The ARC 01: Tainted Read online

  After a while my eyes start becoming sore. I’m constantly rubbing them, or having to close them, or take long blinks. There’s a whole lot of bright white out there.

  I hear Gord chuckling.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he laughs.

  ‘They’re a lot brighter than I thought,’ I say. ‘Not that I’m complaining! I’ll take sore eyes any day to see these clouds.’

  My gobsmacked wonder at the clouds is just beginning to wear off, and my feelings of anxiety resurface, when the helicopter breaks through the mist. I squeal and jump forwards with excitement.

  ‘The sun,’ I yell to Gord. ‘That’s the sun!’ I repeat, pointing at the large bright ball of light and bouncing on my seat. I’m almost quivering with delight.

  The most amazing blue sky is overhead and a blanket of clouds lies below. The sun is bright and piercing, it’s near impossible to look at straight on. I already feel warmer as its glow shines down on my skin, and my expression is one of total awe. I never thought I’d see the sun again.

  ‘Ahh that never gets old,’ Gord says. I try to imagine countless people seeing the sun for the first time in so long. It must be amazing constantly getting to witness their joy.

  ‘Where are we going?’ I ask Gord seriously, as we pass through another thick cloud.

  ‘I was wondering when you’d get to asking me again. I’m surprised you waited this long to be honest.’ He takes a deep breath before he continues. ‘The reason I didn’t tell you before, in the hangar, is because Maggie is part of the ARC society. She’s not tainted so she doesn’t know about where we take you.

  ‘I’m not certain what she thinks happens, but I’m fairly certain she assumes it’s somewhere pretty terrible. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not at liberty to discuss what happens when she’s around. It should be fine to tell you now though.’

  ‘Okay,’ I respond slowly. His explanation makes sense but it doesn’t give any indication of whether I’m being taken somewhere good or bad.

  ‘So where I’m taking you, there are other people like you. Special people. You’ve grown up calling them the tainted, but there’s nothing wrong with them at all. In fact people who are tainted are rather extraordinary. And you’re one of them.’ He looks at me in a way that tells me I should feel encouraged by what he’s said, but all I can think is, what have I got myself into?

  ‘They’ll explain all of this in more detail when we get there. In short, I’m taking you somewhere where you don’t need to be afraid to be yourself.’

  I turn away from Gord and stare out at the horizon. It doesn’t sound bad, in fact it almost sounds welcoming. I just don’t know how I’m going to fit in. Being tainted has always been a bad thing. How am I supposed to change the beliefs that have been encouraged my entire life?

  Something in the distance glints and the sharp, bright reflection catches my eye. I lean forward in my seat and squint my eyes in an attempt to make out the shiny object.

  ‘What’s that up ahead?’

  ‘That’s Hope City,’ says Gord. ‘Your new home.’ As we get closer to the tall crystalline structures in the distance they become clearer.

  ‘But it’s … well it’s … is it above ground?’ I stammer.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But what about the impact winter?’ I ask, my words racing over each other.

  ‘It started to recede here about five years ago,’ he answers patiently. I sit back in my seat, shocked. I never expected to see the sun again, let alone imagine the possibility of living under it.

  I lean forward again trying to discern what exactly lies below. Through the wispy clouds pulled thin like candy floss, I can see a blinding white reflection of the sun dancing along the desolate waste of ice that still extends below us. The vast sheet stretches away from the city, for miles into the distance.

  As we get closer though, the ice gradually stops and is replaced by large, empty fields of green and brown that are wild with untamed growth. The long grass ripples as the wind whips across the open fields. It seems to thrive in the flat expanse between the ice and the city.

  I focus ahead on the large structures that reach for the sky. The sun seems to reflect blindingly from their surfaces and the buildings are so close to one another they appear to be all connected.

  ‘It’s so big. How did they build it so fast?’

  ‘Well most of it was here before. This was once a city. So it didn’t take too much effort to get it running again once the ice began to recede.’

  As the helicopter lowers further and enters the city’s maze of buildings I start to see the shapes of people on the streets far below. They’re so tiny from this far away and there are so many of them that I begin to worry. In a place so big with so many people, how am I going to find Sebastian?

  I grip my pendant tightly in one hand and try to take a steadying breath. Finding just one person in the masses that crowd this endless web of streets and buildings will be impossible.

  ‘Okay we’ll be landing shortly.’ Gord says it kindly, but instead of feeling encouraged, I feel crippled by nerves. What the hell am I doing? What have I been thinking? But more importantly, what’s about to happen to me?

  I turn to Gord.

  ‘Are you tainted?’ I ask. Hoping desperately he is. That he’s proof nothing bad happens to people who’ve been taken. That things are not about to get worse.

  He looks at me knowingly. ‘No,’ he responds. ‘I’m talented.’

  END OF BOOK ONE

  See what happens next in Elle’s search to find Sebastian…

  Talented

  Elle thought leaving the ARC would be the hardest part of finding Sebastian, but her escape from the fallout shelter is only the beginning. There’s more than just officials to contend with on the surface and, if she wants to get Sebastian back, she’s going to have to place her trust in all the wrong people.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My first, and most important, thank you is to you, the reader. It means the world to me to have people take the time to read my work, and I hope I made it worth your while.

  Thank you to all the people who helped make Tainted happen. This was a task I definitely couldn’t have accomplished alone.

  Pete, who spent endless hours providing me with his amazing editing skills, encouragement and advice in helping to bring Tainted to life, I couldn’t have done this without you.

  To my mum who gave me so much sound advice about writing and who is probably the loudest, most enthusiastic member of my own personal cheer squad. Without her help I’d probably still be stuck on the third chapter.

  Thank you to my dad, who helped me with his ridiculous general knowledge of how things work. It helped me immensely with both creating and understanding the world I built.

  To Jen, whose time is generally under siege by her cohort of rugrats, thank you for dedicating some of your precious free time to Tainted. You provided me with so many new ideas to make Elle’s journey more exciting and your input really helped make the world come alive.

  Finally, to Hen who has lent her beautiful face to the cover of this novel. Your never-ending support gives me the courage to pursue my dreams and I can’t thank you enough.

  This book is better because of all of your input and I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me make it the book it is today.

  It’s one thing to have words down on a page, but something else entirely to have people who support your writing and believe in those words. So thank you guys!
r />   ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ALEXANDRA MOODY is an Australian author. She studied Law and Commerce in her hometown, Adelaide, before going on to spend several years living abroad in Canada and the UK. She is a serious dog-lover, double-black-diamond snowboarder and has a love/hate relationship with the gym. She can often be found on Twitter and Facebook, or you can visit her website at alexandramoody.com for further details on upcoming projects.