Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

feet. The civilian compounds are short and squat, grouped
together in no particular order, and Adam makes sure to
stay as far away from them as possible. The loudspeakers
are already working against us. The sound of a young,
smoothly mechanical female voice drowns out the sirens.
“Curfew is now in effect. Everyone return to their homes
immediately. There are rebels on the loose. They are armed
and ready to fire. Curfew is now in effect. Everyone return to
their homes immediately. There are rebels on the loose.
They are armed and ready to fi—”
My sides are cramping, my skin is tight, my throat dry,
desperate for water. I don’t know how far we’ve run. All I
know is the sound of boots pounding the pavement, the
screech of tires peeling out of underground storage units,
alarms wailing in our wake.
I look back to see people screaming and running for
shelter, ducking away from the soldiers rushing through
their homes, pounding down doors to see if we’ve found
refuge somewhere inside. Adam pulls me away from
civilization and heads toward the abandoned streets of an
earlier decade: old shops and restaurants, narrow side
streets and abandoned playgrounds. The unregulated land
of our past lives has been strictly off-limits. It’s forbidden
territory. Everything closed down. Everything broken, rusted
shut, lifeless. No one is allowed to trespass here. Not even
soldiers.
And we’re charging through these streets, trying to stay
out of sight.
The sun is slipping through the sky and tripping toward the
edge of the earth. Night will be coming quickly, and I have
no idea where we are. I never expected so much to happen
so quickly and I never expected it all to happen on the same
day. I just have to hope to survive but I haven’t the faintest
idea where we might be headed. It never occurred to me to
ask Adam where we might go.