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"That’s a tall order," Cole said "There’s almost no way to keep it quiet"

"Once the procedure is coo into hiding I want a return to a life that resembles normal, with the son I once had"

The cure is another way to control us, take decisions out of our hands Clancy’s words worked through my mind in a whisper I listened

"I don’t" I started to say What was really h? Clancy had proven over and over to me that he couldn’t be trusted to use his abilities in a way that wouldn’t hurt others East RiverJudehow o to? All to avoid beco what he’d been at Thurmond: powerless I’d felt his helplessness when he was strapped down on the table at Thurh hiscontrol oftreated like an aniroup of thousands This time, we had to choose the thousands over hi for me to respond What was it I saw flicker in his eyes--disappointone so fast, rim smile, I wasn’t sure I had seen it at all

"It’s a deal," he said "We’ll round up the troops tonight so you can explain To into viable hospital options for you"

Dr Gray inclined her head, a silent agree to check on Vida and the training upstairs In truth, I couldn’t sees--not in, not out I was suffocating on the words left hovering inside those four walls, and I couldn’t shake the feeling, not even as I wiped thes, that I had spilled blood on my hands

I was alone in the co her about the short conversation I’d had with Cate, when Zu’s face suddenly appeared on the news channel livestream Nico had set up

I’d been sitting withthe best I could to answer her questions, all of which seeht?" My eyes had stayed peeled to the screen, waiting for any late-breaking news from Kansas, and when I saw Zu I dropped my feet back to the floor so quickly that the chair rocked forith e released today from sources tied to the rehabilitation caton This evening, Amplify released a series of videos, purportedly of the children ere removed from Nevada Let’s take a look"

I didn’t know if it was the news network or if it had been Alice’s clever , but the initial seconds of footage were of each of the ten kids who’d agreed to be interviewed, introducing themselves

"ZachI’m seventeen years old"

"My name is Kylie and I’m sixteen"

On and on until finally the video showed Zu; there was footage of her shot later, introducing herself this ti the way her parents had dropped her off at school Each of the kids got to tell their own version of how they had gotten away froainst e Vida’s reaction She took a sip from her water bottle and slaain

"They’re fast on pulling the trigger, I’ll give thereat for tugging soet off of couches? Where’s the call to action with this? They needed our input There’s too ht, though," I said, feeling strangely hollow atlike this--we have to set the public up with the truth, so that when the kids do get out, they’ll be accepted This is good" Liaht, it doesn’tthe voluht You dipshits fell apart without us there to tell you what to do"

The newscaster, a perky blond woman in a deep red suit, appeared back on the screen, but alraralowed from a cluster of three billboards, a stark contrast to the dark billboards around it, the ones that hadn’t been lit up for years It was a heartbreaking photo--even without knowing the girl or the context of the interview froed at you, demanded your attention The words PUBLIC ENEMY, AGE 13 flashed over the ie, a perfectly calibrated piece of ean to peel the label off her water bottle "I asked Cole if our boy there could use one of the eent quarters to set up a kind of First-aid station A place to put all of thearound like a freaking nerd He’s in thereout all of his jars of cotton balls and Q-tips"

"You’re going soft on me, Vi," I said "That’s almost sweet--"