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Too late

This was Thurh I hadn’t been able to get to them in time A swell of bile rose up inonto otina circle across ainst the plastic container and gave in to the sting of tears

"Did the source say what happened?" I used the tissue he handedout of the ainst the pull

"They issued a state one of the PSFs stationed there snuck a cell phone into the camp and snapped the photos RubyI think--I don’t want to believe this, but it seems like toothe camp There are over three thousand kids there and the other ca to reduce the population of kids before the move?"

"They’ve killed kids before," I said "The ones who tried to escapethe Oranges Reds ouldn’t let themselves be controlled If this has happened once, it’ll happen again They’re going to keep doing this We’re sitting around, waiting to get one useful piece of infor This can’t just be about evidence Not for Thuret those kids out now"

I saw the future with sharp clarity and it wasn’t a road, it wasn’t a sky, it wasn’t anything that beautiful It was electricity singing through metal chain-link and bars It wasinto a stream of black

Cole must have sensed it, seen it reflected in o

"We’re going to need actual fighters for the Thurreed," Cole said, looking away "HarryHarry offered to help us fight I wasn’t going to say yes I hate the idea of owing hi, but we don’t have any tiht The only way to shut down the ca them from within I’ll see if I can try to bribe one of the PSFs--someone has to know someone there--"

"No," I said, oes back A PSF can flip, take a bribe, tip the ca If it has to be done, I’ree to it," Cole said quietly, but he didn’t disagree He didn’t want to stopto tell them until we have to"

Over the next week, the face of the Ranch seeone out looking for tribes returned victorious, even as Liam set out to find Olivia twice and came back empty-handed both tias, he didn’t show it--a part of et away fro Lovely Rita in the direction of the rising sun and returning in time for the sun to set