Enclave

Deuce

I was born during the second holocaust. People had told us legends of a time when human beings lived longer. I thought they were just stories. Nobody even lived to see forty in my world.

Today was my birthday. Each one added a layer of fear, and this year, it was worse. I lived in an enclave in which our oldest had seen twenty-five years. His face was withered, and his fingers shook when he attempted the smallest tasks. Some whispered it would be a kindness to kill him, but they meant they didn’t want to see their futures written in his skin.

“Are you ready?” Twist stood waiting for me in the darkness.

He already wore his marks; he was two years older than me, and if he’d survived the ritual, I could. Twist was small and frail by any standards; privation had cut runnels into his cheeks, aging him. I studied the pallor of my forearms and then nodded. It was time for me to become a woman.

The tunnels were wide and laid with metal bars. We had found remnants of what might’ve been transportation, but they lay on their sides like great, dead beasts. We used them for emergency shelters sometimes. If a hunting party was attacked before it reached sanctuary, a heavy metal wall between them and hungry enemies made the difference between life and death.

I had never been outside the enclave, of course. This space comprised the only world I’d ever known, cast in darkness and curling smoke. The walls were old, built of rectangular blocks. Once they had borne color but the years had worn them gray. Splashes of brightness came from items we scavenged from deeper in the warren.

I followed Twist through the maze, my gaze touching on familiar objects. My favorite item was a picture of a girl on a white cloud. I couldn’t make out what she was holding; that part had worn away. But the words in bright red, HEAVENLY HAM, looked wonderful to me. I wasn’t sure what that was, but by her expression, it must have been very good.

The enclave assembled on naming day, everyone who had survived to be named. We lost so many when they were young that we just called all the brats Boy or Girl, along with a number. Since our enclave was small — and dwindling — I recognized each face shadowed by the half-light. It was hard not to let the expectation of pain knot my stomach, along with the fear I would wind up with a terrible name that would cling to me until I died.

Please let it be something good.

The oldest, who carried the burden of the name Whitewall, walked to the center of the circle. He stopped before the fire, and its licking flame painted his skin in terrifying shades. With one hand, he beckoned me forward.

Once I joined him, he spoke. “Let each Hunter bring forth his gift.”

The others carried their tokens and piled them at my feet. A mound of interesting items grew — and a few of them, I had no idea what purpose they might’ve served. Decoration, perhaps? People in the world before seemed obsessed with objects that existed simply to look pretty. I couldn’t imagine such a thing.

After they finished, Whitewall turned to me. “It’s time.”

Silence fell. Cries echoed through the tunnels. Somewhere close by, somebody was suffering, but he wasn’t old enough to attend my naming. We might lose another citizen before we finished here. Sickness and fever devastated us and our medicine man did more harm than good, it seemed to me. But I’d learned not to question his treatments. Here in the enclave, one didn’t prosper by demonstrating too much independent thought.

These rules permit us to survive, Whitewall would say. If you cannot abide by them, then you are free to see how you fare Topside. The eldest had a mean streak; I didn’t know if he had always been that way, or if age had made him so. And now, he stood before me, ready to take my blood.

Though I had never witnessed the ritual before, I knew what to expect. I extended my arms. The razor glinted in the firelight. It was our prized possession, and the oldest kept it clean and sharp. He made three jagged cuts on my left arm, and I held my pain until it coiled into a silent cry within me. I would not shame the enclave by weeping. He slashed my right arm before I could do more than brace. I clenched my teeth as hot blood trickled downward. Not too much. The cuts were shallow, symbolic.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

I obeyed. He bent, spreading the gifts before me, and then grabbed my hand. His fingers were cold and thin. From whatever my blood struck, so would I take my name. With my eyes closed, I could hear the others breathing, but they were still and reverent. Movement rustled nearby.

“Open your eyes and greet the world, Huntress. From this day forward, you will be called Deuce.”

I saw the oldest held a card. It was torn and stained, yellow with age. The back had a pretty red pattern and the front had what looked like a black shovel blade on it, along with the number two. It was also speckled with my blood, which meant I must keep it with me at all times. I took it from him with a murmur of thanks.

Strange. No longer would I be known as Girl15. My new name would take some getting used to.

The enclave dispersed. People offered me nods of respect as they went about their business. Now that the naming day ceremony was complete, there was still food to be hunted and supplies to be scavenged. Our work never ended.

“You were very brave,” Twist said. “Now let’s take care of your arms.”

It was just as well we had no audience for this part because my courage failed. I wept when he put the hot metal to my skin. Six scars to prove I was tough enough to call myself Huntress. Other citizens received less; Builders got three scars. Breeders took only one. For as long as anyone could remember, the number of marks on the arms identified what role a citizen played.

We could not permit the cuts to heal naturally for two reasons: They would not scar properly and infection might set in. Over the years, we had lost too many to the naming day ritual because they cried and begged; they couldn’t bear the white-hot conclusion. Now Twist no longer paused at the sight of tears, and I was glad he didn’t acknowledge them.

I am Deuce.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as the nerve endings died, but the scars appeared one by one, proclaiming my strength and my ability to weather whatever I found out in the tunnels. I had been training for this day my whole life; I could wield a knife or a club with equal proficiency. Every bite of food I ate that had been supplied by someone else, I consumed with the understanding it would be my turn someday to provide for the brats.

That day had come. Girl15 was dead.

Long live Deuce.

After the naming, two friends held a party for me. I found them both waiting in the common area. We’d come up together as brats, though our personalities and physical skills put us on different paths. Still, Thimble and Stone were my two closest companions. Of the three, I was the youngest, and they’d taken pleasure in calling me Girl15 after they both got their names.

Thimble was a small girl a little older than me, who served as a Builder. She had dark hair and brown eyes. Because of her pointed chin and wide gaze, people sometimes questioned if she was old enough to be out of brat training. She hated that; there was no surer way to rouse her temper.

Grime often stained her fingers because she worked with her hands, and it found its way onto her clothing and smudged her face. We’d gotten used to seeing her scratch her cheek and leave a dark streak behind. But I didn’t tease her anymore because she was sensitive. One of her legs was a touch shorter than the other, and she walked with a whisper of a limp, not from injury, but that small defect. Otherwise, she might easily have become a Breeder.

Because he was strong and handsome, but not especially bright, Stone landed as a Breeder. Whitewall figured he had good material in him, and if matched with a clever female, he should sire good, solid offspring. Only citizens with traits worth passing on were allowed to contribute to the next generation, and the elders monitored births carefully. We couldn’t allow more brats than we could provide for.

Thimble rushed up to examine my forearms. “How much did it hurt?”

“A lot,” I said. “Twice as much as yours.” I gave Stone a pointed look. “Six times as much as yours.”

He always joked he had the easiest job in the enclave, and maybe that was true, but I wouldn’t want the burden of making sure our people survived to the next generation. On top of siring the young, he also shared the responsibility of looking after them. I didn’t think I could deal with so much death. Brats were unbelievably fragile. This year, he’d sired one male, and I didn’t know how he dealt with the fear. I could barely remember my dam; she’d died young even by our standards. When she was eighteen, a sickness swept through the enclave, likely carried by the trading party from Nassau. It took a lot of our people that year.

Some citizens thought the offspring of Breeders should stay in that role. There was a quiet movement among the Hunters to take their number from their own — that once a Hunter got too old for patrols, he or she could sire the next crop of Hunters. I’d fought my whole life against that thinking. From the time I could walk, I’d watched the Hunters going off into the tunnels and known it for my destiny.

“It’s not my fault I’m handsome,” he said, grinning.

“Stop, you two.” Thimble got out a present wrapped in faded cloth. “Here.”

I hadn’t expected this. Brow raised, I took the parcel from her, hefted it, and said, “You made me new daggers.”

She glared. “I hate when you do that.”

To appease her, I unfolded the fabric. “They’re beautiful.”

And they were. Only a Builder could do such fine work. She’d poured these just for me. I imagined the long hours over the fire and the time in the mold and the tempering and the polishing and sharpening afterward. They gleamed in the torchlight. I tested them and found them perfectly balanced. I executed a couple of moves to show her how much I liked them, and Stone jumped as if I might hit him on accident. He could be such an idiot. A Huntress never stabbed anything she didn’t intend to.

“I wanted you to have the best out there.”

“Me too,” Stone said.

He hadn’t bothered to wrap his gift; it was simply too big. The club wasn’t Builder quality work, but Stone had a fair hand with carving, and he’d taken a solid scrap of wood for the core. I suspected Thimble must’ve helped him with the banded metal along the top and bottom, but the fanciful figures cut into the wood came from him, no mistake. I didn’t recognize all of the animals, but it was lovely and solid, and I would feel safer with it on my back. He’d rubbed the carvings with some kind of dye, so they stood out from the grain. The decorations would actually make it harder for me to keep the weapon clean, but Stone was a Breeder, and he couldn’t be expected to think of things like that.

I smiled in appreciation. “This is wonderful.”

They both hugged me and then produced a treat we’d been saving for my naming day. Thimble had traded for this tin long ago — in anticipation of the occasion. The container itself offered unusual pleasure in that it shone bright red and white, brighter than most things we found down here. We didn’t know what was inside it; only that it had been sealed so thoroughly that we needed tools to pry it open.

A lovely scent drifted out. I had never smelled anything like it, but it was fresh and sweet. Inside, I saw nothing but colored dust. Impossible to tell what it might have once been, but the aroma alone made my naming day special.

“What is it?” Thimble asked.

Hesitantly, I touched a fingertip to the pink dust. “I think it might be to make us smell better.”

“Do we put it on our clothes?” Stone leaned in and gave a sniff.

Thimble considered. “Only for special occasions.”

“Anything in there?” I stirred, until I touched bottom. “There is!”

Elated, I drew out a square of stiff paper. It was white with gold letters, but they had a funny shape and I couldn’t read them. Some of them looked like they were supposed to; others didn’t. They looped and dropped and curled in ways that made them confusing to my eye.

“Put it back,” she said. “It might be important.”

It was important, if only for being one of the few complete documents we had from the time before. “We should take it to the Wordkeeper.”

Even though we’d traded for this tin fair and square, if it yielded a valuable enclave resource and we tried to keep it for ourselves, we could wind up in serious trouble. Trouble led to exile, and exile to unspeakable things. By mutual agreement, we replaced the paper and closed the tin. We shared a sober look, aware of the potential consequences. None of us wanted to be accused of hoarding.

“Let’s take care of it now,” Stone said. “I have to get back to the brats soon.”

“Give me a bit.”

Moving at a run, I headed to look for Twist. I found him in the kitchens, not surprisingly. I still hadn’t been assigned a private living space. Now that I’d been named, I could have a room of my own. No more brat dorm.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

I tried not to take offense. Just because I’d been named didn’t mean his treatment of me would improve overnight. To some, I’d be little more than a brat for a couple of years. Until I started edging toward elder territory.

“Just tell me where my space is?”

Twist sighed, but obligingly he led the way through the maze. Along the way, we dodged many bodies and wound through the layers of partitions and makeshift shelters. Mine sat in between two others, but it was four feet to call my own.

My room had three crude walls, constructed of old metal, and a ragged length of cloth for an illusion of privacy. Everyone had more or less the same; it only varied in terms of what trinkets people kept. I had a secret weakness for shiny things. I was always trading for something that glittered when I held it to the light.

“That all?”

Before I could answer, he went back toward the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the curtain. I had a rag pallet and a crate for my meager belongings. But nobody else had the right to come in here without my invitation. I’d earned my place.

Despite my worry, I smiled while I stowed my new weapons. Nobody would touch anything in here, and it was best not to visit the Wordkeeper armed to the teeth. Like Whitewall, he was getting on in years, and tended to be strange.

I didn’t look forward to this interrogation at all.

Trial

It didn’t take long to spill our story and show him the tin. He reached inside, letting the pink dust trail through his fingers. The card he handled carefully.

“You say you’ve had this item for some time?” The Wordkeeper glared at the three of us, as if we were guilty of stupidity at least.

Stone explained, “We traded for it together and agreed we’d open it on Fifteen’s … er, Deuce’s naming day.”

“So you had no idea of the contents before now?”

“No, sir,” I said.

Thimble added a timid nod. Her limp made her self-conscious, as the enclave seldom permitted such imperfections. But hers was minor and didn’t impede her performance as a Builder. In fact, I’d say she worked twice as hard, not wanting anyone to feel they’d made a mistake about her.

“Are you willing to swear?” the Wordkeeper asked.

“Yes,” Thimble said. “None of us had any idea what it held.”

They fetched Copper from the kitchens and she witnessed. The Wordkeeper growled as he took the document into evidence. “Get out, all of you. I’ll let you know of my decision in due time.”

I felt sick as we went back to my room. I wanted to show them where it was, anyway. Stone could enter with Thimble present as a chaperone. Like in the old days, in the brat dorm, we flopped onto the pallet together. Stone sat between us and wrapped an arm around each of us. He felt warm and familiar, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. I wouldn’t let anybody else touch me like this, but he was different. We were brat-mates, practically related.

“It’ll be fine,” he said. “They can’t punish us for something we didn’t do.”

Looking at the pleasure in Thimble’s face as she nestled against him, I wondered if she might do better as a Breeder. But the elders wouldn’t let her, even if she’d preferred it. Nobody wanted imperfections passed on, even the small, harmless ones.

“He’s right,” she agreed.

I nodded. The elders looked after us. Certainly, they had to consider the matter, but once they’d studied all the facts, no harm would come to us. We’d done the right thing and turned the paper over as soon as we found it.

Absently, Stone played with my hair; for him, it was a simple instinct. Touching wasn’t forbidden to Breeders. They hugged and patted so easily it alarmed me. Builders and Hunters had to take such care not to be accused of wrongdoing.

“I have to go,” Stone said regretfully.

“To make some brats or look after them?” Thimble asked with a flash of ire.

For a moment, I felt so sorry for her. To me, it was painfully obvious she wanted something she could never have. Unlike me. I had exactly what I wanted. I couldn’t wait to start work.

He grinned, taking the question at face value. “If you must know—”

“Never mind,” I said hastily.

Her face fell. “I should go too. Hope you had a good naming day, Deuce.”

“Apart from seeing the Wordkeeper, it was fine.” I smiled as they both left and fell back on my pallet to think about my future as a Huntress.

The first time I saw Fade, he frightened me. He had a lean, sharp face and shaggy dark hair that fell over his forehead into the blackest eyes, like a bottomless pit. And he bore so many scars, as if he’d lived through battles the rest of us couldn’t imagine. Hard as life had been here, his silent rage said he’d seen worse.

Unlike most, he hadn’t been born in the enclave. He came in through the tunnels, half grown when we found him, half starved and more than half feral. He didn’t have a number designation, or even any concept of how to behave. Still, the older citizens voted to let him stay.

“Anybody who can survive out in the tunnels on his own has to be strong,” Whitewall had said. “We can use him.”

“If he doesn’t kill us all first,” Copper had muttered back.

Copper was second oldest at twenty-four, and she served as mate to Whitewall, though it was a fluid arrangement. She was also the only one who dared to back-talk him, even a little bit. The rest of us had learned to mind. I’d seen people exiled because they refused to obey the rules.

So when Whitewall decreed the stranger stayed, we had to make it work. It was a long while before I actually set eyes on him. They tried to teach him our ways, and he spent long hours with the Wordkeeper. He already knew how to fight; he didn’t seem to know how to live with other people, or at least, he found our laws confusing.

I was just a brat at the time, so I wasn’t involved in his assimilation. I was training to become a Huntress. Since I wanted to prove myself with blade and boot, I worked tirelessly. When the strange boy got his name, I wasn’t there. He didn’t know how old he was, so they guessed when to christen him.

After that, I saw him around, but I certainly never spoke to him. Brats and Hunters didn’t mix, unless lessons were involved. Those earmarked for combat and patrol duties studied under the veteran Hunters. I’d spent most of my time training with Silk, but a few others had schooled me over the years as well. I formally met Fade much later, after my own naming. He was teaching the fundamentals of knife work when Twist delivered me to his class.

“That’s all,” Fade said, as we joined them.

The brats dispersed with quiet grumbling. I remembered how sore my muscles had been when I started training. Now I took pleasure in the hardness of my arms and legs. I wanted to test myself against the dangers beyond our makeshift walls.

Twist tilted his head at me. “This is your new partner. Silk ranked her as the best in her group.”

“Did she?” Fade’s voice sounded odd.

I met his black eyes with a lift of my chin. Can’t let him think he intimidates me. “Yes. I scored ten out of ten in throws.”

He raked me with a scathing look. “You’re puny.”

“And you’re quick to judge.”

“What’s your name?”

I had to think; I almost said Girl15. I fingered the card in my pocket, finding comfort in its edges. It was my talisman now. “Deuce.”

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Twist said. “I have other things to do.”

He did, of course. Since he was small and fragile, he couldn’t hunt. He served as a second to Whitewall, running errands for him and taking care of administrative tasks. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him just sitting still, not even at night. I lifted my hand as he went around the jagged metal partition to another section of the settlement.

“I’m Fade,” he told me.

“I know. Everyone knows you.”

“Because I’m not one of you.”

“You said it, not me.”

His head jerked in a nod that said he didn’t want to answer any questions. Since I refused to be like everyone else, I swallowed my curiosity. If he didn’t want to talk, I didn’t care. Everyone wondered about his story, but only Whitewall had ever heard it — and maybe he didn’t even know the truth. But I was only interested in Fade as the one who guarded my back, so it didn’t matter.

He changed the subject. “Silk assigns hunting parties daily. We join the rotation tomorrow. I hope you’re as good as she claims.”

“What happened to your last partner?”

Fade smiled. “He wasn’t as good as Silk claimed.”

“You want to find out?” I lifted my brow in a challenge.

The space had cleared of brats, so he shrugged and took a position in the center. “Show me what you’ve got.”

It was a clever tactic, but I wasn’t that green. The offensive fighter lost the chance to assess his opponent’s style. I shook my head at him and curled my fingers. He almost smiled; I saw it start in his eyes, but then he focused on the fight.

We circled a few times. I leaned toward caution because I’d never seen him spar with anyone. I watched the Hunters every chance I got, but he didn’t spend much time with them outside of patrols.

He lashed out with a quick left, followed by a right cross. I blocked one but not the other; kind of him not to use his full strength. Still, the blow rocked me. I used the new angle to sink a fist into his ribs and spin away. He wasn’t expecting me to recover so fast, I thought.

