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But ere all wary

“Even if it’s e at the place as longingly as I was

Zombies continued to trail us, and we still had a couple of hours before dusk “The Baggers sh-should have trouble on that l-last rise, right?” I asked

“Just like you, Evie!” Selena said brightly

Bitch There’d been a sheer rock face to scale We’d had to use a rope! I’d never climbed a cliff in my life and had flailed like a trout on a line I’d been as worried about Matthew as about myself, but compared to me he was a mountaineer

Jackson didn’t join in the discussion, just started toward the cabin When we followed, he said, “I go alone”

In the past, Selena would’ve trotted after hiuaffe à toi” Watch out for yourself

Jackson’s gaze cut to me, and I saw some emotion flicker there before he masked it

As I watched hioing on in that head of his We hadn’t spoken since I’d kissed hiht, I’d thought he was done withat me Sometied hi, ht an unsettling mystery

On the way to the cabin, he inspected the sot shot Then into the cabin

Please be safe, please be safe

Not long after, I saw s from the chimney My knees ith relief—and excitement He was safe, and we’d have a real roof, a real fire

Finn said, “I can disguise the smoke”

Selena shook her head “No need We’re up in the clouds Which JD knows, or he wouldn’t have lit it”

He eed from inside With a chin jerk, he indicated for us to join him

Self-respect flew out the , and we ran for it like it was a friendly country’s border

Though dusty inside, the snug little cabin had a bed, a wooden bathtub, and now a fire in its potbelly stove We’d passed a full rain barrel on our way in A dented pot hung above the stove Cords of wood had been stacked alongside one wall by soether

Hot Bath I even had a travel-size bottle of shampoo and body wash

This was such a bonanza, such a turnaround from our usual circumstances, that I was paranoid—like this cabin would slip fro

“Rock-paper-scissors decides who gets the first bath,” I announced, but it was only between Finn, Selena, and me Mattheas too psychic to play—he’d settled into one of the rocking chairs on the front porch—and Jackson wasn’t interested

“Goan grouse hunting,” he said, setting off without another word His tone and de grouse were so sli hiazed after hiht not co for him It was so obvious At first I’d been irritated, but then I’d put ht that Jackson had chosen her That her dream had come true In her e for her, to be traveling with the boy she’d thought she’d kissed—and also with the boy who’d deceived her

Now that everyone see to feel sorry for her, even after the shit she’d dealt o, I’d realized nobody wanted to be a h she’d tried to draw Jackson into conversation again and again, he’d continued to ignore her, as if he couldn’t even hear her With his hood over his head, he’d trudged on, see

I was past caring I was

Don’t think about him I planned to make the most of this windfall of water—and time—to wash the ash away So a part ofme, just as it had overcome Haven House, my home in Louisiana

When I won the first round with the bathtub, Selena rolled her eyes But she did sit outside with Matthew, settling in to whittle arrows Finn a for supplies

I shut the door and turned to my task How hard could it be to boil bathwater? I’d watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie once Ergo: Let’s do this bitch

Four burn wounds and an hour later, I was loweringaround me Bubbles from my bath wash pillowed over the surface If enerated, I’d have sworn I was drea

In front of the crackling fire, I soaped and rinsedon the last week

Each day we’d hauled ass away froers did just the opposite, eating up the round, a thought that still gave one on for days We were strung out on too little sleep

I’d been constantly wary, unable to relax for a second And I was still weakening Yes, ured out that since my skin returned to its state prior to any injury, I would never build up calluses

Which meant I’d always have blisters Beauty

I wasn’t the only one ary As a huntress, Selena always seee Each ers behind us Yesterday, she’d told us, “Their nulers they coh contact with rew antsier, but he was ear What would happen if he didn’t pull a trick soon?

When we’d firstjokester Noas always nervous—insisting on checking and rechecking our map to make sure we didn’t sidle too close to the mines

He was over Selena, hadn’t spoken et Jackson and ether, as if he was the sole cause of the dissension between me and the Cajun

Good luck I feared this was past even the power of azing at Jackson with a speculative look I had difficulty getting the boy to eat, and he was no longerany sense in conversations

If I asked hi hiht he’d torn at his hair, screaet him my canteen before he hurt hily, Jackson had been the one to cal to a spooked horse, Jackson had said, “Whoa, boy, tracasse-toi pas Prend-lé aisé” Don’t you worry Take it easy

Whenever I could catch a couple of hours of sleep, I’d had more dreams of Death, all set in that sa ever closer tosands and his sweat-lathered horse In the last dreahabove

Death had popped intoRight now my mind was blissfully free of him