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The sa ht,in my ears I squeezed my eyes shut

"Still?" Cate said "Oh, Ruby, I’m so sorry When itch cars, I’ll be sure to ask for so to help ease your stomach"

She, like all the others, was oblivious

"You know…" Cate said after a while She kept her eyes on the dark road, to where itsky "It was brave of you to take the pills and coirl I met in the Infirmary"

I’m not brave If I had been, I would have owned up to what I really was, no matter how terrible I would have worked, eaten, and slept alongside the other Oranges, or at least stepped out of the shadow of the Yellows and Reds

Those kids had been so proud of their powers Theythe ca their cabins and the Washrooate or driving the adults insane by putting i wives in their heads

It was impossible to miss them, to not step aside and turn ahen they passed I had let ray and green, never drawing attention, never once letting myself believe that I could or should escape I think that all they wanted was to find a way out, and to do it theet free

But none of them had made it to sixteen

There are a thousand ways to tell if solins of insecurity and discomfort More often than not, all you have to do is look at the to you, if they add too many details to a story, if they answer a question with another question My dad, a cop, taught rade, when he gave his presentation on Stranger Danger

But Cate had no tells She told s about the world that didn’t seem possible, not until ere able to pick up a radio station and a soleh the speakers to confirainst the wheel "Finally!"

"The president has reportedly refused an invitation from Britain’s prime minister to discuss possible relief measures for the world econolobal stock markets When asked to explain his decision, the president cited the United Kingdoainst the United States"

Cate fiddled with the tuning again The newscaster’s voice faded in and out At the first burst of static, I jumped

"…forty-five wo to evade the birth registry The women will be detained in a corrections facility until their children are born, after which the infants will be removed for the safety of their eneral had this to say…"