Naturals

By Tiffany Truitt

Ripped away from those she loves most, Tess is heartbroken as her small band of travelers reaches the Isolationist camp in the mysterious and barren Middlelands. Desperate to be reunited with James, the forbidden chosen one who stole her heart, she wants nothing to do with the rough Isolationists, who are without allegiance in the war between the Westerners and Easterners. But having their protection, especially for someone as powerful as Tess, may come at a cost.When James returns, Tess's world once again feels complete—until she discovers her sister, Louisa, has taken up her old post at Templeton, the dangerous chosen ones training center and the site of Tess's loss of innocence. Tess will do anything to protect her loved ones—but will the price be more than she can give? This second book in Tiffany Truitt's dystopian series is a thought-provoking, thrilling story that asks who the true enemy really is—the chosen ones who are different, or the naturals…who are just like us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Apr 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781620611487

Book preview

To Grandma Judy, Mema, my sister, and Mom—thank you for teaching me what the word strength means.

Prologue

I would fight.

I would rage.

I would do it for the girl who lived inside of me—

The girl taught all the wrong things growing up.

The girl who was never supposed to learn what it was to want.

Who was warned about lust, but not about love.

Who knew how to lose power, but wanted to gain it.

Who sought out the answers she needed to survive.

The girl who wouldn’t be damned by anyone.

Chapter One

Two days. That was all that separated my old life from my new one. Two days that we spent walking through the woods, each step taking us closer and closer to the new place I would call home—a community of Isolationists.

Isolationists. A word I had always been taught to fear.

And I was running to them.

Two days, nowhere near the Isolationist camp, and I was already in danger.

I could literally smell it.

The smell was familiar in the way that an idea you promised yourself never to think of again sneaks up on you in the darkest moments of the night—your palms begin to sweat, your stomach tightens, your skin prickles, every part of you unable to deny what you have tried so hard to repress.

It was the smell of death.

This was the stench that had almost knocked me over during my first day at Templeton, when I cleaned up the blood from where a defective chosen one had been murdered. It was my sister dying as she tried to produce life where none was meant to exist. It was the bodies of the young chosen ones I had helped bury, chosen ones Henry had aided in killing in the name of some war I hadn’t even realized was happening.

It was my life before I went on the run—the life I thought I left behind. But nothing stayed buried. The darkness always found a way to get back in.

McNair, the leader of the trio of Isolationists who had come to my rescue from Templeton, held up his hand and we all stopped. Henry and Robert, friends from my life back at the compound who had aided in my escape, instantly flanked my side and waited for whatever came next. McNair seemed older than the other two men who traveled with him, Eric and Jones, by a good twenty years. The men from the borderlands were built, evidence that living in the woods meant no longer sitting by while the work was done for you. This was quite different from the lives of the naturals who lived in the council-built and protected compounds. Forced to live in these communal buildings, naturals no longer worked or went to school. Any sense of purpose was taken away from us. We were to live and wait to die.

The council insisted it was for our own good, to protect us. But with the arrival of the chosen ones, genetically engineered superhumans created as a military force to fight the war and keep order, us naturals, those born of man and woman and not in a lab, had nothing to add to the new world that war and science had birthed.

The naturals were a generation of mankind that had been born and bred to be compliant, and despite sharing our natural status, these Isolationist men were already startlingly different than the people I grew up with. Their hair was shaggy and their beards unkempt. And while their clothes were dirty and worn, they didn’t carry themselves like some outcasts. They didn’t fit the definition created for them by the council—but then again, who did?

These men and women sought no government. When the war that tore my country apart came, tough decisions had to be made by the generations of naturals before me. Most of the survivors who lived in the western sector chose to move to the shanty towns protected by the strong arm of the council. In trade for the protection of the council, many of my people slowly gave up their rights. We couldn’t select the books we read or the music we listened to. Soon, we wouldn’t be able to decide where or how we lived.

It was for our own good, or so we were told.

According to the teachings of our government, it was our humanity, our weakness, that led to the war in the first place. We couldn’t be trusted not to put our own selfish wants before the good of our country, so we allowed the council to shut us away in compounds. We no longer made decisions for ourselves. We no longer made any decisions at all.

