THE QUIET SWIRLED AROUND ME. I'D NEVER EXPERIENCED such quiet before. I knew the
sounds of the city, or the sounds of the shuttles, or the sounds of Ever's breathing as she tried to sleep, but
this type of quiet was entirely foreign. I felt like an intruder in this world. We were still just outside Rosa,
but I was on a new planet, one where there was nothing but Callum and a breeze blowing softly against
my skin.
The trees provided solid cover, but the ground was uneven, littered with leaves and holes and fallen
branches. I hopped and dodged and stumbled but my breathing steadied as I healed, matching Callum's as
our feet hit the ground.
The healing provided only momentary relief, and I slowed as my stomach turned over in protest. We'd
only run about four miles, but my face was hot and my legs were unsteady. Callum glanced in my
direction, his eyebrows knitting together. He slowed, pulling on my hand to stop me.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just hungry, I think." I hadn't eaten a real meal in more than twenty-four hours,
and my body did not appreciate the long run on so little fuel. My body didn't appreciate so little fuel at
all, actually. It was used to being fed well, and regularly, for the past five years.
I felt worse standing still, and I winced as I reached for my left shoulder. I could feel the hard lump
just behind my shoulder, from a bullet lodged there. My skin had closed up over it.
I tried to push the pain away, but it was harder when I was weak. It throbbed, refusing to be ignored,
and I frowned. How annoying.
"What?" Callum asked, reaching for my shoulder.
I shrugged him off, turning my face away. It was embarrassing for someone to be able to read the
emotions on my face. I didn't think anyone had ever been able to do that, even when I was a human.
"It's nothing," I mumbled. "There's a bullet in there."
He reached for me again, and I let him press his hand to my jacket, his fingers finding the spot. "Want
me to get it out for you?"
I hesitated, glancing around. It was dark, deserted. We were still quite a ways from Austin and far
enough outside of Rosa to have lost any shuttles or officers. A breeze tugged a few escaped strands of hair
from my ponytail into my face, and I batted them away. "Maybe we should just keep going."
Callum smirked as he held his hand out. "Just give me the knife."
I pulled it from my pants and handed it over. I felt a little burst of relief that he hadn't agreed to keep
running. It was the last thing I wanted to do.
"Probably easiest if you sit," he said as I shrugged off my jacket.
I glanced around one last time before slowly sliding down onto the dirt and crossing my legs. I closed
my eyes briefly as everything in me collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. Callum's fingers brushed my arms
as he sat down behind me and I shivered at his touch. His fingers found the hole the bullet had made in my
shirt and when he spoke I could feel his breath on my neck.
"You need to take this one off," he said.
I pulled my arms through the shirtsleeves and let it hang around my neck over my undershirt.
"Um, do I just dig in there with the knife?" he asked, holding my shoulder steady with one hand.
"Yes. You don't have to be careful. Quick would be best."
"Okay." He exhaled slowly and I felt the tip of the knife poke my skin. I shut my eyes as he pressed
harder. It was easier to block out the pain with his breath on my neck and the warmth of him behind me.
The bullet hit the ground with a thud, and Callum set the knife to the side, his hands sliding down my
arms. He leaned forward until his cheek brushed my face, the slight stubble tickling my skin. He laced his
fingers through mine, turning his head so his lips brushed against my temple.
"That's the grossest thing I've ever done," he whispered, a trace of amusement in his voice.
I laughed and he squeezed my hand, his lips forming into a smile against my skin. I turned and our eyes
met, then our lips for the briefest moment. He was the one who pulled away, the concerned look back on
his face.
"Do you want to try to find food?" he asked. "You look exhausted."
I scooted away from him, sticking my arms back into my shirt. "I'm fine. Let's just keep going."
He looked like he might argue, but when I pulled my jacket on and started walking he followed
without a word. I briefly considered trying to catch an animal, but I saw none, and we couldn't build a
fire to cook it anyway. HARC might see the smoke.
It was different going without food as a Reboot. As a human, it had been uncomfortable, painful,
consuming. The hunger took over until I could think of nothing else.
My mind was clearer as a Reboot. I could focus on other things, but the gnawing in my stomach was
worse. It felt like a monster was eating me from the inside.
Food hadn't occurred to me when I was planning our escape. I hadn't considered so many things, like
where we would sleep or find water and fresh clothes. In my panic to get Callum out I hadn't stopped to
think that maybe we would be worse off outside. Maybe HARC had been right, and they were doing us a
kindness by sheltering us and feeding us. Yes, we were technically their slaves, but maybe that was better
than what we would face out here.
I'm sorry. Ever's voice rang through my ears, as clear as the day she'd died. She wouldn't have been
worse off on the outside. In fact, if I'd paid closer attention, if I'd worked harder to escape when I first
discovered it was possible, she might still be alive.
I closed my eyes against the guilt pushing at my chest. She would have liked it out here, hungry or not.
"The reservation is that way, right?" Callum asked, pulling me from my thoughts. He was looking up
at the black sky and pointing north.
"Yes."
"So all the HARC shuttles went in that direction. Do you think they know where it is?"
"Yes. That seems logical."
"You really don't think it's there, do you?" he asked.
"No, I never did. If anything it's probably just some Reboots running from place to place, hiding from
HARC." I sighed as his face dropped in disappointment. "I'm sorry. Is that the sort of thing I should lie
about to make you feel better?"
He laughed. "No. I like that you always tell the truth."
"I don't really see the point in lying."
"That's very cool."
