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NO TRESPASSING AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

"I don’t think we’re supposed to--" I start to say, but Hana cuts me off

"Come on," she calls out "Live a little"

I do a quick scan of the parking lot beyond the gate and the road behind us: no one The sate is also empty I lean over and peek inside

There’s a half-eaten sandwich sitting on wax paper, and a stack of books piled messily on a s static and patchy bits of music into the silence I don’t see any surveillance caoverner, then swing ate and catch up to Hana Her eyes are lit up with excitement, and I can tell that this was her plan, and her destination, all along

"This ot in," she says in a breathless rush, as though we’ve been talking about yesterday’s drama at the labs all this time "Don’t you think?"

"Doesn’t see to sound casual but the whole thing--the e in the sun, the blue Du across the sky, the sparkling white slope of the lab roofs-- is silent and very still--frozen, als are in a dream, or just before a ive prettyto head back to Old Port, to the complex nest of fah there’s no one around, I have the i of being observed in school and on the street and even at ho to be cautious about what you do and say, the close, blocked-in feeling that everyone gets used to eventually

"Yeah" Hana kicks at the packed dirt road A plume of dust puffs up, resettles slowly "Pretty crappy security for a major medical facility"

"Pretty crappy security for a petting zoo," I say "I resent that" The voice comes from behind us, and both Hana and I jump I spin around The world see behind us, arms crossed, head cocked to the side A boy with caraolden-brown color, like autu ready to fall

It’s him The boy from yesterday, from the observation deck The Invalid

Except he isn’t an Invalid, obviously He’s wearing a short-sleeved blue guard’s uniforovernment ID clipped to his collar

"I leave for two seconds to get a refill"--he gestures to the bottle of water he’s holding--"and I coed break-in"

I’

Hana must think I’ in We weren’t doing anything We were just running and weuot lost"

The boy crosses his ar back on his heels "Didn’t see any of the signs outside, huh? ‘No Trespassing’? ‘Authorized Personnel Only’?"

Hana looks away She’s nervous too I can feel it Hana’s a thousand times more confident than I a in the open and talking to a boy, especially not a boy-guard, and it rounds to arrest us

"Must have missed them," she mumbles

"Uh-huh" He raises his eyebrows It’s obvious he doesn’t believe us, but at least he doesn’t look angry "They’re pretty subtle Only a few dozen of theht not have noticed"

He looks away for a second, squinting, and I get the feeling he’s trying to stop hiuard I’ve ever seen--at least, not the typical guards you see at the border and all around Portland, fat and scowly and old I think about how sure I was yesterday that he came from the Wilds, the solid certainty deep inside of , obviously As he turns his head I see the unn of someone who is cured: the mark of the procedure, a three-pointed scar just behind the left ear, where the scientists insert a special three-pronged needle used exclusively for i the patient so that the cure can be ades of honor; you hardly see any cureds with long hair, and the women who haven’t lopped off their hair entirely are careful to wear it pulled back

My fear recedes Talking to a cured isn’t illegal The rules of segregation don’t apply

I’iven any sign of it Finally I can’t take it anymore and I burst out, "You I saw you--" At the last second I can’t finish the sentence I saw you yesterday