The New Smoke
Chapter 1: Fire
Then she saw it. After all the days she'd lived in the sneak suit, all the thrills and spills she'd put it through… finally, that one last leap from the Overlook had done it in.
On her right shoulder, the seam had split. It glowed almost white in infrared, the heat from her metabolism gushing out like sunlight.
The figure slid closer through the air, slow and cautious.
"Hey," she called nervously. "I think I've got something here."
What is it?" came the answer.
Tally recognized the answering voice. David, she thought, a little shiver going through her. So close to him, and Tally could hardly make a fist.
The Smokey girl paused, still staring right at Tally. "There's a hot spot in this tree. Baseball-size"
Laughter came from David's way, and someone else shouted, "Probably just a squirrel."
"Way too hot for a squirrel. Unless it's on fire."
Tally waited, squeezing her eyes closed and willing her body to slow down, to stop generating so much energy. But the Smokey girl had got it right: between the racing engine of her heart and the nanos busily repairing her shoulders, Tally felt like she was on fire.
She tried to move her left hank up to cover the rip, but the muscles would no longer respond. All she could do was stand there and try not to move.
More glowing figures glided her way. Tally could hear David calling for the Smokey who had spotter her:
"Jenna, throw a stick, will you? If it is her, I don't want to take any chances." They were getting closer.
Through her brown lashes Tally could see the Smokey called Jenna soar down to pick up a stick. Climbing back up in the air, she set her arm back and, aiming straight at eh tear in Tally's suit, her arm struck out.
Tally held her breath, waiting for the stick to reveal her position.
The Smokey evidently had a good arm, for when the twig struck it felt as if the fire had doubled. Tally couldn't help it—she gasped.
Immediately all the watching Smokeys surged forward. Her leg aimed a blow at one of the closest, knocking him off his hoverboard. She attempted to leap on. But, yet again, they had sheer numbers to overwhelm Tally, besides the fact that her arms felt as though the ceramic bones inside her arms had recently been shattered.
They grabbed her roughly, and she was finally forced onto a hoverboard with David. Maybe she could jump…
But as these plans began to form in her mind, one of the Smokeys clasped her hands and feet together with plastic cuffs.
Tally's shoulders screamed in protest. She had to stay awake. They could inject her…
But the fresh torrents of fire rolling over her shoulders were too much—blackness, dark and serene, washed over her…
Sorry about the short length, it seemed appropriate!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the books in the Uglies series!
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