Newt only shook his head, staring at the truck as it grew smaller with distance. Finally it turned a corner around some trees and was gone. He looked at the ground.

“Later,” was the only word that came out.

She.

He couldn’t bring himself to say her name.

Chapter Five

Newt didn’t grasp their surroundings until after the truck had left, as if his senses didn’t fully kick in until they knew they’d been freed from the soldiers and their potential for harm. Without saying much at all, with Dante—asleep now—in her arms, Keisha and he walked around and took stock of the area in which they’d been dumped.

It was a dry, dusty place, although the trees provided enough shade and fallen leaves to dampen the effect. Almost everywhere you looked, signs of habitation filled the spaces and gaps. Small, hastily built cabins, some without windows, some with broken windows. Tents of all sizes that appeared to have been erected weeks or months ago, with old couches or chairs plopped next to their entrance flaps, lines—draped with towels and clothing left to dry—hung from the trees above them, old shoes and bags of trash and small tables scattered hither and thither. Newt once again flashed back to the early days of the Maze, could almost picture the towering stone walls looming somewhere just out of sight.

Several habitations looked less occupied than others, some having been obviously abandoned or never used. Newt took a turn holding Dante—the kid was absolutely zonked after all that adventure and mayhem—and the three of them found a small cabin nestled between two large oak trees. They stood inside of it, taking a tour that lasted about 20 seconds. It was one room, no kitchen, no bathroom, completely empty of possessions or furniture. The lone window, facing east based on the position of the setting sun, had once held glass. Now it held three nasty-looking shards the size of Newt’s thumb.

“It’s perfect,” Keisha pronounced, voice dripping with sarcasm. “And we’ll have a nice draft through that busted window. I can’t think of anything else I’ve ever wanted in a home.”

Newt realized he was patting Dante’s back as if he were a baby. “A couch would be nice. Maybe some food.” The whole situation was absurd, and they both knew it. Here they were, acting like a nice little family, settling down in their new home. Maybe a neighbor would drop by soon with a plate of biscuits and a bloody teapot.

“I’m gonna go check things out,” Newt said, not even sure what he meant until the words came out. But he couldn’t just stand there anymore. No matter how nice it seemed, these people weren’t his family and he’d be a fool to throw his lot in with them completely. At least not yet. He needed to explore, see what this Crank Palace was all about.

Keisha gave him a hard glare. “Don’t even think about it.”

“What?”