Our sparring gathered an audience. I tried to ignore them, as I wanted to make a good showing. I went for his leg but he leaped and I recovered in a clumsy stumble while he pressed forward. When he swept, I didn’t slide away in time and he took me down smoothly. I tried to roll out of the lock, but he had me. I glared up at him, but he held me until I tapped.

Fade offered me a hand up. “Not bad. You lasted a couple of minutes.”

With a grin, I took it. I refused to make the excuse that my arms were sore. He could see that for himself. “You got lucky today. I’d like a rematch.”

He walked away without giving me an answer. I’d take that as a maybe.

That night, I honed my blade. I double — and triple — checked my equipment. Even with all my training and my preparations, I found it hard to sleep. I lay and listened to the comforting sounds of life around me. A brat cried. Someone was breeding. Moans of pain mingled with softer sighs.

I must have dozed because Twist roused me with a foot in the ribs. “Get up and eat. You’re due on patrol in a little while. And don’t think I’ll be bothering to wake you personally after today.”

“I won’t,” I said.

It was a wonder I’d slept at all. My first patrol. Excitement warred with nerves. Using a touch of oil, I slicked my hair into an efficient tail and geared up. That meant looping my club across my back and sliding my blades into the thigh sheaths. I had made all of the equipment myself; Whitewall thought such self-sufficiency encouraged greater care, and maybe he was right.

As I approached the kitchen area, the smoke stung my eyes. Copper was roasting something on a spit, and the grease hissed as it dropped into the fire. She got out her dagger and cut me a hunk of meat. It burned my fingers as I took it and gobbled it down. I’d never eaten breakfast first; only Hunters did that. Pride blazed in me.

I watched the Hunters wolf down their portions, each larger than I’d ever received before. They all looked hard and ready, not nervous at all. I glanced around for Fade and found him eating alone. The others didn’t talk to him. Even now, he was an outsider, still regarded with subtle suspicion.

As we finished our food, Silk stepped up onto a table. “There have been sightings closer to the enclave than we want.”

A male Hunter whose name I didn’t know asked, “Freaks?”

A shiver ran through me. Freaks looked almost human — and weren’t. They had lesions on their skin, razor-sharp teeth, and claws instead of fingernails. I’d heard you could detect them by smell, though in the tunnels, that could be hard. It already smelled of a hundred things down here, only half of them good. But Twist had told me Freaks stank like carrion meat. They feasted on the dead, but they would eat fresh meat if they could get it. We had to make sure they didn’t.

Silk nodded. “They’re getting bolder. Kill any you come across.” She held up a cloth sack. “Your goal today is to fill this bag with meat. As long as it’s not Freak, I don’t care what you put in it. Good hunting.”

The others headed out. I cut through the throng and headed for Fade. He looked even scarier than he had the night before. He might not be more than a couple of seasons older than me, but it was a lifetime of hunting experience. His weapons shone, a reassuring sight. For all I wanted to prove myself, I also wanted a partner I could count on. I would be stupid not to worry that his last one had died out there. Maybe someday he’d tell me the circumstances.

“Let’s do this,” he said.

I followed him through the kitchen area and into an adjunct tunnel. Long ago, we’d erected barricades in key points, preventing an easy flow to our main settlement. We exited through the east blockade, and it required me to scramble using my hands and knees before I got past the rubble. To my eyes, it needed shoring up again with new salvage, but that was Builder work.

Beyond the light of the enclave, it was dark, darker than I’d ever seen. It took my eyes long moments to adjust. Fade waited while I made the shift.

“We hunt like this?” Nobody ever told me. Primitive fear scuttled up my spine.

“Light attracts Freaks. We don’t want them to see us first.”

Reflexively, I checked my weapons as if mentioning the monsters could bring them slavering out of the murk. My club slid free cleanly. I put it back. Likewise, my knives found my palms in a smooth motion.

As we moved, my other senses compensated. I had done visual deprivation as part of my training, but I hadn’t understood just how much I would need that skill out here. Now I was glad I could hear him moving ahead of me because I could make out only vague shadows. No wonder Hunters died.

Ahead of me, Fade checked the various snares. A couple yielded meat. Another partner might’ve put me at ease; he left me trailing in the darkness and the silence. Fine, I could handle myself. I wasn’t scared.

I told myself that right up until we made a left turn and I heard noises in the distance. Wet, sucking sounds echoed, so I had no idea how close they really were. The ground roughened beneath my feet, broken metal and chunks of stone. Fade melted into the dark, going toward danger.

Because it was my job, I followed.

We came to a crossing, where four tunnels connected. Above, the ceiling had cracked and fallen, leaving debris everywhere. Sickly light trickled in from a great distance, speckling everything with a peculiar glow, and I spotted my first Freak.

Because we moved as silently as twin knives, the monster hadn’t seen or heard us yet. It crouched over a dead thing, tearing raw flesh with its teeth. There would be more nearby. In my lore classes, they’d told us Freaks ran in packs.

Fade made a silent gesture, telling me he would take this one. I should watch for the rest. A lift of my head confirmed my understanding of the plan. He went in, lean and deadly, and ended the creature with a lightning-fast spike of his blade. It shrieked, likely alerting the rest. The death call carried like a mournful song.

Movement to the north drew my eye. We had two more incoming at a dead run. Instinct kicked in, leaving me no space for fear. My knives slipped into my hands — unlike most Hunters, I could fight with two at the same time.

Silk didn’t lie. I am the best of my group.

I told myself that as the first Freak slammed into me. But I greeted it with an upward slash and an outward thrust with my left hand. Hit the vitals. Go for the kill shot. I heard Silk’s voice in my head, telling me, Every moment you spend fighting this thing drains energy you won’t have later, when you need it most.

My blade bit into rank, spongy flesh and slammed through bone. I shook my head mentally. Too high. I didn’t want the rib cage. It howled in pain and raked its filthy claws toward my shoulder. This wasn’t like training; this thing didn’t use moves I knew.

Grimly, I countered with my right hand. I wished I had the leisure to watch Fade, assess his style, but this was my first real fight, and I didn’t want to come out of it looking worse than an untrained brat. It mattered that I earned my partner’s respect.

My leg lashed out, and I combined the kick with an angled knife thrust. Both connected, and the Freak went down, gushing foul blood. It didn’t look like ours, darker, thick and fetid. I popped it in the heart with my left hand and danced back to avoid getting clawed while it was in its death throes.

Fade finished faster than me. To be expected, I supposed, given his greater experience. I cleaned my knives on the rags the Freak wore and slid them back into their sheathes. Now I understood on a visceral level why the Hunters spent so much time caring for their weapons. I felt like I might never get the stain off the metal.

“Not bad,” he said at last.

“Thanks.”

I’d done it. I was officially blooded. As much as the new scars on my arms, that marked me as a Huntress. My shoulders squared.

We left the three corpses. Horrible as it sounded, other Freaks would eat them. They had no care for their dead. They did not attack each other, but otherwise, anything in the tunnels — living or dead — offered fuel for their endless appetites.

By comparison the rest of our patrol passed with relative ease. Half the traps yielded meat. A number of animals lived down here with us; four-legged furry creatures we called food. I killed a wounded one, where the snare hadn’t broken its neck clean, and that bothered me more than killing the Freak. I held its warm body in my hands and bowed my head over it. Wordless, Fade took it from me and dropped it in the sack with the others. We had brats to feed.

I didn’t know how he marked the time, but eventually he said, “We should head back.”

On the return, I tried to memorize our route. Though no one had stated it, one day Fade would expect me to lead. He wouldn’t accept excuses, any more than I was inclined to offer them. So on our way, I counted our steps and turns and committed them to memory.

By the time we reached the enclave, other Hunters had already begun reporting in. Twist took charge of the bags, weighing the meat and either commending or berating the team. We heard “nice job” while the pair after us got “thanks to you, the brats go hungry in the morning.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said to Fade.

He inclined his head and circled around the fire. Without meaning to, I found myself watching the lean, muscular lines of his back and the way his hair fell against the nape of his neck. Fade moved like he fought, economically and without wasted effort.

“What do you think of him?” Silk asked. At twenty, she stood a little taller than me with fair hair she wore shorn close to her head. Her toughness made her an ideal leader. But her face contorted with contempt as she gazed at Fade. She didn’t like what he stood for and that he didn’t accept his orders with the same zeal as everyone else.

My opinions about Fade were far too tangled to talk about, so I murmured, “Too soon to say.”

“A lot of citizens fear him. They say he must be part Freak or he’d have been eaten out there.”

“People say a lot of things,” I muttered.

Silk took it as a tacit defense of my new partner and her mouth twisted. “That they do. Some say you should be a Breeder like your dam.”

I set my teeth and strode out of the kitchen, determined to find a partner and do a little extra training. Nobody would dismiss me as unfit to be a Huntress. Nobody.

Wordkeeper

Two days later, they called Stone, Thimble, and me before the Wordkeeper. He’d had time to consider the matter of the white card. Though I knew we hadn’t done anything wrong, my stomach still tightened with dread.

He wasn’t quite as old as Whitewall, but he had an air about him that made me nervous. The Wordkeeper was tall and thin with arms like bone. He sat before us wearing a heavy look.

“After examining the tin, I have determined you had no foreknowledge of its contents. I judge you all innocent.” Relief spilled through me as he went on. “You did well in bringing me the document. I will add it to our archives.” He referred to a gray metal box in which he stored all of our important papers. “But as a reward for your honesty, I have decided to read this to you. Make yourselves comfortable.”

That was new. Most of us could read enough to make out warning signs, but not a lot more. Our training focused on other areas, those more valuable to the whole. At his invitation I sat, folding my legs before me. Thimble and Stone did likewise on either side of me.

The Wordkeeper cleared this throat. “‘You are cordially invited to the wedding of Anthony P. Cicero and Jennifer L. Grant on Tuesday, June the Second, year of Our Lord 2009 at four o’clock. Thirty-five East Olivet Avenue. RSVP enclosed. Reception to follow.’”

It all sounded very mysterious. I wanted to ask some questions, but he’d already granted us a favor. The Wordkeeper made it clear we were dismissed once he finished, so I led the way to the common area.

Thimble looked thoughtful. “What do you think a wedding is?”

“Some kind of party? Maybe like we have after naming day.” I did wonder why the paper had been sealed in a box full of sweet-smelling powder, but I had long since accepted that I’d never understand everything. In the enclave, it mattered more that we performed well in our allotted roles. Life didn’t permit extensive curiosity; there was no time for it.

“Do you have any other contraband?” Stone joked. “We could take a look at it before we have to go back to work.”

Thimble leveled a stern gaze at him. “That’s not funny. They’re going to be watching us for weeks now, just to be sure…” She trailed off, not wanting to voice the possible offense.

To be sure we’re not hoarding. Last year, a boy named Skittle had been discovered with old documents and technology in his living space, some hidden beneath his pallet, other things concealed in hollow objects. Hunters had taken his whole collection to Whitewall and the Wordkeeper for examination and judgment. Most of it was judged significant to our cultural development, and they exiled him. Apart from Fade, I’d never heard of anyone surviving outside a settlement.

There were others down here, of course. We weren’t alone. Sometimes we traded with the closest enclave, but that required a three-day hike through dangerous territory. Natural resources didn’t permit large groups to live in the same area. Coming up as brats, each elder drummed it into our heads how without proper balance, we were doomed. And we believed it because it was true.

We had heard stories about other enclaves; they’d died out because they didn’t enforce the rules. They overbred and starved, or they didn’t follow hygiene procedures and they perished of the dirty disease. Here, the rules existed for a purpose. They saved our lives.

So I agreed with Thimble, shaking my head at Stone. “If you’re going to be like that, I don’t want you hanging around us.”

His good-natured face fell. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you didn’t,” Thimble said gently. “But other people might not understand.”

Likely not. They didn’t know Stone like we did. He sometimes spoke before he thought, but there was no harm in him. He’d never do anything to hurt the rest of the enclave. You only had to see him with a brat in each arm to understand that, but Whitewall and the Wordkeeper had to err on the side of cruelty, if it came down to the greater good. I didn’t want my friend sent on the long walk.

“I’ll be more careful.” He looked truly chastened.

Shortly thereafter, we split, going our separate ways for work. Part of me knew our friendship couldn’t hold its close ties. Over time, Thimble would bond with other Builders; they had more in common, things to talk about. Stone would stay with the Breeders, and I’d find myself more at home with the Hunters. I didn’t like thinking about the inevitable because it reminded me how soon our lives would change forever.

I arrived in the staging ground just as Silk began to speak. She cut me a sharp look, but she didn’t dress me down in front of the others. I sent a silent thanks. Hopefully she knew I wouldn’t make a habit of being late; any other day I would be among the first to assemble. I was so proud to wear the Hunter marks on my arms.

Silk ran down the day’s priorities. “I don’t know where their numbers are coming from, but even after stepping up patrols, we have more Freaks in the area.”

I didn’t know all of the Hunters’ names yet, but a short boy said, “Maybe one of the nearby settlements has turned.”

A rumble went through the group and Silk fixed a fierce glare on the worst offenders. Rumors had long circulated that Freaks could be made, not just born, and if something happened — the wrong something — we could all end up like that. I tended to think that was superstitious junk. We’d had Hunters bitten before, and if the bites didn’t go septic, they went back out into the tunnels with no problems. They didn’t change into slavering fiends.

“Enough,” Silk snapped. “If you’re going to turn into scared little brats, why don’t you go join the Breeders?”

“They don’t want his ugly face,” one girl joked.

We all laughed nervously, while the short Hunter flushed bright red. He wasn’t ugly, but he didn’t have the qualities the elders sought in Breeders, either. They chose attractive or intelligent citizens, no exceptions. So far, their schedule seemed to work well enough. I had no complaints anyway.

Silk stared until everyone quieted. Satisfied she’d cowed us, she went on. “Find the source of the Freak incursion. Something in the tunnels is driving them our way.” She turned to Fade and me. “I’m taking the two of you off meat duty. Someone else will take care of your route. Instead, I want you to check out the back ways.”

And there it was, my punishment for being late. Silk didn’t like Fade much at the best of times — then again, nobody did. He kept to himself. He’d never fully become part of the enclave, even after being named and marked.

“Is everyone clear on their jobs today?”

I nodded miserably. It was impossible for me to judge this as anything but a reprimand. The back ways were filthy, some flooded, and others defied description. I’d never seen them myself, but as a brat, I’d made a habit of sitting within earshot of the Hunters. I’d lived through their stories, tried to imagine things they’d seen and done.

“Then good hunting.” Silk hopped off the crate she carried with her for the briefings. She didn’t like looking up to people.

Fade found me as the meeting broke up. “You had something more important to do today?”

So he was blaming me for our new assignment — and maybe he was right. “I couldn’t ignore a summons from the Wordkeeper.”

That would earn me worse than a day’s patrol in the back ways. We could survive it, right? Other Hunters had. They came back filthy and disheartened, but it wasn’t a death sentence.

“I guess not. Let’s get this over with.”

“So we’re looking for signs of what’s sending the Freaks our way?”

“Hunger,” he said. “We’re not going to find any other answers out there. But I’m a good boy and I do as I’m told.” His tone sounded mocking, like he thought that was a bad thing.

I started to explain, and then stopped myself. Instead I followed him in silence. There was no point in trying to make him understand, if he didn’t already. He’d never belong with us with that attitude. He only cared about himself and his own selfish will.

Before I went over the barricade, I checked my weapons. We kept guards posted here at all times in case enemies slipped past our traps; they were Hunters who had committed some minor infraction, and so were punished with such a boring assignment. Freak incursion hadn’t occurred since I’d been born, but people told stories about how in the old days, they used to raid regularly.

Fade’s crazy, I thought, scowling at his back. The rules worked to protect us all, and people following orders made life better and safer for everyone.

Instead of following our usual patrol route, which I’d committed to memory, he broke left and went down a half-flooded tunnel. Like the one where we found the Freaks, it had cracked up top and water cascaded in a dirty stream. He skirted the edge of it, so I stepped where he did. There was a stone lip along the edges raised higher than the rest of the tunnel. If I stayed on it, I could avoid stepping in muck up to my waist.

It smelled disgusting and I averted my eyes from the stuff floating in it — even worse, the stuff swimming in it. As the tunnel sloped up, the water levels decreased until it was merely damp. The light was dim here, but it wasn’t as dark as some of the other tunnels. A faded sign on the block wall read, AC ESS T MAI T ANCE S AFF ONLY. Since reading wasn’t my strong point, I didn’t know what the missing letters might be.

Ahead of me, Fade paused, listening. I didn’t hear anything. But I didn’t speak. A good Huntress respected her partner’s instincts, even if he was socially ignorant.

I stilled my other senses — and then I picked up on it too, a faint sound in the distance, like something drumming on metal. Fade loped off in that direction, weapons in hand. I drew my daggers and followed, slip-sliding in the muck.

“What is it?”

He flashed a look over his shoulder. “A distress call.”

Now that he’d mentioned it, I heard a pattern in the repetition. Noise carried in a deceptive manner down here, so it took us longer than I would’ve believed to reach it, even going at a full run. Good thing I had been training or I would’ve fallen behind. As it was, I kept up with him. The pace he set carried us a long distance, out of the back ways and into a wider tunnel. I’d lost my sense of how far we were from the settlement, because of the way we’d looped.

We rounded a bend and saw one of those giant metal boxes, flipped on its side. The sound came from there. Fade waved me around to the far end. We would come in from different angles, so if this was a trap, it shouldn’t catch us both.

I scrambled up over crashed metal and broken glass, being careful where I set my hands and feet. When we were both in position, we dropped down into the darkness of the compartment. It smelled of old blood and feces. My eyes adjusted to the dark, a valuable trait in a Hunter; I had been practicing since our last patrol, doing more visual deprivation, and it paid off.

I scanned the interior. I’d never been inside one of these emergency shelters. They were braced with metal poles and had seating bolted to the floor. No monsters here, only one small, emaciated human boy. A brat like this would never be allowed outside the enclave; I couldn’t imagine what he was doing here. He couldn’t possibly know how to hunt yet. In one hand, he held a length of metal, both a potential weapon and a signaling device. With what was obviously his last strength, he lay on one side, tapping it against the floor in a repeating pattern. At first he didn’t even seem aware of us.

I knelt on his other side, away from the jagged shard he held. He reacted then, lashing out wildly.

His aim was so poor I didn’t even need to dodge. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’ve come to help.”

He turned his face toward my voice. Even in the dark I could see his eyes shone an eerie white. This brat was completely blind. A shudder went through me. In our enclave, he wouldn’t have survived infancy. The elders didn’t waste resources on those who couldn’t someday pull their own weight.

