Free Runner (The Runners, Book One) by Logan Rutherford Page B

you?”
    “You wouldn’t dare.” Seventeen said between
his teeth, His blood boiling with hatred for this man.
    “Oh, yes I would. Don’t test
me.”
    “Let me speak to her.” Seventeen
demanded.
    “I’m sorry she’s busy at the moment. Did you
know that she turned eight today?” Marcus said as he began to
laugh.
    Seventeen felt a little guilty. He didn’t
remember. But, after all that he’s been through, who could blame
him? Still…
    “What do I need to do?” He asked.
    “Well, since it took you long enough to get
this number, I’ll let you meet up with another person about your
age, a girl, who is on the same journey as you. Maybe then you’ll
get up to pace with the rest of them.”
    “Wait, what do you mean rest of them? The
rest of who?” Seventeen demanded.
    “That doesn’t matter. Be at the Graveheart
Cemetery at Midnight tonight. You will meet up with Fifteen there.
Good Luck.”
“Wait,” Seventeen started. But it was too late. Marcus had already
hung up.
    Fifteen. Seventeen.
Marcus. He was so confused. So there are more of them? At least seventeen, if
not more.

Chapter Four

    S eventeen waited in the cemetery for number fifteen. From what
Marcus said, Fifteen is a girl.
    It was five past midnight, and there was no
sign of her. Seventeen had been in the cemetery since a quarter
after eleven. He felt like he could run a marathon. He had a good
dinner with the money from the Leader, and he had taken a nap in a
car that was on a used car lot and with this new information, he
was pumped and ready to go.
    “Are you Seventeen?” Somebody behind him
said.
    Seventeen spun around and saw a girl standing
there. From the faint light that was coming from the moon, he could
tell that she was around his age; she had red hair with bright
green eyes. They were so bright that he could see them, even though
it was dark out. She had a tomboyish look about her. She was fit,
but dirty, and she looked completely exhausted. But, he figured
that’s how he looked just a couple of days ago. He wondered how
long it was since she slept.
    “Yeah, are you Fifteen?” He asked.
    “Yep,” She said. “I guess you’re my partner
now.”
Seventeen shrugged. “What all do you know?” He asked.
    “Well, you like to get straight to the point.
I guess I won’t waste your time.” She sat down on the ground.
Seventeen did the same. “About three weeks ago some men came by my
house. They took my family, and told me to start running, and if I
tried to contact the police or anybody that they’d kill my family.
So I started running.”
    “ After about five minutes, I
called the police. I couldn’t believe what was going on. I didn’t
know where I was going, or why I was running. The police found me,
but these guys pulled up in a black van and killed the officers.
They got out and started chasing me. I ran, and ran, and ran. They
never stopped coming. One day, I would be safe and the next, they
would find me, and I would start running again. So on and so
forth.”
    “Then one day I managed to separate them and
I managed to knock one out. I took everything in his pockets,
including his cell phone, and I called the only number that was on
it. I talked to a man named Marcus, and he told me to be here at
the cemetery today at this time to meet up with you, Seventeen.
This was about a week ago.”
    Seventeen sat there for a moment, and then he
told her his story. “So, they knew that we would be here.” He said
when he finished. “He must have sent the Leader to be killed. He
knew that I would get his number. Why are they chasing after us?
What do they want with my family?”
    “Our families,” She retorted. “I’ve asked these questions a million
times. But, Marcus said that you would have an SD card on you. He
said that there were answers on it. We should head to a library and
check out what’s on it.”
    “It’s past midnight, the library is closed.
We’ll have to go tomorrow morning.” Seventeen began to