Enclave

around us weighed on me, as if I could hear echoes down the years from a time when these ruins were live and vibrant. Instead, there were only our footsteps, echoing in the dark.

Tegan hunched her shoulders, tension in the lines of her body. From the way she kept stealing glances, she seemed upset with Fade’s decision. I suspected she would follow through on her threat to kill Stalker in his sleep. Or try, at least. I didn’t think he would prove an easy target, even then. If he had fought his way to the top of the Wolves, then he qualified as strong.

As we walked, I kept my eyes down. I ignored the throbbing of my arm and the weight of the dark sky above. Sometimes I stole a look and the scope of it overwhelmed me. Fade had told me about the pricks of light above; he didn’t know what they were, exactly. I imagined they were torches from a city built on high. It would take a bird to reach it, so maybe the people who lived up there had wings. They would be pale and beautiful with ivory feathers and starry hair.

We passed a dark pond with still water, where rainwater had pooled in the broken rock. It smelled stale, but I used it to wash the blood off. The others followed suit. Afterward, the chill made me draw my head covering up. Then we walked on until light showed on the far edge of the sky. It began in a gray that softened to pink and then gold. Before the sun came up fully, I could admit it was beautiful, the way it tinted the buildings and softened their ruined lines.

This far north, I saw no ganger markings. Stalker noticed it as well. “We learned how to survive close to home. We never went beyond our territories.”

“Unless you were raiding for Breeders,” Tegan said bitterly.

Stalker shrugged, as though her opinion didn’t matter to him. I understood, I thought. He could respect Fade and me because we’d fought. Because she hadn’t, Tegan might never gain full value in his eyes.

“Even then, we never came this far,” Stalker said.

“Let’s look for another shop,” I said. “Maybe we can find more tinned food and water. I’d rather not build a fire before we leave the ruins.”

The others agreed, so as we went on, the light starting to hurt me, we scouted for a likely place to rest.

Respite

Stopping at three different shops provided us with enough food for a few days, but we didn’t like the way the places smelled. For me, it was more of a danger sense, cultivated during my days as a Huntress. So we kept moving, even through the daylight. By the time we found a building that looked solid and secure, apart from the broken window we crawled through, I was exhausted, and my skin tingled unpleasantly. I went inside first, and Stalker followed.

“You’re red,” he told me. “Haven’t you ever seen the sun before?”

His attention didn’t bother me. I had already proved I could defend myself.

“Not that much. I told you, I’m from an underground tribe.” I used Tegan’s word for us. “College enclave,” I added, as if it would mean anything to him.

“You were serious?”

“Yes.”

Tegan and Fade slid in. He came in first and helped her through. We stood in a hallway illuminated by rays of light that swam with dust. The floors were intriguing, a mix of green and white. I studied the pattern as if it held some clue about this place. It seemed almost like a hidden pathway.

Fade said, “We should split up and scout the place. I’ll take Tegan.”

Maybe he knew she wouldn’t want to go off alone with Stalker whereas I could hold my own, even against his lightning blades. I moved out. The sign on the outside of the building had a number of missing letters, but I’d recognized the word “School.” That was where brats went to learn. We’d had school underground too. The idea of a building this size devoted to teaching brats astonished me.

He fell into step with me, still thinking about what I’d said about coming from underground. “What was it like down there?”

“Dark. Smoky. There wasn’t space like there is up here, so you got used to less. And I grew up knowing there were Freaks out in the tunnels, and that if I was brave enough and strong enough, I’d go out to fight them for the rest of the enclave.”

“And did you?” he asked.

“For a while.” I didn’t want to talk about the exile, but I just knew he was going to ask.

Sure enough, he did. “So how did you wind up here?”

“Bad luck.”

That sent the message clear enough. He subsided and took to searching the rooms across from the ones I picked. In silence, we patrolled the rest of the place. It was big with three levels, and lots of little spaces full of tiny tables and tiny chairs. They really had made this school just for the brats. In each room, there was only one big table and one big chair. Awed, I stepped in and saw a black wall with white dust on it. I could nearly make the faint impression of letters, but time had been too much. It was like almost glimpsing something in my own reflection that I wasn’t meant to see. I touched my fingers to it and drew the first letter of my name. I didn’t know how to spell the rest.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“A D.”

We moved on. Stalker moved different than Fade, less caution, more aggression. If there was anything in here, he meant to kill it before it threatened us. I found the contrast interesting, but he was still thorough and watchful.

“Seems safe enough,” he said, once we’d walked our assigned levels.

I had to agree. There was nothing here but the signs of rats and birds, nothing larger or scarier. We passed into what I recognized as a kitchen from the pans, more than anything else. Copper had used similar objects for cooking down below.

Here, I found enormous tins of food. I’d never seen anything like it. “Too bad we can’t carry these,” I said. “We could eat for months.”

“We should save the smaller ones for travel. Eat some of this stuff now.”

“‘Creamed corn,’” I read aloud.

His pale eyes flickered. “How do you know that?”

“I can read, some. Not as well as Fade.”

Stalker stared at me, and then he asked, “What does that mean?”

How could he not know? And then I remembered how he’d come up, no Breeders to teach him anything at all. The only things he knew, he’d learned the hard way. Nobody like Stone had shown him anything or made sure he showed up for basic brat training. It was a wonder he could talk, let alone read.

“The letters here,” I pointed. “They spell out what’s inside the tin. I don’t know what ‘corn’ is, but I’m hungry enough to eat almost anything.”

I got out my tiny knife with all its funny blades. One of them punctured the tin, so I did it repeatedly, until I could pry the top off. I peered inside at the yellow goo. Stalker cocked his head and sniffed.

“Doesn’t smell bad.”

My fingers were clean enough from the pond that I dipped them in and tasted. Sweet. Not like the cherries, in a different way, but good. Following my example, he gave it a try too. I ate until I didn’t want anymore and then got out some of the bottled water we’d found. So far I hadn’t tried drinking it; I’d only washed off in it. But we didn’t have any choice now. I cracked the bottle open and took a drink. It tasted funny, but not dirty. I made myself down half of it, then I offered it to him.

“It’s not very good, but I think it’s clean.”

He took it, leveling a strange look on me. I realized he wasn’t used to the idea of sharing. What he wanted,