But not the Isolationists.

They fled into the wilds, places abandoned because many thought they were uninhabitable as a result of the damage they suffered during the fighting. These people weren’t pioneers but heathens, choosing to live in filth and sin rather than accept the protection of the government and its chosen ones.

They followed no laws. They answered to no one.

But here, traveling through the wild, they were gods. I saw it in every movement. These men were comfortable in the woods, a place all naturals were taught to fear. The council told us we couldn’t be protected, not in the chaotic bursts of dizzying varieties of greens and browns I’d only read about, so different from the cold grays of the world in which we lived. In these woods existed the men who wanted no council, men who couldn’t be trusted because they didn’t believe in anything at all.

And now they were my guides.

It had been two days since our run-in with the chosen ones. Two days since I said good-bye to my old life. Good-bye to my sister Louisa. Good-bye to James.

The council made sure they took everything from me.

I had been proclaimed a threat. When I’d gone in for my inspection, a rite of passage for all girls, they found that I could do what the others couldn’t—when, or if, I wanted to have children, I could. I wasn’t plagued by the illness that took so many, including my own sister.

This was another reason for the creation of the chosen ones. Because of the many years of bloodshed, the naturals lost millions to the war. This, combined with our women’s inability to produce, caused my people to come dangerously close to extinction.

So the council convinced us to allow them to create the chosen ones. Without a birth mother or father, these beings were designed and raised in laboratories. Once they turned thirteen, they were sent to training centers, where they were programmed and trained to despise the very people we were told they had been made to protect. Us. Naturals. Unlimited strength, artfully beautiful, and gifted with beyond-human powers, the chosen ones were the new generation for the council to mold into the perfect patriots.

They merely had to wait for my people to die out.

But I was proof my species could survive. The whole reason they created chosen ones was to replace my people’s depleting numbers, but if hope was allowed to exist, some proof that maybe our species wouldn’t die out, what could the council hold over our heads?

I still didn’t know why I could do what so many women around me could not, but I had made enemies because of it.

There were other reasons my government hated me, though.

They hated me because I’d fallen in love with a chosen one. James. Sentenced to serve time because my sister broke the rules against procreating, I met him while working at the training center, Templeton. And my whole world changed. I’d discovered the chosen ones weren’t something to fear. At least not all of them. Sure, they were more powerful than I could ever hope to be, at least physically, but they were human. James laughed and cried. He felt things. He wasn’t some creature created in a lab with no sense of self. He helped set me free.

They hated me because of the things I saw at Templeton. Girls abused because no one had taught them how to speak for themselves. The council killing chosen ones because the creators could simply create more. Realizing, if we let them, the council would take everything from us—including anything that made us human at all. They would do this for the greater good. But their definition of what that meant and mine never quite matched up.

They hated me because I was my father’s daughter. He fought for the resistance. He didn’t want this life for me, but his blood ran through my veins and his dreams lived inside my head. I had to fight, too.

They hated me because of who I was. The girl I fought so hard to discover. A girl who wanted more, even if the simple act of wanting anything at all left one vulnerable.

They tried to take my very life, but I ran. And no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t take my memories of James. I would hold on tightly to those for as long as I lived. I would remember how his fingers danced with mine across the keys of the piano during my early days at Templeton. The slight smile that graced his face as he learned my name, not to report me but because I intrigued him. The sound of his voice as we read books deemed forbidden to my kind.

The way he taught me desire. Taught me to want.

And in that way, a chosen one had taught a natural how to be human.

I would remember him as long as I lived, and I hoped that would be a long time.

With the exception of the heavy, tension-filled silence that trapped us like a cage during our journey, the adventure had been uneventful.

But this felt like trouble.

The odor slithered into my throat. I could taste it—sour, pungent, rotten. I tried to hold in the coughs, but the taste burned against my throat and my body wanted it out. I doubled over and choked on the ragged heaves that issued from me. Henry, my oldest friend, placed a comforting hand on my back. Like me, the council had wronged Henry. They had murdered his family for trying to escape when he was a child. So, when the time came to run, he didn’t hesitate to escape with me. I didn’t know if he ran because of his hatred of the council or because of his feelings for me.

I managed to look up at him; his face had gone white and his eyes were watering.

