It was quiet for a moment, just the sounds of our footsteps echoing, low and muffled, from the tunnel walls.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Ian finally said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I can’t see how killing you would make anything right. It would be like executing a private for a general’s war crimes. Now, I don’t buy all of Jeb’s crazy theories—it would be nice to believe, sure, but just because you want something to be true doesn’t make it that way. Whether he’s right or wrong, though, you don’t appear to mean us any harm. I have to admit, you seem honestly fond of that boy. It’s very strange to watch. Anyway, as long as you don’t put us in danger, it seems… cruel to kill you. What’s one more misfit in this place?”

I thought about the word misfit for a moment. It might have been the truest description of me I’d ever heard. Where had I ever fit in?

How strange that Ian, of all the humans, should have such a surprisingly gentle interior. I didn’t realize that cruelty would seem a negative to him.

He waited in silence while I considered all this.

“If you don’t want to kill me, then why did you come with me today?” I asked.

He paused again before answering.

“I’m not sure that…” He hesitated. “Jeb thinks things have calmed down, but I’m not completely sure about that. There’re still a few people… Anyway, Doc and I have been trying to keep an eye on you when we can. Just in case. Sending you down the south tunnel seemed like pushing your luck, to me. But that’s what Jeb does best—he pushes luck as far as it will go.”

“You… you and Doc are trying to protect me?”

“Strange world, isn’t it?”

It was a few seconds before I could answer.

“The strangest,” I finally agreed.

CHAPTER 25: Compelled

CHAPTER 25

Compelled

Another week passed, maybe two—there seemed little point in keeping track of time here, where it was so irrelevant—and things only got stranger for me.

I worked with the humans every day, but not always with Jeb. Some days Ian was with me, some days Doc, and some days only Jamie. I weeded fields, kneaded bread, and scrubbed counters. I carried water, boiled onion soup, washed clothes in the far end of the black pool, and burned my hands making that acidic soap. Everyone did their part, and since I had no right to be here, I tried to work twice as hard as the others. I could not earn a place, I knew that, but I tried to make my presence as light a burden as possible.