The Colony Book 2: Revolution

By J. Tomas

Sequel to The Colony Book 1: Rebellion

The only way sixteen-year-old Aine and his true Other Kyer can be together is to escape the Colony with its Code, its pills, and its constant monitoring. Breaking out of the Colony was hard enough, but living outside of its protective walls proves to be even harder.

The boys have been raised to believe all life outside the Colony was destroyed by the last war. However, Aine soon discovers this is a lie. On their first day of freedom, they meet Sinda, a girl their own age who has grown up in the harsh new world outside the Colony. In return for some food, she agrees to help them out and leads them underground, where people must live to avoid predators, acid rain, and disease.

It doesn’t take long for Aine to tire of living hand to mouth. He misses the comforts of his bed, his friends, and his family. Why shouldhebe the one to run away? He and the boy he loves have done nothing wrong.

Aine is destined to be the next Overseer, so why can’t he return to the Colony and start a revolution to change the way things are run? Why can’t people love who they want to, rather than who they’re told to? Why can’t they think for themselves, and live as they want?

When he receives a message from Brin that she, too, has stopped taking her pills, Aine realizes he isn’t the only one unhappy with the Code. If he and Kyer return, maybe they can enlist their friends’ help to bring about some much-needed changes.

But breaking back in proves even harder than breaking out. They must dodge the Officers, evade the Monitors, and convince a drug-controlled Colony it deserves better. But will anyone listen to them? Or will they be caught and medicated back into compliance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Queerteen Press
• Release date: Oct 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781611529395

J. Tomas

J. Tomas is a pseudonym, I'll admit it up front, under which I publish gay YA fiction. I write gay erotic romance as J.M. Snyder and publish non-gay fiction, nonfiction, and poetry as J.T. Marie. You can email me at [e-mail] who am I? A writer, a reader, a poet. A video game nerd ~ I heart Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, and Legend of Zelda. A cat owner. A movie goer, music lover, boyband groupie. A queer author who remembers all too well the pains of high school, first love, and how it felt to ride the school bus when all the "cool" kids had their own car. Who knows what it's like to be different in a school of clones, to feel different, look different, act different.Who wants to put those feelings down on paper so others know they aren't alone.More specifically, I live in Virginia with two very spoiled cats. I have a day job that's not too bad, and I've always wanted to be a writer, so I write.

Book preview

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Chapter 1

On my first full day of freedom, I woke up beside Kyer on the beach, deafened by the roar of the ceaseless surf.

Every muscle in my body ached, and sleeping had only stiffened my bones. The night before, when we had made our escape from the Colony, we were optimistic about what lie ahead. Hand in hand, we ran up the ramp onto the bridge, our shoes clinking faintly on the metal. As the clouds faded behind us, I had laughed into the sky above, and the twinkling stars seemed to laugh back.

We were free.

But the bridge seemed to stretch into eternity. Our steps slowed from a brisk run to a trot, then to a jog, and finally to a winded walk. A stitch in my side ached each time I moved my leg, and I pressed a hand under my ribs to try to make it stop hurting. Beside me, Kyer took deep breaths in through his nostrils and out through pursed lips. Our walk lost its vigor, and became a sort of shambling forward motion.

Finally Kyer held up a hand. I can’t…

We have to keep moving, I told him. I grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulders, hoping to help him along, but he was sweaty and hot, and his weight bore me down.

Just a few minutes, Aine, he gasped. Before I could protest, he sank to the concrete beneath our feet and crossed his legs in front of him, then leaned his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. His voice was muffled when he spoke again. Give me five minutes, please. That’s all I ask.

I would have been lying if I said I wasn’t tired, too. I was still afraid the Overseer would send Officers after us, but when I looked back the way we had come, the bridge was empty. In the darkness, the clouds covering the Colony seemed to glow with an inner light, creating a grayish bubble at the end of the bridge, but it looked so far away. We’d come quite some distance, and if anyone followed us, we would be able to see them in plenty of time to run.

That was, if we could run. We had to get our strength back first.

We had to rest.

I sank to the ground beside Kyer. His tunic clung to his sweaty back, and when I rested my cheek on his shoulder, I felt his body heat sear my skin. My lungs burned as I gulped in breath, trying to calm down my rapid heart. Just a few minutes, I agreed, rubbing my face against his arm, partly for comfort and partly to wipe away the sweat trickling from my brow.

Kyer dropped his arm onto my leg and pulled it closer to his in a lazy hug. We should’ve walked with the girls each week, he said with a sigh.

I frowned. What do you mean?

At rec time, he explained. The past few years you and I fell out of actually doing anything physical. Maybe a game here and there, but nothing to build up our endurance. We’re out of shape.

We didn’t need endurance in the Colony, I pointed out.

Kyer sighed again. I think we’re going to need a lot of it for whatever lies ahead.

What did lie ahead? We had no clue. Below us, I could hear the waves lap against the pilings, but it was too dark to see the sides of the bridge from where we sat, so it felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. The sky seemed to wrap around us completely—only the stars and a faint sliver of moon gave any sense of up or down. The clouds behind us gave us a sense of direction, if only something to run away from.

