“That’s so fucking cool.”
“I guess.”
“What can I do to get your mind off things?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can go find Niran. He’s pretty pissed at me, and it’s hysterical to see him get mad with those eyebrows.”
“I’ll wait until I run into him next time, but thanks.”
“Do you ever wonder what it would be like to go back home? I don’t really have a home anymore. And here ... I have you, and other friends. No one’s going to kill me or throw me in prison for not wanting to get pregnant.”
“I think about it. Yeah, we’d probably be fighting harder just to survive there. And we wouldn’t have each other. When I was alone, I had to find food, water, and a safe place to sleep every day.”
Amira sighs and rests her chin on her arms, which are on her drawn-up knees. “We could join Olin’s group. The ILF. I daydream about them kicking ass back on the mainland.”
“I hope they are. I don’t know much about them, but I’m happy there’s organized resistance.”
“We could make a difference. I know I still have a lot to learn about fighting and weapons, but with a bow and arrow, I’m lethal. And you’re a total badass.”
“I wonder if I should be training with my plant connection. If there’s aromium on the mainland, I could be connected to those plants, too.”
“You could get a vine to decapitate Soren Whitman. The way I would celebrate that moment.”
“That’s an idea, but I’d rather do it myself.”
She puts an arm around me. “I just love you. I grew up the only girl with four brothers, and you make me feel like I have a sister.”
I rest my head against hers. “Same.”
“I’m sorry. You do have a sister. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
“I know. Now I have two sisters. And Mae would love you.”
“Shewilllove me. We’ll find her.”
“I needed this,” I say. “Thank you. I’m starting to think I might actually be able to sleep.”
“If you can’t sleep in Marcus’s room, come back to mine. You’ve got a key.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll be okay.”
Marcus doesn’t have much in the way of things, but there is a framed photo of his mom and his neatly folded stack of clothes. His wall o’ weapons. I’ll feel closer to him in there.
I stand and brush the dirt from my pants. “Breakfast at the usual time?”
“Oatmeal again. Can’t wait.”
I shake my head. “We were eating algae at Rising Tide.”
“And that’s not even the worst thing.”
I’ll never know if any of the meals I ate when we were all starving at Rising Tide had human parts in them, but the image of the human big toe I found on the meat prep table there still haunts me.
“Thanks for the reminder. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I nod in greeting to a few people I pass on the walk to Marcus’s room, thinking about him. Will he be able to sleep there? Will they interrogate him?
