I tell Cal, “I’ll talk to him for you. He’s with the FA unit that left right after we got here.” I gesture to the forest around us. “In the meantime, why not enjoy this break? Relax. Have fun.”
“You’re one to talk.” He raises his eyebrows.
“What?” I tip my head and squint against the sunlight. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. Not since I was a kid.”
“You are a kid.” He nudges my foot with his boot. “Sixteen. Don’t try to be so grown up already.”
“I’ll be seventeen in three months. And you’re only two years older than I am.” I poke him in the ribs.
He pulls back and grins. “I’m serious, Glory. You’re the one who deserves to loosen up and have fun.”
Cal leans on the boulder I’m sitting on. I slide over to give him some room, then stretch back, my arms over my head. A slight breeze rustles the branches high above us.
“Some days I have to remind myself how safe we are here.”
“If we’re so safe,” Cal asks, “why did you tell me to bring weapons?”
“Just a precaution. A Shredder hasn’t been spotted near Concord in years, but it’s smart to be armed. And Drake told me that two men from Concord recently saw a crazed animal they think was a bear.” I shiver.
“Don’t worry.” Cal’s voice deepens. “I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you.” He turns toward me and it’s all I can do not to kiss him.
Jayma shrieks. I leap to my feet, reaching down for the knife, but by the time I spot her, she’s giggling and Drake’s chasing her around a tree.
I smile, watching this bond build between my brother and best friend. Cal’s brow furrows.
“You’re not alone, Cal,” I say softly. “You have a family here in Concord. So does Jayma. You two are part of our family now. With me and Drake and Dad.”
Cal wrinkles his nose. “Do you mean I’m like a brother to you?”
I wince. “Not my brother, exactly. My friend.”
“Friend, I’ll take.” He bumps me with his shoulder and moves his lips near my ear. “For now.”
My face heats and I’m about to respond, but Drake races toward us, Jayma trailing behind him, wearing her mask again. I step away from Cal.
“Come on, you two.” Drake beckons. “It’s this way.”
Chapter Two
THE SKELETON OF a stone building stands defiant close to a sloping shore. The lake’s much smaller than the one next to Concord. Or maybe it’s another section of the same lake? I can’t tell.
“Does someone live here?” Jayma grabs Drake’s arm. “What if it’s a Shredder camp?”
“I was here a few days ago,” Drake says. “It’s cool.” He races ahead, vaults through a window, and disappears. Jayma rushes forward and leans through the opening.
Drake jumps up and she screams—then laughs.
Cal pulls out a long sword made from recycled metal and scans the area as he walks cautiously toward the ruined building, his weapon raised like we learned in Comp training. Leaving him to evaluate the danger, I walk toward the lake bed.
In the distance, what’s left of the lake glints in the sun, and I try to imagine what this place looked like Before The Dust. A few feet before the land starts to slope away, rocks are lined up in a semicircle. They’re carved off at their tops and arranged precisely, almost like a long bench. BTD, would the water have touched my toes if I dang
led them as I sat on one of these rocks?
I sit and close my eyes, tipping my face up to the sun. Drawing deep breaths, I unsnap all the tight bands inside me. I get why Cal wants to go on an FA mission. Part of me does, too. But I’m not a soldier.
And I want time with my family. I’m disappointed that Dad wasn’t in Concord when I returned—he had no idea I’d be coming—but I hope he’s back soon from his FA mission.
Banning all negative thoughts, I close my eyes and lean back.
“Whoa,” Cal says as my head strikes his legs.
“How long were you standing there?” I ask.
“I just walked over.”
“Guess we should join the others.” I leap up.
“What’s the rush?” Cal touches my arm.
His fingers are hot on my bare skin, and I yank out of his grasp. Hurt flashes in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” I stare at the ground.
“No. I get it. We’re just friends. No touching.” He turns toward the building.
“Cal.” I reach up to place my fingers lightly on his back. “You’re allowed to touch me. I’m sorry. I just don’t want to give you the wrong idea.” I made my choice between Cal and Burn—choosing neither.
“Drake! Be careful!” Jayma shouts from inside the building.
Cal and I head back, scrambling over a pile of rectangular stones at the edge of the ruined building. Carved stones lie in piles all around, but the original shape and a few interior walls are clear. On the far side, I recognize what’s left of a fireplace, way bigger than any of the ones in Concord. This was once a grand building but for what purpose? Why would someone put a structure like this in the middle of nowhere?
Looking up, I see why Jayma was shouting. Drake’s standing at the top of a stone wall. He jumps across a gap and tips to the side to catch his balance.
“Drake!” I shout. “Get down!”
He rises onto his toes. “Great view from up here. I can see the lake.”
Glory Page 1
