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Of the six guys gathered around us, only two pulled their knit ski caps up off their faces: the big kid--big in a Hercules kind of ith ruddy skin and black paint under both eyes, and another one with olive coloring, shaggy brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail The latter was Mike He reached over and pulled the letters out of Hercules’s hand and pressed theainst his own chest

"Lee, ht--" Mike choked up Liao of one ofhere?"

Liam took the letters back froain "We’re okay now," he told h The other kids in black had lost interest in us thethe rain off his face "Oh my God, I can’t believe you actually ht you ith Josh when…"

"I was, but I got through the fields" He added, "Thanks to you"

Another kid, this one with skin as dark as Chubs, jerked his thumb in Liam’s direction "This is Lee Stewart?" he demanded "From Caledonia?"

"Froripped Lia "The others--did you see if any of the others , and I wondered if he would tell Mike the truth about how ht

Instead, their watches went off at once, a shrill beep

"That’s time," Hercules said to the others "Grab the supplies and head back The uniforunshot punctuated his order like an excla across the open road Liam and I both jumped back, away fro down the entirety of the truck’s load: boxes and crates of brightly colored fruit My lips parted at the sight of green bananas, just a few days shy of being ripe

When they moved off and started back toward the trees, I had a clear view of the truck driver being rolled, unconscious and bound, into the ditch alongside the road

"So, you’re what?" Liah to drive by?"

"It’s a supply hit," Mike said "We’re just trying to bring in a little food to eat, and this is the only way that works for us We just have to do it fast--in and out before anyone notices us and can follow us back houys headed?" Mike had to shout over the people shouting for him "You should come with us!"

"We already have our own tribe, thanks," Liam said

Mike’s dark brows furrowed "We’re not a tribe Not like that, at least We’re with the Slip Kid You heard of hi, nothingI hadn’t seen before a dozen times over with iven it, you would have thought alking toward Heaven’s pearly gates, not so spot that had been called Chesapeake Trails in its past life

Since Mike had been the one to convince the others to take us along, he was the one stuck babysitting us as we hiked up the muddy unpaved road, saddled with boxes of fruit that were as heavy as they were teather up supplies for the camp Stuff like food, medicine, you naiven h it had turned to a faint drizzle as alked, the dae had already been done to the flimsy cardboard boxes in our arive out co it would be forced to stuff the sodden piles of fruit into their pockets or carry the back to pick up the scattered, bright trail ere leaving behind us Every once in a while, I would catch ht trail ere leaving behind