Page 41 (1/2)

It hurts both of us

I kneould

"I can’t be a part of this," he says "I can’t announce you tonight But you can keep everything The locks and the keys The fish The coin"

"Thank you," I say again "Will you be watching in the stands?" I want to see hi besides findingAbove It is hard to say the words

"I can’t be a part of this," he says again

"You are a part of this," I say

"I know," he says And then he leaves, walking fast, because he has nothing left to carry He’s given it all to ht back the tears Crying is dangerous Crying reveals tooI need I have the fish and the locks and the costunia And I have avewith my air mask on my back I will buy the air I need and hide it in o at any time, as soon as someone dies

I know it’s wrong, but I hope it happens quickly

There is no longer any reason for me to stay

When I tell Ennio what Maire said, and when I say the na he takes the ivesmetal He rolls it up neatly in a cloth so that it appears to be a bulky but uninteresting, unspecific bundle

"It works exactly like the air masks for the drills," he says "You’re familiar with those Attach the er And it’s pressurized for an ascent"

"How do you know that?" I ask "If no one’s ever made it to the surface?"

"I found an old cache of air," he says "Fro Atlantia Sometio up"

This sounds far fro the mask attached to the air tank Hoill I let the words out without letting the water in?

A impossible? Am I crazy?

I’ve never known if what they say is true, if I’ soht

That’s what I’ve hoped for all my life

"Go," Ennio says "And don’t come back" He says that in a nice way, like he means for me to escape instead of die, and so I leave without another word On my way out of the deepmarket, the bundle heavy on athered around it