As she left the room Achilleus called out to her. “Where would you go?”

“I don’t know,” she called back angrily. “Anywhere away from here.”

Jester took her to the grand staircase, where they climbed one of the twin stairways. At the top was a statue of Perseus holding the Gorgon’s severed head. Maxie was struck by how young Perseus looked, and how old Medusa looked. Maybe that was what the story was about. A boy killing an adult. The new world killing off the old.

Jester took her through the upper floors of the building, his candlelight flickering along the walls. It was less grand up here, more like a normal house, albeit a huge one.

The sick bay was tucked away in a corner of the top floor. It was off a short corridor reached by a small back staircase. Two of David’s guards sat outside, with rifles by their sides.

Maxie turned to Jester with a questioning look.

“I thought this was a sick bay, not a prison.”

“Lighten up,” said Jester. “They’re not keeping guard. They’re just there if anyone needs anything.”

“So why the guns?”

Jester leaned over and spoke quietly in Maxie’s ear. “They won’t go anywhere without them. They love their toys.”

He chuckled as they went inside.

There were six beds in here. Each with a little night-light burning by its side. Four of the beds were empty. The other two held Blue and the girl they had rescued. She was lying there, staring at the ceiling, her face covered with bandages.

Blue was sitting up, naked above the sheets, reading a book, which he put down as Maxie came in.

Rose sat by the window with her own candle, leafing through a magazine. Another girl in a nurse’s uniform was filling a glass with water from a jug. There was an air of peace and calm. Maxie wondered what she’d been so worried about.

Blue gave her a wide smile, genuinely pleased to see her. He looked fine. Well fed and rested. Maxie was struck for the first time by how fit his body was. Since the disaster they had all been eating a lot less; their bodies were mostly lean with little fat. Their active lives kept their muscles in shape.

“How you doing?” she asked.

“Better,” said Blue. “Couldn’t stop being sick for ages. Kept falling asleep. But when I woke up this evening I felt almost normal. Mother of all headaches, though. How you doing?”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” said Jester, and he slipped out.

Maxie sat down by the bed and told Blue everything that had happened since the battle at the camp. Rose and the nurse fussed about the room, trying to keep busy and giving them space.

When she’d finished, Blue was silent for a long while.

“I’m sorry about Freak,” he said at last.