Sophie and the archers walked at the front with Blue and Jester. Then came the other fighters, Big Mick, Achilleus, Freak, and the rest. Ollie and the skirmishers brought up the rear as ever. Lewis took up his position on the left flank. Maxie left Josh in charge of her group on the right flank, however, and joined the little kids in the center of the column. She wanted to be with them and take comfort from them. They were affectionate and caring and not afraid to show their emotions. They hugged Maxie and held her hand and told her it was all right and that they missed Arran, and they swapped stories about him, his great deeds. She nearly burst into tears again when little Joel gave her his puppy, Godzilla, to hold. The puppy felt warm and soft. He was very sleepy, but he managed to lick her face before snuggling down in her arms. She walked on with Joel staring up at her.

Whitney came over and tickled the dog behind his ear.

“Cute,” she said, and Maxie smiled.

“Listen,” Whitney went on, “I’m sorry about Arran. We all are.”

“It’s okay.”

“I didn’t really know him,” said Whitney, “but I could tell he was all right. You had a thing for him, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. We never spoke about it.”

“Sometimes you don’t have to, girl.”

“It just seems so unfair,” said Maxie angrily. “You wake up one morning with your whole life ahead of you. So many things to see and do, and then—bang! You’re dead. There’s nothing. I can’t stop thinking about how his life has just stopped like that. He’ll never grow up. Never have kids of his own. Never grow old.”

“Just think of him like that, yeah?” said Whitney. “Forever young. Always the beautiful Arran you knew.”

“Forever dead,” said Maxie.

“Hey, come on, think positive,” said Whitney. “That’s an order.”

Maxie gave a bitter, slightly hysterical laugh. “Think positive? Look at us, Whitney. Look at what’s happened to us. What’s to be positive about?”

“At least Big Brother ain’t on TV no more.”

“No.” Maxie gave a snort of laughter that almost slid into tears.

“See, you can still laugh.”

“I feel dead inside,” said Maxie.

“It’ll pass. We’ve all lost people.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s been a horrible day.”

“Too many friends have been killed,” said Whitney. “Too many.”

“Yeah,” said Maxie. “Arran’s not the first and he won’t be the last. Every time someone dies, I don’t think I can take anymore.”

“But somehow you do, don’t you?” said Whitney. “You carry on.”

“Yeah,” said Maxie, and she wiped away a tear.