The Ravaged World (Book 2 of the Exiles Series)

Six: Talia

The shabby cab bumped along the paved road so hard that Nicole and I bounced in our seats, nearly hitting our heads on the grimy metal roof. Our mother sat in front of us, claiming shotgun. She made small talk with driver in front, while Nic and I sat silently in the back. I had my face pressed to the window, watching the rest of the world go by. Despite Nicole's theory at the detention center, the city looked fine from here. Glittery skyscrapers and upscale high rise buildings rose high into the sky, looking like protective soldiers in the afternoon sunlight.

It was hard to believe that just this morning I was on the island, in a whole other world, and now I was here in this place. I was so excited that I waved to people on the street, though very few waved back and even fewer smiled.

The black pavement abruptly changed to gravel and then to dirt as we traveled farther and farther away from the center of the city. The grainier the roads got the more my heart sank, and the cruder the houses got. We traveled from high rise apartment buildings to twin homes; sketchy apartments with gangs of people smoking cigarettes outside and finally to tin shanties with slanted roofs and rusted barbed wire fences separating neighborhoods. Children in wrinkled, tattered clothes played with rocks and sticks in the dust outside, gazing puzzledly at the car as it chugged past like they'd never seen one before. I tried to smile at the people, but inside I was sobbing. This couldn't be... I stared at Nicole, watching as she took in the same scene as me. On her side shops with boarded up windows and leaky roofs became a blur of rotted wood and metal. No way this could be our neighborhood. It was worse than the island.

"This is it," Mom told the driver cheerfully, gesturing vaguely towards a plain metal shack with a bed of wilted white flowers in front of it. The roof, really just sheet metal, was missing in places, exposing a weatherbeaten blue tarp beneath.

The driver steered the car towards the curb and idled the engine while we gathered our few belongings. With a small smile in my direction, Mom thrust open her car door and stepped out, crossing in front of the dilapidated vehicle for the sidewalk. Nicole stared at me, looking both smug and depressed as I followed Mom into the barren yard, discoloring my new shoes and the ankles of my pants.

Mom paid the driver and sent him away quickly. Once he had gone, Mom stared at us and said, "Well, this is it." I stared at the house, mouth agape. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nicole doing the exact same thing.

Mom glanced back and forth between both of us, her hazel eyes betraying some hurt. "Look, I know it's not much," she admitted, her gaze never wavering, "but it's home, and I promise the house is much nicer inside. Not stylish, but livable. And you'll love Streak, our cat."

Our mother strode for the front stoop, fishing a dull key from her pocket and inserting it into the lock. "C'mon," she encouraged, watching in dismay as Nicole and I just stood and stared, unmoving.

"What are you waiting for?" Nic muttered, still staring at our home. "We should go. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be inside than out in this dump." She sent me that smug smile again, proof that she knew she was right about the whole doom-and-gloom thing.

I didn't want to upset Nicole or our mother, so I hurried to the front stoop where Mom was waiting for me. With some reluctance and that silly grin of hers, Nicole followed me into the house.

I have to admit that I was expecting a lot less of the inside of the house than what it was. True, it was still awfully small and dingy, but it appeared organized and like Mom actually tried to keep it clean. The house was divided into three sections: the middle was a kitchen/dining/living room area, the right was a plain double bed with a curtain in front of it, and the left and final section contained a bunk bed with a hodge podge of different blankets on it and a dusty lamp on a wooden crate. At least Nicole and I were used to sharing a room.