“But then you came along,” Terry continued, ignoring Keisha’s comment. “We saw the truck, saw you get out, saw them acting like jerks. Saw them drive off. That’s when we ran into town to tell people but somehow they already knew. Knew who you were, too. Strange times, getting stranger.”

Newt thought about that, chewing his food like such a thing might never happen again. “I don’t know why they’d give a crap about me. I’m not immune like most of them. They just had me along for the ride, nothing but a bloody control subject. Once I caught the Flare, my days of being important were long gone. Who knows. They probably just need to know how I end up so they can finish off some stupid report that no one’ll ever read.” He wondered about this town Terry mentioned, and what such a place would be like.

Keisha spoke up. “You guys seem pretty early in the game, like us. What about all the people further along, especially past the Gone? Where are they?” She shot a quick and sheepish glance at Maria.

“Things can get... pretty brutal,” Terry replied. He looked at a piece of charred beef that he’d just been ready to plop in his mouth, lowered it with an expression of disgust. Newt didn’t really want to know what knowledge or memory had brought on that transition. “Some are around, and you gotta be careful. Some get taken care of. Some take care of themselves. And once a week or so there’s a group—of people like us, not the higher-ups—who round up some of the worst ones and sneak them out of the Palace. I don’t know where they take them or what they do with them. Don’t want to.”

He tossed the uneaten beef back onto his plate. For a few seconds he fought back tears.

“We live in Hell,” Keisha said quietly, barely heard over the crackling of the flames.

Newt was tired. Terry had come a-knockin’ at their door at least a couple of hours before dawn, and it wasn’t as if Newt had slept like a fat and fed baby until that point, what with the bare wooden floor and unfamiliar surroundings. He closed his eyes, wanted nothing more than to crawl closer to that fire, curl up, and sleep the day away. Mainly, the world of dreams seemed a better prospect at the moment than hearing more from Terry. The look he’d given that meat... The lost tone in his voice when he said a group of them rounded up Cranks past the Gone and took them someplace. It was all so ominous. So depressing. His future.

“You look like you could use a nap,” Keisha said.

Newt just nodded, mumbled something unintelligible on purpose.

Maria screamed.

Newt jolted awake, looked up at her. She’d jumped to her feet, eyes wide with terror, letting out hysterical shrieks as if someone had poured a family of spiders down the back of her shirt, waving her arms about like a gorilla on the rampage.