“You’re human,” he breathed.

“Yes. You’re not far from College, that’s our enclave.”

The brat put his head down in relief and dropped his weapon. “I have to talk to your elders.”

I wasn’t sure they’d like us disobeying orders, leaving the back ways, and bringing in a stray, especially one like him. But I couldn’t leave him here to die either. Fade watched me in silence, as if testing me somehow. I made my decision, knowing I’d probably face worse than a day patrolling the back ways over it.

“Can you carry him? I don’t think he can walk.”

“He won’t weigh much. I can, but if we run into trouble you’ll have to take up the slack. Can you do that, new blood?”

I enjoyed the hint of nerves in his voice. “I guess we’ll find out.”

In answer, Fade slung the brat over his shoulders and climbed out of the container. I sheathed one knife and clenched the other in my teeth to follow. Thankfully, I’d been watching our turns and counting; I passed him and set the pace at one he could keep, bearing the brat.

“We’re likely to see trouble,” he said softly, beneath the splash of our feet in the stagnant water.

“Freaks can smell weakness,” I agreed.

And if Fade was right, and starvation drove them toward our enclave, then that made us meat on the move. In sufficient numbers, they could take a hunting pair. Hunters died — it was part of the job — but never without a fight.

At the four-way, they hit us from all sides.

Ambush

They lunged for Fade and the boy he was trying to protect with one arm and one knife. I whipped my club from out of its sling. This time, there were four, so that called for a bigger weapon. Winding up, I swung hard and cracked one’s skull wide-open.

The other three spun, correctly judging me the greater threat. I braced for the lunge, and at the last moment, rolled away. Filth smeared the back of my shirt, and I came up behind them. I took one across the back of the knees at the same time I launched a sideways kick.

Close up, I could see these Freaks were starving to death; Fade had been right. In comparison, I was fast, strong, and well fed. There was no contest. They didn’t fight as a unit. They lunged and snarled and lashed. I met each advance with a kick or a well-placed slam of the weighty end of my club. Blood spattered into the dirty water and bone crunched. In the end, we had a pile of corpses that the other Freaks would eat.

Best not to think about it.

The brat on Fade’s shoulder wept. I guess if I was forced to listen to that while hanging upside down, I’d cry too. Fade patted the boy on the back until he quieted. I’m not sure it qualified as comfort so much as warning. Shut up, shut up already.

“Did you notice how they hit us?” he asked.

“Yeah. From all sides.”

Judging by his troubled look, he shared my concern. If the Freaks were getting smarter, we were in real trouble. Right now, they lacked the ability to plan or strategize. If they evolved, became more like us in their thinking, well — we were barely hanging on as it was. Any shift in the delicate balance could wipe us out.

Still, we had to get back to the enclave before they missed us. If Silk heard from one of the other Hunters that we weren’t investigating the back ways, as she’d asked, there would be hell to pay. The only way to handle this mess was to get there first.

Vaulting the bodies, I led the way back to the barricades without a single misstep. Pride swelled. I’d only seen the route once, and I remembered all the turns. I glanced over my shoulder at Fade, but he didn’t recognize the accomplishment.

Instead he’d shifted the brat from his shoulder to the crook of his arms. The guard stopped us, not surprisingly, when we came back in. “You’re not supposed to be off duty. And what’ve you got there?”

“I have to talk to your elders,” the brat wheezed.

In the better light here, he didn’t look good. His small face was sunken with hunger and dehydration. Dirt crusted his skin and he had sores at the corners of his mouth, where his lips had cracked. The white of his eyes gleamed even more unholy and disturbing. When the guards got a good look at him, they recoiled and blocked our path, weapons drawn.

I just knew this wasn’t going to go well.

“What’s going on here?” Silk demanded.

I glanced at Fade, who lifted a shoulder. I guessed that meant I should do the talking. “We found him in an emergency shelter, and he says he has important news.” That was an exaggeration, but I didn’t want to admit I hadn’t been tough enough to leave him. The Hunter’s number one tenet: “The strong survive.” I’d proven myself soft today, when it came down to it, and who knew how Fade would tell the story.

“I do,” the brat wheezed. “They sent me from Nassau.” He named the closest settlement, three days in the tunnels if you were fast and strong. I couldn’t imagine why they’d chosen him. “They sent me because they could afford to lose me,” he went on.

That, I could believe. It sounded like a decision our elders would make.

“They had no Hunters to spare. We’re surrounded by Freaks and they hoped if I got through, maybe you would send help.”

Unlikely. Though College traded with Nassau, we had no terms of alliance, no policy of rendering aid. Each enclave governed itself and survived — or not — according to its own strength. But Silk had wanted information on whatever had the Freaks so stirred up; this counted. Maybe I could use this as my defense when I was accused of weakness and dereliction of duty.

“They’re all over Nassau too?” Silk asked, her face somber. “Our elders do need to know this. Thanks for the news.” She turned to Fade and me. “As for the two of you…” She smiled.

Yes, I could see we were going to be sorry.

“Since you thought it best not to follow your orders and we now have new information, you can check it out. You’re going to Nassau.”

I froze. “Just us?”

Silk truly didn’t like Fade. I saw it in her eyes. “Do you have a problem with your orders, Huntress?”

“No, sir. What would you like us to do there?”

Her smile turned ugly. “If they are present in such numbers as the brat reported, I don’t expect you to kill them. This will be recon. If you can, find out what’s causing this behavior shift. In the old days, they attacked the enclaves nonstop and then they learned to fear us — our weapons and our traps. Discover why they don’t fear us anymore. It may be important.”

“What about him?” Fade lifted the boy in his arms.

Silk shrugged. “He’s served his purpose. Even Nassau doesn’t want him back.”

Part of me wanted to suggest giving him food and water, having the medicine man look at him. I froze beneath the weight of her cool eyes. With a flicker of distaste, she handed the brat over to the guard, who handled him as if he were already dead. I bit my tongue until I tasted blood. I had to be tougher. Had to be. Or I’d never make it as a Huntress. Rarely, people lost their jobs. They couldn’t take away my marks, but they could make me cover them with cloth armbands. They could still make me a Breeder.

A good portion of the enclave occupied that role. It kept our numbers up. Far fewer became Builders or Hunters, and the new blood always heard about our Breeder heritage from the older ones. Maybe you should be a Breeder after all, they’d say. It did no good to point out, but nearly everyone comes from Breeder stock. Defending the claim only threw fuel on the fire, and there were always those elite few whose sire and dam had been Hunters before age rendered them unfit.

So I said nothing. The brat was crying again, but this time Fade didn’t comfort him. He stood beside me, silent for his own reasons, and I had the unmistakable feeling — it buzzed about me like an insect — that I’d disappointed him. I felt sad and sick and scared, because tomorrow we had to go to Nassau. I didn’t think Silk expected us to survive. I might’ve been the best of the last group, but I wasn’t irreplaceable. She wanted me to know that — and if I lived, to come back cowed and ready to follow orders, no matter what.

“Are we dismissed?” Fade asked.

“Yes. Be on time tomorrow,” Silk said smiling.

He took my hand in a painful grip and dragged me through the warren of partitions. I didn’t know where we were going, until we stopped at a random living space. By the way he stepped inside, it had to belong to him. One simply didn’t treat anyone else’s home with such disrespect.

For that reason, I stood outside the curtain until he said, “Get in here.”

It wasn’t the politest invitation I’d ever received. Frowning, I stepped in. His space looked more or less like mine. We all had the same amenities. “What?”

He dropped onto a crate, elbows on his knees. His face held an emotion I couldn’t read and had never seen, but it hit me in a raw place. My skin prickled. I needed to go wash up and take care of my weapons; my club especially needed a good cleaning. I was in no mood to spend another minute with him. He’d been nothing but trouble since the first moment Silk stuck me with him.

“They’re going to kill him,” he said hoarsely.

And how I wished I didn’t know that — or care. As a Huntress, I wasn’t supposed to. I should care about the greater welfare of the enclave. My job existed to keep our citizens safe. Protection didn’t extend to brats we found in the tunnels, unless they were like Fade, strong enough to survive on their own. We couldn’t afford to feed and care for weaklings.

“I know.”

“That could be me.”

“It couldn’t,” I pointed out. “You’re not defective.”

He glared with black eyes that burned like coals, lunging to his feet. “That’s disgusting.”

When he stepped into my space, I didn’t back away. “Then why do you stay? I’ll tell you. Because it’s better than being out there.”

“Is it?” he asked. “How would you know?”

I flushed at the implication that I was ignorant and inexperienced, but I didn’t back down. A Huntress wouldn’t. “If you had anything better waiting, you’d be long gone. You hate it here, and you hate all of us too.”

“Not all of you. At least, not until today.”

“Because of the brat.”

“Get out,” he said, wheeling away from me. “I was stupid for thinking I could talk to you, for thinking you’d understand anything.”

Grinding my teeth, I shoved through the curtain and out into the warren. A passing Builder leered at me. “You know you can get in trouble for visiting a boy’s personal space. But if you do something for me, I won’t tell anyone.”

Oh, not today. Yes, I’d broken a minor rule by going in without a chaperone, but I was in no mood for this. “I wasn’t in there long enough for anything to happen. If you shut up and walk away, right now, I won’t shove your nose through your face.”

When I reached for my club, the boy ran. Apparently he had some brains. Sure, he’d probably report me, but it was my word against his. And since I was heading off for Nassau tomorrow — and might not make it back — minor disciplinary action for uncivil behavior didn’t bother me much.

After stopping in my space for clean clothes, I went to the female facilities, a part of the enclave curtained and off-limits to males. A constant trickle of more or less clean water came from the metal tubes arrayed in this area. We didn’t know who had planned this place, but we were glad for the running water. Anything we drank, we boiled, but this was clean enough to wash in.

At this hour, nobody else was around, and I honestly preferred it that way. I didn’t like the way some girls compared bodies. My body was a machine, plain and simple. I worked it to stay strong; I fed it to keep it running.

I got undressed. It was cool in here and the water was cold too, which made it worse. Taking a scoop of soap from a pot on the floor, I washed up quickly beneath the unsteady trickle. If I turned the wheel, I could get more at one time, but then I’d hear about it from Twist, who monitored our resources.

By the time I finished my shower and dressed in my spare outfit, my anger had cooled slightly. It wasn’t fair to be angry at Fade; he couldn’t help his crazy outlook. As we were told from the time we were brats, where you were raised made all the difference. The people in Nassau had some wild ideas for sure; they didn’t have a breeding schedule like we did, so they looked … strange when their trading parties visited, and from their smell, they didn’t care much about cleanliness either. We always offered to let them wash up in our facilities, but they’d smile with black teeth and say, “Why bother? We’re just going to get dirty again on the way back.”

But it had been a long time since we’d seen any of them, apart from the brat.

And Fade came from even farther away. At least, I assumed he did. It wasn’t like he’d told me — or anyone, as far as I knew.

I just wished he hadn’t involved me. If only I’d refused to follow him, if only I’d stayed in the back ways, where we’d been assigned. We never would’ve found the brat, and we wouldn’t be going to Nassau tomorrow. But the second Hunter tenet wouldn’t let me do that, either. First, it was, “the strong survive.” Second, it was, “trust your partner.” My bad luck to be stuck with Fade.

No point dwelling on it — I had chores to do. First, I washed my filthy clothes and hung them up to dry. By the time I finished caring for my club, cleaning and polishing it, so the Freak blood wouldn’t stain the wood, I felt almost resigned. We could’ve been punished worse for disobeying orders. At least we had a chance of surviving this run, so long as we were quiet and careful.

I went to try and relax a little before bed. Thimble and Stone found me in the common area, after their shifts ended. I sat watching random Breeders and Builders play some stupid guessing game. The Hunters socialized elsewhere, but I didn’t feel like facing them. Fade might be there, for one thing, and I didn’t want to see him at the moment. On another level, I wasn’t sure what they thought of me. I was still new blood, and a troublemaking one at that.

“Is it true?” Stone whispered.

I didn’t bother asking what they’d heard. “Probably.”

“You really left your patrol route?” Thimble asked, incredulous.

It was worse than I’d thought. “We did.”

Part of me wanted to lay the blame on Fade. I wanted to say, It wasn’t my idea. He ran off, and it’s my job to follow him. But I hadn’t objected. I hadn’t yelled, Where are you going? Our route is this way. My instinctive response had been to help whoever was making that noise. I could tell myself I’d been investigating a possible Freak presence, but Freaks didn’t signal. They just attacked. So out there, I’d made a choice and now I had to live with the consequences. Stone and Thimble wore identical looks of shock and disbelief.

“Why?” Stone finally asked.

Because I’m weak. I’m not a Huntress. I have a Breeder’s heart. But I’d never say it aloud. That left me with no answer at all. Thankfully, they didn’t press.

Thimble patted me on the arm. “At least we got news from Nassau. The elder Builders had been wondering why we haven’t seen any trading parties in a while.”

They couldn’t know about the brat. Or maybe they did — and didn’t care. Like I wasn’t supposed to. I shouldn’t be thinking about his thin little face or his white eyes.

“Is it true you’re being sent there?” Stone wanted to know.

“It is. Recon only.” Allegedly. I guessed my misgivings showed on my face.

“Oh, Deuce,” Thimble whispered.

When they hugged me from either side, I didn’t fight at all.

Journey

In the morning, at the briefing, the other Hunters refused to meet my eyes. With Fade as a partner, I’d never earn their respect or share in the tight bonds I’d always admired. To make matters worse, I’d compounded the problem with my tardiness, leaving my patrol route and bringing the Nassau brat back instead of following orders. Jaw clenched, I let Silk’s voice wash over me until I heard the customary words:

“Is everyone clear on their jobs today? Then good hunting.”

The others headed off, but Silk stepped in front of Fade and me, blocking our path. “It’s a hard three-day hike. I’ll expect you back in seven days. If you’re not here, I’ll assume you’ve been eaten and promote two likely brats to take your places. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” I muttered in unison with Fade.

“Do you have provisions ready?” Silk asked.

Water, dried meat, a blanket, a map of the tunnels, my spare outfit, and my weapons — if those counted, then yes. I nodded. Satisfied with our responses — and that we were suitably cowed — Silk stepped aside. I’m sure she knew that if we survived, she’d have no more trouble with us deviating from our assignments. Next time, I’d keep Fade on task if I had to hit him from behind and drag him.

Heart heavy with dread, I led the way to the barricades. The guards didn’t taunt us, but since they’d been on duty yesterday, one smirked at me. I wondered if he’d been ordered to kill the blind brat personally. Not wanting to think about it, I broke eye contact first and vaulted over the first barrier.

Rules exist for our protection, I told myself. But I couldn’t kill the sick sourness in my stomach. Maybe Stone was the lucky one after all, even suffering through loss of the brats. He didn’t have to deal with punishments like this.

Fade had his map in hand when he landed beside me. His silence burned like the hot knives Twist had used to make my marks. Still without speaking, he brushed by me and jogged toward the first turn. If I didn’t keep up, he’d leave me alone in the dark; I didn’t doubt that at all.

We ran all morning without a break. I sipped from my water bottle on the move. It was made of a light, strong substance, a relic of the old days. Someone had scavenged it from the tunnels, brought it back and cleaned it up. Even as a brat, I’d coveted it, knowing how valuable it would prove to a Hunter. As soon as I got my hands on something good, I bartered for it.

I got used to stepping where he did, running in the dark. Sometimes rays of light through broken stone illuminated the murk, but that only made it worse. Then I had to see the bleak tunnels, dirty water standing in the center, and the things that scurried away from our feet.

Like Fade, I’d memorized our route early on, so I tracked his leadership. I wouldn’t put it past him to head away from College, away from Nassau, and lead me into the black to die. He’d seemed mad enough the day before to make sure I came to a bad end. Not for the first time, I wondered about the death of his first partner.

He wasn’t as good as Silk claimed, he’d said. But maybe what Fade really meant was he’d disappointed him by not sharing his crazy, selfish ideals. Maybe the poor guy had only been guilty of serving the enclave first. Fear tightened my stomach. I would have to be on my guard at all times out here alone with him. At a few points along the way, I smelled Freaks, but we moved too fast for them to hit us. They cried and growled from adjacent passages.

I had no way to gauge how long we’d been running, but he called a halt, long after the stitch in my side became a brand. The tunnels even looked different here, splashed with red and black paint, more remnants of the old days. Our smoke hadn’t penetrated this far. We were unquestionably in the wilds.

The stone ledge to the right permitted us to scramble off the ground, away from the metal and chunks of fallen rock. With a wall behind us, we rested without worrying about threats from all sides. I opened my bag and pulled out a chunk of dried meat. We didn’t have a lot of variety even in the enclave: fresh meat, dried meat, and mushrooms. Occasionally, someone found a tin and once we pried it open, the contents smelled fine and enticing, but that was the exception, not the rule.

I ate and drank a little more water. We had to make it last until we reached Nassau. Worse, there was no guarantee we’d be able to access their supply. If the brat had spoken truly and the settlement was lost, the place might be overrun with Freaks.

“It’s time to get moving,” Fade said, after a while. Those were the first words he’d spoken to me all day. “We still have four more hours to go before we can make camp for the night.”

“How do you know?” At the enclave, we had a few clocks that kept time for us, scavenged in long ago Topside runs. We had no idea whether they reflected the correct time, of course, but it didn’t matter. We only needed to share a common schedule.

In answer he pushed up his sleeve and showed me his wrist. Unlike most, he preferred to keep his marks covered. He wore a small clock; I’d never seen anything quite like it.

“What is it?”

“A watch.”

The glowing hands meant he could see it, even in the dark. That explained how he knew when our patrols were done, and that we still needed to run for four hours. Nodding, I stowed my gear and vaulted down from the stone ledge. We had been lucky to eat undisturbed. Time to get moving again, though my muscles felt weak and watery.

This time, I set the pace. I didn’t like letting Fade run at my back, but I didn’t want him to think he frightened me, either.

Along the way, four near misses with Freaks kept us sharp. They tried to hit us as we ran, but they were weak and slow. By tacit agreement we didn’t stop to fight. Fights risked injury, making us even more attractive targets. We killed them near the enclave as part of defending our territory. Here, it was best simply to keep moving.

By the time we found a place to camp for the night, my whole body ached. Here, the tunnel widened. There were double metal lines and a raised area, littered with broken glass and covered in festive paint. Fade pulled himself up, and then offered me his hand.

Unlike the last time, it didn’t hurt when his fingers curled around mine. His strength surprised me, because he tugged me up using his upper body only. I landed beside him and took stock of the area.

