“Lennon was arrested four times before turning seventeen, but he cleaned up his act after joining his father’s campaign—”

“You were arrested four times?” Maisie asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I like how you sound impressed by that,” he said.

She was a little impressed, actually. She tried not to let it show.

“Was it always for playing tennis naked?” Hadley asked. “Is that, like, your thing?”

“No,” Lennon said, but didn’t elaborate.

“Is it against the law to be naked on the other side of the wall?” Elise asked. “My neighbor would get arrested, like, every week.”

“Can we please change the channel?” Lennon asked.

“So demanding,” Elise muttered. But she punched a few keys, and a man replaced the woman. There were two boxes next to his face, a man and a woman apparently calling in from a different location.

“It’s not a matter of if this happens again, it’s when,” the man at the desk said. “Lennon Pierce will not be the last person dropped into the quarantine zone against his will. Are we just going to ignore the fact that this situation has become untenable?”

“I disagree,” the woman said. “This was a terrible, isolated incident, and everyone is taking precautions to make sure it never happens again.”

“But how did it even happen in the first place?” the man behind the desk asked. “How did they even get the plane above the quarantine zone? It’s restricted airspace. How can we trust that there won’t be more breakdowns in security? If we’re able to just drop people in now, who’s to say that people can’t start getting out? How long until they start trying to scale the walls again? You do know that there have been rumors that they’ve been biding their time inside, developing a way to break down the walls and escape.”

“I agree,” the man in the box said. “We can’t keep pretending that this isn’t happening within our borders. It’s no longer just a public health issue, it’s a defense issue. They are a lawless, violent society in there, and Lennon Pierce will not be the last one to suffer for our inaction.”

“Jesus,” Hadley said.

“We’re not lawless,” Elise said. “There are some laws.”

“They’re more like guidelines,” Hadley said.

Lennon turned to Maisie. “You see what I mean, right? Listen to them. They hate you.”

“Let’s not forget that Lennon argued for the liberation of the quarantine zone,” the woman said, and Maisie returned her attention to the screen. “Repeatedly. He spoke often about his father’s plans for the future of the zone.”

“What was the plan for the future?” Maisie asked.

“A cure, a vaccine, and a reintroduction to society for all of you,” he said.

“Dream big, my dude,” Hadley said.

“Senator Pierce’s policies are radical!” the man in the box said. “He’s arguing for forgiveness for all crimes committed inside quarantine, plus money and housing for all of them once they’re on the outside. I don’t know why we would reward criminals with a free house, but I bet that if Lennon could weigh in now, he would have very different advice for his father.”