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When Eli pulls away, I look over at Hunter. He still wears blue markings up and down his arms, and his eyes are very tired.
“I want to see Ky,” Eli says.
“And you’re sure Eli’s immune?” I ask Anna.
She nods. “He doesn’t have the mark,” she says, “but none of us do. ”
I step away from the cot so Eli can go around to the other side. He crouches down next to Ky and looks right into his eyes. “I live in the mountains now,” he tells Ky, and I have to turn away.
Anna points to my datapod. “Are you any closer to a cure?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’m not helping,” I say. “I don’t know enough about the things on the lists. I can read the descriptions, but I don’t know what the plants and animals you eat look like. ”
“And you think that matters?” Anna asks.
“I do,” I say.
“I can draw some pictures for you,” she says. “Show me the items on the list that you’ve never seen before. ”
I pull out a scrap of paper and write them all down for her. It’s a long list and I feel embarrassed. “I’ll work on it right away,” she says. “Where should I begin?”
“Flowers first,” I say. It feels right. “Thank you, Anna. ”
“I’m glad to do it,” she says.
“And thank you for coming to see Ky,” I tell Hunter. He shakes his head as if to say, It’s nothing. I want
to ask him how he is, to find out more about what his life has been like here in the mountains, but he nods to me and leaves. I should go, too. I have more sorting to do, always, until we find a cure.
CHAPTER 36
KY
Every time she leaves, Cassia always promises that she’ll be back.
It feels like it’s been a long time since she was here, but I can’t really tell. Now that she’s gone, I hear other voices, like I heard Vick’s after he died on the bank.
This time it’s Indie talking to me, but that can’t be right because she’s not here.
“Ky,” she says. “I brought Cassia to Camas for you. ”
“I know,” I say. “I know, Indie. ”
I can’t see her. But her voice is so clear it’s hard to believe that it’s actually me, making this up. Because Indie can’t be here talking to me. Can she?
“I’m sick,” she says. “So I had to run. There’s still no cure. ”
“Where are you running?” I ask.
“As far as I can before I go down,” she says.
“No,” I say. “No, Indie. Go back. They’ll find a cure. And you might have the old version of the illness. Maybe they can help you. ” I can’t believe I’m telling her to do this, but what other choice is there?
She’s not going to listen to me.
“No,” she says. “It’s the mutation. ”
“You can’t be certain,” I tell her.
“I can,” she says. “I’ve got red marks around my back. It hurts, Ky. So I’m running. ” She laughs. “Or flying, you could say. I took a ship from the Pilot. ”
I’m saying her name, over and over again, trying to stop her. Indie, Indie, Indie.
“Even when I hated you, I liked your voice,” she says.
“Indie—” I say one more time, but she doesn’t let me go on.
“Am I the best pilot you’ve ever seen?” she asks.
She is.
“I am,” she says, and I can tell from her voice that she’s smiling. She’s always so beautiful when she smiles.
“Remember how I used to think the Pilot would come on the water?” Indie asks. “Because my mother sang me that song. ” Then Indie’s singing it for me, her voice strong and plain. “Any day her boat might fly /Across the waves and to the shore. ” A pause. “I thought she might be trying to tell me that I could be the Pilot someday. So I built the boat and tried to escape. ”
“Turn around,” I tell Indie. “Go back. Let them hook you up to keep you alive. ”
“I don’t want to die,” Indie says. “Either they’ll shoot me down or I’ll get somewhere I can land and then I’m going to run until I can’t anymore. Don’t you understand? I’m not giving up. I’m just running until the end. I can’t go back again. ”