A metal gate blocked off one end. On the other, I saw a couple of doors. Fade was already moving toward them, trying the handles. Though the enclave didn’t use doors, I’d seen them before. One of them pushed open, but the smell was so horrific I gagged.

“Did something die in there?”

“Probably,” Fade said.

The white tile was stained black in spots, filth and dried blood. Doors blocked off tiny rooms, except for the last one, where the metal hung askew, revealing a squat chair with a hole in it. Curiosity got the best of me, then overwhelming disgust.

I took a step into the room, intending to check out the place, when side movement caught my eye. I whirled, knives slipping into my palms. The other girl did the same. When I froze, she did.

The mirrors I’d seen had all been tiny and, most of them, cracked. Though I knew I had brown hair and gray eyes, I’d never seen a full-sized reflection of myself before. Fade came to stand behind me, watching me as I did, and discomfort twined like razors around my spine. He made me feel small. Right then, I felt stupid too.

“I’d rather sleep out there.” I jerked my head toward the open, raised area.

“Me too. You can use the facilities first.”

“Facilities?”

“It’s a bathroom.”

I didn’t see how anyone could bathe in here, but looking at the squat chair, I took his meaning. It held a black, foul water, and probably other stuff too. At home, we did our business above a grate, some distance from the rest of the enclave. The smell in that part of the settlement matched the stench in here, so I got it.

Fade stepped outside, leaving me to it. I was careful not to touch anything, and then I went out to give him a turn. Weird, seeing the echo of how people used to live.

The other door wouldn’t budge, no matter how we pushed or pulled on it, so we took the corner in between the doors, as far back from the edge as we could get. I ate more dried meat and drank a few swallows of water. Thankfully it was cool enough that we wouldn’t lose much fluid through sweat.

“I’ll take the first watch.”

He didn’t argue. “You’ll need this, then.” After unfastening his watch, he passed it over to me.

The leather held warmth from his skin; I couldn’t help but notice as I wound it around my wrist. It fastened easily enough. Now I could keep time too.

“Thanks.”

“Wake me after four hours. That’s four revolutions.”

I spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m not an idiot. I can tell time.”

Even if Twist kept time for the enclave and rang a bell at the important hours, when meals were served and shifts stopped and started, I knew how. That was part of brat schooling, what you learned in between chores. From three to eight, we learned basic things. From eight to fifteen, we took job training. But he might not know that; he’d come into the enclave late, and gotten his name not too long after. He probably hadn’t spent too much time with our brats in their early years.

“I never said you were an idiot.”

“You seem to think it.” The words just slipped out. I didn’t want to fight with him. Out here, just the two of us, it was the opposite of smart. Maybe I was an idiot.

“No,” he said softly. “You’ve just been taught to think wrong.”

And we were back to the blind brat again. I saw in his eyes that he thought I should’ve done something when they took him. Well, he’d stood silent too. I swallowed my instinctive reply and substituted, “You’re welcome to your opinions. Just don’t let them get in the way of doing your job.”

He sent me a hard look. “Are you implying something?”

“Am I?”

“You know you are. You actually believe I let my last partner die because I didn’t agree with him. Yet here you are. Alone. With me.” His black eyes gleamed wickedly.

No, I realized. I didn’t think that. If the death of a worthless brat troubled him, Fade wouldn’t let a Hunter die for any reason, if he could help it. It wasn’t his fault; the odds must have been stacked against them, or maybe his partner made a mistake.

“I’m following orders,” I said mildly. “But no. That wasn’t what I meant. I’m sure you did all you could to save him.”

That shut him up for a good minute. I knew because I had his watch and I found the movement of the skinny little line mesmerizing. Because we were still and quiet, I heard the soft ticking. It reminded me of a heartbeat.

“Nobody else thinks that. Not even Silk.” For a moment, I recognized how alone he was, ostracized from the others. He came from nowhere. Nobody knew anything about him; he worked to keep the others distant and off balance.

And then I registered hurt. Until I turned up late for briefings and disobeyed orders, I’d thought Silk liked me. Certainly she encouraged my progress through the training circle and told me I’d make a great Huntress someday. So why had she stuck me with Fade, if she’d thought he had something to do with his partner’s death?

He must’ve read the question in my face because he gave a wry smile. “She said if anybody could survive me, you could.”

Ah. A nod at my skill, then. I took it as a compliment. But even if she’d liked me once, I had lost her regard. She thought I’d supported Fade, against her authority, and at base … I had. Becoming a Huntress was nothing like I’d dreamed, none of the belonging I’d wanted, none of the respect.

To counteract the bleak feeling, I made myself say, “We’ll get through this.”

Nodding, he rolled himself into his blanket and went to sleep. I admired that ability because I didn’t have the knack. Hunters were supposed to be able to turn themselves off and on, but I found it hard to shut down my brain, my biggest weakness.

Through the quiet hours I kept watch. Movement would help me stay alert, but it might also attract attention. I ran practice matches in my head, pitting myself against more experienced Hunters. I had watched them spar and learned their styles when I could, when they didn’t run me off for being a nosy, annoying brat. I didn’t ever remember seeing Fade fight. But then, he chose not to socialize with his colleagues.

Though he’d gone to sleep facing away from me, he’d rolled, so now I could watch his face. At first I tried to avoid the temptation to study him, knowing he wouldn’t like it, but there wasn’t anything else to do. He had graceful black brows, darker in contrast to his pale skin. But then we were all pale.

I looked away and tried to think of something else. Our fish pools kept us from suffering like other settlements when hunted meat ran lean. From the elders, I knew it was important, and that other enclaves coveted our resources. It was why we limited our trade; we didn’t want too many people coming and going. That invited invasion.

Eventually, my gaze found Fade again. His nose was sharp, like his chin and his jaw. Likewise, I could cut myself on his cheekbones. His mouth offered the only softness, and even then, only when he slept. I didn’t like how I felt, strange and prickly.

Uncomfortable, I went back to staring into the dark. I felt I had invaded his privacy, and now I’d find it even harder to sleep, fearing he might do the same to me. The usual regulations didn’t apply on a mission. In the enclave, we wouldn’t be permitted to spend this much time together without a chaperone. It cut down on accidents occurring outside of sanctioned breeding. But the elders all knew that a dirty, Freak-infested tunnel was the last place any Hunter would be tempted to break the rules.

In the third hour of my shift, I heard the scrape of claws on metal.

Hidden

In the same movement, I bounced to my feet and found my weapons. I nudged Fade in the ribs. He snapped alert, started to ask, and I lifted my finger to my lips. Listen. He caught the telltale sound immediately and readied himself for a fight.

Club in hand, I stepped to the edge, braced, and waited. There was no point hiding; they knew we were here. They sniffed, searching for us. I could smell them too, worse than the filthy waste closet. They reeked of rotten meat and diseased flesh. In another instant, they burst into view, maddened with the scent of fresh meat.

They rushed the platform and I met the first one with a crushing blow from my club. The skull caved with a wet crunch, and blood bubbled from the wound. It fell and did not rise. Fade took down another, but two more scrambled up, and we fell back so we had plenty of room to fight. Based on my limited experience, I hated Freak eyes most of all; in them I could see a remnant of something human, something comprehensible, swimming in a sea of hunger and misery and madness. I tried not to look at its eyes as it rushed me.

After a day of running and without sleep, my reflexes had slowed. Instead of a clean dodge, claws raked across my arm. My recovery was off, but I drove it away with a kick solid enough to give me the crunch of bone. I followed with a hard swing. I didn’t have the stamina for finesse. End it fast.

I did.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to sleep,” Fade said. “But we have to move on.”

He was right, of course. The corpses would draw more Freaks. I ripped the bottom of my shirt, used my daggers to cut strips and tied off the wound around my biceps to stop the bleeding. More precise treatment had to wait.

“It doesn’t matter.” I snagged my pack and leaped down from the platform. We had another two days of this to get through. And then it would get worse. “Have you been to Nassau before?”

“Once.” He broke into an easy run.

“What’s it like?” We probably shouldn’t be talking, even in whispers. But my curiosity got the best of me, and words took my mind off the throbbing pain.

Fade shrugged. “Like any settlement. Like yours, but worse.”

That damped my desire to ask further questions. We’d been running awhile when I realized I still wore his watch. Though I couldn’t be sure, I thought we’d been moving for about an hour. My eyes felt grainy and dry; my head ached. It only made sense to run as far as I could before I had to rest. An hour later, I stumbled.

“This has to be far enough,” I said. “I have to sleep.”

We stood in a tunnel that showed little sign of use in recent years. There was no lingering smell from Freak occupation. I hitched myself onto the stone ledge, which was wide enough for me to lie down on, if I curled onto my side. Far from the comfort of the stuffed rag mattress I had at home; that was a cozy nest by comparison, but right then I thought I could sleep anywhere.

“My watch?” He held out a hand.

I took it off, head spinning with weariness. This time, exhaustion would keep my mind from working too hard. “Sorry.”

After wrapping in my blanket, I propped my head on my arm, curled my knees toward my chest, and closed my eyes. I didn’t care if Fade watched me. The dark tide of sleep took me.

I dreamed of the thin-faced brat with his blind white eyes. Unlike in life, his neck twisted at the wrong angle. He staggered toward me, arms outstretched. I trusted you. His pale fingers shone like bones twisting in the air.

They killed you.

You killed me. He was nearly on me now, and I was frozen by the white of his eyes. And now, you can’t kill me again. Can’t kill the dead.

Fade woke me. It felt like only an instant, but it must’ve been longer. He wouldn’t have bothered me unless my time was up. A hard breath shuddered through me as I became aware how cold I was, even beneath the blanket. Fearful sweat made my shirt stick to my back, and when I tried to pack my gear, my hands shook.

“You were whimpering. Want to talk about it?”

I closed my eyes. How embarrassing. I felt like the baby he’d accused me of being, the first time we met. But I didn’t want him to think it was something minor, like a Freak attack or being away from the enclave.

“I dreamed about the brat.”

Fade nodded. “That would do it. You good now?”

“Almost.” I had a little water to steady myself and then I got to my feet. “Another eight hours?”

“That would be best.”

Though I’d believed I was tough, considered myself as strong as any veteran Hunter, I thought that day would kill me. We took only minimal breaks because the Freaks had the scent of my blood. They hunted us through the tunnels, their numbers growing. Movement became a test of will, putting one foot after the other, until I wasn’t thinking about anything at all.

I ran in time to the pounding of my heart. With each step, my weight grew. More than once, I stumbled over broken ground. Fade never paused. I don’t know if that meant he trusted in my strength or that he’d leave me if I dropped. Either way, I wouldn’t test it. I could go as long as he could.

Eventually we stopped; we’d put in our eight hours and we needed rest. Fade found us an empty metal shelter, like the one where we’d found the brat. Unlike his, this one hadn’t been overturned. It simply sat abandoned on the metal lines.

We took turns using the facilities down the track a ways, and then combining our strength, we managed to pry the doors open and slip inside. They slammed shut at once, lending the illusion of safety. This would help, for sure. Freaks didn’t tend to consider teamwork. If one of them couldn’t open the door, they’d look for other ways in, and it would be noisy.

In addition to chairs, this box had benches bolted to the floor. I scanned the place for possible threats, but other than webs and dust, I saw nothing that could hurt us. My arm throbbed fiercely, the ache biting toward my shoulder, and I flinched as I dropped my bag.

“I need to look at that.” Fade stood beside me, indicating my wound.

Sinking down, I gave a jerky nod. “Go ahead.”

He unwound the makeshift bandages. I craned my neck so I could see too. Four parallel marks scored my shoulder, red, bloody, and puffy. I swore, recognizing the early signs of infection. Let go, this wound could cost my arm and then my life. Back at the enclave, tending it would be no problem. Out here, well, fear shivered through me.

Like he didn’t know the danger, he joked, “And here’s your first battle scar. How about it, new blood?”

“Hurts.”

“I know. I was lucky. I got blooded on my first patrol. Wasn’t quite fast enough and the Freak hit me.” He pulled his shirt up to show me the scar on his ribs.

“Was that with the guy who died?” Awkward way to ask, but I couldn’t think of any other.

Fade shook his head. “I’ve had two partners. The first was venerable. I learned so much from her. Eventually, they had to pull her off duty. She died of old age.”

“When?”

“A year ago.”

“And then you got the new blood. Who wasn’t as good as Silk said he was.”

“Pretty much.”

“So you’ve been hunting for two years.” That made him roughly two years older than me, give or take. A lifetime in field experience.

“That sounds about right.”

Well, while he’s in an answering mood …

“How long were you on your own?”

“You mean outside a settlement, living like the wild boy?”

I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I did know we’d had to teach him civilized behavior. “Yeah.”

“About four years, I guess.” Like the rest, I had a hard time believing that, especially now I’d seen what it was like out here. I wanted to learn his secrets to augment my own survival chances.

But he turned away, letting me know the conversation was over. Fade dug into his bag and produced a little tin. Unlike the one that had nearly gotten us in trouble with the Wordkeeper, this one was silver and faded. He pulled the top off and a strong smell hit me; it wasn’t unpleasant, but more … medicinal. After daubing some on his fingertips, he smeared it on my wound, and it stung, bad.

“What is it?” That seemed like a safe conversational choice.

“It’s a salve one of the Builders made for me. Great for cleaning wounds. But I have no idea what’s in it.” He smiled at me. “Probably fungus.”

That surprised me. Not that he had something good for cleaning wounds that might be made out of fungus, but that there was a Builder who liked him well enough to do special work. “Who?”

“Girl named Banner.”

I knew who she was. Thimble had talked about her, before my naming. Back when I was still stuck in the brat dorm, while Stone and Thimble had moved on, I used to be jealous of how much she liked her. Banner showed me how to make a leather bag, she’d tell me in the common room. And I’d roll my eyes, because big deal, who wanted to make a stupid bag? I was going to be a Huntress, and I told myself that every night as I trudged back to the brat dorm while Stone and Thimble went to their private spaces.

“Maybe she’d make some for me?” Once the stinging stopped, it felt better. I felt it cleaning and tightening the skin. I’d take clean scars over seeping wounds any day.

“I don’t see why not. I’ll introduce you.” The warmth in his tone said he liked Banner, unlike the rest of us.

I frowned. First Thimble, now Fade. I should meet the girl, if only to find out what was so great about her. And request some of that salve too. I didn’t kid myself this was the last injury I would suffer. Assuming we lived.

I cut another strip from my shirt. His fingers brushed mine when I handed him the cloth, and his touch was gentle when he wrapped my shoulder. Part of my hair had come loose from its cord, and Fade brushed my hair away, keeping it out of the knots he tied. I felt strange, like I should move away right now, but he did it for me. I watched without meaning to, without wanting to, as he put the salve away.

By that point, I felt almost too tired to eat. I went to lie down, but he said, “No way, new blood. Eat. Drink. You have to stay strong, because I’m not carrying you.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” I muttered.

Growling mentally over nearly making such a basic mistake, I got out my provisions. I went about it mechanically. He ate with a little more enthusiasm, but he’d been patrolling longer than I had. No amount of training could substitute for actual experience. I’d get stronger. I had to.

“We should both be able to sleep,” I said. “If they find us, we’ll hear them trying to get in.”

“Agreed. And if we don’t get a full night’s rest, it will cost us down the line.”

In reflex, speed, and stamina, certainly. I didn’t want to think about other costs. “Will another day of running get us there?”

“It should.”

“What will we do then?”

He shrugged. “Impossible to say until we scope things out.”

A moment later, he delved into his bag a second time and produced a silver square. Fade flipped the top of it, rubbed his thumb along the side, and a thin flame shot up. I scrambled back. “What’re you doing?”

“Remembering.”

“What?”

“Before.”

My patience ran thin; I didn’t care to drag his past out of him. “What is it?”

“A lighter.” For the first time, he volunteered information. “It used to be my dad’s. Like the watch.”

I paused amid dragging my blanket out of my bag. “You remember him?”

“Yeah.”

That rocked me. In the enclave, we barely knew who our sires were. Most of them died before we got old enough to recognize their faces, and it wasn’t like it mattered. All Breeders looked after us until we were old enough to take basic brat schooling.

“Fade,” I began.

“That’s not my name.” He sounded angry, but not at me.

“It is now. Maybe somebody gave you a different name before, but you earned this one. That makes it true.” With every fiber of my being I believed that.

A sigh escaped him. “Yeah. I guess. What did you want to ask me?”

“Where are you from, really?”

I figured he’d name one of the distant settlements. Most people thought he’d gotten lost and somehow managed to survive on his own in the tunnels until our patrols found him. I didn’t expect him to say:

“Topside.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “Lie to me. I don’t care.”

Nobody lived up there. Nothing grew. Water fell from the sky and scored everything. We’d all heard the stories from the Wordkeeper. Disgusted, I rolled up in my blanket on a bench that ran parallel to the exterior wall. From this spot, the Freaks wouldn’t be able to see me from the outside. They might smell us all around this car, but they wouldn’t see us, and they weren’t very bright as a general rule. I ignored Fade pointedly until I fell asleep.

This time, oblivion brought no bad dreams. I went where everything was dark and quiet, and I stayed there until I awoke naturally. Fade appeared to be asleep as I pushed the hair from my eyes. It had fallen out of the tail I wore to keep it neat.

His voice stilled me, no more than a thread of sound. “Don’t move.”

“Why?” I breathed.

And then I didn’t need to hear an answer. Movement outside told me all I needed to know. Freaks prowled around outside the car; I couldn’t tell how many from the motions, but they suspected our presence. They smelled us.

I jumped as one slammed against the glass, trying to see into the shadows within. I willed myself smaller. Another thud — a Freak climbed onto the roof. How many? I needed to know the odds if they started pounding until glass splintered everywhere.

Maybe if we’re really still, they’ll go away.

The moments felt endless while they snarled and growled and yelped outside. I resisted the impulse to cover my eyes like a baby brat in hopes the scary things would go away. Instead I listened and tried to gather information. Based on the noise and the movement, there had to be fifteen of them out there. Maybe more.

And we were trapped.

Nassau

“I’ve never seen so many of them together,” I whispered.

I shouldn’t have spoken. Though I’d thought my words were so quiet as to be barely audible, one of the Freaks heard me. It went wild, slamming repeatedly against the glass until it began to splinter.

“Up!” Fade shouted. “They know we’re here. Get your weapons.”