You don’t think… the man named Eric whispered.

McNair merely nodded, and Eric’s shoulders slumped. McNair ran a hand across his jaw, took a deep breath, and looked to Robert. This isn’t gonna be pretty, but I don’t see any way around it.

Robert, my brother-in-law, nodded. There was no hint of what they were discussing to be found on his face. He was stoic. In control. He was a chosen one, after all.

Do you think it’s a trap? he asked.

Tough to say. There’s a compound not a mile away. If it’s what I think it is, then they’re probably long gone—no need to protect the place anymore. We’ve been getting intel that this sort of thing had started going down.

A compound? This far out? I asked.

These outskirt compounds are much smaller. They deal with more specialized chosen ones, Robert replied.

Specialized? I don’t like the sound of that, I said under my breath to Henry.

What do you think? McNair asked the third Isolationist. I hadn’t heard the man named Jones speak once during the entire trip.

I didn’t blame him for his silence. He didn’t know me at all, and he was out in the woods risking his life for me. I wondered about the home lives of the Isolationist men. Their loved ones. Neither Robert nor Henry had much of anything back at the compound, but these men could have families waiting for them. Maybe it was thoughts of his people that kept Jones so quiet. Rescuing me, traveling into council lands the Isolationists were smart enough to flee from years ago, seemed like an awful big risk.

As I looked to Jones, I wanted him to have a family. I needed to believe they all had someone waiting for them on the other side of these woods—that they had something worth walking toward. Something beyond this space in time, beyond whatever horror awaited us. I already knew what I was leaving behind.

I had to believe I had chosen the better life.

Jones walked over to McNair and whispered in his ear. I wondered why he felt the need to be so secretive, but one look at the way his eyes darted toward Robert made it all clear—he didn’t trust him.

There was a part of me that could understand Jones’s mistrust. It wasn’t long ago that I didn’t trust Robert, either, but that had nothing to do with him being a chosen one. His betrayal came before I even knew what he was at all. When he had entered our compound and I sensed the way my sister, Emma, felt about him, Robert had promised me he would protect her. But she got pregnant and died. And for the longest time, I could only blame him. I didn’t understand what it was to love then; I only saw in their relationship manipulation and trickery.

But Robert had done quite a bit to aid in my rescue, and my feelings for him were muddled at best.

When Jones was done, McNair proceeded to tear a strip from his plaid shirt and hand it to me. Use this to cover your mouth and nose. It’s only going to get worse.

I took the cloth and pressed it to my face. Without wasting another moment, McNair started to walk and we followed suit. Even with the cloth, the smell grew stronger and stronger. Never in my life had I experienced anything so odious, so overwhelming in its control over my body. I was sure the stench would stay with me, creeping its way into my very pores. Even if I could forget these moments in the woods, the all-consuming feeling that I would never make it through them, I was certain the smell would linger on me forever.

And then I saw it. We came across the clearing so quickly that I didn’t have time to prepare myself, though that seemed to be a running theme in my life. It was a compound. That I recognized. But what sort of people lived so nestled in the woods? Yes, my compound had been surrounded, but not like this, not so deep inside the vast greenery, vainly hoping it could hide. No. This compound didn’t belong here.

Yet here it stood—a reminder there were still naturals alive and breathing, still existing. Maybe we didn’t have long as a people, but we were still here. Shouldn’t we be running away from this place? I asked, my heart quickening. A compound meant chosen ones, and that seemed like the last place any fugitive would want to be.

We’ve got nothing to fear here, child, McNair replied. Damage has already been done.

There, sir, Jones spoke up, pointing his finger to the horizon. Black smoke billowed against the gray of the overcast sky—a color that seemed forever connected to the lives of those forced to live in the compounds.

Henry strode toward the smoke without waiting for any of the rest of us, while McNair took a seat on the ground as if he were settling down for a picnic lunch. Maybe we should see what’s happening over there, I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound as shaky to their ears as it did to my own. As curious as I was about the cause of the smoke and the meaning behind McNair’s cryptic words, there was a part of me that recoiled from taking a single step forward.

