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PART I
COME AS YOU WERE
THE EPIDEMIC
Over the last four years, suicide has reached epide one in three teens
But new studies have shown the incidence of suicide in adults has suddenly risen, debunking the myth that childhood vaccinations or overuse of antidepressants is the cause
While The Program has been the only method of prevention, its scope is limited But in reaction to the spread of the epidemic, officials have enacted a ne to take effect later this year
All teens under the age of eighteen will undergo behavior ram Like any inoculation, the hope is to eradicate the disease froh a cora its patients
Information about theis certain: The Progra
—Reported by Kellan Thomas
Chapter One
JAMES STARES STRAIGHT AHEAD, WITH NO IMMEDIATE
reaction to what I’ve just told hiaze out the windshield to the ehway The building is abandoned, plywood covering the s, black graffiti tagged on the white siding In a way, James and I have been abandoned too, our former selves boarded up and locked ahile the world e, follow the rules Instead we broke all of them
The streetlight above us flickers out as the sun, still below the ins to illu, and I knoe’ll have to move soon if ant to stay ahead of the roadblocks We’d barely beat the one at the Idaho border, and now there’s an Amber Alert issued for our safe return
Right Because The Program is just concerned with our safety
“It’s a pill,” Ja around
“Michael Real back our ave you only one” I nod, watching as Ja hira for a way to understand his past, our shared past In e pill inside, a pill that can unlock everything But I’ve h, the chance of relapsing too great to ignore There will be grief and heartache and pain Realm’s sister’s final words tois now And here, with James, I know exactly who I am
“You’re not going to take it, are you?” Jaht blue eyes are weary, and it’s hard to believe that just yesterday ere at the river, kissing and ignoring the world around us For a moment we knehat it felt like to be free
“The pill will change everything,” I say “I’ll reain, not really All the pill can do is hurtback the sorrow I felt when I lost my brother
And I’m sure there are others I like who I am with you, James