If we could run.

Ahead, there was nothing but darkness. For all I knew, the bridge could stretch around the entire world and deposit us on the southern tip of the Colony, putting us right back where we had started. Or it could end halfway out into the ocean, leaving us with nowhere left to go.

When I mentioned this to Kyer, though, he gave a sort of breathy chuckle. Who builds a bridge that goes nowhere? he wanted to know.

"Maybe it really is destroyed, I said. Maybe just not right where we could see it from the Colony. Maybe it’ll get us within sight of an opposite shore and then just end. Then what?"

Then we swim. Kyer slapped my knee, then leveraged himself on my leg to help him stand. Come on. Let’s see where this leads. But no more running, or I’ll fall over right here and you’ll have to drag me the rest of the way.

I laughed. Like I have the energy for that.

Putting our backs to the clouds and all they hid, we continued across the bridge. Our pace was slower than what we had started with, but it would be easier to maintain in the long run.

It was still dark when we finally reached the end of the bridge. Kyer was right, we were out of shape. If the Colony ever welcomed us back, I’d have to seriously rethink that long walk across the sea. As it was, the moment we stepped off the ramp onto moonlit sand, I staggered a little ways down the beach and promptly collapsed facedown into the sand.

* * * *

That was where morning found me.

Before I even opened my eyes, I knew my body would protest any sudden movements. Muscles twitched from overuse, and my arms and legs ached from being strained. Swinging that heavy chair at the glass window in the Collection Center might have been the only way we could escape, but I regretted it when I woke. The sand was hard-packed around me and uncomfortable, and the sun was beginning to beat down on the side of my face exposed to the sky, but I wanted nothing more than to lie here another few hours or so, maybe another day or two, however long it took to feel right again.

But when I opened one eye and saw Kyer sprawled on his back a few feet away from me, I felt a surge of relief spike through me. I was right, I knew I’d be, because he was still with me, by my side. My chest swelled with emotion, and I blinked back sudden tears. We had made it. We were free.

Movement in front of me caught my attention and I focused my gaze closer in, on the sand. There, an almost invisible creature moved with odd grace despite numerous legs. It was a bug of some kind, fragile and perfect, and the first living thing other than a person that I had ever seen.

I watched, fascinated, as it crawled over grains of sand that stood in its path like boulders. This close, I could see beady black eyes, and as it moved, I imagined I could feel its multiple legs skittering over my skin. Just seeing it navigate closer to me made my arms and legs begin to itch. With difficulty, I rolled onto my side and absently scratched my wrist where the Colony had implanted an identification tag before I was born.

The creature moved on, steady and true. I scratched my wrist again, then turned my head to glance at the spot. My neck protested the movement, and pain behind my right eye blossomed into a dull ache.

My wrist was an angry red. My nails had made white claw marks across the skin, and there, at the base of my thumb, a welt swelled like some sort of bite.

Suddenly I felt tiny legs all over my body and, headache be damned, I scrambled to my feet. With shaking arms, I pulled my tunic off over my head and looked at my thin chest. The pale skin was pocked with bites, and those little invisible creatures who had looked so magical a moment ago were crawling all over me!

Oh, shit! I slapped at my bare chest, trying to rid myself of the parasites. More bit me—I could feel the stings now, the sharp little pricks of whatever they had that passed for teeth, and I danced as I tried to knock them away. My legs tingled, too, so I stripped off my pants and fell over on my side as I kicked off my shoes.

Kyer! I cried. I’m being eaten alive!

Beside me, Kyer stirred. Sand crusted his hair, turning the blond curls a shade of white, and he had an ignoble smear of sand caked to the side of his face. He saw me in my underpants, slapping at my arms and legs, and he grinned sleepily. I had a dream you were getting undressed. What are all those red bumps on you?

Bites! Standing, I shook my underpants to free them of any insects, as well, but I still felt as if the bugs crawled all over me. I’m covered in them. They’re probably all over you, too.

With a jerk, Kyer sat up and slapped at his tunic, then tugged it over his head. He took a quick glance at his bare chest and yelped. What the hell?

I didn’t bother answering. I dashed for the rolling waves, hoping maybe the water would wash away the last of the parasites and erase the phantom legs I felt all over my arms and legs.

Rolling onto his back in the sand, Kyer raised his legs in the air and pulled off his pants, then kicked away his shoes as he raced to join me.

The water was cold and bracing, and soothed my skin instantly. I walked out to just beyond the breakers, then ducked down until my shoulders were completely covered. I dipped my head into the water, and when I raised it again, Kyer was splashing towards me. I wiped water from my eyes.

He dove under and swam the rest of the way. When he came up, he was right beside me, and he gave me a quick kiss. Water spiked his eyelashes into angles and tightened his curls. You taste salty, he said, licking his lips.

I felt his hands play over my chest under the water and let him draw me close. This is just one more thing they lied to us about, I said. They always told us we were the only things left alive after the last war.

If those things are what’s left, Kyer admitted, I’d rather we were alone.