There was no room for the club, much to my dismay, so it would have to be daggers. Thanks to Thimble, they fit my palms perfectly. I rolled to my feet as the glass broke. The Freak pushed its torso into the car and I went for the jugular. Twin slashes opened its neck and its disgusting blood jetted out. Then it hung in the broken window like a grotesque blockade, until other Freaks began to tear at it. A few of them fed; others were obviously trying to remove it to get to us.

“How much trouble are we in?” The one on the roof started to jump, as if its weight could break through the metal.

“Depends on how smart they are.”

“Have you been in a situation like this before?”

Incredibly, he smiled. “I doubt anyone has.”

Why did Silk have to put me with a crazy partner? So many solid, experienced Hunters to choose from and I got Fade. Life wasn’t fair at all.

The stench hit me like a club; the Freaks had torn the one in the window apart. At least half of them entered a feeding frenzy. They knelt and shoved the bloody gobbets of meat into their mouths, their razor-sharp teeth and claws shining red even in the dark.

“As long as they don’t start breaking other windows, we should be fine,” I said.

And then they attacked the other side of the car. Fade vaulted over two rows of seats to position himself, daggers in hands. I had to stay where I was and guard this opening. I didn’t let myself think what would happen if they spread out farther.

Another Freak threw itself at the opening. I missed the neck this time, but I caught it with a side shot, vital organ territory, as it struggled to clear its legs. Like the other, it hung, wretched and dying, while its kin ripped at it.

Fade was doing fine on his end, employing the same tactics. The dead bodies served as an excellent distraction. While Freaks wouldn’t attack their own kind while they lived, if they were dying, it became a different story. Meat was meat.

Their screams and snarls made the hair of my arms stand on end. We held our ground, guarding the two breach points, until they went to work on another window. Two Freaks pounded repeatedly on the glass until it stressed. While killing another, I watched the growing web of cracks with dismay and then fear.

We were going to be overrun.

Before either of us could get there, one managed to climb inside. Without the barrier, another pushed in behind it. If we stepped away, we’d have them behind us on all sides. Grimly, I dispatched another one, and then whirled to take on the one running at me inside.

It dove at me, jaws snapping, and I drove my dagger in through its eye socket. In a smooth motion, I spun and took the fresh one scrambling in the window. Fade dispatched his with cool efficiency. He was better than any of the Hunters I’d watched with such admiration. Even his moves were unique, so graceful I had to work not to watch him when I should be fighting. I didn’t need the distraction.

And then they broke pattern. Two ran at Fade while his back was turned, dealing with the one at his window. Though it meant abandoning my post, I launched myself over the seats, swinging around a pole for momentum, and planted my feet in a Freak’s chest. I lashed out with a powerful kick, caving in its temple, and then I took its partner with twin slashes of my daggers. In saving him, I’d opened a path, though. More crawled through.

“You should run!” Fade shouted. “We’ll kill you all if we have to.”

The Freaks snarled back, wet, hideous sounds that sounded almost like words trapped behind predator’s teeth. I fought on, back to back with Fade, conscious that my muscles were tiring. Humans had limits. But after we dropped ten of them, and the remainder fed on the fallen, they broke and ran. Apparently, we fought too hard to be worth the effort. That troubled me because it showed a certain mental capacity. They might even have taken his warning to heart.

Fade shared my unease. “They decided to cut their losses.”

“That means they’re not just creatures of impulse and appetite, like we thought.” Panting, I wiped my knives on the rags worn by the dead Freak nearest to me.

“You think they’ll believe us?”

I sighed. “If they don’t, we’re in real trouble.”

“Well, Silk already knew their behavior has changed. We’ve been asked to find out why.”

I raised a brow. “You think that’s an attainable goal?”

“I think it’s meant to break us.”

Standing in this car, filthy and blood spattered, I realized it might. I collected my things. We needed to eat before moving on, but it wouldn’t be here. The smell wouldn’t let me keep anything down.

As if he shared my revulsion, Fade launched himself headfirst out of the window. I started to shout at him for being an idiot, but my breath caught when he flipped midair and landed on his feet. When he faced me, he was smiling.

“Showoff,” I muttered.

My center of gravity wouldn’t let me match the feat. I’d have to jump from higher up to stick the landing, so I kicked at some of the glass shards to level it out and then jumped feet first. I didn’t need him to steady me, but I appreciated it.

His hands were surprisingly gentle. “You saved me.”

“That’s my job.” Discomfort blazed through me.

Even in the shadows, I could see his black gaze as intent. “You’re as good as Silk said you were.”

Hearing that pleased me so much it hurt. No more scornful “new blood” from him. No more cracks about my skill. Maybe we could work together after all.

I ducked my head, unable to say more than a choky “Thanks.”

“I think it’s safe now.”

Safe was such a relative word. The bodies mounded in dismembered chunks all around the car. Blood smeared the outside, trailing downward in a hideous memorial. Some of the limbs had been gnawed until they showed bone. Nothing in my training had prepared me for this. Nothing.

I wanted to sit down and shake in reaction. Fade shoved me around the carnage and got me moving. I wasn’t sure I could’ve done it on my own. Once more, we ran with minimal breaks, but the sleep helped. Today I didn’t feel like I might die from the trip, at least, even if every noise made my heart jump in my chest. So far from the enclave, I didn’t think Freaks were just a minor annoyance, either. They counted as a legitimate danger to the settlement.

We made such good time that we started seeing signs for Nassau earlier than I expected. They were accompanied by the normal warnings about traps. ENTERING NASSAU TERRITORY. WATCH YOUR STEP. I avoided a couple of snares along the way, and as we got closer, I noticed with a sinking heart that they hadn’t been checked in days. Some of them contained rotten meat.

My flesh crawled with the smell as we made the last turn. I’d long since gotten used to the darkness and the chill, but the stink was new. It was like the Freaks that had surrounded us in the car, only a hundred times worse. Fade stilled me with a hand on my arm. I read from his gestures that he wanted us to stay close to the wall and move very slowly on the approach. He got no argument from me.

We came up on the busted barricade first. There was no guard posted. Inside the settlement, Freaks shambled about their business. They were fat in comparison with the ones we’d encountered on the way. Horror surged through me. For a moment I couldn’t take it all in; the silence of corpses drowned every thought.

There was no one here to save, and our elders had killed the sole surviving Nassau citizen. That meant our nearest trade outpost lay four days in the opposite direction. Fade put his hand on my arm and cocked his head the way we’d come. Yes, it was time to go. We could do nothing here but die.

Though I was tired, terror gave my muscles strength. As soon as we gained enough distance through stealth, I broke into a headlong run. My feet pounded over the ground. I’d run until I buried the horror. Nassau hadn’t been prepared; they hadn’t believed the Freaks could be a large-scale threat. I tried not to imagine the fear of their brats or the way their Breeders must have screamed. Their Hunters had failed.

We wouldn’t. We couldn’t. We had to get home and warn the elders.

Fade took us back a different way. These tunnels were narrower, and I saw no signs of Freak presence. I found hidden energy reserves and though our pace dropped down to a walk, I kept moving. By the time we broke for a rest, my arms and legs trembled.

He turned into a doorway and went up some steps. I slowed, gazing into the dark. Over the years it had been ingrained into me; steps were bad. They led Topside.

“Come on,” he said impatiently.

Shaking, I swallowed my misgivings and began to climb. He stopped on a landing and followed a narrow hall around a couple of turns. It ended in a room swimming with dark shapes. To my amazement, Fade did something, and then we had light. We had scavenged lamps before, of course, but we didn’t have the power to make them work. This one contained a flickering flame at its heart.

“How did you do that?”

“It’s an old storm lantern. Runs on oil.”

I wished we had some of those in the enclave. The torches we used smoked a lot. Fade shut the door and turned something while I took stock. Full of relics from the old days, the room looked as though nobody had touched anything in years. A thick film of dust covered all the shelves, the desk, but it didn’t conceal the nature of the artifacts. There were four tall, slim books here, all colorful and full of pictures. I started to reach for one and stopped, casting a guilty look at him.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I won’t tell anyone if you look before taking them to the Wordkeeper.”

It didn’t count as hoarding, I reasoned, as long as I turned the stuff over as soon as we arrived. I picked one up and stared with disbelieving wonder. It showed a brightly lit tunnel and one of those cars, connected to a bunch more, zooming along the metal bars. And people sat inside it: cheerful, reading, talking.

“It used to be like that,” I said, surprised.

“Yeah. People just came down here for transportation. Then they went back up.”

I marveled at the weirdness of it. “You were born Topside?”

“It’s not like you’ll believe me if I say yes,” he muttered.

Well, I had that coming. I ignored the impulse to apologize and instead buried myself in the thin books. They had slick, glossy pages and lots of pictures. The blue skies and greenery enthralled me. I’d never seen anything grow but a mushroom.

Finally, I stowed them in my bag and searched the rest of the room. Anything I carried back would help restore my reputation with Silk and the rest of the Hunters. Nobody had stumbled on a treasure trove like this in a long time. I ransacked all the shelves and furniture; my bag bulged by the time I finished taking everything I thought might interest them back at the enclave. The desk held tons of interesting paper, smooth and fine, even if it had started yellowing with age.

“Are there more places like this? Full of artifacts?”

Fade shrugged. “Probably.”

For a moment I was tempted to look. But then Silk could claim we’d disobeyed our primary command. This room, I could state confidently we had found by chance. Regretfully, I ate a mouthful of dry meat and downed some water.

Now that the wonder had worn off, reaction set in. I remembered — and didn’t want to — the horror of Nassau. To contain the shakes, I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms about them. I tried to control my breathing. A Huntress didn’t crack under pressure. She might bend, but she could handle anything.

I felt Fade hovering beside me. “Is it your shoulder?”

“No. It’s that everyone at Nassau is dead.” I raised my head and looked at him.

“I don’t want to go to sleep,” he admitted.

He dropped down beside me, wrapped his blanket around my shoulders, and left his arm around my back. Hunched over, I felt the strength of him even more clearly.

I had enough resolve left to object. “That’s against the rules.”

“You’re cold and scared. Relax. It’s not like I’m trying to breed you.” His tone said that was the last thing he’d do.

Good enough. I’d take his hand off at the wrist if he tried anything. Honestly, it felt good to sit next to him. He was the only living soul who could understand how I felt right now, my head crowded with images I didn’t want and couldn’t banish.

“Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

“Never. The balance has shifted.”

“We have to be able to tell Silk why. Otherwise we haven’t completed our mission.”

“I know why,” he said.

“Tell me.”

“If they didn’t take what Nassau had, those Freaks would’ve starved to death.”

I recoiled. “You sound like you sympathize with them.”

“I’m sorry for the people who died. But I understand why it happened.”

“You think that’ll be enough for Silk?”

“It’ll have to be,” Fade said. “It’s the truth.”

Darkness

The next day, I lacked the strength to run. We set our pace accordingly. Fear gnawed at me with relentless teeth, and the darkness made it worse. First my mind conjured monsters and then I imagined I heard them creeping along behind us, worse than the Freaks, smarter and scarier too.

The dark didn’t seem to bother Fade. He led the way without faltering whereas I found myself living for those rare moments when we found a broken tunnel. Light fell in crossed threads, lightening the gloom for precious seconds before we passed through.

Gravel crunched underfoot, and I stumbled. My knees buckled. I almost went down, but Fade was there to steady me.

“Maybe we should take a break.”

“We just started.”

“It’s been two hours.”

That surprised me. In the dark, it became easy to lose track of time, along with sense of direction. With his hand on my arm, Fade guided me to the stone rim to the side of the tunnel. Maybe it was exhaustion, but things seemed darker this time around. I hadn’t noticed it as much going to Nassau. Now it closed in on me, threatening to choke me. My breath came in ragged gasps as I boosted up and rested. I fumbled in my bag for the water bottle; to my dismay, I downed the last few swallows. Dry meat would only increase my thirst, so I opted not to eat.

“That’s enough,” I said. “I can go on.”

Fade leaped down. “Would it make you feel better to lead?”

“Not really.” I hesitated, not wanting to admit weakness, even to my partner. “I might get us lost.”

“I have your back, Deuce.”

“All right.” Maybe I’d feel better in the lead. At least I wouldn’t think monsters lurked inches away, waiting to grab and eat me.

We walked for hours more in silence. Up ahead, we faced the darkest part of the tunnels. There were no broken areas nearby, no ambient light. In this section, we used our ears to compensate. I thought I heard footsteps, but when I stopped to listen, the sounds stopped too. Maybe it was only an echo.

“You heard it too?” Fade whispered.

Then something did grab me. Hands snatched my arms and yanked me sideways. Fade lunged for me, but he missed. I heard him fumbling and felt the breeze from his movement. Kicking as I was dragged, my captors towed me toward the wall — or what should be a wall — instead I slid through a narrow chink in the tunnel. There was no room to fight here. Whatever had me, its hands were strong and it pulled me some distance. I tried to dig in my heels, but they slid in the loose stone covering the ground. They’d dug out secondary tunnels behind the ones leftover from the old days — or maybe these had already existed too. But they were older and more primitive, more natural rock, and less of the artificial stone.

A distant trickle of light illuminated my captor. He looked human, more or less, but his eyes were bigger, and he stood shorter than I did. His skin gleamed white; his people had adapted to the environment. Heart thumping, I wondered what his teeth looked like.

“Dem following you,” he said.

So it hadn’t been my imagination. I had heard something following us in the dark. A chill crawled along my skin, rousing fear bumps.

“Freaks?”

“We call dem Eaters. Come.”

“What about my partner?”

A shrug. “We doan want him.”

“I can’t leave him out there. He’ll die.”

“Doan care. Come.”

I could hear Fade’s steps tracing away into the distance, running. He wasn’t yet calling my name because that would be dangerous, but he’d start soon. He must be worried; I’d simply vanished on him. While screaming might catch his attention, it would also enrage my captor and might draw the Freaks down on us in numbers.

He led me into a room with low-sloped ceilings. I couldn’t stand upright. Twenty others like him milled around me, fingering my hair and sniffing at me. I realized I didn’t smell great after days in the tunnels, but if they tried anything else, they were meat — or I was. It couldn’t end any other way. I had room enough to fight in here. Maybe not at the top of my game, but these creatures looked quiet and crafty rather than strong. They’d survived by sneaking and hiding, not fighting.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

They exchanged a look, and then the one that had yanked me out of the tunnel said, “New blood.”

I just knew they were hiding mouthfuls of sharp teeth. “Not mine.”

“Not like dat.”

I didn’t care if they wanted me for decoration, company, or to sing them to sleep. I shook my head, taking a step back toward the narrow tunnel. Even the wider room was too small to permit free-swinging my club, but I drew my daggers in a smooth motion.

“I can’t stay. I have a job to do.”

“You doan stay, Eaters gonna chew yer bones.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“You got da smart ones stalking you now.”

Smart, like the ones that slaughtered Nassau?

“There are different kinds of Freaks?” I asked.

“You din figger dat out on yer own?” He shook his head in disgust.

“The ones down near our enclave don’t act like the ones we saw at Nassau.”

“Dat’s the dead place? Nah-saw?”

I nodded. “We were ordered to go check the place out.”

“Your folk doan like you much, den. Why not stay?”

I looked around the room, caught the pale, avid faces and the huge eyes. They were creepy, but harmless. I didn’t think they’d resist if I tried to leave. The idea of going back into the dark alone, however, paralyzed me.

Then I thought of Fade, out there on his own, and searching for me. He wouldn’t just keep heading for the enclave. I felt sure of it. After the loss of his first partner, they’d kill him if he came back alone. I could no longer doubt it, after the way the elders had treated the stray brat.

“If you’re willing, I’ll accept your hospitality in offering a place to rest, but that’s all. And only after I find my partner. We need a new place to trade.” I didn’t know much about supply and demand, but I knew one thing we had that others always coveted. “We have fish pools. Maybe your people would be willing to barter goods?”

They conferred briefly, and then the one that had snagged me nodded. “Deal. We share our fire til da Eaters pass. But you find da other one and bring him.”

I could do that. Nodding, I turned and slid back out the way we’d come. I stepped into the inky darkness of the tunnel. For a moment I stood still and tried to orient myself. I listened for any breathing or hint of movement, but I could only hear the thundering of my own heart.

Which way would he have gone? Not back the way we’d come, surely. I turned left and crept along, listening every few feet for some sign of him. As I came to a fork in the tunnels, I paused again, sensing … something.

“Fade?” I whispered.

Movement. I didn’t see him until he was almost on top of me. He curled his hands around my forearms, sounding considerably less panicked than I would have in the same situation. “Are you all right? Where were you?”

“Come on. No time to explain.”

My skin prickled as I retraced my steps. Despite my concentration, I doubt I would’ve found the crack in the tunnel, if my benefactor hadn’t grabbed me again. This time I kept ahold of Fade and dragged him in with me. He had to turn sideways to ease through the gap. The side shaft was just wide enough for his shoulders.

The small man began fitting loose stones into the gap, a smart measure, even if it made me feel trapped. But it should confuse Freaks — even the smart ones — if they happened to track us this far. I didn’t speak until we were well away from the opening.

Fade gazed around in surprise. “What is this place?”

“Home,” one of them said. That time, I caught a look in his mouth as he spoke, and was relieved to see normal teeth, teeth for chewing, not tearing flesh.

“We need a place to rest before the last leg of our journey,” I told Fade. “They’ve volunteered. In return, we’ll try to set up some trade.” I paused, lowering my voice. “Freaks are following us.”

He grasped the problem at once. “Instead of attacking, they’re looking for the bigger prize.”

“They want to see where we live.” That definitely indicated a level of intelligence we’d never encountered in them before.

“We have to lose them before heading back to enclave.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He leaned in to whisper, “You’re sure we’re safe here?”

I pitched my voice low. “Relatively. We’re bigger and stronger, and I do think they want to trade. They wanted me for breeding at first, but I convinced them it wasn’t an option.”

His teeth flashed white in the smoky torchlight. “And no bodies? Impressive.”

Wearily, I sank down onto the stone floor. Around us, they went about their business. There were more of them than I’d first realized, though few in comparison with us. Considering their relative proximity, it was more impressive that we hadn’t known of their existence before. Silk would probably want to kill them.

They brought us a thin gruel that appeared to have been made from mushrooms and stuff best not inquired about. I forced myself to eat it and thanked them for the meal. Fade sat close beside me, practically keeping a hand on me at all times in case I disappeared again. His subtle concern warmed me.

I was starting to be able to tell the Burrowers apart. Though they shared a certain resemblance, the one who’d rescued me first was a touch taller than the rest. He gave me a little bow and said, “Am Jengu.”

“Deuce.” I pointed at my partner and said, “Fade. You want to tell us what you have to trade?”

