The Host Prologue Chapter 10 Part 11
CHAPTER 10 Turned The electric bell rang, announcing another visitor to the convenience store. I started guiltily and ducked my head behind the shelf of goods we were examining. Stop acting like a criminal, Melanie advised. I'm not acting, I replied tersely. The palms of my hands felt cold under a thin sheen of sweat, though the small room was quite hot. The wide windows let in too much sun for the loud and laboring air-conditioning unit to keep up. Which one? I demanded. The bigger one, she told me. I grabbed the larger pack of the two available, a canvas sling that looked well able to hold more than I could carry. Then I walked around the corner to where the bottled water was shelved. We can carry three gallons, she decided. That gives us three days to find them. I took a deep breath, trying to tell myself that I wasn't going along with this. I was simply trying to get more coordinates from her, that was all. When I had the whole story, I would find someone–a different Seeker, maybe, one less re…