Pander shakes her head. “No, we’re getting out of here, now.”

“What are you talking about?” I demand. “We’re not leaving without them.”

“Yes, we are,” Pander says, peeking her head out of my cell and looking both ways along the walkway.

“I’m not leaving them behind!” I tell her, stepping forward on still shaking legs.

“Luka,” Kina says, reaching out a hand to touch my own, “Malachai and Woods aren’t here.”

“What?” I ask. “What do you mean they’re not here?”

“Their cells are empty. They’re gone.”

I stare at Kina for a long time, trying to work out what her words mean. “Are they dead?”

“We don’t know,” Pander says. “All we know is they were transported out of the Block two days ago. That’s why we decided to come in early for you and Kina.”

I breathe heavily, trying to fight back against the tears that are climbing toward my eyes. “And Wren?” I ask, turning to Pander.

“Luka, the only reason you and Kina have any semblance of sanity left is because of the healing tech inside you, and the Sane Zone.”

“Surely Wren has had the Sane Zone too,” I say.

Pander shakes her head. “She doesn’t have your healing capabilities and they weren’t willing to give her the procedure. She was just a short-term source of energy for them.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“Wren will have lost her mind a month ago. The kindest thing we can do is kill her,” Pander says, throwing the ax onto my bed and checking the display on her USW rifle.

“No,” I say, pushing past Kina and then Pander.

I limp along the metal walkway, not caring about guards, about cameras, about the noise I’m making as I begin to run to Wren’s cell. I pass a tied and gagged guard lying unconscious on the floor.

Malachai and Woods were taken away. Why? To be executed? Did they lose their minds and become useless to Happy? I shake my head hard against the pain of it.

I reach Wren’s cell and pull at the handle. It doesn’t budge.

I turn to see Pander and Kina moving silently toward me.

“Open it!” I demand, glaring at Pander.

“Luka, there’s no—”

“Open the fucking cell, Pander!”

She sighs and leans down until her eye is beside the scanner. Somehow it works and the door lock clicks.

I open it and step inside.