“Why doan I show you?”

I figured that was a good idea; I could tell the elders specifically what the Burrowers had to offer. With Fade close behind, I followed Jengu down another tunnel. We negotiated some twists and turns. The fatty torches made the air taste as bitter as burned meat. I tried to breathe only through my nose.

We emerged on a platform like the one where we’d rested. There appeared to be no other access, due to a collapse and heavy tons of rock. Despite the blockage, this area was brighter and better ventilated. But that wasn’t even the most remarkable part — I’d never seen such a collection of old stuff. They had piles and piles of it, just sitting on the platforms. Most of it, I had no idea what it was or what it did, but this was the kind of treasure trove that would make the Wordkeeper run all the way here in person, just to examine the artifacts.

“Worth a few fish?” Jengu asked.

“And then some.”

I didn’t look through the stacks of stuff, although I longed to. But time was ticking away for Fade and me. We needed to rest and then get moving. Surely the Freaks would’ve lost our trail by the time we woke.

“Do you mind if we sleep here?” Fade asked. “You can search our bags now to see what we have, and then again before we go. We won’t take anything.”

“You wan sleep in storage?” Jengu seemed puzzled.

I understood Fade’s request, at least. The ceilings were higher, and it smelled a little better in here. Good-hearted they might be, I didn’t think our Burrower friends practiced much in the way of cleaning.

“If you don’t mind.” I held out my pack so he could rifle through it.

“Got dis where?” he asked, pulling out one of the slim books.

“On the way back from Nassau. There was a room up some stairs—”

“Ah,” he said. “Up near Topside?”

I nodded. “I guess.”

“Anything else?”

“Sure,” Fade answered. “We didn’t take it all. Couldn’t carry it.”

Jengu seemed pleased. It was more for them to collect when it came time to trade. Once he was satisfied as to what belonged to us, he shuffled off toward the smaller tunnels. I guessed he felt more at home in the darkness with the coziness of low ceilings. It made me feel trapped.

“You’re all right?” Fade asked, once he’d gone. “They didn’t hurt you?”

I shook my head. “They’re harmless. It would do the enclave good to make friends of them, I think. Look at this place.”

“It’s amazing. They must’ve been scrounging for generations.”

“Thanks for waiting for me. But it was a big risk. Anything could’ve happened to you.”

He touched my cheek very lightly. “I have your back. I didn’t mean only when it’s easy. All the time.”

Wow. Warmth blossomed within me. Even if nobody else liked him, even if the rest of them never accepted me, I couldn’t have done better for a partner. I doubted the other Hunters would’ve acted the same. They would’ve followed orders to the letter and gone back to the enclave, leaving me to fend for myself. Silently, I thanked Silk.

“This should be our last stop. Tomorrow, we make it home.” I got out my blanket and wrapped up in it.

A gap in the piles offered us the perfect place to curl up. We went to sleep a whisper apart and when I woke, he lay on his side, facing me. He always seemed different with his eyes shut. The contrast of his pale skin and sooty lashes made me want to brush my fingertips across the dark and light of it. My heart thumped inside my chest as his eyes opened and met mine.

Fade grinned. “Still tired?”

I groaned and rolled to my feet. Lying on rock had taken its toll. I felt like I could sleep for a week. Not like that would happen. As payment for our survival, Silk would probably assign us double shifts.

We got our things and went into the smaller tunnels. The Burrowers were already awake, and Jengu checked our bags to make sure we’d kept our word. I don’t think he had any doubt, but it reassured the others.

After saying good-bye, we felt strong enough to handle the last leg of the journey. It would be a tough run, and there were Freaks to dodge, but we’d make it. We were Hunters, and the enclave needed the news we carried.

Homecoming

A day later, Fade and I staggered toward the barricades. We’d been forced to fight a group of Freaks when we could least afford to expend the energy, and we had very little left now. The guards broke from their posts to help us. I guessed they could see we were in a bad way. My lips burned with thirst.

Someone fetched Silk, who demanded, “Get them food and drink. They can barely move, let alone give a report.”

She was kind enough to let us sit down in the kitchen area. I collapsed on a crate and thought I might never rise again. Gratefully I took the water and emptied the cup in careful sips. I remembered my lessons about how too much on an empty stomach could make me sick. Then I accepted a tiny bowl of stew and ate it with my fingers. It was lukewarm, which made it easier to rake it into my mouth.

As Fade and I ate, we gathered an audience. Not just Silk and the elders — Copper, Twist, and Whitewall — but Builders, Breeders, and brats too. I guessed they didn’t think we were coming back. Everyone waited to hear what we had to say. As senior Hunter, it was only right Fade take the floor. I put down the remnants of my meal and a wee brat scurried off with it.

“Well?” Silk demanded.

“Nassau has fallen. It’s Freak occupied now.” Fade put the problem more bluntly than I would have.

Disbelief whispered through the crowd. Whitewall motioned them to silence. “No survivors?”

“Not one,” he said. “They’re living where the Nassau citizens used to and feeding on the bodies.”

“And why is that?” Silk asked. “Were there signs of disease?”

I wasn’t about to say we didn’t get close enough to check things out in detail. Hopefully Fade wouldn’t either. “No, they died fighting. Sickness didn’t do this.” He outlined the theory he’d given me in the little hidden room. “Therefore, we need to change our tactics. Lay more traps. We also need a battle plan in case they hit us in numbers, like they did Nassau.”

Silk laughed. “You make it sound like Freaks are a force to be feared, a thinking enemy, rather than just vermin.”

Oh, no. She doesn’t believe him.

“It’s true,” I said. “We fought a number of them on the way to Nassau, and I think—” I almost couldn’t speak the words because I knew what disagreeing with her in public, siding with Fade would mean. “He’s right. They almost seemed to understand us at times.”

Her jaw tightened. “We’ll take your ideas into account at the next meeting.”

“Thank you, sir.” I ducked my head, exhausted.

We’d done everything we could, completed the mission, and delivered the requested information. If they chose to ignore us, we couldn’t help it. Dread crawled up my spine nonetheless.

“Move along,” Silk snapped at the gawkers. “There’s work to be done.”

There always was. I heard murmurs as people dispersed.

“What do you think?”

“Nassau never kept as clean as they should. They probably died of the dirty disease and then the Freaks ate them.”

Someone laughed. “It’ll serve them right when they die of it.”

Great. They thought we were insane. That we’d cracked out there in the dark and were imagining threats where none existed. But they hadn’t seen what we had. They didn’t know. I sat miserably on my crate, head bowed, until I recognized Silk’s boots.

“Because you completed your mission in the time allotted, I’m giving you tomorrow off patrol to rest and regain your strength. I don’t want to hear you talking about your crazy ideas, do you understand? There’s no reason to get people worked up, if they happen to believe you.”

I understood the bribe/threat combo perfectly. “I won’t talk to anyone about it.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

It took all my energy to drag my tired body to the bath area. I still had my clean clothes, at least. There had seemed no point in putting them on out there; I’d never smelled this bad in my life. I washed up longer than usual and then dried and dressed. A few other girls watched me, whispered and giggled, but they didn’t address me directly.

Afterward, I started on my clothes. Though I hadn’t noticed her arrival, Thimble came and took them from me. She went to work with silent efficiency. I leaned against the wall. My shoulder had scabbed over, and the salve Fade had used on me seemed to have warded off infection. But I’d always bear the scars as a reminder.

“How bad was it?” she asked softly.

“I promised not to talk about it.”

Her eyes shone with hurt, as she held my wet clothes. Blood trickled from the fabric and down the drain. “I’m your best friend.”

“I know. And you are. But I promised. I don’t want to get in trouble. Silk already has it in for me.”

“I wouldn’t repeat anything you tell me.”

Maybe not. But what if she yielded to the impulse to tell just one person, maybe Banner, who also told just one person? And pretty soon it got back to Silk. I couldn’t take the chance.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

She slammed my half-washed clothes back into my arms. I worked on them until my fingers were raw. Back in my living space, I hung the clothing up to dry. I almost flopped down on my pallet before I remembered that would sentence me to exile. My bag bulged with important relics; before I could rest I had to see the Wordkeeper. Shouldering my pack, I picked a path through the warren.

To my surprise, I found him in the common area. He was twenty-two, but he looked older, older even than Whitewall. He had wispy hair, so fair it looked white, and a face folded into a perpetual frown, as if he knew the day would disappoint him.

“Sir,” I said, and waited for him to acknowledge me.

“You have something to report, Huntress?”

Exhausted as I was, the title still thrilled me. “I do. On the way back from Nassau, we took shelter in a room filled with things that will interest you. I have them here.”

“Permission granted to make your offering.”

Before him, I laid out all the glossy, colorful books, the yellowed papers, every last trinket I’d collected, including some unknown items from the desk drawer. The Wordkeeper stared at it all with the sort of dawning wonder I’d felt. For the first time, I felt a glimmer of liking for him.

I checked my bag three times to make sure nothing got stuck in the crevices. “That’s everything.”

“Magnificent, the greatest find of our generation. It will enrich our culture in countless ways.” The Wordkeeper was already reading, murmuring to himself. “Repair switch in blue line … I wonder what that means.”

Well, “repair” spoke for itself. The rest I couldn’t help with. I stood quiet until he remembered me. “Ah, yes. You’ve distinguished yourself among all citizens. For your contribution, I will see you rewarded. What would you like?”

For Silk to take me seriously. I almost said it. At the last moment, I bit my tongue to keep the words back. She would not take it well if a reprimand came from the Wordkeeper; she would see it as me going outside the chain of command for preferential treatment. Such behavior was weak and soft, and she’d be right to name it so.

“Any reward you think suitable will please me,” I said.

He smiled. I didn’t think I’d ever seen the Wordkeeper smile. “Very good.”

“That’s not all.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a small settlement only a day from here. They’re not Freaks, but they don’t look like us, either. I’d never seen anything like them.” Strictly speaking, Whitewall should be here as well, but I was too tired to care about protocol.

“Friendly?”

“Yes. They gave us food and shelter, or I doubt Fade and I would’ve made it. Our water wasn’t adequate for the journey, and it wasn’t safe to get supplies at Nassau.”

“Good news,” he said neutrally.

“It gets better. They had the most artifacts I’ve ever seen in a storeroom there. It could take years to go through everything.”

“Books?” he demanded.

“I think so. But there’s old technology, relics, things I didn’t even recognize. The Burrowers don’t seem to value it. They want some fish in exchange.”

“Fish?” The Wordkeeper laughed. “They can’t be very smart.”

That term was relative, I thought. You could eat a fish; you couldn’t eat the stuff the Burrowers had stacked up. Wisely, I said nothing of the kind.

“That’s all, sir. May I go?”

“Before you sleep, give Silk the location of these Burrowers. I’ll make sure she sends a team. And then rest, Huntress. You’ve earned it.”

I certainly had. My legs barely carried me to find Silk. She was watching a crop of likely brats when I stumbled up to her. I relayed the location as close as I could, per the Wordkeeper’s instructions. Silk seemed scornful, but she agreed to talk to him. I was glad I was out of that business now.

Had anyone ever gone to Nassau and back so quickly before? I didn’t think so. Generally, they stayed to visit, share news, and replenish supplies. Fade and I hadn’t had that option, and without the Burrowers, we would’ve died. Maybe Jengu knew that too — and that was why he grabbed me.

So tired. It took everything I had to make it to my living space. The rag pallet seemed the height of comfort compared with what we had been sleeping on. It felt a little strange to be alone, after so many days with Fade. Like me, he’d probably showered and gone to bed. He had to be exhausted too.

Unlike other days when I lay there, unable to rest for the buzzing of my head, I winked out as soon as I closed my eyes.

When I woke, I had the unprecedented realization I had nowhere to be. No patrol. No training. If I wanted, I could stay here in my space and stare up at the ceiling. Ambient light from torches mounted on the walls stole in, brightening it enough that I could see my stuff.

My weapons.

In my stupor, I’d forgotten to care for them. The daggers wouldn’t stay sharp and shiny if I didn’t look after them. My club was much worse for the wear too. So that had to be the first thing I did today. After running my fingers through my hair, I bound it up in my usual tie and carried my things down to the Builder workshop, where I could find the proper supplies to clean and sharpen. I also had an ulterior motive — meeting Banner. Though I told myself I just needed some of the salve, I also wanted to learn about the girl who put warmth in Fade’s smile.

As usual, the place bustled with activity. Anything we had came from this part of the enclave. Clothes, shoes, boots, weapons, soap, bags — it all began here. Work went at a furious pace. Things were mixed, poured, measured, hammered. I was sure there was some method to this madness, some organization, but my untrained eye couldn’t pick it out. They recognized me as a Huntress from the marks on my arms. I answered their greetings with a nod.

On the other side of the workshop, I saw Fade, talking to a small dark-haired girl. She was pretty in a quiet way, and by the tilt of her head, she liked him. That had to be Banner. Without realizing it, I cut a path directly to them, forcing a couple of workers to detour around me.

“Were you looking for me?” he asked. “We’re off today.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m looking for her. I think. Banner?”

Her genuine, friendly smile said she didn’t mind my intrusion. “That’s me.”

Fade nodded. “Right. I promised to introduce you.” He did so quickly.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t mind making me some of that ointment. It helped me out in the tunnels.”

“I can make another batch, no problem. Other people don’t like it because of the smell, but I’m glad somebody’s getting some use out of it.”

That taken care of, I had no reason to stay and listen to their conversation so I excused myself with a muttered “Great. I need to go work on my weapons. Nice meeting you, Banner. See you, Fade.”

I had finished with my daggers and was working on oiling the stains out of my club when I felt him behind me. “You didn’t do that yesterday?”

I sighed. “Bad Huntress, I know. My knives are my best friends.”

“That’s kind of sad. You mean nobody likes you?”

What’s his problem today? I thought we were all right with each other. Scowling, I spun on him, ready to deliver some serious verbal hurt when I saw the smile in his dark eyes. Oh. He’s messing with me.

“Funny.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

I shook my head. “Came straight here.”

“We could go to the kitchen and scrounge something up.”

Hesitating, I said, “I still need to finish this and then I should have Bonesaw check my shoulder.”

“You’ll be better off if he doesn’t. He got his name because he likes cutting parts off people.”

I smiled, though I’d heard the joke before. Bonesaw had gotten his name like the rest of us, from the talisman his blood found in the pile of naming day gifts. But it only seemed right he apprentice to the medicine man; Whitewall was a big believer in signs. Now, three years later, the old medicine man was gone, and we had only Bonesaw to care for our sick and wounded. Most agreed he wasn’t very good at it.

“Maybe you’re right.” I rotated my shoulder, and I didn’t feel any of the tightness or heat that accompanied an infection.

“I am. Let me give you my tin of Banner’s salve. Then she can give me what she makes for you.” Kindness, I wondered, or an excuse for him to go see her sooner? As I was debating, he added, “I’ll get it while you make that club shine. Then we can go eat. Sound good?”

It did, actually. Stone was busy with the brats, and Thimble was mad at me. I didn’t look forward to eating alone. I agreed with a nod and Fade loped off.

Oiling a rag, I polished my weapon until it shone. I even dug all the dried blood out of the carvings Stone had made. He might not understand my job, but he cared. I had to give him that. Nobody else had anything so fine.

Someone stopped behind me.

“Back already?” I asked without turning.

“I never left,” came Banner’s puzzled voice.

Oops. I spun to face her. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

She grinned. “Someone like Fade?”

I couldn’t help but smile; she had that kind of open, friendly face. “Kind of.”

“He likes you,” she said. “He was just telling me about you.”

“Really?” I couldn’t help but feel flattered by that.

“Yeah. He’s a little hard to get to know, but worth it. He tells the most fascinating stories.” By her indulgent expression, she thought he merely had a good imagination.

Based on my experiences with him so far, I suspected he’d seen and done more than anyone in the enclave would believe. I stifled a sigh. We weren’t always inclined to credit the truth around here, if it ran counter to our experience.

“I like working with him.” Any other response would be inappropriate, and could be repeated to my detriment. Hunters were supposed to trust and respect their partners, nothing more.

Thimble caught my eye then, radiating angry hurt. She saw me talking to Banner and her brows drew down. Oh, surely she didn’t think I was telling her about the trip to Nassau. I’d just met the girl.

Before I could try to make amends, Fade jogged back into the workshop. He cut a straight line toward us. He greeted her with a smile and me with the words, “You ready?”

I nodded and waved to Banner. Thimble pointedly didn’t look at me. Weapons in hand, I followed him out of the workshop.

“I just need to drop these off. Meet you in the kitchen?”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll see what there is to eat.”

“Let me guess. Meat and mushrooms.”

“Might be fish.”

Yeah, they did cook fish every now and then to keep us from getting sick. The elders put a lot of thought into what we ate and how much. Without their careful planning, our enclave would’ve died out long ago. It was a sobering thought. Just yesterday, I’d seen the consequences of careless behavior — and they didn’t believe us.

Whitewall, Copper, and Silk seemed to think such things could never happen here. We were too smart or too lucky. I’d bet the Nassau citizens thought that too, up until everything went wrong.

Treasure

A week later, the team they’d sent returned, weighed down with relics of the old world. I eyed the bags with dismay. I hadn’t been on duty when the team went out, but I didn’t think they’d taken enough supplies to trade with the Burrowers to merit such a big haul.

They wouldn’t. Though my faith had been shaken, I didn’t want to follow the thought to its natural conclusion. I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

Fade and I had just come off patrol. I’d cared for my weapons and cleaned up a bit, but I hadn’t yet gone to see who was in the common room. Instead, I went looking for my partner.

He was in his room, so I swished the curtain to let him know he had a visitor. A few seconds later, he poked his head out. Surprise lit his features.

“Something up?”

“I’m not sure.” I summarized what I’d seen, but no more. I wanted to know if he’d share my instincts without undue influence.

“They took everything by force.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Jengu had saved our lives. Whatever happened to them, it was our fault. I should’ve realized — the first Hunter tenet, “the strong survive,” dictated their actions; they took everything because they could. But it wasn’t right, and they’d made liars of us.

“What are we going to do?”

“What can we do?”

It was an unanswerable question. “Should we go see the Wordkeeper?”

“Isn’t he the one who made Silk send a team?”

Right. I’d always thought once I became a Huntress, I’d have some power, influence over the way things were done. In truth, precious few had any. Even Silk followed orders; hers just came from Whitewall and the Wordkeeper. It would be years before I qualified as an elder, and even then, there was no guarantee.

“So we live with this, just like we live with what they did to the brat,” I muttered.