I already know what happened. But I think it’s a good idea for you to go, he replied, looking at his gun rather than me when he spoke. During our first full day of travel, I had found it impossible not to stare at the outlawed weapon he carried so effortlessly. I’d never seen a natural armed besides the images the people who worked on the council’s propaganda sub-committee placed on television.

I tore my eyes away from the weapon and looked up at Robert. His face was still expressionless and he couldn’t meet my eyes. He’s right. You should follow Henry.

Neither Jones nor Eric made any attempt to budge, either. I took a deep breath and forced my legs to move. I couldn’t stand in that spot, frozen with fear of the unknown. I had spent a whole lifetime doing that, and it had done me no good. I passed the compound and wondered how a place filled with so many naturals could be so quiet, so still. The ground rolled slightly, and I pushed myself up the hill despite the continuous ache in my thighs.

As I reached the top of the hill, I spotted Henry’s back. He stood completely still, and he fixated me on that hill. The way the breeze stirred the hair on top of his head, how he almost seemed peaceful… I knew the minute I moved one inch forward, it would forever ruin that. Whatever he saw, I would see, too—another image I would never be able to erase from my mind.

The bodies. So many bodies.

Unlike the bodies of the chosen ones I’d helped bury, which had appeared to be sleeping rather than dead, these were not at peace. There had to have been dozens of them—children and elderly alike. No one had tried to protect the people who couldn’t save themselves. Fallen carelessly across the grass like a sea of wildflowers. The bodies were riddled with bullet holes crusted over in deep violet blood. One, that of a child who couldn’t have been older than five or six, had four wounds. Was one bullet not enough?

These were naturals, people the council claimed the chosen ones would protect. But someone had failed them. I wanted to cry, sob, wail for these people—people no one seemed to care about. These were my people, and I ached deep inside for what they’d had to suffer through.

They missed, Henry whispered.

I wanted to turn my head to look at him, but I couldn’t stop staring at the small child whose legs were covered by the bodies of an older woman and man. Were they his parents? Had they tried to protect him? Or were they merely two strangers thrown over him? Discarded like trash—exactly how the council saw us.

That’s why they shot him so many times. The first bullet must have hit him in the leg or maybe the arm. And he ran. He wanted to live, so they shot him till he was dead.

I momentarily wondered why Henry was speaking so quietly. We were the only living things around. I cleared my throat. Who shot them?

Strangely, I pondered what color eyes the boy had. Were his the same color as Henry’s, another boy who so desperately wanted to live? Henry had survived. He was here on this journey. He’d made the choice to travel with me, and even though I was still mad at him for keeping so many secrets, I clumsily reached my hand toward his, still keeping my eyes trained on the little boy. Henry’s hand found mine without much effort.

Chosen ones. McNair’s voice came from behind us. I could hear them, the rest of our crew. The mournful silence had been broken.

Why? I managed to squeak out, my throat painfully dry. I realized McNair had stayed back to give Henry and me time to discover the bodies on our own.

There are some things you have to see to believe.

The council is losing the war. The easterners are getting stronger by the day. You think your government has gone too far playing God? You should hear what the easterners have been rumored to be doing. Talk about abominations. They don’t have time to worry about naturals anymore.

But with guns? I thought the council outlawed them, I said.

Looks like they changed the rules. Surprised? McNair asked dryly.

Besides, it’s quick. Efficient. And, no doubt, caught them all by surprise, Eric added.

I felt a chill run down my spine. I had learned over the past couple of months that the chosen ones weren’t the monsters I had dreamed them to be, that their existence was more complicated than that. They were as much a product of the council’s propaganda as we naturals were. But I also saw what they were capable of, and I didn’t want to think of what the easterners were creating in their labs. If the council was reacting so quickly and harshly, they must have been petrified.

But why kill them? Why can’t they just be content to let the naturals die out? I asked, fearing I already knew the answer—we had and would always be expendable. Science had guaranteed that. I just didn’t want to believe it was the case.

