Page 89 (1/1)

"Nice to meet you," she said "Wow, this iswild"

Lia at me for my approval, just my reaction All at once, adrenaline kicked back intoer tooff Cole’s request for status, and turned toward the staircase at the end of the hall

"Liam is here," I told him "With a reporter from Amplify"

Static trickled over the line Zach shot me an uncomfortable look as we hit the stairs, as if he, too, were picturing Cole’s reaction to this

Finally, he answered, "Say again"

I repeated the inforain as we rounded the corner of the stairs and cah the door that the teae, familiar smell I’d breathed in on the way up finally had an explanation as we burst through the doors: the gagged and bound soldiers were secured against the sae: OBEDIENCE CORRECTS DEVIANCE

The Op tea the kids out of the five dark roo to coax them to come out I saw the problem immediately

"Take off your ht, the cameras are off" The kids wouldn’t come out until they saw that ere kids, too--that they weren’t being tricked or picked up by a different set of monsters in black uniforms One of the teen boys froun Gav was holding, and immediately retreated back inside He would have slaht it

Alice’s caht frole I spun onlike hell she hadn’t had the strap around her neck so it would have sainst the tiled floor "Do you h the kids were in here, but couldn’t she at least give them a second of peace to collect themselves?

"Ruby--" Liaet it" But I saw her lift her caain anyway, this tiet it

"Five ed to the nearest door, looking inside The wooden bunks creaked as weight shifted on thehts on so they’d have a better view ofinto me before the whied from the dark, hands held up to shield their eyes

Ohthose thin, papery uniforms, coded by whatever color they’d been classified as I feltthe Psi ID number someone had hastily scrawled across the back of her shirt in permanent marker These were really kids--nine, ten, eleven, twelve, with only a few clearly older than fourteen All of theer Narrowed by need--if not for food, then for everything else

"You er I stared at the boy that pushed his way to the door of Room Three, the harder it was for me to believe that it was Pat They’d shaved down his dark mass of hair, stripped him down to a blue scratchy cotton T-shirt and shorts He’d been here less than a week and already he’d let his edges bleed into the darkness of this place

All at once, the boys in Toasped and reached for hi hiht, you don’t leave the cabin, one of the older girls in Cabin 27 had tolddown They’ll just say you were trying to escape, and that’s the only reason they need to shoot you

None of the other kids followed To to avoid us having to carry them out

"My name is Ruby," I said, quickly, "and I’m one of you All of us here are like you, except for the wo you to somewhere safe But we have toyourselves or anyone around you Follow them--" I pointed to Gonzo and Ollie "Fast, fast, fast, okay?"

Da, and tiuish the seconds fro what else I could say to them What were the words that had convinced me to take the pills Cate had offered? Or had I just realized it wasout?

For the in so quickly, they couldn’t wrap their heads around the reality of it

"Rosa?" I called "Rosa Cruz? Is there a Rosa Cruz here?"

No one spoke or raised their hands, but I saw a s that was as subtle as so the ten faces of Rooirl at the back--nearly as tall as I was, lossy curls at one point in her life, but so it all off I didn’t see a trace of Senator Cruz in her face, aside from the warm olive tone of her skin and her dark eyes But when she tilted her head and shifted her gaze towardher fear, just for that second--that was all her mother