The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series) - Katie Baker - Wattpad

The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series)

Reads 3,366,915
Votes 164,374
Parts 47
Time 9h 45m

Wattys winner

Reads 3,366,915
Votes 164,374
Parts 47
Time 9h 45m

Wattys winner

The world as we know it ended 209 years ago. 

From a desert wasteland springs a single kingdom, ruled by a tyrannical King and trapped in an endless war against the shadowy desert warriors. As a desperate bid to save what remains of humanity, society has been split into two distinct classes, nicknamed the Court and the Commons.

For an oppressed population on the brink of revolution, a common thief could be the last hope.

Up until now, Kay has survived by her wits alone. Reckless and impulsive, wanted by the King's guard, Kay has become known as the Runner. Using the city's rooftops as her personal domain, she manages to keep one step ahead of the King with one hand buried in the purses of the courtiers.

Driven by the plight of the commoners and the unjust death of her family, Kay seizes the chance to graduate from small-time thievery to full-scale rebellion. Her opportunity comes in the form of Will, a wealthy ex-soldier with a dark past.

Plucked from the streets and thrown into the shimmering palace court, Kay must use her every strength to blend into a world where she doesn't belong, closer to the enemy than she ever thought she would be.All Rights Reserved

Table of contents

47 parts

Sign up to add The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series) to your library and receive updates

or

Content Guidelines

You may also like

The Black Order by bob-steve

Kyle's killed many, too many. He's killed for The Black Order. but he's not loyal to them, he's simply biding him time. He's waiting for the right time to strike back, and get revenge on his father for killing his mother. Gwen moves from town to town running from The Black Order, the organisation that ruined her life, and also gave her tremendous speed. But she can't run forever.... When tragedy strikes, Kyle and Gwen-two vastly different individuals-must choose: will they run or hide? Will they remain in the shadows, or rise up and take a stand?

The Island by AmyJohnson895

"This is The Island, a prison designed for minors like me- too young to be executed, too old to be reformed, and too much of a stain on humanity to let exist. It was 'the answer' to the growing crime rate resulting from a world that was falling apart. The details evade me, but there is one thing I know. The water doesn't seem as scary as it did before." When Jordyn wakes up in the middle of a tropical forest in the mouth of a cat too big to be real, she decides this isn't how she wants to die. The Island has other plans, though. It was designed to kill her, and it will bring out every gun in the arsenal to do so. Her life becomes a game of survival from the mutant and venomous animals, severe temperature changes, and impossible weather scenarios that exist in this government manufactured prison. The twist? She has no idea who she is, where she came from, or why she committed first-degree arson. In this mixture of "The Hunger Games" and "Maze Runner", Jordyn has to unravel the truth before nature kills her- or die not knowing. Highest Ranking: #45 in Science Fiction **2nd Place Winner of the 2017 Rose Awards** **Featured as a Wattpad Pick on 11/8/19**

Earth, After ✔️ by talia-v

Some fates are worse than death--survival is one of them. In the two hundred years since humanity left the Earth's surface to live in the sky, life on the ground faded to a myth, a tragic memory from which they severed themselves to survive. They floated above continents turned to sand and lands swallowed by the seas, watched storm after storm rage against their cities and their monuments until they broke apart the last vestiges of civilization in penance for generations of human greed. As a lightning harvester charged with flying her ship into these storms for energy, Raina has seen more of the planet than most. She has spent her entire life soaring above its craters and scars, studying the gaping wounds of human devastation, as she honed her skills and became the youngest captain in storm-chaser history. Her ship has flown for generations. Her skills are unparalleled. But none of that matters the day they go down. ~ Praise for Earth, After: "I'm so not ready for this ending. I will reread this for sure. It's honestly my favourite work on wattpad ever, and among my best reads in general, it's insane. I love your creativity!" "Sometimes tearing my eyes away from the page is torture. Gosh...!!!!" "This is literally a movie - the images are so clear!" "oh my god... it has been such a long adventure [...] Youve dried up your surviving characters until the very last drop before giving the end, and my, Im speechless. Out of this world." ~ Highest rank: #17 in Adventure 25/08/19 #21 in Science Fiction 16/11/19 #24 in Action 01/01/20 Trident Awards Winner Trident Awards Judges' Favourite Award The Aurora Awards 1st Place in Science Fiction Wattpad Chronicle monthly feature April 2020

