She was sitting up in her hospital bed, covers up to her lap, a small smile on her face. She had her hair tied back into a single messy ponytail that had dislodged a bit because she’d laid her head down at some point. She looked tired enough that he wondered if he was imposing. She was wearing a hospital gown, white with green clovers on it, and a tube ran out from the side of the gown near her stomach. Fluids were running out of the tube, rather than in, which made him feel uneasy.

“Hi,” he said, feeling awkward.

“Hi!” Lookout said, “I’m Lookout.”

Oh, introductions. “Chicken Little, or Aiden, I guess—”

“Kenzie,” Lookout interurpted. “If we’re using real names I’m Kenzie.”

“Hi. It’s not Janesha?”

“Cover name, false identity with a name I made up. Because we’re in danger.”

He nodded. He put a hand to the side, indicating—“This is Darlene, Candy, and…”

He could sense the two boys talking to Precipice outside the door. He hoped they would get along. Romeo—Roman was very easily riled up.

“…the others are outside.”

“You’re all so pretty and handsome and dressed nice,” Lookout said. “And here I am all gross and crusty-eyed after surgery. I haven’t put my face on or brushed my teeth and my hair is awful.”

“You look fine,” Candy said.

Lookout smiled a little. “Thank you for saying so.”

Aiden wasn’t sure he looked that nice. He’d gelled his hair up into a small fauxhawk because it looked dumb however he parted it and it never looked right if he spiked it. He had a nice ankle-length jacket that Lisa had given him, jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt, which he wore with the hood nestled into the jacket’s.

“What did you say to the man from security?” Aiden asked.

“I said that we had Ms. Sparrow as a teacher and that we attended the New Brockton Primary School.”

“How did you know?”

“Cameras. I had a friend plant some, because it looks like I’m going to be here for at least one day, and some people might have tried to kill us so it’s good to be careful.”

“Like March went after Imp and Tattletale,” he said.

“And us,” Candy said. “March shot at us at the same time, then.”

“It’s getting scary out there,” Lookout said.

“It was always scary,” Darlene said.

Candy nodded, her face solemna and serious for once. “Yeah. Since I can remember. I think we’re all worse at hiding it now.”

“I wanted to see if you were okay,” Aiden said. “Um, because I know your team got shot a few times and I’ve seen how Tattletale and Imp are right now. Tattletale’s being weird and Imp is doing what she can to protect us, which means she’s not always around, even when she is around.”