1269_UgliesFreeBook

INVASION
Tally turned from the window and saw nothing but empty
beds. She was alone in the bunkhouse.
She shook her head, foggy from sleep and disbelief. The
ground rumbled beneath her bare feet, and the bunkhouse
shuddered around her. Suddenly, the plastic in one of the
windows shattered, and the muffled cacophony from outside
rushed in to batter her ears. The entire building shook
as if it would collapse.
Where was everyone? Had they already fled the Smoke,
leaving her there to face this invasion alone?
Tally ran for the door and threw it open. Before her, a
hovercar was landing, blinding her for a moment with a
face full of dust. She recognized the machine’s cruel lines
from the Special Circumstances car that had first taken her
to see Dr. Cable. But this one was equipped with four shimmering
blades—one each where the wheels of a groundcar
would be—a cross between a normal hovercar and the
rangers’ helicopter.
It could travel anywhere, Tally realized, inside a city or