Human Untouched: Requiem of the State (Sequel to Human Untouched) by SydCarv

Terra, allied with the State, discovers her parents were executed as Rebels. Hunting whoever betrayed them, she goes to war with the State - and the Rebellion. ***** Terra left the Rebellion. She cut ties and devoted herself to the State, all to gain her freedom. But when she's released from prison, Terra discovers her parents were executed as rebels while she was inside. Someone framed them. Someone who knew her well. Determined to avenge her parents' death, Terra carves a swath through both the Rebellion and the State. She has to contact old friends, avoid the people trying to follow her, and stay one step ahead of her opponents within this conspiracy. The Angel of Death won't rest until she knows the truth... And kills whoever betrayed her. (Sequel to Human Untouched.) [[Word count: 350,000-400,000 words]]

Walking the Ruins by RainerSalt

[Featured Wattpad Story] A girl cast into the future, navigating a dystopian wilderness with her friends. Leona and some friends are hiking in the rain, on a school excursion. She would prefer to be elsewhere. Suddenly, nausea takes hold of her. Then everything turns dark, and a clapping noise rips her world apart. They awake in the future. In an abandoned land of deserted, overgrown ruins, they have to fight for their lives. On her way through the wilderness, Leona discovers the bitter taste of pain, loneliness, and defeat. And when she finally finds other survivors, they are not what she expected. Genre: Somewhere between Science-Fiction and Adventure, and somewhere between Robinson Crusoe and The Hunger Games. Winner in the category "Post-Apocalyptic" of the Ooorahs! 2017 #1 in Science Fiction in September 2018

Alliance by BEWheeler

Mel had a few goals in life. Nothing too crazy. Finish school, which she did. Continue the fishery with Dad, which she was doing. Someday she would settle down and build a family. Her plan was simple. Her life was simple. Then it was not. Rebels from the Wasteland had threatened the United Regions for months. People said the rebels wanted to find vengeance over their loss from the Rebel Uprising War twenty-five years before. Mel didn't take the threats and warnings of the rebels until she came face to face with one. One night, with her childhood home up in flames she learns new truths about her father. Her simple life dream is burnt to a crisp, which forces Mel to rethink everything. With no other option, Mel joins the Alliance, a specialized military branch of the King's Army. Alongside her mentor, Ben, and her fellow cadets, Mel must navigate a new world and create a new life. A life that would not be simple. Nor a life that Mel wanted. Welcome to the Alliance.

shiver (FEATURED) | ✓ by stardust24601

**CURRENTLY A FEATURED STORY** highest ranking: #11 in Science fiction ❝true happiness is only achieved without freedom. There is a girl who wakes to a world that she was supposed to protect. Instead, she fights it. There is a man who is cursed with the ability to dream. A glass city is their cage, a city filled to the brim with unanimity and order, a paradise on an earth laid to waste by an artificial snowstorm. Sunlight filters through the glass buildings and through glass walls, pierces glass floors. It illuminates the city square when it is strongest at noon, surrounded by a huddled mass of citizens, all as perfect as the city they inhabit. And they all think: everything is as it should be. And it is. Or, it was. -- long live perfection.❞ (c)sarahgaier2016 #diverselit | #LoveEqualsLove | #helpfightcliches | #freethelgbtq | #badassreads check out my Science Fiction novella, Sector-33, here! https://www.wattpad.com/story/62174094-sector-33

Liberation (Remnants of Men) by achilles22

When seventeen year-old Runner was sentenced to death for stealing a loaf of bread in MegaCity One, his dreams were literally at an end. But then he opts to sign up for the Remnants of Men, a government sanctioned search for a rumoured fresh water lake beyond a radiated wasteland. At first, it seemed like a second chance to a new life, the transformation from zero to hero. But after an encounter with a rabid gang of men suffering an acute insanity, he soon comes to understand that he is one of many discarded into the wasteland to study the cannibalistic effects of a new drug called the Sixth Sense. Olivia Patterson has had one too many doses of the Sixth Sense and owes a massive debt to a shadowy rebel and loan shark called Death-Throe. Being the daughter of the City's dictator, she knows too well that the gallows awaits any who associates with the rebel. In an attempt to free herself, she acquires an asset in the form of Runner and finds herself always at the edge, for if he survives it means freedom for both, but if he dies...