“Maybe they traded,” he said, but from his expression, he didn’t believe it any more than I did.

“I might know how we can find out.”

“I’m listening.”

“Twist might tell me. Meet me in the common area later?”

“Sure.”

We couldn’t stand here any longer anyway; we’d already started to get some looks. With a wave, I went to look for Twist, and found him running an errand for Whitewall, deep in the warrens. I fell into step.

Twist cut me a suspicious look. “What’s broken?”

“Nothing. As far as I know. I just wondered if I could do anything to help.”

“Didn’t you pull a shift early today?”

“Yes, but I’m fine. And bored without work to do. You always seem to be busy.”

“The place doesn’t run itself,” he snapped. And then he ran a tired hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t take it out on you. I’m trying to put together a naming day ceremony, and the Builders haven’t brought me their gifts yet.”

“When is it?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.”

I winced; I could see why he was impatient and angry. “Why don’t I go talk to them for you?”

“Why would you do that?” He stopped walking, canting his head to study me.

In answering, I could be honest. “Look, you do so much, and nobody seems to notice. Whitewall tells you what to do, but he seldom says ‘thanks.’ He just takes the credit when it goes well and blames you when it doesn’t. You’ve always been nice to me, even when I was a brat. I thought maybe I could help you.”

Twist smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “You’re a good one, Deuce. It would be great if you could round up the gifts.”

“I don’t mind at all. I know you have other things to do. Where should I have the presents taken?”

“Same place you were named.”

I hadn’t been sure since that was the only ceremony I’d ever attended. A prickle of excitement went through me. This unknown brat was to become a Builder, which meant only they had to supply presents from which a suitable name might be drawn. But the rest of us would bear witness.

From the warren, I made my way to the workshop. As ever, the noise nearly deafened me, a combination of clanging, banging, hammering that always had a good result, but I didn’t know how they all stood it. I saw Thimble at once, but we hadn’t talked since I came back. She might still be mad.

To my surprise, she waved me over. “I want you to know I understand. It was wrong of me to mind that you put your orders first.” She paused in her work, surrounded by the various parts of some piece of furniture. “I had a chance to think about it, and Stone kind of yelled at me. I mean, if the senior craftsman told me I couldn’t tell you how to make the torches, I wouldn’t go up against him. No telling how miserable he could make my life in here, you know?”

I nodded. “And I’d never ask you to spill Builder secrets.”

Until she hugged me, I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her. Thimble smelled of smoke and tallow. Though we’d outgrown brat-hood and had other responsibilities now, our friendship would endure. Just because some things changed, it didn’t mean everything had to. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, feeling better already.

“So what are you doing here?”

“Besides coming to see you?” That was a side benefit, actually, but it was better if she thought I’d come specifically to make up. “I’m also doing a favor for Twist.” I explained about the naming day presents. “Who should I talk to?”

“That would be Rod’s territory. I think he’s working on it.” Thimble led me across the workshop, neatly sidestepping various projects.

We stopped before a tall, gangly boy a few years older than us. He was scowling when we approached, which made Thimble slide me an apologetic look and disappear. That left me standing alone when he noticed me. His gaze flicked to my bare forearms and he barely contained a sneer.

“What do you want, Huntress?”

I ignored the slur he gave the title by using that subtle stress. “Twist sent me to collect the naming day gifts. I’m sure you have them ready.”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Four boxes, right there. I can’t spare anyone to help you move them.”

I turned in the direction he indicated and stifled a groan. They were sizable, so it would take me a while, and I’d have to make four trips. Instead of arguing, as he clearly expected, I just nodded and strode over the far wall. It took both arms to lift the first one, and as I staggered toward the door, I collided with someone. I peered over the edge of my burden and recognized Banner.

“You need a hand?”

Glancing at Rod, who was already busy elsewhere, I said, “Sure. But I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I’m off shift today. I came in to say hi to Thimble and see if she needed any help with the shelves she’s building, but I can take time for you first.”

“This way, then.”

I headed for the great room we used for all ceremonies, which took us through the heart of the warren itself. Going past the kitchen, I smelled something good, better than usual, or maybe I was just hungry. With Banner’s help, it only took two trips, but my arms were still burning when we finished.

“That wasn’t so bad.”

If I had to pick two words to describe her, they’d be “relentlessly cheerful.” I wondered what she’d say if she knew about the brat, or what the elders had done with the Burrowers. But I still didn’t have those answers, and I didn’t want to add weight to her shoulders. Better if Fade and I kept silent.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, I finished your salve. Fade said to give it to him, but if you want, we can get it now.” Her blue gaze bored into mine, as if she were asking a silent question.

“Fine.”

With a shrug, I went with her to her space. I wondered why she didn’t store it in the workshop, but I didn’t think anything of it until we stepped inside her quarters. At first glance, it looked just like mine. And then she lifted her crate to reveal a depression in the floor.

Hoarding. There was no doubt in my mind the elders would exile her if they got a look at what she’d hidden. Instinctively I took a step back.

“Fade said I could trust you. He said you’re one of us. Was he wrong?”

“One of who?” I whispered. I averted my eyes from her stash, willing her to put the crate back. I wasn’t sure I could lie to an elder — or even Twist — if confronted directly. The idea sent me into a cold, anxious sweat.

“Our leadership is flawed. It doesn’t serve the people anymore, if it ever did.”

That much, I agreed with, so I gave a cautious nod. The elders had lost my blind support, first through their treatment of the brat, and then Silk’s response to our report about Nassau disappointed me. College citizens would pay the price for their determination to permit no change. I understood the rules existed to protect us, but if we didn’t adapt to the new balance in the tunnels, we would die.

All that being true, I still didn’t want to hear any of their plans. I was still a Huntress, not a traitor or a revolutionary. “Could you just give me the salve? Please?”

Her face fell in disappointment, but she did as I asked, and then I backed out of her space like she had a disease I could catch. I only wanted answers. I didn’t want to join some secret rebellion. Obedience was ingrained too deeply in me.

Determined to put some distance between Banner and myself, I hurried toward the kitchen. I had yet to eat my evening meal. I wanted to search for Twist to see if I could parlay the favor into information, but he’d get suspicious if I did it tonight.

Copper ran from pot to pot, stirring and poking and slicing. I ate my meal standing up, much later than the other Hunters, and I had been right; it was good. She’d done something different with the fish and mushrooms, maybe augmented by something the Burrowers had sent. The place was full of brats, in fact, a testament to how long I’d waited. They all snickered to see me sharing their mealtime.

A girl grinned up at me. “Remember how you said on naming day you’d never eat with us again?”

I smiled. “Joke’s on me.”

I didn’t feel like being social tonight so I went to my pallet and just lay down. Unfortunately, I wasn’t destined to be left alone. Before I’d been there long, my curtain rustled, indicating I had a visitor. Throat clearing followed.

With a faint sigh, I climbed to my feet and stepped out. Fade. I’d forgotten I’d told him to meet me in the common area.

“What did you say to Banner?” he demanded. Rage pulled his mouth into a taut line, and he spoke through clenched teeth. “She’s been crying and she’s scared to death.”

“Nothing!”

“She wouldn’t be this upset over nothing. Did you go to Whitewall? Or the Wordkeeper?” His hands fisted at his sides as if to keep him from reaching for me.

“No!” I leaned in because I didn’t want to chance anyone overhearing. “Look, I’m not going to tell on her. I just … I don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s all.” Her willful hoarding was risky and dangerous.

“Why should I believe you? You ran to them on your naming day. You didn’t even sleep when we got back from Nassau because you were so scared of exile. Is that the way you want to live? Do you think it’s right?”

It hurt that he didn’t trust me, more than I’d expect, especially after all we’d gone through together. I had saved his life, and he’d saved mine. We’d protected each other every step of the way. I would never do anything to hurt someone he cared about, even if his friend’s behavior was reckless and unwise.

“The rules exist to protect us.” But I didn’t speak the words with conviction anymore. I’d seen too much.

Some of the anger drained out of his face. “She’s really upset. Would you mind coming with me to talk to her? I promise we won’t involve you in anything.” He shrugged. “I just thought, after everything, you might—”

“No. I can’t. But I’ll go with you to reassure her.”

But we didn’t find Banner in her personal space. Nor was she in the kitchen, the common room, or the workshop. Thimble stared at me strangely when I popped my head in for the second time, but I just waved and went on. Fade’s scowl grew in proportion to the mystery.

“Builders never leave the enclave,” he said flatly.

“I know. Maybe she’s bathing?”

“Let’s find out.”

It was the only place we hadn’t looked. He walked with me, but he couldn’t go in. I slipped into the room, finding it darker and colder than usual. The steady plink plink of water added to the hiss of the torches. I found Banner in the corner. Fully dressed, she sat hunched over, paying no mind to the trickle dropping on her head.

“Don’t worry. Please. You were right. You can trust me.”

When I knelt down to touch her shoulder, she fell forward in a pool of blood. Banner wasn’t just upset; she was dead.

Recompense

Nobody cared. The elders sent her body out into the tunnels as a gift for the Freaks. That was all. People talked about the shock, but everyone agreed she must’ve killed herself. A girl in the baths with two slit wrists? What else could it be? They speculated that perhaps she’d snuck around and gotten herself in trouble. Bred without permission, maybe. That kind of offense got you exiled.

Almost anything could get you exiled. As a brat, I hadn’t realized the magnitude; I didn’t dare articulate my thoughts or my fears. The safety of the enclave was starting to feel like a prison. Life went on for all us, and only Fade wore his grief nakedly. He didn’t talk to me anymore outside of patrols, as if I might’ve had something to do with it. And that hurt, more than I wanted to admit.

After the naming ceremony, Twist came looking for me. “Thanks for taking care of the gifts.”

So much had happened I’d almost forgotten I had an ulterior motive for doing that. I’d wanted to find out what they’d done to the Burrowers. I wasn’t sure I did anymore. The knowledge might only prove a burden.

But since I had him here, I figured I’d try. “I’m glad I could help.”

I fell into step with him as he talked, venting about the strain of working for Whitewall. Twist didn’t have any friends that I knew of, so maybe he didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Listening cost me nothing.

When he wound down, I said, “I saw the team come back with a lot of stuff. I guess you have to sort and organize it for the Wordkeeper.”

He sighed. “Of course I do. They don’t trust anyone else.”

“How much did we pay for it all?” I tensed.

“A few bags of fish. The way I heard it, those Burrowers are smart and wouldn’t let the Hunters in until they passed the trade goods through a narrow gap in the wall.”

Relief spilled through me. I’d nearly let suspicion poison everything. Just because the elders had made some tough decisions, it didn’t make them brutal or merciless. A weight lifted from my shoulders.

I talked with Twist a bit longer, so he didn’t suspect I’d been after that information all along. Since I liked him — and few people did — I didn’t want him to think I’d only been using him. In the kitchen, we went our separate ways: him to other work and me to patrol.

Fade waited for me beyond the barricades this time, one foot tapping with ill-concealed impatience. As soon as I scrambled over, he spun and led the way into the dark. I thought we needed to talk, but plainly he disagreed. The hours passed with excruciating speed, between the silence and the tension.

At last as we turned back toward the enclave, he spoke. “Do you believe them?”

“Who?”

“The elders. The gossip.”

“About what?” I thought I knew but I wanted him to spell it out.

“Banner. They’re saying she killed herself because…” He trailed off, unable to say it aloud.

He’d been close to her. That made him a likely candidate for the sire of her unborn brat, if the story was true. I didn’t like how that made me feel. I cast back to the day we’d found her, remembering the cuts on her wrists, how the skin looked—

Sickness overwhelmed me.

“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t.”

He froze for a long moment and then spun to face me. “Why?”

I could see in his eyes he’d noticed right away. I just hadn’t wanted to think about it until he forced me to remember. “The cuts were wrong.”

If I wanted to die, I’d use one long motion, no stop and start of the blade. The ones we’d found on Banner showed where the knife dragged and paused. Someone had killed her; I didn’t know why. If they’d found her hoard, she should’ve been exiled.

But maybe it ran deeper. Maybe the elders knew something about the silent rebellion. In that case, Banner would’ve been killed as an equally quiet warning. Associate with them and you’ll wind up like this. It was nothing they would want to confront openly because that would mean admitting some citizens mistrusted their leadership. Acknowledging discontent would only breed more. I understood the way they thought.

“They added all of her things to the archives,” he said softly. “And fed her to the Freaks.”

I flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“What are we going to do about it?”

“What can we do?”

In answer he turned and headed for the barricades. I feared he might do something stupid, and I couldn’t think how to help him. If I pushed, I’d end up like Banner. And so would he.

A few weeks later, as promised, they rewarded me for my contribution to culture. With Banner’s death hanging over me, I didn’t want the credit, but there was no refusing. They held a feast, and the Wordkeeper sat me beside him in a place of honor.

Once everyone had assembled, he rose. “We’re here to honor Deuce, a Huntress who, despite considerable risk, brought back a bag of artifacts. She did not attempt to keep anything she found for her own personal pleasure. As one should always do, she thought first of the enclave.” The Wordkeeper droned on about the importance of putting the group before self. He also mentioned how I’d been principal in a trade that gave us access to more artifacts than we’d ever seen before.

I felt strange, being lauded for something that had been coincidence. I ducked my head, hoping the enclave wouldn’t hate me for making them listen to the Wordkeeper, but everyone seemed happy to take the day off. When he finished, he threw his hands skyward in a dramatic gesture. “Let the celebration start!”

An answering roar went through the crowd. Pipes and drums echoed through the enclave. The torches smoked; people whirled and stomped while brats ran around underfoot. Roasting meat and mushrooms smelled unbelievably good, and there was fish too. For once, they didn’t limit us and I took seconds of each dish. Brats immediately snatched my plate, running off to lick it and then wash it up so someone else, someone less honored, could use it.

From the sidelines, I watched the party until a Hunter came to get me. Gazing up at him, I realized he’d been patrolling longer than Fade. As a brat, I’d watched this one train and he was smiling at me. What was his name? Silk had introduced me, but that first day, I’d been so nervous, I couldn’t remember more than half of them.

Crane, I remembered belatedly.

“Come on,” he said. “You’re going to miss it.”

“Miss what?”

“We’re doing a demonstration.”

A thrill went through me, despite my dark mood. How could I have forgotten? At any feast, the Hunters assembled and sparred as part of the entertainment. Citizens often bet on the outcomes. Rising, I tried to look serious when excitement bubbled inside me.

I glanced at the Wordkeeper, who had been sitting with me, watching the others dance. “May I be excused, sir?”

“Certainly. Fight well, Huntress.”

I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing people call me that. Hurrying, I kept pace with Crane. He led me to the training room, where everyone else stood already waiting. As we slipped in, Silk was handing out the assignments, telling people who they’d face first in the tournament.

The elder Hunter beside me whispered, “It’s by elimination. The winner of each round progresses to the next until only two remain.”

That much I remembered. When Silk paused before me, she said, “Deuce, your first opponent will be Pinwheel.” It was a terrible name, and the girl who owned it scowled at me. She was tall, which meant she had a good reach — better than mine. I could see her assessing me in turn.

“Pin,” the other Huntress muttered, not that Silk cared. She had already moved down the line.

Once she finished, she went and got a box. “The senior Hunter will choose a number that determines the order in which you’ll fight.”

I stood by while Pin picked for us. No question I was low in seniority, even if I’d completed a dangerous mission and brought back some artifacts. She held up the wood chip so I could see it read “5.” Good, other people had to go before us, but not so many I’d have too much time to get nervous.

Pin slipped over beside me. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.” But her tone was friendly. I wasn’t used to that.

“Make sure you give them a good show,” Silk ordered. “Now move!”

I followed the throng of Hunters into an orderly formation to the side of the training area. The rest of the enclave filtered in, forming a circle around the fighting ring. As a brat, I had pushed my way to the front, kneeling down so nobody complained about me being in the way. I’d watched so many of these tournaments, and now I was finally going to compete. For safety’s sake, we didn’t use weapons.

Random pairings meant no consideration had been given to skill level. I watched as a slim Huntress faced an older Hunter. She fought hard, but his experience dominated. In the next match, two Hunters circled each other, but the elder had the greater reach and better timing. Speed would help the smaller one in time, but at the moment he lacked the experience to parlay it into a win.

So the first two went quickly. The opponents were too unevenly matched for it to be otherwise. Anything else would’ve amounted to fakery, and the Hunters had too much integrity for that. The next two pitted veteran Huntresses and Hunters, and they were so fierce and graceful, they had me bouncing on my toes, cheering and oohing along with everyone else.

Then it was my turn.

Heart pounding, I took my place in the circle, where I faced Pin. She wore a fierce, focused look. At Silk’s signal, we faced each other and bowed.

“Begin!”

We circled. She was wary enough of me to want me to go on the offensive first; I took it as a compliment. Seeing I wouldn’t, Pin spun at me with her big move first. I leaped away from her lashing leg. I faked an off-balance landing, hoping that would bring her rushing in. It didn’t. She grinned at me and shook her head.

Pin blocked both my attempts to punch and countered with a kick aimed at my knee. I wheeled her arm into a lock and flipped her. Ha. Didn’t see that coming, did you? She landed hard on her back, but she pulled until I fell with her, flipping over the top. I turned the fall into a roll and came to my feet with a bruised shoulder. The sounds of the audience hooting and cheering faded as I narrowed my eyes on her movements.

We exchanged a flurry of hits and blocks. My speed came into play then, but when she connected, it rocked me. Her fist felt like ten pounds of solid rock slamming into my stomach. I doubled over, but when she went to finish me, I snagged her ankle and pulled. Immediately, I dropped all my weight on her chest and sank an elbow into her throat. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to prove my dominance. I held her there until she slapped the floor three times.

I staggered to my feet and Silk threw my hand in the air. I don’t believe it. I won. Proud and happy, I beamed at the audience, despite my new bruises. Afterward, Pin shook my hand and slapped me on the back. I went to stand with the other victors.

The other fights were good, but I was too pleased with myself to pay close attention. I should have. I might’ve learned something.

In the second round, I got my butt handed to me by the Hunter who had come to get me. Crane rushed me, ignoring my attempts at finesse. Up in the air, I tried to overbalance him, but he was holding me too tightly. I could feel the bruises forming. He slammed me to the ground and shoved my face in the floor before I had time to get my balance. I felt like he’d break my spine before I tapped.

Afterward, I shook his hand and limped to join the other losers, but even that didn’t dim my glow. I hadn’t lost in the first match, at least. As far as I could tell, no other new blood had made it out of the first round besides me.

