Rogue pulled at the hand that threatened to choke the life from her, but it was no use. She was no match for the man who held her prisoner, his furious eyes radiating anger. A single white streak in his otherwise dark hair identified him, and terror coursed through her veins. General Sikes. Head of the Watch, Second in Command of Prime City, a man known for his ruthlessness.
In that instant, Rogue knew she was doomed, yet she had to try. She couldn’t give up. Not yet. “Ge…General, please. I didn’t mean to…”
His fingers tightened, cutting off all oxygen to her brain, and he lifted his arm until she was standing on tiptoe. Her legs scrabbled for purchase on the rough ground. “Do not speak, you filthy whore, or I shall have your tongue cut out.”
Rogue’s eyes bulged, her face swelling with blood even as her lungs screamed for air. Spots danced in front of her eyes, and she barely registered the moment the General tossed her to the ground. Her body heaved, and she gagged through the bruised flesh of her throat.
Hands gripped her upper arms, and she was lifted to her feet and dragged away. Each breath was an effort, the crushed fibers raw and tender. Her cut lip stung, and her body ached from being thrown against the wall by the pterosaur.
But the worst of all was the knowledge that she was about to die. And for what? An egg she didn’t even get to eat. The wet slimy patch inside her pants rubbed against her skin with each step she took, filled with broken shells—a mocking reminder of her failure, and her doom.
Chapter 2
Rogue leaned against the damp wall of her cell and closed her eyes. As miserable as she was, she was also exhausted. She’d been handed from one brutish guard to the next before being tossed into this hellhole. Slime covered the walls, a pit barely fit for the rats and cockroaches that called it home. A cold shudder rippled through her thin frame, but the threadbare blanket in the corner smelled like piss and vomit. I’ll be damned before I touch it.
Her thoughts winged to the morrow when she’d be tried and punished for her crimes, and she wondered what they would do to her. Usually, prisoners were given a choice between death and exile, but in her case, they might kill her on the spot. Her transgressions were severe enough that she warranted it.
Rogue sighed, wishing sleep would come, but a faint rustle caught her attention instead. She stood upright, eyeing the corridor outside her cell. A shadow loomed, crooked and deformed in the faint pool of light cast by a flickering torch on the wall.
“Who’s there?” Despite her best efforts, a note of fear crept into her voice, and she hugged the wall behind her.
“It’s me,” a rough voice whispered from the darkest corner.
Rogue gasped. “Moran?”
“You’ve gotten yourself into a real mess this time, Rogue. Not even I’ll be able to get you out of it,” Moran said as she emerged into the open.
Her hair was cut short on the sides and braided on top in a mohawk style that suited her tough demeanor and athletic body. Intense gray eyes peered from a tanned face; one Rogue had grown to love over the years.
Memories surfaced of being lost and alone. A child caught up in a maelstrom of events far beyond her comprehension. The world had changed, and she’d ended amid a prehistoric world that had no love for her kind. No mercy. It was a dog eat dog existence.
She would have died back then if it wasn’t for Moran. The woman took pity on her for reasons unknown. An orphan herself, she was used to scrounging for scraps and fighting for her life. She could’ve left Rogue to die. Instead, she’d raised her and taught her how to survive.
Years later, they were still here, bonded by love, if not blood. Only now Moran was the leader of the Rebel Faction, and Rogue was one of its operatives. Moran wasn’t her real name, of course, but that’s what everyone called her. None of them still went by their real names. That was in the past.
“I’m sorry, Moran. I made a stupid mistake,” Rogue said, leaning against the steel bars of her cell.
“Yes, you did,” Moran replied, her face stony for a brief second before she crumpled with grief. “They’ll kill you for this. Or send you over the wall. Eight people died in the attack today, and the city is calling for your blood.”
Rogue nodded. “I know.”
Moran reached out, and they held hands. “I can’t bear to lose you. You’re my daughter. My heart.”
Tears coursed down Rogue’s face. “I love you too. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”
Moran shook her head. “If they give you a choice, go over the wall.”
