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Jack stared in confusion “Of course not That wouldthe FAYZ barrier”
“Oh” The disappointment was like a sharp pain Brianna, like most of the kids in the FAYZ, had learned to deal with the loss of parents, grandparents, older siblings But the hope of actually speaking with them…
It was her ap between Brianna and her little sisters Brianna’s father had been out of her life since the divorce Her mother had remarried—a jerk—and then had had tith hiht years younger than she was, so it wasn’t like they hung out together
It was Brianna’s stepfather who had insisted on sending her to Coates His reason was that her grades were falling Which was a lame excuse Lots of kids had trouble withshipped off to a place like Coates
Brianna had talked herto be her last year at Coates Next year she was going to be back at Nicolet Middle School, in Banning Back where she belonged Not that there weren’t soh kids at Nicolet, but there were no Caines, no Bennos, no Dianas, and definitely no Drakes
No one at Nicolet had ever encased her hands in a block of cement and then left her to starve
Besides, it would be so cool to blow all her old friends aith her neer Their heads would explode Their brains would melt She could be a whole track team all by herself
“There are no satellites to link to,” Jack was going on in his pedantic way He was definitely kind of cute And she thought he was kind of interesting Kind of cutescary smart She had noticed him even before, back when Coates was just a miserable hellhole and Jack was only on the periphery of the Caine clique
“Why hasn’t Sam told anyone?” Brianna asked “Why hasn’t he turned the system back on?”
“There’s no way to stop the Coates kids froe Or unless I figure out a way to replace the entire authorization protocol and then authorize only certain nu job since I would be starting from scratch”
“Oh” Brianna peered closely at hi that will help Caine and Drake and that witch, Diana Do we?”
Jack shrugged “Well, I was scared of Drake I mean, everyone is scared of Drake But Caine and Diana, they were okay to me”
Brianna didn’t like that answer The “interested” smile she’d worn for him evaporated She held up her hands The scars froone But the memory of that abuse, and the horror of starvation, especially now that it was back, were still fresh “They weren’t so nice to me”
“No,” Jack adround “But still I ure it out, the phones I mean, and I did I want…I mean…I mean, I did it I did it It works So we should turn it back on”
Brianna’s expression hardened “No If it helps the Coates people in any way, then no I don’t want their lives to be any easier I want them to suffer I want them to suffer in every way they can suffer And then I want them to die”