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When he told them how he found Camp Exodus overrun by the militant immunes, they both leaned forward, eyes narrowed He explained his attempt to enter the camp and recounted what little he’d learned from the i the information whether he meant to or not
"So who are these people?" Skyler asked "What do they want, and how do you know the While he spoke, Ana set a pot of water on the portable stove and removed a trio of instant coffee packets from her backpack
They were twenty-two years old, the son and daughter of wealthy wineentina A world-renowned brand, Davi claih Skyler had never heard of it He said he was a "coffee man," which earned a s cup
Their life had been one of large fas, private tutors, and vacations to all corners of the world Then the disease arrived They were seventeen at the ti it froarden and livestock there Eventually they had to make forays into the nearby town Davi spoke with pride about teaching Ana how to shoot a gun, and the day she irl had been so seen her graceful dance in the flohite dress, he had no proble to that part of herself
A fire ultimately drove them from their land How it started they had no idea, but Skyler had seen enough of the world to know that failing electronics and other equiphborhoods, even toould be reduced to ash with no one to fight the fla it better to seek out other survivors, with all the risks that entailed, than to live in solitude
Not long after entering Brazil, they ca then Davi spoke at length about Gabriel’s charis friendships and loyalty Before the disease, he’d been an undercover police officer working the drug-ridden slums of Rio de Janeiro He never spoke of hiroup; everyone just kneas and accepted it
Davi and Ana had found a faain, and happiness
A sense of purpose, too They joined gladly
Things changed, though So slowly Davi and Ana didn’t notice at first It wasn’t until the group met an immune who refused to join that Gabriel showed his true colors The reluctant immune was held captive, and Gabriel spent hours every day talking to the man in hushed tones, usually alone but sometimes with his closest roup now, in fact, and one of Gabriel’s closest members
"Brainwashed," Skyler said
The two nodded Davi then explained what happened with the next iroup She’d left in the night, Gabriel had explained, with his blessings Anyone could leave provided they spoke with Gabriel first
Davi saw the body by accident, later thatfirewood Bound hands and feet, a dry trickle of blood running down the back of her neck The poor young ht
"Why is he doing all this?" Skyler asked "Banding all the iether, I mean"
Davi spread his hands "To start over He thinks those of us who survived were ree?"
Davi glanced at his sister "Right or not, his roup like a cult"
"A religious nut, then?"
"No," Ana said, before her brother could reply "If Gabriel has a god it is hi," Davi added "Gabriel has a calling; it just coives those who resist plenty of tiainst hi the intense hatred on both their faces He sipped the rest of his coffee while Ana excused herself for a few minutes Davi spent the time with his nose buried in the screen on a handheld electronic device A book or video gaet reh his backpack and found the device He turned it on, heard static, and turned it off again
"What’s that?" Davi asked as his sister returned She stood behind him, an eyebrow raised
"I hid the other one in the et closer"
When Ana sat down again Skyler set hisaside "Tell me," he said, "if you two escaped from this cult, why stay so close to them?"
Davi’s eyes became distant for afor him to decide what information they would share Her constant deference to hi in the courtyard all the ine her straying too far from her brother’s side
"There are more like us," Davi said after a time "More who started to question, and more who never believed in the first place Friends of ours, in other words Gabriel holds them captive, eleven that we know of, and we intend to free them"
"But we have to find the The pair , but they spoke as if an extra decade had been duht, as barely a year older than these two He’d forgotten all about her youth within a feeeks ofher The death toll caused by the Builders and their vicious disease was so oht about it, but this--stolen childhood Kids atched everyone they knew die or becoht up in a murderous cult of personality
With sudden clarity he understood why Ana danced Why she’d set aside her gun and her clothing, her shoes, her very persona, and risked her life to spin and twirl in that square Without moments of escape like that, her life was one of constant terror
"Eleven, you say" Skyler focused on Davi "Gabriel now holds a few hundred of my people at our camp, and he’s effectively trapped a few thousand more up in space They’ll die without air and water froer He rose to his knees and pointed off to his right, presumably toward the space elevator "You mean your people are more i for the young man to sit back down "We find and free your friends With them on our side, we can retake my camp, and take down Gabriel in the process"
Davi’s head shook before Skyler had even finished "Your camp is your probleet away frorowled, "and all you’ve done is traded eleven lives for two thousand And for the rest of your life you’ll know Gabriel is still out there, gathering others just like you Can you live with that?"
"Davi," Ana whispered, a hand on her brother’s shoulder
He recoiled fro in Spanish, and storirl waited until her brother’s footsteps faded down the hallway beyond "He just needs to think You are right, and he knows that, but he doesn’t like it when his plans are changed"