The Last Book in the Universe Read Online Free Page B

years old. You’d have forgotten all about your sister.”
    â€œShut up!” I say, holding my hands to my ears. “Shut up!” But the stupid gummy won’t shut up; he’s trying to tell me something important even though I’m covering my ears and I don’t want to hear it and I don’t want to think about who I am or what’s wrong with me or why I’m out here at the edge of the Urb, at the edge of the known world, listening to some old mope who’s so crazy, he thinks about the future when everybody knows that the future doesn’t exist.
    â€œShut up!” I scream. “Shut up!” And then I’m running away, running as fast as my feet will take me, running until I can’t hear him anymore and the only word in my head is the word that never leaves, the word I hate the most, the word that means me.
    Spaz, spaz, spaz.

 
    Â 
    W HEN I FINALLY slow down I’m a long way from the stacks, in a part of the Urb I’ve never been before. Where the streets are narrow and dark and the buildings are so high, the sky disappears and it might as well be night, even in the daytime. A place like this, you stick to the shadows and try not to be seen, because if they don’t know you the locals will assume you’re enemy, and most of the time they’re right.
    A drumfire burns on each street corner, and I can see the enforcers warming their hands in the sooty orange flames. They’re the block guardians, armed with chetty blades and probably splat guns, too. They might know I’m almost down with the Bangers and they might not. They might cut my red and they might not. The “might” part will kill you, so I edge my way along, trying to blend into the concrete.
    I’m thinking, you mope, never go where you’re not known. It’s my own fault but I want to blame it on Ryter, for telling me things I don’t want to hear.
    This time I’m lucky. Nobody sees me. I creep away through the alleys, keeping to the darkest shadows, heart pounding so hard, my ears hurt. Barely breathing, moving as quiet as a whisper. Thinking, please let me get away, if I get away this time, I’ll never be stupid again.
    After what seems like forever I finally get to a place where I know the streets and they know me.
    I made it, this time.
    Back at the Crypts I’m ready to fall down on my foam and sleep, because being afraid makes you tired. But I never make it to the foam because someone is waiting inside my cube.
    As soon as I step through the door, a voice hisses, “Don’t move.”
    I can’t see who it is because the power is out again, but the voice in the dark sounds as scared as me.
    â€œWho is it?” I ask.
    â€œNobody,” whispers the voice. “A runner.”
    A runner. Runners carry messages between the latches, crossing from one gang area to the next, and they’re strictly forbidden. The gangs want to control everything, and that includes information. Because it’s so dangerous — get caught and you’re canceled — latch runners are highly paid, and that’s what bothers me: I don’t know anyone who could afford to send me a message by runner. Or anyone who’d want to, even if they could.
    â€œShut the door!” the voice urges me.
    I shut the door. The darkness is close and thick and makes me feel out of breath all over again.
    â€œShow me your face,” I demand, trying to sound brave.
    â€œNever,” says the voice. “Listen and listen well. I’m not here, we never met, understood? All I am is a message.”
    â€œWhat message?”
    The runner’s voice changes slightly, as he recites what he was sent to tell me. “I bring you news of home,” he begins.
    Already my heart is sinking because nobody knows better than me that all news is bad news. And this is the worst news there ever was.
    â€œYour sister lies close to death,” the runner tells