“Recruiters.” I couldn’t give details. Not now. I wasn’t ready.

“But where’s Mitch?”

“That’s for later, Tree,” Miig jumped in. “Let’s give French some time now.”

I nodded my thanks to Miig, who nodded back. I had to deal with both the loss of my brother and the potential loss of the rest of them once the truth got out. That would take time. He offered that to me.

✦✦✦ ✦✦✦ ✦✦✦

I hoped the tracker had been destroyed before it could transmit a readable signal to Mellin’s minions, but I had no way to know for sure. We kept up a fast pace because it was possible we really were being hunted. We made it to the rendezvous point about an hour after dawn and stayed vigilant. We couldn’t afford real rest, not now. Not when we were so close. Everyone took turns scouting and sleeping while we waited. I stayed in a tree, refusing relief.

“I’m fine,” I shouted down whenever someone offered. “Not tired. You go grab some shut-eye. I got this.”

✦✦✦ ✦✦✦ ✦✦✦

At the appointed time, the train slid over the land like a smooth snake and paused without shutting off the engines.

We boarded one by one, helping Wab up first, though she complained about it. “I can do it myself, Jesus. I’m not an invalid. Watch your hands!” She slapped us away as best she could, but her roundness made her aim less accurate.

“You’d better get your beating arm back in shape before this kid starts walking. You’re gonna need to land a swat or two,” Isaac joked.

“That’s old-school parenting,” Slopper interjected, bent with hands on knees so Wab could use his back to steady herself as she climbed into the car. “Besides, this is Wab we’re talking about. She’ll just have to raise an eyebrow, and they’ll duck and cover. I do.”

Even Chi Boy laughed. They were all a little giddy now that the train was here and we were actually getting onboard. We didn’t have a plan beyond getting to the States and staying in a safe house for a few days, but that was enough right now. Everyone was buoyant—everyone except Miig and me. We watched the trees for movement and bodies. Even now, the rest of them didn’t know how close we had come to capture. The Recruiters were probably waiting by the closest road. I watched the sky for unknown lights, listened hard for the roll of tires or the crunch of feet past the dark edge of trees beyond the tracks. I wouldn’t relax until we were over the border and under new jurisdiction.

“We’ll be up front. We have papers that say we’ve been given permission to visit New York State hospitals to see where they’re at with a cure,” Rania explained as she moved boxes and packed our bags into one wooden container. “The U.S. likes to think that we’re moving toward their way of thinking.”

I was the last to board the train. I thought about what Mitch had told me. Farms. They weren’t ditching the schools; they were repurposing them. How could dreams be transferred in to such poisoned heads? I couldn’t imagine minds capable of making schemes like that also being able to create nighttime cinema of swimming through the stars or losing teeth by the handful. But it didn’t take depth to build cruelty, only a profound lack of hope.