The council doesn’t want to waste their resources. Why worry about naturals now that they are in complete control? Their lies about creating the chosen ones to protect us only needed to be carried out until they could build a new world, one where they would never be questioned. They’ll start with compounds like these near the boundaries between territories held by the Isolationists and easterners. And then they’ll destroy them all, Robert said, coming to stand next to

Reviews for Naturals

[punkfarie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My Rating – 3 Stars*I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley on behalf of Entangled Teen*This review will contain spoilers for the first book in the series, Chosen Ones. You can go here to read my review for the Chosen Ones.Tess, with the help of the rebels, her Chosen One boyfriend James, her childhood friend Henry, and her brother-in-law Robert has escaped the Council. Tess is one of the few women in the world that can reproduce. That makes her valuable to the rebels and dangerous to the council.She’s forced to leave James behind and half of the rebel community hates her because she had a relationship with a Chosen One or what they call an “abnorm”. She does make a few friends, McNair, one of the rebels who traveled with her, Sharon an older woman that’s also able to produce children, and Lockwood, a teenage boy she’s been assigned to work with.Lockwood is extremely likeable. He’s a bit of a loner but is full of witty one liners. Sharon is a leader and also something of a broodmare. She is the only woman in the colony that can reproduce and let’s just say…she has.Most of the book is her and Henry adjusting to her their new life. The rebel community does not them well, in fact at one time, they dump shit on her. (literally. shit.) And her worrying about the younger sister she treated like crap for most of the first book and then abandoned. And plotting how to get her back.I still find the basic plot very interesting. Though it still is not explained why women can no longer have children, it is hinted that the Council had something to do with it and it started long before the war and the council taking over. Which makes me wonder the backstory of the war, I mean deeper than the one Tess gives.However….The summary gives away part of the plot twist and most of the events in the summary don’t happen until the last 20% of the book. Tess is twice as bratty and whiney. Within a few days of her and James being separated, she is looking at Henry’s lip and “missing being kissed.” The LOVE OF YOUR LIFE has only been gone a few days and you’re already like “damn…I need some dick…” Ugh.She totally uses Henry and I hate that. Henry ain’t exactly perfect either and he definitely pulls some bullshit but Tess just uses him and tosses him aside. (Reminds me of another popular young adult series…..)Another issue I have is the rebels only saved Tess because they thought she would take over for Sharon trying to repopulate the Earth with Naturals. I find that deeply disturbing.There are a few other plot holey-things that bother me like her mother’s alcoholism and the fact that the Council only creates male Chosen Ones. But a huge plot twist at the very end of the book will probably make me pick up the next book.It’s not all that bad for a quick beach read but I wouldn’t invest much into the series.Read this review and more at Punk's House of Books

[jeneaw-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After finishing Chosen Ones, I was antsy to start this. It wasn’t hard to fall for Tess and James, their connection and love was something I enjoyed so much in the first book. After learning a lot about the world the Chosen Ones live in, it was nice to learn about the Naturals, their beliefs and ways of life.

Tess is still trying to find a home with the isolationist’s, which hasn’t been easy for her. She has learned something about her self that isn’t east to deal with and not just that but what the isolationist’s want from her. Tess is finally starting to rebuild her friendship with Henry. I think Tess has come a long way from the confused and angry girl from before, she is determined and much stronger. Henry was a different story, seeing just how broken he was heart breaking, he hold such hatred for the world they live in. I couldn’t help but to feel for him. We don’t really see much of James until later inn the book, and that is right about the time when everything hits the fan. But their time together was still sweet even with the world around them being in chaos.

The world building was wonderful, the isolationist’s camp is a rough environment, and all of them work so hard for everything, their food, their water, and showers. Their living arrangements weren’t much better. This is a world that I couldn’t imagine myself living in, but the way it was described was so vivid, and disturbing at the same time. And it was easy to see why these people have such tough shells when it came to their personalities. Tess is still trying to figure out who to trust, and when you think you know who the enemies are, the twists that take place changes things.

The things about this that stood out for me was the character development, Tess and Henry, and even Robert was remarkable, and the plot just thicken with each page. But the jaw dropping ending was the one thing I didn’t see coming, and left me dumbfounded. I don’t think the installment is going to come soon enough. This is a fabulous series, with forbidden romance, a world that is both frightening and intriguing. The Lost Souls series is not one to be missed.