Bets flew fast and furious while the fights went on. In disbelief, I watched Fade claw his way up the ranks. He was grace personified, compared to most of the Hunters. He fought with lethal beauty and an escalating sense of urgency. Sometimes, after a fight, he stared with such ferocity the spectators backed away. Even the other winners gave him a significant amount of space.

Eventually, it came down to Crane … and Fade. Final match. This would decide who held the title until the next feast. Fade was taller, leaner, but Crane had more muscle mass. He had brute strength in contrast to my partner’s agility. After watching them both, I didn’t know which way this would go.

The big Hunter charged but Fade dodged. He was so fast he made Crane seem lumbering in comparison. I knew how strong Crane was, but he had to get ahold of Fade first.

Three times, Crane lunged, Fade evaded, and the crowd got restless. Fade was losing them. They wanted a final match, not to see him refuse to take a hit. Come on, I said silently. You can do this.

He attempted his first strike, and he was just fast enough to clip the big guy’s jaw. But that brought him close enough for Crane to grapple. He crushed Fade in a rib-breaking hug and lifted him up off the ground. I realized the mistake as soon as he did it. Fade slammed his brow into the other Hunter’s temple.

Yes, that’s the way. Fight to win. While the big Hunter staggered, dizzied, Fade went for the kneecap. He gave no quarter, becoming more ferocious with every passing minute. It was almost as if he’d forgotten this was a match, as if he thought he’d die if he lost. On his last hit, he dropped Crane to the ground and he went with him, fist upraised to pummel his face.

The big guy tapped.

The crowd stilled, breath caught. They expected Fade to hit him anyway. So did I. I shook my head slowly, hoping he wouldn’t, hoping he wasn’t crazy. Slowly, he lowered his arm, and let Silk pull him to his feet. When she threw his arm in the air, he stumbled. He’d fought a lot of matches today. His black eyes flashed as he glanced around. His fists were still clenched, despite Silk’s grip. I wasn’t sure he knew the fights were over, or that he was safe.

“Our winner!” she shouted, and the citizens surrounded him to thump his back.

He was the best the Hunters had to offer, and he was about to attack the congratulatory crowd. Before I could think better of it, I pushed my way through the throng toward him. When necessary, I connected with a discreet shoulder or elbow to clear a path. I snagged his hand and towed him out of the mix.

The pipers and drummers started up again, distracting everyone with a festive tune. All the better for us to make our escape. The dancers stomped and clapped, and I pushed clear, leading him away into a quiet section of the warren. He leaned against the wall, seeming grateful for my intervention, even though he blamed me for my inaction after Banner’s death. His breath churned his chest as if he’d been running, and sweat trickled down his face.

“I’ll get you some water.”

“Stay. I just need a minute.”

“It’s hard for you,” I said. “Because you fight to live, not for show.”

Eyes closed, he nodded. “I participate because Silk won’t let me sit out. But once I get going, I … forget it’s not real.”

What must those years have been like for him outside the enclave? This wasn’t the time to ask, but I wondered. I noticed he had a host of new bruises from all the matches he’d fought today, but they didn’t seem to trouble him. He pushed away from the wall, skin gleaming pale in the torchlight. For a moment I wanted to put my hand over his heart so I could feel it beating, and the impulse frightened me. I took a step back.

“You sure I can’t get you anything to eat or drink?” Ordinarily I wouldn’t offer; that was brat work, but he’d earned it. Tonight he stood as the Hunters’ champion, and he could have whatever he wanted, including a Huntress for a serving girl.

“You did enough getting me out of there.” The flat, unfriendly tone cut me, and my smile died. For a minute, I’d felt like we were back on the old ground.

I didn’t know why I was still trying to help him. If he still thought I had something to do with Banner’s death, then we shouldn’t work together. Hurt curled through me.

“If we don’t hammer this out,” I said, “I’m going to ask Silk for a new partner.”

“I would have already if I thought it would do any good.”

I exhaled. “I’ll go talk to Silk.”

As I turned, he grabbed my arm and wheeled me around. “You want to tell me why you did it? This is on me. I told her she could trust you.”

I’d thought he trusted me — and that he was angry because I wouldn’t do anything after I admitted I knew she hadn’t killed herself. It was much worse than I’d imagined.

With fierce resolve, I broke his hold on me. “You want to fight this out? I didn’t do anything. If someone found out her secret, it wasn’t through me.”

His black eyes studied me. “You willing to take a blood oath on that?”

“Get your knife.”

For obvious reasons, we couldn’t do this in the hallway, so he dragged me off toward the hall we used for ceremonies. That was fitting enough, and nobody would bother us. Once we arrived, he produced his dagger and offered it to me.

I cut a line on my palm and spoke the words. “On my blood, I swear I had nothing to do with Banner’s death. May it boil in my veins if I speak untruth.”

Fade watched me as if he expected it to happen, no matter what I said. He didn’t relax until I handed back the blade. I curled my fingers in as if I could trap the blood. Instead it trickled out between my fingers.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “She was my only friend, and I needed someone to blame.”

After our trip to Nassau, I’d thought we were friends. But I didn’t let on that his words bit deep. I kept my face blank. “Maybe I’d feel the same if it had been Thimble or Stone.”

“He’s that big Breeder I sometimes see you with.”

“Probably.”

He hesitated. “I never had a partner pay this much attention to me before.”

That made me feel I’d overstepped. He’d had two before me, so he knew better than I did what constituted normal behavior. Maybe I watched him too closely. It was unsuitable, and Silk would demote me to Breeder if she ever found out.

“I should get back,” I muttered.

“Not yet.” In an unspeakable liberty, he snatched the tie from my hair, so it spilled around my face.

“Why did you do that?” My breath caught when he brushed the strands around my face just so. Touching me. We were on shaky ground here. If someone saw us—

“I wanted to see what you’d look like.”

Back off, I told myself. Walk away now. Instead I froze, gazing up into his impossibly dark eyes.

He bent his head and brushed my lips with his. His hair spilled against my forehead, sleek and startling. Shock held me immobile, shock — and something else. Part of me wanted to lean into him. I shouldn’t want that. A Huntress wouldn’t. Shame, confusion, and longing warred for dominance. Against my better judgment, I let my brow graze his jaw, just a whisper of heat, wrapped around me like a pair of arms. And then I drew back.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Apologizing. I missed you, Deuce. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

Maybe the kiss didn’t mean anything. Maybe it was just an apology, like he said. “Accepted. But if you ever misjudge me like that again—”

“Got it.” He smiled. “Now come on. We’re missing all the fun.”

To my surprise, he took my hand and led me back to the dancing. As a brat, this wasn’t something I’d ever done, but I learned the rhythm easily enough. They circled in a long progression, and the two of us joined at the end. Fade let go of me after the second circuit, carried away by well-wishers.

I danced until I had no breath left. A brat tapped me on the arm. When I turned, I recognized one of the younger ones. She’d joked with me in the kitchen a while back, and I’d shared dorm space with her until my naming day. Her small, dirty face reflected the same kind of admiration I’d felt. I remembered her number too.

Her eyes lit when I said, “What’s up, Twenty-six?”

“Do you think I could ever learn to fight like you?”

“If you work hard and don’t skip lessons, I think you could.”

She confided, “I don’t want to be a yucky old Breeder.”

“I don’t blame you. You can do it, if you want it enough.” Once, those words would’ve meant the world to me. The new bloods were busy trying to impress the older ones, and experienced Hunters had no time for brats.

After 26 ran off, I followed the other Hunters back to the section of the warren they’d appropriated as their own. Nobody else dared come in here. I’d never even been in here, as a matter of fact, although I could have. Torches lit the darkness and the Builders, understanding our importance, had filled the space with proper chairs and cushions. This was the nicest section of the enclave by far, even better than what I’d seen of the elders’ area — unless they had hidden comforts.

Making sure not to look at Fade, I sat down beside Crane, who flashed me a grin. “No hard feelings, new blood?”

“No,” I said, smiling back.

They dealt me into a game they were playing, and I basked in the simple pleasure of being one of them. Deuce. Huntress. This was the best day of my life.

Countless hours later, Silk tugged me aside, wearing a smile. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t ask what I was thanking her for. It only mattered that I spoke the words.

“I run them.” She gestured all the assembled Hunters, who had surrounded Fade to congratulate him. “I told them the two of you are forgiven and part of the team again — that you’ve done your penance, and I don’t expect any more trouble out of you.” She paused. “I won’t get any, will I?”

Ah. I got it now. She wanted me to know Fade had been accepted, because she ordered it, and if I enjoyed the pleasure of being a Hunter, it was only because of her. Which meant I wasn’t to spout off about Nassau or the Freaks or the Burrowers, if I wanted to enjoy such simple things. My job wasn’t to think or to plan. I was a Huntress — and new blood at that. Leave the important stuff to the elders. The more I got to know Silk, outside of the hero worship that lasted through my brat-hood, the less I liked her. But maybe she had to be this way to keep everyone in line.

I shook my head. “We’ll follow orders, sir.”

Sacrifice

For several weeks, morale stayed high. Patrols passed with relative ease, we met the meat quota, and I enjoyed being a Huntress. Apart from the occasional clash with Freaks, things stayed quiet. I had the awful feeling that once they stopped gorging on Nassau, they would head for the next nearest enclave. Us. Still, I kept my misgivings to myself.

When I least expected it, disaster struck. But not in the way I thought.

Fade and I were among the last to return from patrol that day. We had to range wider than usual to fill our bags. Half the snares sat empty, worrisome enough, but we managed to take enough prey to justify calling ourselves Hunters. We also dropped a couple of Freaks, but I hardly called that a deed worth mentioning. These had been near death, nothing but skin and bone and bloody teeth.

When we clambered across the barricades, I knew instantly something was wrong. The guards stood facing away from their posts, for one thing. They barely glanced back at us to make sure we were human before returning to the common area just beyond.

I glanced at Fade, who hefted his bag in a shrug. We put the meat in a pile with the rest — Twist would tend to it later — and inched closer to hear what was going on. The Wordkeeper held court with Whitewall and Copper standing to either side. They had a big sandy-haired guy trapped at the center of the circle. Everyone had stopped work to watch events unfold. My movement drew the Wordkeeper’s eye and he smiled at me, as if we shared a secret.

“You stand accused of theft and hoarding,” Whitewall said, his voice hard.

“How do you plead?” Copper asked.

“I didn’t. I would never!”

Oh, no. Even before I cut around enough to recognize his face in profile, I knew Stone’s voice. He cradled a brat in one arm, his face drawn with terror.

“Silk found this hidden beneath your pallet.” The Wordkeeper held up one of the slim, colorful books I’d brought. “You were seen lurking around the archives. Can you offer any explanation before we sentence you?”

Tears streamed down my friend’s face. The brat in his arms caught his mood and started to cry in little gulping sniffs. “It’s not mine. I don’t know how it got there.”

Watching them, I knew. With a terrible growing sickness, I knew. Skittle probably hadn’t done anything, either. Every so often, they picked a citizen at random. They put artifacts in his private space and then they accused him of hoarding. They needed the consequences to be fresh in everyone else’s mind. This was how they kept us from questioning their decisions. I’d once believed the elders to be benevolent and wise.

But no more.

Stone had no chance Topside and he had a brat. He’d sired one; it could be the boy tucked into the curve of his arm. I couldn’t watch this happen. If the tunnel brat haunted me, there was no way I could live with watching my friend’s exile.

“That’s no defense against the evidence,” Whitewall said.

“It’s mine.” I spoke before I knew I meant to.

Unfriendly hands shoved me toward the center. I stumbled and then restored my balance, approaching with my heart thumping like mad. I didn’t want to do this; I couldn’t be doing this. I didn’t want to leave the only home I’d ever known.

The Wordkeeper narrowed his eyes on me. “You claim you stole it? After presenting yourself as a model citizen?” His tight expression said he knew I’d done nothing of the kind.

“Then how did it wind up in Stone’s private space?” Silk demanded.

I don’t know what I would’ve said, but Fade pushed forward then. No, don’t do this. Stay and be safe. In that moment, I tried to will him not to speak. I even shook my head, but he didn’t look at me.

He focused on the elders. “I put it there. I was jealous of their friendship, and I wanted him to be blamed for what she’d done.”

After the initial gasp, silence.

I could see them weighing the benefit of seeing two former heroes brought low, two sacrifices for the price of one. Fade had proven the best Hunter among us, so he would make an excellent example. See, they would say. Anyone can stray. That is why constant vigilance and obedience is so important. They conferred far too short a time, unlike after my naming day. This was serious, and someone had to pay.

Whitewall said, “I accept your confession. From this moment forth, you are banished, stripped of your titles, and will be offered no aid or shelter by any College citizen, on penalty of exile. Go Topside, lawbreakers.”

Though I had expected it, the weight of the pronouncement crushed me. I tried to catch Thimble’s eye but she turned away. One by one, everyone else did the same. As a brat, I’d taken part in a shunning; I just hadn’t realized how it felt. I’d been secure in my status. Every year, I realized. We sent people Topside every single year.

With some part of me, I recognized they’d targeted Stone as a warning. Because I cared about him, because we’d been brat-mates. It was a reminder to keep silent about anything I might’ve learned from Banner or Fade. They couldn’t have expected me to react like this. Even I couldn’t believe it.

Stone wore a bewildered look, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening. He patted the brat on the back and dried his tears while staring at me with mute hurt. We’d been through so much together. Did he truly think I—

“Thief,” he spat and turned his back, like the others.

He didn’t know I’d saved him. There would be no acknowledgment of the sacrifice. The knowledge rendered me numb.

“You have five minutes,” Silk said. “You will not be permitted to take our food or water. We will allow you your personal effects, but you will be searched before leaving the enclave for the last time.”

Her eyes reflected a sad, quiet awareness of what I’d done. Of what Fade had done. Though I didn’t like her, I didn’t believe this was her policy; she merely enforced it. I knew why I’d spoken up for Stone; I was less sure of Fade’s reasons for getting involved. Whatever they were, he now had no choice but to follow me into the exile.

With shaking hands, I put my few belongings in the bag I took on patrols: spare clothing, my blanket, the tin of salve Banner had made, and a few of my shiny baubles. All told, there wasn’t much. That left only my weapons, and I strapped them on feeling hopeless and heartsick.

Twist stopped me on the way and tugged me into his private space. I’d never seen it before. “We don’t have much time.” He rummaged in his crate and came up with an item that looked like a leather harness. He filled the packets with dry meat and the pouches with water. “Here, put it on under your shirt.”

“They’ll kill you if they find out you’re helping me.”

His mouth curled. “Like they did Banner?”

“How do you know?”

“Who do you think deals with the dead?” Twist closed his eyes for a moment, but not before I saw his grief. Banner had been important to him. His hands curled into fists, and he slammed one against his palm. “Someone betrayed us.”

“Us?” This couldn’t be a trap, not at this point. But I still didn’t feel comfortable admitting what I knew.

“I’m one of the rebels.”

I froze, wondering if he, like Fade, suspected me of playing some part in Banner’s death. But he wouldn’t be helping me if he did. “I’m sorry. I wish I’d helped her, like you’re doing now.”

He shrugged then. “It’s not that big a risk. They’re going to kill me for what I do after you’re gone.”

For the first time, I looked at Twist and saw him as he was — not the cowed, scurrying figure who went to do Whitewall’s bidding. His eyes carried an angry fire; his shoulders might be narrow, but they were straight and sure. I almost asked what he was planning, but we didn’t have any time to waste.

“Don’t throw your life away,” I said softly. “Whatever you do, make it count.”

He nodded. “You were always nice to me, and Stone is a good person. I know he didn’t do this. Neither did you.”

“Nobody did,” I said softly.

Twist gave a jerky nod, stuck his head through the curtain to make sure there were no witnesses, and pushed me out. The harness made little shape against my shirt. With luck, the guards would only search my bag, not my person.

They spat on me as I passed through the warren toward the barricades. I lifted my chin and pretended not to see them. Fade met me there. We stood mute while they rifled through our things. Pin flung my bag at my head, and I caught it. I hardly dared breathe when she stepped close.

“You disgust me,” she said, low.

I said nothing. Like so many times before, Fade and I climbed across and left the enclave behind. But this time, we weren’t heading on patrol. No safety awaited us. Without thinking, without seeking a direction, I broke into a run.

I ran until the pain in my side matched the one in my heart. At length he grabbed me from behind and gave me a shake. “We’re not going to make it if you keep this up.”

A choked laugh escaped me. “Are you stupid? We’re not going to make it anyway. If Nassau died, what chance do we have? Why did you come with me? Now I have to feel bad about you too.”

“You’re my partner,” he said, as if the words meant something different.

“But you lied. I know you didn’t put the book in Stone’s space.”

“And I know you didn’t steal it.”

“He didn’t either,” I whispered. “And it wasn’t fair. It was them.”

“I know.”

“How long have you known?” Heartbreak and disillusionment cut me like shards of glass.

“Always,” he said simply.

“That explains why you hated them so much.”

He wrapped his arms around me and my first impulse was to push him away. But there were no rules anymore. I wasn’t a Huntress. Now I was just a girl with six scars on my arms. So I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heart.

“You can’t look on this as a death sentence,” he said, after a moment.

“You really think we can survive?”

“Down here? Not for long. But Topside isn’t like they said, Deuce. It’s dangerous, true, but going up doesn’t mean instant death.”

My teeth chattered at the idea. I’d prepared my whole life for the dangers one faced in the tunnels. I knew nothing else. I tipped my head back as if I could gaze through the tons of metal and stone to the wonders he’d seen and the horrors he’d survived. The surface world sounded like a tale told to a brat during a quiet moment. I couldn’t imagine what it might be like up there.

“If you say so.”

“Come on. Let’s keep moving. We need to be out of their territory before the next patrol or we’ll have to fight any Hunters we see.”

I didn’t want that. By his expression, neither did he. “Did you kill Skittle?”

His silence served as its own answer.

“We’re not going to be down here long,” he said eventually. “Remember the platform where we slept that first night?”

The place with the horrible waste closet — yes, I remembered. I nodded.

“Well, the metal gate on the other end blocks off the stairs. Those lead Topside.”

“You think we can get it open.”

“If not, the Burrowers might know a way out. They have all kinds of subtunnels.”

I nodded. “We also need to warn them about trading with the enclave, assuming Twist told me the truth. We owe them that much.”

“Agreed.”

I fell in behind him. Fade set a bruising pace; I knew what he wanted — out of these tunnels. He could’ve left at anytime, but maybe he didn’t want to go alone. I could understand that.

With each stride, I left the known world behind.