Free Naomi Grim by Tiffany Nicole Smith

nothing. I felt sorry for her and
wished someone would put her out of her misery.
    "Can we leave now?" I asked
Colden as I turned for the door.
    He grabbed my elbow. "No, you need
to experience this. Have you ever watched one of your family members just
wither away like this?" I shook my head. "Well, I have. My father,
five years ago. He ran out of years. We tried desperately to raid the Mill. To
get some lifestones to save the people who were almost expired, but the men we
sent were captured. My father died, Naomi. He was a Grim and he died. That's
not supposed to happen."
    My heart went out to him, and I
understood his coldness. Losing my parents to life-expiration was something I
never worried about. As long as Dunningham sent them on assignments, they would
live forever. Death in the human world never stopped. There would always be
lifestones to collect. There was plenty for everyone. There was no reason for
what I was witnessing. "So, those holes are for—"
    "To bury our dead. Yes. Every day
the younger men have to go out there and dig holes just to bury our families.
It's a job that's never complete. There's always someone to put in the
ground."
    A man moaned from somewhere. One of the
white coats walked in his direction. I backed away and leaned against the wall.
"I get it."
    Colden turned to me. "You get
what?"
    "Why you hate me. Why you hate us."
Colden turned back around. "Colden, I know this doesn't mean much to you,
but from birth we're raised to believe that you guys are the enemy, that you
steal lifestones to hurt us. We never get to see this. I mean, we know that you
guys die, but until you actually see it—"
    "We really needed the lifestones
from the high school, Naomi. They would have saved all these people."
    I looked down at the ground and
remembered the girl in the bathroom—the one who was dead now. I thought back to
her telling me how they needed those lives to survive and we only needed them
for money, when we already had more than enough. "I'm sorry," I
muttered.
    "Tell that to them," Colden
said, but his tone was softer this time.
    I thought about Roxy and Hunter, then I
thought about my now upside-down life and these Grims on the verge of
expiration. Was it worth it? "If I could go back and do it differently, I
would."
    Colden stepped closer to me, looking me
dead in the eye. His eyes seemed bluer than they had the other day. "If
you're really sorry, there's a way you can fix this. There's still a way all
these people can be saved."
      "H-how?"
    "Dunstan will tell you about that
when he feels the time is right."
    Thankfully, Colden walked out the door
and I followed him. "Doyle was here earlier, talking to Dunstan. He's
Dunningham's top assistant. What was he doing here?"
    "I can't tell you."
    I was tired of the secrets. "He's a
liar."
    "Hey!" Colden yelled.
"Whenever he can, that man slips us a few lifestones here and there. If it
weren't for him, we would be in a lot worse shape."
    "Doyle steals our lifestones and
gives them to you? Why would he do that? What's in it for him?"
    Colden shook his head. "I shouldn't
have even told you that. Don't repeat it. I have to get back to work."
    Colden went back to the graveyard and I
stood there, letting all this new information sink in. Doyle was up to
something. He wasn't the type who would risk his life for Foragers out of the
goodness of his heart. Soon it would be time for me to go to Farrington again.
I intended to come back with some answers this time.
    * * *
    Nigel, Colden, and I waited until it was
dark to climb the wall into Litropolis. The walk from there was a lonely one. I
was relieved to see the place I called home.
    I knocked on the back door. This time
there was no wait. I was expected. Although it was late, and the family had
already eaten, Mother had a spread prepared for me. All my favorites—candied
yams, broccoli with cheese, pepper steak, mashed potatoes, and apple pie.
    I gorged myself as my brothers sat in
their pajamas, staring at