Align Ourselves

Adrianna Schuh

Copyright © 2021 Adrianna Schuh

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Cover design by: Marilia Marino

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Align Ourselves

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

About The Author

Books By This Author

To all the romance authors. You inspire me.

“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”

- Sophocles

Align Ourselves

Chapter 1

Aria blinked into the bright light of day and stared into the face of a man she assumed was the leader of these people. His face was harsh, his eyes dark and cold. She knew she would find no sympathy with him.

“Are you the leader?" he asked. His face had a hard look to it. Like he had seen one too many difficult things in life.

Aria nodded, almost afraid to admit it. At only 18 years old, so much responsibility had been placed on her shoulders.

Twenty-five of them came up together. Up from their home underground, where their people had lived for 100 years. War, devastation, and radiation. This is why they’d fled. This is what they had prepared for, a safe home underground. With all the technology, they could manage to save. But now, they were running out of food, no longer able to sustain their life underground. So her people sent them. A group of young adults, kids really Because they were “non-essential.”

In an area of what used to be the Midwestern United States, they ventured out to see what was left of the Earth. And they found people. They found people that had somehow survived and were not receptive to strangers showing up on their land.

The Terra they called themselves, people of the Earth. And they did not want to listen. They didn’t let Aria explain the history of her people, that they had survived below the ground, and that she and the 24 others were forced to go up, explore, and report back. There was little time to marvel over being above the ground for the first time. Little time to admire the clear blue sky and the beautiful trees. Little time to relish the sun on their faces and the wind in their hair.

Instead, the Terra captured them, holding them prisoner for what seemed like an endless amount of time. All 25 of them were forced into a small dirty room. They were given only bread and water to subsist on while the Terra decided what to do with them. Aria tried to keep track of the days by marking the walls; by the time the Terra had decided, 14 days had come and gone.

She wasn’t sure how it happened, but over time the other 24 people began looking to her when trying to figure out what to do. Maybe because she was always trying to make sure everyone else was OK. Perhaps it was because of who she used to be below the ground. She’d been a teacher’s assistant, so many people knew her face. They trusted her.

"And what is your name,” the man asked, sounding bored.

“Aria.”

The man nodded in acknowledgment.

"What will you do with us," she asked. If they were going to kill them, she’d rather they just get it over with.

“I, along with my people, have made a deal with the leader of another group far from here. You are part of that deal.”

Relief washed over Aria. And she could sense some of the tension, leaving her friends. But she noted that the Terra looked smug. As if they were playing some cruel joke. And perhaps they were, But Aria had no way of knowing for sure.

"Do not look so relieved, Aria," the man said, narrowing his eyes. "The way you have been treated here will seem like paradise compared to where you are going."

Aria felt her stomach drop. Her friends murmured in confusion.

"You and your people are going to wish that we had killed you, here and now. That we had taken pity on you. You and your friends are being taken to Pembera."

With that, the man signaled some of his people to grab Aria and her friends. Their hands are bound in front of their bodies, but they are otherwise unrestricted.

That is when they begin to walk.

They walk and walk until their bodies ache and their feet bleed. But at least they are given food and water, allowed to rest. But Aria and her friends weren't used to this much physical exertion. That, combined with the small amount of food and water they had received on a daily basis, wore them down—even the strongest among them.

They had spent their life underground, with no natural light and minimal physical activity. They weren't hardened criminals, just petty thieves and rule breakers, young kids wanting to have a little fun. Nothing could have prepared them for this.

They'd sleep outside, no matter the weather. Some nights were even peaceful. But that peace would be washed away at daybreak when they started walking again.

As they walked, the forest became sparse, the heat unbearable. And the Terra, they became less forgiving the slower Aria and her people moved. The food

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