The Rain (Part III of the Runner Series) by so1tgoes

The conclusion of The Runner series. ================================== Half a year has passed since the fall of Babel. In that time, tales of the Runner have drifted from truth into legend. There are stories of a thief who toppled an empire, whispers about a hero who sacrificed everything to free us from the iron grip of a madwoman. They say that the Runner is broken. They say that she is fearless. They say that no enemy stands a chance against her unstoppable army of warriors. They say that she fights because her veins run red with rebellion, but I know better. She fights because she has nothing left to lose.

I Hate Football Players 2 (under editing) by still_just_me

Finding relationships is easy... Keeping them is the real game. That's what I'm learning in my first one. It's not easy. Our rival schools are an hour apart, my best friend's turning secretive, my parents are controlling, and my brother's still an ass, gearing toward winning the state championship, and still doesn't like my boyfriend, Logan. I get it, they're rivals, and I kinda feel like Logan's team might be better but this season will decide. Being the star rival quarterback's girlfriend brings big rumors and big drama, especially when elements of our pasts resurface - his jaded ex whatevers, and the secrets I thought I'd buried and moved beyond. All of this while I just want to figure out where to go for college and what for. Some relationships will always stand the test of time and distance, while others crumble by the time the high school dust settles. I hope Logan and I are in the former because I'm falling hard for him. Really hard. Forever love hard. Story is ongoing with frequent updates. Please add it to your reading list! Note: Mature language and some chapters have mature content. To follow Wattpad's under-18 contents guidelines, the impacted scenes are all fade-to-black. highest ranks: #1 - teendrama #1 - teenfictionromance #2 - california #2 - youngadultromance #4 - senior #36 - fiction link to story 1: https://www.wattpad.com/story/223823599-i-hate-football-players and the next one: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/265825663-i-hate-football-players-3

The Invasion by Kim_Knights

The coasts have always been peaceful, until the waters revolt against the land. In 2047, long-term marine pollution alters the genetics of aquatic organisms, turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. The Loch Ness, the Krakens... these mythical beings have become a reality. They leave the seas one day to ravage the land and prey on humans. Delia is a normal high schooler, until she witnesses the death of her schoolmates and finds herself thrown into a world of bloodshed and terror. While escaping from the creatures, she finds herself stuck in a shelter full of strangers, but how long can they stay safe before danger comes knocking on their door? As Delia faces troubles at every turn, she soon realizes that she can't hide her deepest secret forever, especially not after a creature saves her. How long can she fight for her survival as she watches the world perish before her eyes? Content Warning: The story contains some gore, suicide, violence and dark themes. Completed: 28/9/2022 (Word count: 80,000 - 90,000) Highest ranking: #2 in Horror #1 in Suspence #3 in Teen Fiction #30 in Romance ========================================== Copyright © 2021-2023 by Kim_Knights

Killer Empire by twelvewonderingstars

= a wattpad featured story (14102017) = After she was kidnapped to a foreign land, Devora Evans found herself rescued by a questionable team claiming to be spies working for the government. However, she soon found out that the term "spies" was much too vague for the actual work they carried out. Devora was then given the choice to either join their corporation or face the barrel of a gun. With nowhere else to run, she joined what she soon found out was one of the top-secret assassin facilities across the country. The only lesson available in such a place was to learn to kill or be prepared to be killed. In an empire of killers, the strong preyed on the weak. Devora would have to toughen up as soon as possible if she wished to survive in this web of deceit. The only question left was: Can she pull the trigger? ***** Highest Rank Action: #3 Highest Rank Teen Fiction: #105

