Page 10 (1/2)

We walk all the way to the chain-link fence, through which Gabriel and I were once dragged against our wills Fro the weeds with her hands In the darkness her eyes are like sparks She drags her index finger through the air in the shape of letters, but I can’t quite make out what they spell

Jared opens the fence, and he watches , Go ahead and try it

But, just like the first time Linden took me outside of the ainst it Maddie writes furiously in the shadows

I can hear the tide turning out in that darkness, can s and dread I can hear sooing to meet someone special," Madame says, her breath hot inserpent

I think I’ve stopped breathing, because the color eer than ray

Nobody is sure exactly why the Gatherers chose the color gray for their jackets and vans Solobbed over with dribbling gray, the tires splashed with it The jackets are not all uniform--I know that much They are also hand-dyed, all different cuts and styles The Gatherers are their own underground group, and while so that’s certain is that they travel in packs; they find one another, form a shelter somewhere, and wait for opportunities Maybe they split the money they uns, indulge themselves in liquor and whatever else they want

I think this man’s smell hits me before the color of his coat Like mold and liquor and sweat It irls Must ht, scratch, es next, his teeth rotten like the broken sirls

I take a half step back out of instinct, but Madame wraps her ar intofroestures to Jared, who holds the lantern up overThisat h apples in theflashes in his eyes like delight I struggle, though the realization of what’s happening still hasn’t quite reached me Not until Madame names her price

And finally, finally, I understand the word Maddie riting for

Runrunrunrunrun

The Gatherer is arguing, saying he can get girls ry that he could spit And Mada, "Not like this one, you won’t"

Run

I can’t! Gabriel is still a prisoner here Madame will kill him; I’m sure of it Kill hiuards He doesn’t have it in hiun, much less shoot one

And even if I were to run, how far could I get? Jared is standing right beside rab me at a moment’s notice My breath hitches My mind is in a fury

Runrunrun

Run where? Run how?

The Gatherer is indignant, but he isn’t leaving Madame knows that, one way or another, she will sell , really What use does she have for yet another girl? All the girls in this place are wilted, dried out, used up There’s a whole tent just for the ones that are in all stages of the virus, and she offers the the blood of the dying girls’ kisses fro has it been since she had a healthy girl, whole and fully conscious, with clean teeth and all?

She told hter she loved too hter whose death left a perain

I should not have lovedlives for long

The Gatherer offers a lower price

You children are flies