Page 70 of The Most Dangerous Games

But he can’t walk away. He can’t let these people down.

Can’t disappoint them.

Or himself.

Most of those on this bus—plus those in the pods on their way to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky or to an intense climbing expedition in New Hampshire—are easy for Jimmy to root for.

Jimmy looks down the row.

Alek Andrich is here. Marcelo Oliveira is here. Carlos Lopez is here too—an ex-boxer with the dangerous ease of someone who learned young that violence solves problems.

Jimmy still hears Lopez’s voice from Kentucky.

Since Ohio, Lopez has carried himself like a freewheeling gangster, giving off the same ruthless vibe as Tipton. Maybe that’s why Tipton and Lopez have been spending time together, deep in conversation, probably plotting against everyone else.

Jimmy has only talked to Lopez once, after dinner the other night in Kentucky. He asked Carlos if he believed he could win.

“I always win,” Lopez had said curtly. “In boxing and now in my business. For me it has always been: Muerte antes que el deshonor.”

Death before dishonor.

Lopez had smiled thinly.

Jimmy doesn’t like people like that. People who treat morality like an outfit they can swap.

He trusts Jack. He trusts Reg. He trusts Alek. He trusts Wyatt even when the kid annoys him a bit. He trusts Hannah’s brain, even if her heart is getting tangled in this. It’s why he’s gone out of his way to keep telling them that he’s there for them, no matter what.

And also lets them know this:

The one he trusts the least here, less than Tipton or Lopez or anyone, is The Host.

It’s more than not knowing who he is, his true identity, his name. Jimmy doesn’t know what The Host’s agenda is, or what his endgame might be.

Jimmy knows he’s never been faced with a challenge like this. Maybe no one has. But he has to find out who’s in control of these games.

The bus hits a bump. The pod sways. Someone laughs nervously.

Jimmy feels the red pendant shift against his chest.

He thinks, not for the first time:

I can quit.

Then he thinks:

If I quit, who protects them?

48.

Death Valley

Jimmy delays getting off the air-conditioned bus as long as he can, still wishing the ride from the Furnace Creek Airport had taken longer than it had.

He and Alek get off the bus together.

“You ready?” she asks.

“No,” Jimmy says. “But yeah.”