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We rolled
over, to bury our face against the sand againWe were so tired, past the point of exhaustion and
into some deeper, more painful stateSurely we could sleepAll we had to do was not think
When we woke, it was still night, but dawn was threatening on the eastern horizon?the
mountains were lined with dull redOur mouth tasted of dust, and at first we were sure that we
had dreamed Uncle Jeb's appearance
Our head was clearer this morning, and we noticed quickly the strange shape near our right
cheek?something that was not a rock or a cactusWe touched it, and it was hard and smooth
We nudged it, and the delicious sound of sloshing water came from inside
Uncle Jeb was real, and he'd left us a canteen
We sat up carefully, surprised when we didn't break in two like a withered stickActually, we
felt betterThe water must have had time to work its way through some of our bodyThe pain
was dull, and for the first time in a long while, we felt hungry again
Our fingers were stiff and clumsy as we twisted the cap from the top of the canteenIt wasn't
all the way full, but there was enough water gucci online to stretch the walls of our belly again?it must have
shrunkWe drank it all; we were done with rationing
We dropped the metal canteen to the sand, where it made a dull thud in the predawn silence
We felt wide awake nowWe sighed, preferring unconsciousness, and let our head fall into our
handsWhat now?
?Why did you give it water, Jeb?? an angry voice demanded, close behind our back
We whirled, twisting onto our kneesWhat we saw made our heart falter and our awareness
splinter apart
There were eight humans half-circled around where I knelt under the treeThere was no
question they were humans, all of themI'd never seen faces contorted into such
expressions?not on my kindThese lips twisted with hatred, pulled back over clenched teeth
like wild animalsThese brows pulled low over eyes that burned with fury
Six men and two women, some of them very big, most of them bigger than meI felt the blood
drain from my face as I realized why they held their hands so oddly?gripped tightly in front of
them, each balancing an objectSome held blades?a few short ones like
those I had kept in my kitchen, and audra louis vuitton bag some longer, one huge and menacingThis knife had no
purpose in a kitchenMelanie supplied the name: amachete
Others held long bars, some metal, some wooden
I recognized Uncle Jeb in their midstHeld loosely in his hands was an object I'd never seen in
person, only in Melanie's memories, like the big knife
I saw horror, but Melanie saw all this with wonder, her mind boggling at their numbersEight
human survivorsShe'd thought Jeb was alone or, in the best case scenario, with only two
othersTo see so many of her kind alive filled her with joy
You're an idiot,I told her
I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans
and light cotton shirts, brown with dustThey might have been human?as she thought of the
word?once, but at this moment they were something elseThey were barbarians, monstersThey
hung over us, slavering for blood
There was a death sentence in every pair of eyes
Melanie saw all this and, though grudgingly, she had to admit that I was rightAt this moment,
her beloved humans were at their worst?like the newspaper stories we'd seen in gucci watches for women the abandoned
shackWe were looking at killers
We should have been wiser; we should have died yesterday
Why would Uncle Jeb keep us alive for this?
A shiver passed through me at the thoughtI'd skimmed through the histories of human
atrocitiesI'd had no stomach for themPerhaps I should have concentrated betterI knew there
were reasons why humans let their enemies live, for a little whileThings they wanted from their
minds or their bodies?
Of course it sprang into my head immediately?the one secret they would want from meThe
one I could never, never tell themNo matter what they did to meI would have to kill myself
first
I did not let Melanie see the secret I protectedI used her own defenses against her and threw
up a wall in my head to hide behind while I thought of the information for the first time since
implantationThere had been no reason to think of it before
Melanie was hardly even curious on the other side of the wall; she made no effort to break
through itThere were much more immediate concerns than the fact that she had not been the
only one keeping information in chanel luxury wallet reserve
Did it matter that I protected my secret from her? I wasn't as strong as Melanie; I had no doubt
she could endure tortureHow much pain could I stand before I gave them anything they
wanted?
My stomach heavedSuicide was a repugnant option?worse because it would be murder, too
Melanie would be part of either torture or deathI would wait for that until I had absolutely no
other choiceUncle Jeb would never let them hurt me
Uncle Jeb doesn't know you're here,I reminded her
Tell him!
I focused on the old man's faceThe thick white beard kept me from seeing the set of his
mouth, but his eyes did not seem to burn like the others'From the corner of my eye, I could see
a few of the men shift their gaze from me to himThey were waiting for him to answer the
question that had alerted me to their presenceUncle Jeb stared at me, ignoring them
I can't tell him, MelanieAnd if they think I'm lying to them, they'll think
I'm a SeekerThey must have experience enough to know that only a Seeker would come out
here with a lie, a story designed for infiltration
Melanie recognized the truth of my thought at men's omega seamaster once
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