Page 42 (1/2)

Josiah stares at me for a second and his eyes are ith fear and concern Why is he so worried about this?

I realize the answer a moment before the whistle stops and a siren’s voice--not Maire’s--comes over the loudspeaker

"This," the siren says, her voice pleasant and urgent, "is not a drill Please follow instructions exactly If you haven’t done so already, go to your designated gathering location and then reularly and normally The situation will be remedied as soon as possible"

And now everyone in the room stares at ins,a move to take off her mask

"No," Josiah says "That coainst the rules"

His voice sounds flat, but his eyes look sorry

Everyone is still watching

What do they think I’ll do? Run? Cry? Scream? The first option doesn’tFor all I know, I could run right into the breach And crying and screa to use up what air I do have If it’s a breach in the air systeh

My heart pounds so hard that I swear I can feel it in my pal a good diversion for the others--the s the larger issue of Are we all going to die?

Should I risk everything and coo hunt for a ain, and this ti me to stay Stay

Who are they? The sirens? Maire heard the theone

Elinorinside and outside with all these voices and I edge away

It’s growing dark in our workroo tihts? Has the breach affected the power in so before

And what about True? Where is he? Is he safe?

It’s cold

I do not want to die like this--drowned or suffocated in the Beloithout ever having seen the Above For a moet out right now

But I’ll die for certain that way Wait a little longer, I tellin, you can do that You can die out in the ocean instead of trapped in here And if you survive, then don’t wait any longer to leave Get the air tank Get out Don’t wait until there’s a body you can trade places with in the o up

Eventually the sirens’ screa, and I feel weak Most of us shiver

There isn’t much air left in the roo in or the air out or both

Just when you think you don’t have anything else to lose

You die

I don’t cry at all while atch the minutes pass on the clock and I breathe in and hope it won’t be for the last ti atto die soon, that the air is alone Some would rather not see it happen Some want to watch They want to see what it’s like

We hope to observe, not inhabit, the moment of our own deaths