no idea where she and Sebastian were, or where
he
was. He wondered why he’d listened to his brother. He’d been caught up in his curiosity about the savage he’d seen, and now look where it had gotten him.
He wiped the sweat from his brow. The sun was like a furnace, and he realized he was dying of thirst. He felt like throwing up. This was the dumbest thing he’d ever done. Maybe the best thing now would be to head back. He could round up Sebastian and Marilyn and persuade them to make their way to the dome perimeter again and let the Guardians find them. True, it’d mean trouble from Mother and Father, but at thispoint that didn’t seem so terrible anymore. And what other choice did he have? He took a deep breath and decided. He would go back and turn himself in.
Suddenly something grabbed his arm.
He spun around. An inch from his face was a long, jagged knife. He was staring into the blade.
“My, my,” said the Outsider holding the knife. “What fine boots you’re wearing.”
Eli’s heart was pumping fast. The Outsider’s face was hidden behind rusty metal goggles, but from the voice he guessed it was a girl. In any case, much of her head was wrapped in tattered brown cloth, and she was covered in dust. Her environment suit, if that was what it was, was patched in so many places it looked like it was made of rags.
“Little mousey ought to be more careful where it wanders,” she said, her fingers like a vise around his forearm. “Doesn’t it know there are dangerous people about? Mousey could get into real trouble roaming the ruins in a pair of boots as nice as those.” She grinned. She was missing more than a few teeth. “It could even get itself killed.”
Eli was too terrified to speak. In what felt like an instant, she maneuvered him backward until his shoulders hit something solid. She had him against the wall. He felt himself starting to hyperventilate. He wondered if he was going to pass out. Was this the end? Was he about to die?
Marilyn! I need you! Please, please! Come … !
With the blade pressed against his throat, Eli tried to keep still. The Outsider’s masked face drew so close he could feel her sour breath on his cheek. The smell was like dirty socks and rotting cabbage.
“Yes, yes …,” she mumbled, sniffing him. By then Eli was shaking. What was she doing? He’d never been within reaching distance of an Outsider before, and definitely never
this
close. It occurred to him that she must be suffering from the corrosion of the mind that eventually came to all those who lived Outside. Brain fever. He wanted to scream.
But just when he was sure he couldn’t take another second, she backed her face away enough to lift her goggles, perhaps to get a better look at him. Still holding the blade steady with one hand, she pulled back the rusted metal circles, and Eli saw her face. She had a long nose and sun-mottled skin, and her cheeks were streaked with dirt. She really did look like a desert rat. She might have been older, maybe in her twenties, but it was hard to tell. Most startling of all was that one of her eyes was completely white, probably sightless. Her other eye, clear blue and intelligent, was fixed hard on Eli.
“So, what’ll it be then? In or Out?”
He could only blink at her. She seemed to be waiting for an answer.
“Wh-what?” he managed, surprised he could even talk.
She rolled her eyes and pressed the knife just a little harder against his throat. “Where are you
headed
, boy? Are you trying to escape the dome and join us Outside, or are you merely lost and looking for the way back?”
The blade pinched his skin. “I-in!” he stammered. “I’m going back! I just—I went a little farther than I meant to! I’m not used to being this far from home!”
“Really? How ever would I have guessed?” She smirked. “What’s your name?”
“Eli!” He blurted it out before he could stop himself. Themoment it left his lips, he regretted it. It was
he
was. He wondered why he’d listened to his brother. He’d been caught up in his curiosity about the savage he’d seen, and now look where it had gotten him.
He wiped the sweat from his brow. The sun was like a furnace, and he realized he was dying of thirst. He felt like throwing up. This was the dumbest thing he’d ever done. Maybe the best thing now would be to head back. He could round up Sebastian and Marilyn and persuade them to make their way to the dome perimeter again and let the Guardians find them. True, it’d mean trouble from Mother and Father, but at thispoint that didn’t seem so terrible anymore. And what other choice did he have? He took a deep breath and decided. He would go back and turn himself in.
Suddenly something grabbed his arm.
He spun around. An inch from his face was a long, jagged knife. He was staring into the blade.
“My, my,” said the Outsider holding the knife. “What fine boots you’re wearing.”
Eli’s heart was pumping fast. The Outsider’s face was hidden behind rusty metal goggles, but from the voice he guessed it was a girl. In any case, much of her head was wrapped in tattered brown cloth, and she was covered in dust. Her environment suit, if that was what it was, was patched in so many places it looked like it was made of rags.
“Little mousey ought to be more careful where it wanders,” she said, her fingers like a vise around his forearm. “Doesn’t it know there are dangerous people about? Mousey could get into real trouble roaming the ruins in a pair of boots as nice as those.” She grinned. She was missing more than a few teeth. “It could even get itself killed.”
Eli was too terrified to speak. In what felt like an instant, she maneuvered him backward until his shoulders hit something solid. She had him against the wall. He felt himself starting to hyperventilate. He wondered if he was going to pass out. Was this the end? Was he about to die?
Marilyn! I need you! Please, please! Come … !
With the blade pressed against his throat, Eli tried to keep still. The Outsider’s masked face drew so close he could feel her sour breath on his cheek. The smell was like dirty socks and rotting cabbage.
“Yes, yes …,” she mumbled, sniffing him. By then Eli was shaking. What was she doing? He’d never been within reaching distance of an Outsider before, and definitely never
this
close. It occurred to him that she must be suffering from the corrosion of the mind that eventually came to all those who lived Outside. Brain fever. He wanted to scream.
But just when he was sure he couldn’t take another second, she backed her face away enough to lift her goggles, perhaps to get a better look at him. Still holding the blade steady with one hand, she pulled back the rusted metal circles, and Eli saw her face. She had a long nose and sun-mottled skin, and her cheeks were streaked with dirt. She really did look like a desert rat. She might have been older, maybe in her twenties, but it was hard to tell. Most startling of all was that one of her eyes was completely white, probably sightless. Her other eye, clear blue and intelligent, was fixed hard on Eli.
“So, what’ll it be then? In or Out?”
He could only blink at her. She seemed to be waiting for an answer.
“Wh-what?” he managed, surprised he could even talk.
She rolled her eyes and pressed the knife just a little harder against his throat. “Where are you
headed
, boy? Are you trying to escape the dome and join us Outside, or are you merely lost and looking for the way back?”
The blade pinched his skin. “I-in!” he stammered. “I’m going back! I just—I went a little farther than I meant to! I’m not used to being this far from home!”
“Really? How ever would I have guessed?” She smirked. “What’s your name?”
“Eli!” He blurted it out before he could stop himself. Themoment it left his lips, he regretted it. It was
Similar Books