Don't Let Go ✔ (Editing) by _Little_Infinity__

Gosh, I'm so pathetic. I feel like I relate everything happening to me, back to Cody. It's probably because he and I were always together. But I really should stop. Cody left me. Why am I so hung up on him? I should move on, right? I should find another guy to love unconditionally... or maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should just be a slut. Why should I even have any feelings for anyone? Wouldn't it just make complete sense to fuck around? That was no one could break my heart or hurt me. I'd be perfectly fine after, right? ~ After suddenly losing his boyfriend to soccer, Ethan finds that the perfect solution is to fuck around and do what he pleases. He no longer wants to cry over someone who obviously doesn't care about him. However, all of this quickly changes when he meets a patient at a hospital he volunteers, who goes by the name of Ashton - who happens to be straight and also dying. After their first encounter, they become perfect friends, and the obvious f-boy begins to develop feelings for the obvious straight boy. Can Ethan break down his 'straight' walls and have him as more than a friend all before it's too late? It's all up to fate, right? Highest Rank - #3 in #FreeThelgbtq

Counterfeit by Hakuna

WINNER OF THE @WATTPADSERIES 'SERIES-OSLY GOOD READ' COMPETITION!!! - NO HUMAN CONTACT. EVER. In order to survive , this was the rule Pip had to follow. Why? Because human contact was a death sentence. Completely fatal. So why did the distant, impassive new guard tell her to break it? And more importantly... Why did she do it? - COMPLETED. Dystopian trilogy. Story began on June 10th, 2017. Story finished on June 5th 2018. Highest ranking : #67 in Science-Fiction - Reviews - ❝Maze Runner vibes. I love this. ❞ - @HonestlyJess ❝THIS IS OFFICIALLY MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOK. ❞ - @-BellsBlake ❝This is a really good story that makes you want to read more and more. I don't think I could have come up with an idea like this, characters like this, names like this.❞ - @Zero_Days - FEATURING A DIVERSE CASTING - In loving memory of Zamora, who inspired me beyond comprehension. Your short life was a story of faith and a testimony to the power of love, and I hope I can be as brave as you one day. You taught me what death feels like, but you taught me how to live in spite of it. This is for you.

No Dogs Allowed by anasianamateur

[EDITED] [NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE & PAPERBACK!] [2023 WATTYS SHORTLIST🎉] [@Wattpad Reading Radar Feature✨] [@Wattpad Valiant Heroes Feature✨] [@WattpadAsianFantasy 2024 Winter Catalogue Cultivation Month Feature✨] The secret to success? A good set of tires, and a hell of a vendetta. ________ Echo Yun is a square racing prodigy, a collegian newbie, and 10.5 million dollars in debt. But it's the first two that will be the one to save him from the third. When Echo gets a second chance to take back his life through open recruitment of the university's most prestigious racing team, a team that could take him straight to the greatest - and most lucrative - racing championship of the century, he takes it in a heartbeat. But with his past at his heels, a sport of ruthless nature, a social ranking working against him, and a team of elite racers turning everything he's known about his world on its head, Echo is forced to come face to face with the dark price of what true victory will really cost him. And just how far he's willing to go to pay it. The race begins. Winner takes all. [COMPLETED] [#1 in BLOOD AND GORE] [#5 in ACTION-ROMANCE] [#6 in WEREWOLF] [#13 in DARK HUMOR]

The Killer Fix by CharlieOakree

**Featured on Wattpad's official YAMystery page!** **Previously featured on Wattpad's official StoriesUndiscovered page!** "The satisfied look on his face, grinning as he leans forward, observing her, tells Riley exactly what she had expected; arrogance. He's won, and he knows it." ____________________________________________ When Carrie Clemens disappears her family is left in a panic. Then suddenly she resurfaces two days later, with no recollection of what happened to her. Or any other memories for that matter. Her younger sister Riley, angry and desperate as the police prove useless, decides to take matters into her own hands. But now she is forced to return to a life she ran away from, and face an old love she had left behind. Soon she realizes her sister's abductor is now targeting her. And with secrets from her past weighing on her, will she be able to fend off both a guilty conscience and a psychotic killer? Beginning the hunt for her mysterious new adversary, while navigating through the toxic environment of drugs and money her friends call home, she finds aid in someone she never thought she'd see alive again. And risks falling for a dangerous man on his way down a dark road. In her search for the truth, she has no idea the answers she'll find will change her life forever. Until it's too late to turn back. A story about chasing killers, substance abuse, dysfunctional families, life changing secrets, and love under unexpected circumstances. *********************************** Achievements: 🥇 1st Place in The Lotus Awards 🥉 3rd Place in The Mono Four Awards 🥉 3rd Place in The Dark Nova Awards 🥉 3rd Place in The Cherry Blossom Awards 🥉 3rd Place in The Wings Of Ignis Awards 🥉 3rd Place in The Siren Awards All 20 parts released, story completed. Amazing cover created by @vertigo_moon, check out her graphic shop Midnight!

