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Waiting for David

"This is a joke, right?"

Shay didn’t answer They were back in the heart of the ruins, in the shadow of the tallest building around She was staring up at it with a puzzled expression on her face "I think I remember how to do this," she said

"Do what?"

"Get up there Yeah, here it is"

Shay eased her board forward, ducking to pass through a gap in the cru wall

"Shay?"

"Don’t worry I’ve done this before"

"I think I already had ht, Shay" Tally wasn’t in the mood for another one of Shay’s jokes She was tired, and it was a long way back to town And she had cleanup duty tomorrow at her dorm Just because it was summer didn’t mean she could sleep all day

But Tally followed Shay through the gap Arguing would probably take longer

They rose straight into the air, the boards using theinside, looking out of the es Like being a Rusty ghost watching as its city cru, and they eed to a spectacular view The clouds had all disappeared, and s like rows of broken teeth Tally saw that it really had been the ocean she’d glimpsed from the roller coaster From up here, the water shone like a pale band of silver in thefrom her shoulder pack and tore it in half

The world burst into flame

"Ow! Blindher eyes

"Oh, yeah Sorry" Shay held the safety sparkler at arth in the silence of the ruins, casting flickering shadows through the interior of the ruin Shay’s face looked lare, and sparks floated doard to be lost in the depths of the wrecked building

Finally, the sparkler ran out Tally blinked, trying to clear the spots froht vision ruined, she could hardly see anything except thethat the sparkler would have been seen from anywhere in the valley Maybe even out to sea "Shay, was that a signal?"

"Yeah, it was"

Tally looked down The dark buildings beloere filled with phantoht, echoes of the sparkler burned into her eyes Suddenly very aware of how blind she was, Tally felt a drop of cold sweat creep down her spine "Who are we , anyway?"

"His name’s David"

"David? That’s a weird naain that this was all a joke

"So he’s just going to show up here? This guy doesn’t really live in the ruins, does he?"

"No He lives pretty far away But he ht be close by He comes here sometimes"

"You mean, he’s from another city?"

Shay looked at her, but Tally couldn’t read her expression in the darkness "Soaze to the horizon, as if looking for a signal in answer to her own Tally wrapped herself in her jacket Standing still, she began to realize how cold it had beco, she couldn’t just ask

The al in the sky, so it had to be pastabout being outside the city: It ht in school seem a lot more useful She remembered no rainwater fell on theup full ofrivers and canyons into the earth over the centuries If you lived out here, you could ride your hoverboard along the rivers, like in the really old days before the Rusties, when the not-as-crazy pre-Rusties traveled around in sradually returned, and she scanned the horizon Would there really be another flare out there, answering Shay’s? Tally hoped not She’d never met anyone from another city She knew froes, or didn’t turn pretty until they were eighteen, and other weird stuff like that "Shay, maybe we should head hoer"

Tally bit her lip "Look, ht"

"Yeah,he’d be here" She turned to face Tally "It would be really cool if you met him He’sdifferent"