"Thank you," I said, a warmth spreading through my chest and all the way up to my cheeks. At least he
didn't seem alarmed by the fact that we had no idea what we were doing. His optimism was comforting,
and I reached for his hand as we walked.
As the sun began to rise the thick trees gave way to open land, the green and brown grass spreading
out in front of us. We were still a good ten miles or so from Austin, and we'd be easily visible to any
passing HARC shuttle.
I ran a hand over my face as I stopped. We should have run. If we'd run we'd already be there, and
we could have found food more easily in Austin.
"Should we rest for a while?" Callum asked.
"I think we have to until the sun sets," I said, turning to trudge back to a thicker area of the trees. I
plopped down against one, stretching my legs out in front of me. Callum stayed where he was, turning his
head as he surveyed the area.
"How far from Austin are we?" he asked.
"We're about halfway. Ten miles or so."
"I'm going to go look for food," he said, facing me. "You want to wait here? I won't go too far."
"Look for food where?" I asked, casting a baffled glance at the trees around us.
"I'm going to go that way," he said, pointing. "Uh . . ." He turned around a few times. "East. Right?
That way is east?"
I nodded. "What do you expect to find out there?"
He quirked an eyebrow at me. "They do have food outside a cafeteria, Wren."
I tried to hold back a smile, but it tugged at the corners of my mouth anyway. "I have heard that. You
really think you're just going to find food?"
"I worked the fields. I know what to look for. And me and some of the others used to scrounge on the
walk back to the city when the HARC farmers weren't looking."
I started to get to my feet, but he shook his head.
"You can rest," he said. "I won't go far. There's no one around here anyway."
I looked up at the sky. He was right: It was blue and clear and there wasn't a shuttle in sight. If I was
being honest, my body had no interest in walking anyway.
"Just don't get lost," I said, leaning my head back against the tree. "Yell if you run into trouble."
He nodded and turned to walk away, tossing a smile in my direction even though his pace was slow
and heavy. He must have been tired as well, and just as hungry, but he was hiding it better. I had to admire
his ability to keep that smile on his face, even when things sucked.
I squinted my eyes as the sun peeked out from behind the leaves, my head beginning to droop to one
side. I wanted to keep my eyes open, but they kept falling shut, and eventually I let them stay that way.
I woke with a start, my legs jerking against the dirt as my eyes flew open. A leaf was tickling my arm, and
I pushed it away, quickly turning to look at the sun. It was higher, up above the trees now.
"Callum?" I called softly, getting to my feet. I turned in a circle, but I was alone, the only sound the
flapping of wings as a bird took off from somewhere nearby.
I pulled my jacket tighter around me, glancing at the sun again. Where had it been before? I couldn't
have slept that long. Maybe an hour. Less, probably. It had been dumb to let him go by himself. Getting
separated was the worst thing that could happen to us right now, and I had let him wander off in the
middle of the wilderness by himself.
The bird overheard screeched and I jumped, stuffing my cold hands into my pockets. Escaping from
HARC in the summer would have been a much smarter plan. Actually, any plan except for this one would
have been a much smarter plan.
I swallowed, trying not to panic as the minutes stretched out with no sign of Callum. I shifted from
foot to foot as I pushed back the urge to run into the trees and find him. He was fine. If I kept repeating it
to myself it had to be true.
A rustling noise made me turn, and I tensed, my hand flying to my gun. Callum's triumphant face
appeared a moment later and I exhaled, returning his grin.
"Sorry it took so long," he said. "I went a little farther than I thought I would."
He was holding his shirt out in front of him, and I frowned as he dropped to his knees and emptied the
contents before me. I knelt down and picked up a small, black, round object.
"A squishy black thing?" I asked, eyebrows raised. I looked down at the hard brown balls mixed in
with them. "Are those ones nuts?"
"Wren," he said with a laugh, scooting over and taking the nut. "It's a pecan. You've never seen a
pecan?"
"Oh. Never in the shell, I guess."
He glanced around and selected a rock, placing the pecan on the ground. "We're going to have to get a
little creative, since we don't have a nutcracker." He smashed the rock down and the shell shattered. He
picked out the pieces of the nut and plunked them into my free hand.
"Thank you," I said, blinking at them in surprise.
"And that's a persimmon," he said, pointing to the black fruit. "You just kind of squeeze it into your
mouth. Not my favorite, but it'll do."
I ate a couple pieces of pecan as Callum continued cracking them on the ground, then I squished the
persimmon with my fingers and held it over my mouth. It was sweet and messy, and my hands were black
with juices as I tossed the skin aside.
We ate in silence and I wiped my hands on my pants when we'd polished everything off. Callum
scooted back against a tree, opened his arm up, and I gladly crawled over next to him.
"Thank you," I said, resting my head on his chest.
"You're welcome." He rested his chin on top of my head as he trailed his fingers down my arm. He
was quiet for a long time, and I closed my eyes as my head moved up and down with his breath.
"Did you always intend to go to Austin?"
"What do you mean?" I blinked my eyes open, startled at the sound of his voice.
"When you promised Leb you would go get his daughter. Did you really mean it? Or were you
thinking about just running away?"
"I didn't know where I'd go," I said. "If the reservation is real I'd like to know where it is. Clearly
I'm not exactly equipped to survive in the wild."
He chuckled. "I think you'd do fine."
"And I don't want to prove him right," I said softly. "I know Leb is expecting us to run off. They don't
trust us, and I don't want to prove them right."
He reached up and pressed his hand to my cheek, and I felt him plant a soft kiss on top of my head.
"Good point," he whispered.