“Listen, he’s not faking. He really did go through the Program, and he really is working for them now.” Alice talked a little slower, trying to calm the girl down.

“Lady, there’s no way—no possible way—French is a traitor. He’s as solid as they come. If you knew him, you’d never say otherwise.” Rose was still full of mirth. “Where’s my bag? We gotta get going.”

“He brought in a family.” May said it low. She didn’t want to say it, but she had to. There was no way she could let this girl walk into a trap, not without knowing the truth.

“What?” Rose stopped halfway to her pack. “What do you mean?”

“He brought in a family. The day before yesterday. Two people. A woman and a little girl.”

“No. No!” Rose was shouting. “He wouldn’t. He couldn’t!”

Derrick ran to grab her, squeezing her tight, trying to get her to shut up. “Come on, Rose, be quiet. You’re going to get us all taken in.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. Seven years old. They’re going through processing now,” Alice finished.

Now Rose was crying for real. She thrashed in Derrick’s grip and broke free.

“He would not, he just—”

“Rose.” Derrick was as gentle as he could be while trying to shush her. “What would you do? What would any of us do, really?”

“Not that!” she screamed. The sound of her own voice echoing in the shadows shocked her to quiet and then to action. She gathered herself and took off into the trees before another word could be spoken.

Derrick sighed, watching her back get smaller. He turned to the nurses, who were both scouring the space around them in case they’d been heard, then he pointed his lips at Nam.

“Grab what you can,” he instructed, hoisting his bag and the satchel of food and gripping the gun. He dared not put it away, not with all the ruckus they’d just kicked up.

“I’m sorry, but you had to know.” Alice was pulling her hood back over her head. May had already repositioned her bandana and started back into the bush.

“No, thank you. We appreciate it. Take care.” Derrick waved, and then they were off, the allies back to the road and the runners into the trees after their hysterical friend.

✦✦✦ ✦✦✦ ✦✦✦

They found her pretty quick. She wasn’t thinking, wasn’t even seeing clearly, and so she wasn’t too fast for them to catch. They walked behind her without saying anything, and after a while, she turned back and grabbed her pack to carry herself. That night, they camped without tents or a fire—they were too close to the school. And early the next morning, they started back toward the resistance camp. Without hope, the journey seemed twice as long.

It was days before they saw the first syllabics telling them the camp was nearby. Nam was getting nervous. What if they weren’t welcomed once they got there? Derrick assured them as best he could that there was a place for them. But between being the sole navigator and making sure Rose didn’t hang herself from a low branch because of French, he didn’t have time for niceties.