All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) by Jamie Campbell (my miracle luna book free read .TXT) 📕

I pushed myself to my feet, feeling every ache in my bones from the night before. My stomach was the part of me demanding the most attention. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten. All I knew was that it had been a while.

Wandering the streets, I went in the opposite direction of the exploded building. I didn’t need to see that boy’s body still lying on the sidewalk. There was no doubt nobody had moved him or given him a proper burial. That kind of thing didn’t happen anymore.

Not without adults around.

I found myself back at the shelter, lining up for a portion of food like the rest of the desolate. Oliver was nowhere in sight, no matter how many times I tried to find him. I didn’t know what he had done with my supplies. He always disappeared on me, only to emerge later on. Hopefully he would do that magic trick again soon.

A girl of about seventeen gave me some bread and soup when I reached the front of the line. I took it gratefully and found a corner to sit and eat.

“The sky is blue today, have you noticed? It’s not grey like it was yesterday.” The voice startled me. I looked up to see a girl staring down at me with the same portions of food as I had. I wondered if she was real or a spirit. It was so difficult to tell anymore.

“I didn’t notice, no,” I replied.

She sat down on the floor next to me without an invitation. “Remember rainbows? They were always so pretty. I haven’t seen one in a very long time. Have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

I wanted to touch her, see if my hand would actually feel anything or whether I would only experience the cold sensation of a spirit. If she wasn’t real, I didn’t want to risk being exposed to all the other spirits in the area by holding a conversation with her.

“Food’s good, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I haven’t seen you around here much,” she continued. “I stay close to this place. There’s safety in numbers, right?”

“Right. It’s important to stay safe,” I replied.

She repositioned herself, moving her feet from under her to sit cross-legged. As she did, her boot grazed my leg. I felt it. She was real. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Now I knew she was alive, I could think more clearly. “How old are you?”

“Eleven. How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

She nodded, like she should have guessed it already. “Do you know what they’re going to do once the food runs out? I mean, it’s gonna happen soon.”

“No, I don’t know.”

“I’ve heard of a few people that live in the countryside. They have a garden so they will never run out.” She stared into space, lost in a memory. “Gardens used to be so pretty, didn’t they? My mama kept a garden. Roses, daisies, so many pretty things. Now all we have are pretty ghosts.”

She wasn’t the first kid I’d seen driven mad by the Event. Nor would she be the last. “Maybe you should go and join them? You could plant your own garden.”

Her eyes drifted back to mine but they were still a world away. “Will you come with me?”

“Sorry, I can’t. I have to stay.”

She nodded, her disappointment not even lasting for a second. She had probably asked a dozen people to go with her and none of them said yes. What was a bit more hurt when you had a constant ache?

I finished my meal and said goodbye to the girl. By the end of our time, I wasn’t sure if she still realized I was there. I hoped someone would go to the countryside with her one day.

With some food in my stomach, I could think again. I wanted to find Oliver so we could figure out what we were going to do. I missed him when he wasn’t around and I always held the fear I wouldn’t see him again. He was my only friend in a world full of enemies.

I did a thorough sweep of the shelter but only saw the faces of the haunted. No-one even resembled the gentle and kind features of Oliver. We had known each other for so long that I had every part of him memorized. The crook of his nose, the shade of his lips, the tinges of gold in his green eyes. They were as familiar to me as my own face.

Leaving the shelter, I followed the main road that would have led away from our apartments if we still lived there. I had no clue where Oliver went when I wasn’t around so there was nothing to indicate where he could have gone now.

I ended up wandering aimlessly, keeping my eyes open for any signs of him. As the sun set high in the sky, I realized I had been walking for a few hours, at least. Not a trace of Oliver anywhere.

Which wasn’t like him.

I was also lost in the maze of back streets around the city. I thought I knew where I was going. Clearly I was wrong. The landscape of the city I once loved had changed so dramatically since the Event that it was easy to think I was in a whole different country.

Rubble, debris, and death. That’s what surrounded me now. Definitely not the familiarity that used to fill my senses and bring the city to life.

I tried not to panic, pushing thoughts of the last time I had truly been lost from my mind. It had been different then, I had been chasing after Faith and not paying any attention to where I was.

This time I had clarity. Surely if I just followed the path I had come in on, I would be able to return to the shelter? It sounded reasonable enough.

But