Max turned towards his locker. He saw that the floor between his bed and Lukas’s was littered with chewing-gum wrappers. Lukas was chewing gum as he lay on the bed. Max could smell spearmint. He opened his locker. His camouflage gear was neatly squared away inside. Was now a good time to put it on? He was still in the dirty gear he’d been wearing since morning. He realised he probably didn’t smell too fresh. He decided to get changed.

The camo gear was just the right size for him. Rough material, but warm and dry. He folded up his mountain gear and placed it in his locker. When he turned again, he saw that the small guy was standing at the end of his bed. He was still staring at Max. It was kind of freaking him out.

‘Er, hi,’ Max said.

‘Hi,’ said the boy.

‘I’m Max,’ Max said, even though Woody had already introduced him.

‘I’m Sami.’ Sami had an accent that Max couldn’t place.

They shook hands. Sami’s grip was not very strong.

‘Where are you from?’ Max asked.

‘Hey!’ Lukas sat up. ‘You know the rules. Names only.’

Max looked around. There were no Watchers to overhear them. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I just thought –’

‘Don’t go ruining this for the rest of us.’ Lukas took an empty chewing-gum wrapper from his pocket. He spat his gum into it, wrapped it up and threw it to the floor. He took a fresh piece of gum from his pocket and curled it into his mouth. ‘How come you’ve rocked up a day late, anyway?’

Max gave him a steady look. ‘You know the rules,’ he said. ‘Names only.’

Lukas’s lip curled. ‘Yeah, well. You won’t be staying long. Nor will he.’ He pointed at Sami who looked, for a moment, like he might cry.

‘He got through the first day, didn’t he? That’s more than some people did.’

Lukas scowled. ‘More than you did too.’

‘Yeah, well … I’ve been kind of busy.’

The shower door opened. The thickset boy emerged. Lukas grabbed a towel from his locker and stormed off to the shower.

‘He always like that?’ Max asked Sami.

‘Since yesterday, when we all met,’ Sami said quietly. ‘He told me this morning that I would never pass.’ He bowed his head, a timid gesture, and returned to his bed. It crossed Max’s mind that Sami did look very slender. If selection was as difficult as Hector and Woody said, there was probably a chance that he’d struggle.

‘What did you have to do today?’ Max asked. It was clear to him that the blond boy and the two thickset boys weren’t going to talk, so he addressed his question to Sami. ‘For selection, I mean.’