“Exile?” Rogue asked. “I wouldn’t last a day. Nobody does.”
“You’re not just anybody, sweetie. You’re strong. You can survive, I know it,” Moran said. “Remember your lessons. I didn’t pay that archaeologist to teach you about the dinosaurs of this period for nothing.”
Rogue grimaced, recalling the long mornings spent learning about the various dinos that inhabited this world. She’d thought it a waste of time back then, but now, the knowledge might actually prove useful. “Did you plan for something like this to happen?”
“No, but I wanted you to be prepared for any eventuality,” Moran said.
“I suppose I should thank you,” Rogue replied.
“Don’t thank me. Survive,” Moran said. “More than that, find other people, other survivors.”
“Other people? Moran…there’s nobody on the outside. It’s just dinosaurs,” Rogue protested.
“Not so. For years, I’ve listened to the rumors. The stories whispered by the raiding parties who go out in search of food and supplies. There are survivors. I know it.”
Rogue scoffed at the idea. “It’s not possible.”
“It is. You just have to find them,” Moran insisted, squeezing Rogue’s fingers hard. “Promise me that.”
Rogue hesitated, and Moran’s hold on her hand tightened until the blood circulation was almost cut off.
“Okay, Moran,” Rogue said with a wince. “I promise I’ll look for them.”
“When you do, convince them to join our cause. If they attack from the outside, we’ll take it as our signal and rise against the guards from within,” Moran said.
“I’ll try,” Rogue said, though she still believed it was all nonsense. Nobody could survive in the wilds. Nobody. Besides, the mere thought of attacking the walls was ludicrous. They were impenetrable. If it comforted Moran, however, she’d say whatever it took.
Moran smiled and pulled her into a hug. “That’s my girl.”
Rogue clung to Moran for as long as she could before the other woman pulled away. “Thanks for everything, Moran.”
“It’s been my privilege, Rogue.”
“Moran? Why did you save me as a child?” Rogue asked. “I’ve always wondered.”
Moran hesitated. “Because you reminded me of myself. You were so small and scared, but you refused to cry. Instead, you tried to bite a chunk out of my hand.”
Rogue laughed. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”
“Here, take this. Eat it before the guard sees you. You’ll need your strength tomorrow,” Moran said, pressing a wrapped bundle into Rogue’s hand. Then she was gone, disappearing into the night like a ghost.
For a moment, Rogue felt like crumpling to the floor and screaming out her despair. This was it—a final farewell. I probably won’t see her again. Ever.
But hunger won out, and Rogue sank onto her haunches, unwrapping the food. The scent hit her nostrils, and her stomach cramped. Bundled inside a scrap of material was an orange, a piece of bread, and a slice of salted dino meat. It was a meal fit for a king, or the condemned.
She ate the fruit first, savoring its tangy juices. The bread went next, a means to fill the empty hollow in her stomach. The meat she saved for last, its salty tang a treat she rarely tasted.
While she ate, her mind wandered. Maybe Moran was right, and survivors were living outside the walls. She’d heard the rumors too, though it had been a long time since the last raiding party went
out. There was nothing left to scavenge nearby, after all.
Rogue wondered what it was like. The trees, the plants, running water. She’d never even seen a stream before. Would it really be so bad? To live or die outside in the fresh air freed from the filth and poverty of Prime City.
With a sigh, she leaned her forehead against the cold bars and folded her arms around her torso. Whatever the following day might bring, she’d face it with dignity. She wouldn’t let Sikes and the rest see her beg or cry. I’ll be strong, just like Moran taught me.
Chapter 3
“I could take you away,” Bones whispered, his breath hot against her ear as she flinched away from him. “All you have to do is say the word.”
He’d made this promise dozens of times before. He had tried to whisk her away from the streets for years, promising her a life of luxury and ease she knew he didn’t have the power to give. Not without paying a heavy price for it.
