“That’s not what I was saying—”

“Just because the car exploded doesn’t mean—”

“I was just curious—”

“Let’s keep a positive attitude here. We came out with all of our limbs.” She held up her injured hand. “So far, anyway. I break this hand again and I might have to get a new one.”

He laughed. “I have no doubt that you could get us there in time, even if you only had one hand.”

Heat crawled up her neck, and she quickly turned to hide her red cheeks. Maybe she should have told him how much she appreciated that, but she couldn’t find the words suddenly. She couldn’t find any words. He’d thrown her off balance, and he hadn’t even seemed to notice.

“I just wondered,” he considered. “Declan said to lock me up. What was he going to do with me later?”

She avoided looking at him as she tried to pull herself together. Having this many emotions over a kind joke felt deeply embarrassing. “Well, Beto told me to take you to Vacancies to get an apartment. Which I imagine is what Declan had in mind as well, eventually.”

“They’d give me a place to live?”

“Yeah. Nothing nice. Probably a really small place, and you could work your way up. You’d be given a job, based on what was available and your skill level. You’d start earning credits and paying rent to the family like the rest of us.”

“What would I happen if I didn’t want the job that was assigned to me? Like, if I just didn’t do it?”

“You’d be thrown out of the apartment and someone would come to kick your ass. You’d have a couple options at that point—you could go see if the Reapers would have you, and they’d provide a certain level of protection against us. Or you could try to join the border patrol, though they don’t really like newcomers and you probably have a fifty-fifty chance that they decide to make you lunch instead of letting you join.”

“Such appealing options,” he said dryly.

“But then you’d probably die within a year anyway, because the virus starts shutting down organs in most people, and you need credits to get new ones. Plus, if you’re not getting protection from the family, that also means you’re not getting your regular screenings, so you won’t even know when your organs are starting to go until it’s too late. The Reapers have some medical skills, but nothing compared to ours.”

“So, I should take whatever job they give me, is what you’re saying.”

“That is definitely what I’m saying.”

“What would it be?”

“Garbage plant, probably, to start. Most people start there, or at least rotate in for a shift every once in a while.”

He grimaced.

“After that, who knows? You can pick a trade, or train under a professional. You might be useful in communications, since you seem into that. Hadley and Elise could probably put you somewhere.”

“That doesn’t sound too horrible,” he said quietly.