The Wastelands (Part II of the Runner Series) by so1tgoes

Part 2 of The Runner series. ================================== The Runner's Rebellion was only the beginning. Tensions run high as the City struggles to repair itself after a civil war. Intacts and Fragments fight to find themselves a place in the new order amid whispers of a Queen being unfit to rule. The delicate balance will be upset when a new evil threatens the City, this time from outside it's walls. The war with the Wastelanders has finally begun. Kay and her friends are rebels transitioning into leaders. Tasked with keeping the City safe from war means forming an alliance with the enemy and going back into dangerous territory. Back into the Wastelands, into the desert where it all began.

Daughter of Zeus ✔ by Red_Harvey

Ada, a cashier in a consumer-tech dystopia, uses electro-pulse capabilities on a revenge mission against her father. Along the way, she hopes to discover the source of her power. Ada's life changes with her new abilities. She blames her father for her husband's death, and fears being discovered by the Prominent-run State. Unusual citizens are labeled N.A., never to be seen again. Yet, Ada has little to lose when her mother lands in the hospital and needs money for a new synth. She drives to Atlanta, intent on finding her father and making him pay. However, he's no longer the alcoholic she remembers. Moretz has transformed into a Congressman with a family and a new name, ready for a Senator's seat. Ada's scheme lands her on the N.A. list, leads a stranger to stalk her, and stunts her relationship with her newfound siblings. Soon, she has to decide which is more important: a vendetta, or forgiveness. *August 2023- WP Superhero Summer Reading List *July 2022 WP Summer Heroes Reading List *2021 Wattys Shortlist *July/August 2021 Editor's Pick* *Oct. 2021 WP Reading Radar List*

The Freaks by DanielEvans01

After a disaster strikes the earth, teenagers are all that survive. But they develop strange and dangerous abilities that brand them as monsters. They're nicknamed the Freaks. Luca's a Freak like no other. When he turns eighteen, he's sentenced to death by a government sent from space, known as the Soldiers, to wipe the earth of the teens and start new, but the Freaks don't allow that. Luca is saved from execution by Freaks who bring him to safety, and there he finds not only food and shelter, but more like him surviving, when he thought they had all died. He's immediately given a task by the mysterious leader of the Freaks, and he's faced with two options: should he sit back and watch as his own are captured and killed by the enemy he's dealt with before, or should he risk everything - even his own life - to save them all?

You may also like

Slide 1 of 19

The Black Order cover

The Island cover

Earth, After ✔️ cover

Human Untouched: Requiem of the State (Sequel to Human Untouched) cover

Walking the Ruins cover

shiver (FEATURED) | ✓ cover

Liberation (Remnants of Men) cover

The Rain (Part III of the Runner Series) cover

I Hate Football Players 2 (under editing) cover

The Invasion cover

Killer Empire cover

Don't Let Go ✔ (Editing) cover

Counterfeit cover

No Dogs Allowed cover

The Killer Fix cover

The Wastelands (Part II of the Runner Series) cover

Daughter of Zeus ✔ cover

The Freaks cover

The Black Order

Kyle's killed many, too many. He's killed for The Black Order. but he's not loyal to them, he's simply biding him time. He's waiting for the right time to strike back, and get revenge on his father for killing his mother. Gwen moves from town to town running from The Black Order, the organisation that ruined her life, and also gave her tremendous speed. But she can't run forever.... When tragedy strikes, Kyle and Gwen-two vastly different individuals-must choose: will they run or hide? Will they remain in the shadows, or rise up and take a stand?