Free The Overlord: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel by Jared Paul Page A

Nightwood's own handwriting. Her signature meant she had authorized the report's release and certified its authenticity.
    Before, she had made it seem like the report was being publicized beyond her control. Yet, it clearly stated that the report had been released by her own choice. Why would she purposefully put it out in the open for public examination?
    President Nightwood was trying to tell me something about that night. I can only guess as to what that might be. I believe she wanted to show that despite what came of his actions, Dr. Deadstock was just a man, and a good man too.

7
    THE YOUNG ONES
    The night before the mission to Fever Island, the rain began to subside as the evening grew older. The clouds dispersed, baring a clear air that twinkled with planets and stars. Beneath that nightfall sky, I was sneaking away in the barracks. I had somewhere more important to be, a rendezvous with a significant someone.
    As was always the case, the secret appointment was not without its obstacles. The entrance door to the female garrison had been barred. I was blocked out by a leg, and a bare one at that. An abundance of freckles dotted over every inch of its exposed skin. The alluring limb belonged to Nix. Sparsely clothed, she greeted me with a tempting smile.
    Nix hadn't been born in the wasteland, like I had. She was already walking and talking when the bombs went off. In the aftermath, the Thralls came across her in the ruined city of Phoenix. Just a little girl, she went by the name of Nix from then on, in honor of the city that sheltered her survival. A little girl no longer, she was a tough fighter with a ponytail. Standing before me in the night, though, Nix wasn't the one I'd come to see. She was merely in my way.
    She playfully threw my way, "Aren't you going to ask me?"
    "Ask what? Knowing Nix and her spontaneity, I really couldn't guess as to what she wanted.
    She teased, "To sign your hat, silly."
    Right before a mission, it was customary to create mementos and pass them along through the squads. A shirt or a book, the keepsakes could be anything. For my own, I had chosen a basic snapback hat. Bright neon and yellow, the cap was already littered with signatures and notes from all my friends. It was a way to remember each other. If need be, it was a way to mourn those that didn't come back.
    I slid off the snapback, rubbed my hair, and tossed the hat off to Nix. She took it, but remained to keep an open palm out. I then realized what else she was after. It was the marker snugged over my ear. I had almost forgotten. Nix grinned at my forgetfulness.
    Using her balanced leg as a table, she scribbled away. Satisfied, she flung the hat back into my custody and I inspected its fresh ink. Enclosed within the shape of a flaming heart, Nix had drawn the most unusual bird.
    I looked up with a wrinkled nose and her thin eyebrows raised with delight, "It's a Phoenix." The tantalizing leg in the doorway suddenly dropped out of my way. "Go on in. Sentria's waiting for you."
    Hat in hand, I proceeded to Sentria's quarters. Along the way, I read some of the messages upon my yellow cap. Individual and unique, each note represented somebody that I knew. I beamed as I put a face to each name, with one exception. On the underside of the hat's bill, a message read, "The beginning is just the end."
    The author of the cryptic phrase hadn't signed their name. Having been present for each signing, I didn't recall anyone ever writing those particular words. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out who wrote it or what it could mean.
    "The beginning is just the end," I recited my hat's message in befuddlement. "The beginning is just the end? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"
    Putting it out of my mind, I arrived at Sentria's door. The rattling of some tools echoed from inside. As a squad leader, she had her own private quarters. Safe from all interruptions, it's where she spent much of her free time. Always working on a project,