Even in his Watch uniform, Rogue could see how the man had earned his name. Tall and lanky, he had never filled out like the rest of his brutish brethren. Instead, Bones looked more like a walking skeleton. His face was gaunt under the visor. His bones prodded at his skin in a way that looked unhealthy, and the uniform hung loosely on his frame. And yet, Rogue knew the strength that his thin body possessed.
Not once, in all the years before, had she considered his offer. Now she was out of options.
“Let me give you the life you deserve,” he purred, brushing a few stray locks of hair away from her face. Her skin crawled as his finger moved along it.
Bones was her shadow. Wherever she went, he’d followed her, alternating between trying to win her over and thinly veiled threats. He had watched her, and kept close tabs on her as she moved throughout the city. Taking him up on his offer would have made her life immeasurably easier. She wouldn’t have had to worry about her next meal or getting arrested for just trying to survive. But she couldn’t shake the sense of unease she felt whenever he was near, and she couldn’t imagine a lifetime in his presence.
“They’ll never let me go.” Rogue stared at the ground as she choked out the words. “You saw what happened. You were there.” Rogue swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. Of all the people who had died, it was a shame Bones wasn’t one of them.
“Let me try.” He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He stared down at her, his eyes wide and desperate, pleading with her, but she didn’t see a friend there. All she saw reflected back at her was obsession.
“I…” Rogue stumbled over her words, aware he was in complete control of her right now. He always had been, and she hated him for it. “I don’t want…you to get hurt. People died. Sikes won’t let that go.” Her words tumbled out faster and faster as she found a thread to hold on to. A way to explain her hesitance without insulting him. “He would probably punish you for even suggesting it.”
Bones pressed his lips into a thin line. “I see.” He stepped back from her. The cold finality in his voice was almost more terrifying than the obsessive passion. “You’d rather die than let me help you. Do you really find me so repulsive?”
His face contorted in anger, creating deep furrows across his gaunt face. “Why won’t you ever let me help you? I only want the best for you, but you would rather live on the streets! You’d rather be sentenced to death!”
“That’s not—”
He took a step forward, his face within inches of Rogue’s. “Then die,” he growled. With that, he spun her around and yanked her forward, continuing their march toward the raised platform.
Despite the destruction, the market was crowded. All of Prime had come to see what would happen to the girl that brought death down from the sky. Rogue watched her feet as they made their way through the crowd. She couldn’t bear to look them in the eye.
Bones and Rogue boarded the lift together, the shaky contraption slowly carrying them to the top. As the ground fell away beneath them, Rogue closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath to steady herself. When she opened them, her shackled hands had stopped shaking. Barely.
The people looked so small below her. Each person looked like an ant as they crowded in close around the platform. The indistinct murmurs created a hum like a swarm of bees.
Sikes was going to make an example of her. She deserved it. So many people had died. So many people had lost their stalls, their means of survival. Now, they would suffer in the slums without any means to provide for themselves.
Rogue shuddered as she looked down at them all. The chains around her ankles clinked together as she backed up from the edge of the small platform. Bones shoved his baton into her back, forcing her forward again. The platform was small. Barely big enough for the four people that stood atop it. Rogue stumbled forward a few steps, very aware of the edge and how close she was to it. General Sikes sneered at her from where he stood next to Senator Douglas, their pompous leader.
Instead of looking at the people, Rogue looked out over the city. The dilapidated ruins of her world stood stark against the sky. The once glorious monuments to engineering were now old and dirty. They were barely being held together by whatever could be found within the walls. The world had not been kind to any of them, the buildings, or the people.
The wall at her back stretched out in either direction, sealing them in. At thirty feet high, it would keep out all but the biggest predators, and for those, the ballistae came into play. It was the only thing that stood between them and the primordial world that lay beyond. More buildings sprawled outside of the wall. Little more than crumbling ruins, these had been forgotten by people and reclaimed by nature. They were nothing more than bleached bones surrounding a rotting carcass.
