“You’ve been on Long Island for twelve years,” said Samm. “It’s a closed environment. The rest of the world’s changed.”

“They’re circling around,” said Heron. “Go!”

Please, the dying dog had said, its face burned into Kira’s memory. She shook her head and climbed.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ariel McAdams had run away from Nandita’s house years ago, living by herself on the south side of East Meadow, but after her infant died—almost every woman on Long Island had a dead infant or two, thanks to the Hope Act—she’d left East Meadow altogether. Marcus had found a vague address in the hospital records, and hanging around to look for it had very nearly cost him his freedom. He kept a portable radio to listen in on military reports and to talk to Kira if she ever called him again, and the news as he left East Meadow was grim. The Partial army moved in barely an hour after he left. He had nowhere to go but away. He checked again the address on his small piece of paper: “An island in Islip.” It wasn’t much to go on, but it was better than nothing.

He learned from his radio that the Partials had set up a perimeter around East Meadow, catching much of the population before they were able to leave, and sending out search teams to comb the island for stragglers and bring them all back to that central location. Still, the island was very big, and a hundred thousand Partials couldn’t look everywhere at once. Marcus stayed low, never lighting fires or walking through open spaces, and managed to avoid them for the first few days. It won’t last, he thought, but if I can find Ariel and just hunker down instead of traveling, I can last a lot longer.

On the evening of the second day, his radio chirped to life; his heart sped up, but he quickly realized it was not Kira, nor was it another guerrilla report from the Grid. It was Dr. Morgan.

“This is a general message to the residents of Long Island,” said Morgan. “We did not want to invade, but circumstances forced our hand. We are looking for a girl named Kira Walker, sixteen years old, five feet ten inches tall, approximately one hundred eighteen pounds. Indian descent, light-skinned, with jet-black hair, though she may have cut or dyed it to help disguise her identity. Bring us this girl and the occupation ends; continue to hide her, and we will execute one of you every day. Please don’t force us to do this any longer than is necessary. This message will cycle through all frequencies and repeat until our instructions have been complied with. Thank you.”

The message ended, and Marcus listened in shock to the static that hung in the air.