The thought was dark, and it darkened further when she thought—no, not even thought. The idea that she could destroy the car and everyone in it in an instant passed through her mind.

The idea of the press of family and a dinner table with a lot of food bothered her. She didn’t know how to handle that sort of thing anymore.

“What are you doing for food?” Matias asked.

She was annoyed at the question, annoyed that her observation of the city was being interrupted, and annoyed that she hadn’t been observing the city, and that she’d been thinking about useless stuff. It was this kind of thing that dragged her down when she was in the zone.

“I’ve got stuff to do,” she said. “I don’t waste time with sleep or food until I’m set.”

“Sure,” he said.

Spidery red scrawls covered surfaces on a couple of blocks, with some paint on a door.

A little while after, she saw a group of people that weren’t wearing any red, but who were all sitting outside, trying to be intimidating.

The houses in the area they passed into were more and more run down, here. It reminded her of home. Not the home she’d been born in, but the home she had now. Stafford. The apartment with the radio and television, with the holes in the walls, her clothes hanging up to dry, and the little modifications she’d made to make life easier.

The thoughts bothered her. She wanted to slap her cheeks, wake herself up. This was the sort of thinking that had gnawed at her on the bus. It dragged her down, and she wanted out of the car, now, so she could do something, haul herself up, salvage her focus and stay in the zone.

She would thrive here, she would succeed, gather allies, make and defeat enemies, and she would make a new home.

She had to. Stafford would be a dim memory.

“This is Dorchester,” Ed said.

Her focus narrowed, her eyes tracking the surroundings. Red brick buildings, not a lot of grass, a bridge with a wooden bottom and rusty rails on the sides, only wide enough for one car to cross over. There were row houses in one area. Past the buildings to the east, she could see the water.

“Deathchester, you called it?”

“Yeah,” Xi said. “It doesn’t feel right, dropping you off here.”

She had an idea. Lifting her mood. “I’ll be fine. Come with, and I’ll show you.”

Xi made eye contact with Matias. They tried to communicate without speaking, with one or two gestures. Ashley didn’t care enough to follow. She looked out the window and said, “Anywhere near here is good.”

Ed pulled to a stop. Ashley felt tension in her hands as she pulled on the door handle, but nothing broke. She dragged her bag behind her, jerking her arm to bounce the strap to her shoulder.

“You’re just going to pick a place?” Matias asked.