Rogue’s breath caught in her chest as she looked at the world beyond the buildings. Trees much taller than the wall formed a large barrier that surrounded them. Their trunks were so thick it would take at least three people to encompass them. The abandoned buildings outside of the wall were crumbling as vines swallowed the supports. Grass had grown wild, forcing its way through cracks in the decrepit pavement. Bushes had formed green belts. It was more greenery than she’d seen in the last twenty years. More color than she had ever thought existed.
A tear slipped down Rogue’s cheek. There was so much of the world she had missed from inside the walls. She had never known anything other than concrete and brick. But even just over the wall, there was so much more. In a few moments, she would have a choice. The choice to die now or out in the wild at the teeth of the carnivores. Gruesome though it might be, she wanted to be out there at least once before she met her end.
Her tears quickly turned to fury. She had depended on Douglas, Sikes, and the rest of the Watch for their picture of the world. They were told there was nothing but dinosaurs and death. Maybe there wasn’t anything left, but it looked like heaven compared to the life she had lived.
Senator Douglas cleared his throat into a microphone, and the crowd fell silent below them. “It is with a heavy heart that we gather here today.” Douglas’ words rang clear for all to hear.
Rogue had never seen the man up close. His plump cheeks jiggled with every word. His clothes were just a bit too tight around his overgrown belly. She had always envisioned him, their leader, as more extravagant like the kings of the medieval era, and by Prime’s standards he was. His clothes were clean and new. His skin bore no dirt. His hair was combed and styled. His rounded belly meant that he got more food than he needed. Far more than the rest of them got.
The anger simmering inside Rogue boiled up again, and she wanted to shove him off the platform. Surely the fall would kill him. What more could they do to her now? But she would never get near enough. Sikes would stop her before she took two steps.
“For the last two decades, we have survived together. We’ve looked out for each other. We’ve shared everything we had with each other, and this benefited everyone.” Senator Douglas looked down at his shoes, false disappointment flitting across his features. Even tho
ugh the people couldn’t see his face, he still performed for them.
Rogue wanted more than ever to push the man off the rickety platform. He had never taken care of her. He had never taken care of anyone. The only good thing the man had ever done was build the wall, and while it protected them from the carnivores, it also prevented them from leaving. Most of Prime was starving in the slums. Those who weren’t, groveled at Douglas’ feet for fear of his wrath. Douglas didn’t take care of anyone but himself.
“We cannot abide by those who only look out for themselves. Those who seek to destroy us. Those who break the rules!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he worked himself up. “Today, Lillian Reid stands before us accused of theft.”
Rogue cringed at the sound of her true name. It was a relic of a time before the Shift, a time when things were normal. A time when she went to school and her parents tucked her in at night. Lillian Reid no longer existed.
Douglas turned his gaze on Rogue, his eyes boring holes straight through her. “As if that weren’t enough, this woman caused the death of countless innocents with her theft.” Douglas ran his hands over his face in mock grief. “Livelihoods were destroyed. Irreplaceable resources were lost. Good men and women died. All because of her selfishness.”
The people in the crowd remained silent. Nobody would speak out on her behalf. Rogue had brought this upon herself, and she knew it.
“For the crime of theft and murder, Lillian Reid, you have been sentenced to death.”
Rogue swallowed hard, her chest tightening. Her hands began to shake behind her back, and her legs threatened to give out beneath her. Would they even give her the choice? Maybe they would decide her crimes were too heinous. She didn’t want to die. She wasn’t ready to die. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she tried to hold her head up high.
Douglas turned back to Rogue, a malicious smile flitting across his face. “But, we are not savages.” She breathed a small sigh of relief. “You have two choices. You can take a quick and painless death by gunshot to the head…” He paused, letting the option sink in. “Or you can go over the wall and into the wild beyond. You will not be given any supplies or weapons, and you will never be permitted to return.” Both options meant death. Going over the wall would just take longer. “What is your choice?”
The Extinction Series | Book 1 | Primordial Earth Page 2