With a laugh, I dunked my head and swam toward the shore. The ocean felt wide open all around me, and made me feel dizzyingly free in a way I had never managed to feel in the pool at the Rec Room. When I caught up with the waves, I let them wash me ashore, and Kyer splashed beside me. I felt better now—my muscles weren’t so tight, my skin not as irritated as it had been before I went into the sea. I could no longer feel the imaginary legs of hundreds of bugs scurrying all over me.

All I felt was Kyer’s arm across my shoulders, and his breath warm against my ear. I’ve never really seen you naked before, he whispered.

I let him roll me onto my back, and he climbed above me. He felt hard and unyielding in all the right places, but his lips were still as tender as always when he leaned down to claim a kiss. You do look good in a pair of wet panties, I teased. We could walk around in them the rest of the day, but what’ll keep those things from crawling on us again?

Our clothes didn’t do a good job of keeping them off in the first place, Kyer pointed out.

He raised himself up above me, hands planted on either side of my shoulders, but there was a sweet ache in my groin where his pressed against mine. When the waves rolled in, cool water runneled around us. When it retreated, I felt it take sand from beneath me, and each time, I sank a little deeper into the ground.

Only half-serious, Kyer asked, "What were those things, anyway?"

From the beach, someone answered, Sand fleas.

It was a girl’s voice, and it startled us. Pure reflex made Kyer roll off me in one direction while I rolled in the other. I pushed myself up on my elbows to see who had spoken.

She stood a few yards above where we had shed our clothing. From where I was, she looked younger than we were, tall and bony with a mop of wild brown hair frizzled by the sea and the sun. The wind blew the hair up from behind, creating a nimbus around her head.

I glanced at Kyer, who shrugged in response.

Suddenly the girl grimaced. Ew, are you guys doing it? she asked.

Kyer called out, Doing what?

She took a few steps closer and kicked my tunic where it rested in the sand. If you have to ask, then the answer is no. Why’d you sleep on the beach? The sand fleas will bite you alive.

Now she tells us, I muttered to Kyer.

Chapter 2

When I stood, I realized too late the water had turned my white underwear translucent. Not only that, sand gathered in the seat, dragging them down. I cupped the front of my crotch and glared at the girl, who watched us openly. Can you turn around or something? I asked.

It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, she grumbled, but she crossed her arms in front of her and turned her back to us.

Quickly, I hurried over to where my haversack lay on the sand. I had to brush more sand fleas off it, but the items inside appeared to be uninfested. I dug out a clean pair of underwear and stared at the girl to make sure she wouldn’t peek while I changed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kyer getting dressed, too. I really wished it was just the two of us on the beach. Then I could have watched him change, or even started something that might have ended up with us doing it, as the girl had asked so rudely.

But I didn’t dare take my eyes off her. Every now and then, she sort of turned her head to one side, as if flipping the hair out of her face, but I knew she was trying to sneak a look.

When I had switched out my wet underwear for a new pair, I snapped the waistband in place and glanced at Kyer. He had his pants on again, and was shaking the sand from his tunic to put it on, too. All right, I admitted grudgingly. You can turn back around.

She gave an exasperated sigh and swiveled on one heel. She saw Kyer, fully dressed now, and me still in my underwear, and a sardonic grin spread across her thin face. "You’re still half-naked. What, you want to do it with me now, or something?"

I grimaced at the thought and bent to pick up the clothes I had shucked off so unceremoniously a few moments earlier. Hell, no. Who are you, anyway?

"Who are you? she shot back. I’ve lived here all my life and have never seen either of you guys here before."

Is this your beach? Kyer asked.

She glared at him. "It isn’t yours."

His question had been a simple one, but she obviously chose to misinterpret it as a challenge. Calm down, I said, shaking my pants to make sure any lingering sand fleas were gone. We just came over the bridge last night and were too tired to walk any farther, okay? We aren’t looking to fight.

Over the bridge? She glanced behind her at the bridge in question, and I took the opportunity to pull on my pants without her watching. When she turned back around, her dark eyes were narrowed into suspicious slits. I don’t believe you.

I don’t really care, I said.

Kyer spoke up. It’s true. We broke the window in the Collection Center and escaped before the barrier came down to seal us in. Then we ran before the Overseer could send Officers after us.

You came from the island? Her eyes widened in surprise, and I could tell she was impressed in spite of herself. But no one lives there.

We call it the Colony, I told her. "And there are a lot of people who live on the other side of the monorail track. We thought no one lived here."

Wait a minute. She held up both hands as if to stop us. Old Faye says the place is haunted. Sometimes kids goad each other into seeing how far they can go down the bridge before they scare themselves silly and turn back, and I’ll have you know I hold the record, but no one’s been all the way to the other side. No one.

Kyer stepped forward, his chin jutting out in defiance. It was a look I had first seen on him when we faced off against the Overseer, and I had to admit, it was sexy. We have. That’s where we came from.

The girl smirked. Yeah, right. Like I’m going to believe a bunch of queer weirdos. Prove it.

Reaching into my haversack, I pulled out my console. Ever seen one of these?

With an insolent shrug, she said, So what? There are a million broken electronics scattered around the city. You could rig up anything and tell me it’s from some imaginary Colony. That isn’t proof.

I dug into the haversack again. This time, I pulled out a package of