[ahandfulofconfetti · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed Chosen Ones, but can easily say that Naturals is better. You can certainly tell that this is Ms. Truitt's second book. The plotting and pacing are better, and the characters more relatable. I found Tess, especially, to be extremely strong in this installment. She was much more willing to confront her feelings and think about how her upbringing impacted her. I liked her strength of character and her conviction that what she was doing was right. For me, the main draw of this book is Tess, and I was really pleased to see her growth.I also liked that this book helped further establish the dystopian world used in this series. Tess is away from the compound, out in the so-called "wilds", and you really got a better sense of what the world was like through her journey to the Isolationists' camp. It was interesting to see the stark contrast between compound life and the life these people chose to live away from everyone. It was very much reminiscent of the pioneers' journey out west back in the early days of the United States, when food was not in abundance and everything had to be gained through physical work of some sort. Since Tess was "pampered" for most of her life, she finds the transition difficult, and I found her journey to be extremely realistic and well done."I can't help but wonder if there has ever been a place where freedom truly existed. I think freedom is what mankind fears most in the world. When you're free, you can't blame anyone or anything for who you become." - 81%This book is much more action-packed, even though a large portion of it is taken up by Tess' learning to fend for herself and work to keep herself and the community alive and thriving. Even though she is supposedly safe, there is a definite sense of threat underlying everything, and this is ratcheted up when she becomes ill. I was really pleased that we got to see James again, even though Henry's actions leading up to their reunion really rubbed me the wrong way. He is such an angry character, and while I suppose some of it is warranted, I can't get behind his actions or thoughts, and really found myself not liking him at all. Like the contrast between Tess' previous life and the one at the camp, James and Henry are so different from each other. I like that James really seems to respect Tess' decisions and is willing to let her lead, whereas Henry wants to be the one in control and do what he feels is best for her, regardless of her feelings on the subject. I will be interested to see how their relationship progresses with the events at the end of the book.Naturals is a much faster read than its predecessor. Tess is more likable, and the reader is really able to get inside her head and understand her feelings and where she's coming from. I loved seeing her personal growth, and can only hope that continues, even with the reveal at the end. I like how she still struggles to not be the girl the Council turned her into, and the steps she's taking to ensure she lives her life according to her own rules. If you liked Chosen Ones, you definitely need to pick up Naturals, as it is an extremely solid continuation of the series. Just be forewarned that the ending will leave you extremely anxious and impatient for the as-yet-unnamed final installment!An e-galley was provided by the publisher for blog tour purposes.

[alwaysyaatheart · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Naturals picks up where Chosen Ones leaves off. Tess, Henry, and Robert are making their way to the Isolationalist Camp, after Tess sadly and reluctantly has to leave James behind. Breaking free from a world where a government indoctrinated belief system has taught that humanity, or Naturals, were a weakness, especially the women, resulting in the creation of the Chosen Ones, a superior race designed to rule and protect. The Isolationalist did not live by these rules, and because of Tess' unique ability to be able to have children, she had been granted help from this group. Tess soon finds that she has to work really hard to prove herself to those in the Isolationalist camp. She also discovers a whole new kind of prejudice against her, and even more so against Robert, even though he is working to help them. She and Henry draw closer in their relationship, especially when Tess thinks she will never see James again, but Henry isn't quite honest about everything. They face a whole new set of issues and have to learn to adapt to a different lifestyle, culture, and way of doing things, facing danger from within the compound and without. Then, when James returns with news that Louisa, Tess' sister, is now serving at Templeton in her place, things get even more complicated, and culminate in something no one sees coming. I enjoyed this second installment in The Lost Souls Series. I liked watching Tess's character grow and adapt. We get to see a lot more of Henry in this book, but I have to say that I am team James all the way and missed him not being in a big part of the book, though he does show up towards the end. I am rooting for James and Tess to find a way to be together, and the last few chapters of the book ended up being the most exciting. I also enjoyed getting to know Lockwood, who ends up being a really good friend to Tess. The ending was something I did not see coming and is a bit of a cliffhanger that has left me dying to know where the story will go from here. There are many surprises, twists, and turns in Naturals. If you enjoy dystopian novels coupled with science fiction, as well as romance, danger, and a little mystery, then The Lost Souls series is something you may want to check out. I enjoyed Naturals, and I a looking forward to the next installment.