door.
“I think it’s a big risk,” Noah called after me. “Be very, very careful, Rayna.”
“I will,” I called back cheerily. Then I was out the door, on the way to put my plan into action.
I headed to the hospital and bumped into Cody on the way. He was striding towards his office. “Hey, Cody!” I called after him as he disappeared down a corridor. “Wait up.”
I thought I heard him sigh, but he did stop.
“How’s Percy doing?” I asked as I jogged up to him.
A faint blush of colour crept across his cheeks, though his expression didn’t change at all. “He’ll be fine,” he told me. “Deborah says he has to stay in hospital a while longer, just to make sure he doesn’thave a concussion or anything. But he should be out by tomorrow evening.”
“That’s great,” I said enthusiastically.
“Hmmm…” Cody said noncommittally. “You want something. Now what is it?”
I stopped being jolly, which was a bit of a relief, and looked at him seriously. “What’s the plan?” I asked him. “The long-term one? How do we beat them?”
He laughed. “The plan? We survive as long as possible. You know that.”
“No, seriously. There’s always another level with you. So what’s your plan?”
He looked around then took my arm and guided me towards his office. “Come see this,” he said.
Cody had commandeered one of the conference rooms in the hotel and turned it into his own personal office. He had maps tacked to the walls, stacks and stacks of notes from who knows where, and a computer hummed in a corner. Jesse thought all he did was play Minesweeper when no one was looking. He could have been right.
“Look at this,” Cody said, closing the door behind me. The curtains were pulled tightly shut on the windows, only the electric lights showed anything. I looked at what he was showing me: a graph drawn on a piece of squared paper. I could make out a couple of lines, the boldest going steadily down.
“This charts how fast we’re losing people,” he told me. “At the rate we’re going everyone will have been taken within the next year.”
I looked at it, shocked. “That can’t be right,” I said. “We win a lot of the major engagements. People are mostly able to wander about freely. The scavenging teams are only hit about once a week.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he told me honestly. “There aren’t that many of us – two hundred, maybe three? I mean that’s a lot when you gather us all together but there are just so many more chickens. They grab a few of us at a time, we take out a few of them. But they’ve got the numbers to spare and we frankly don’t.”
“A year.” I looked at the red line, dipping steadily down. “We only have a year before all this collapses?”
He snorted, apparently amused. “Oh no, we’ve got much less time than that. Maybe six months?”
“What? What happens in six months? Why not a year?”
He pointed at the graph. “See that line there? That’s where I think panic will set in. Once we lose half our numbers, people will start to freak out. They’ll lose faith in the system, everyone working together. They’ll start splitting off, each group leaving to look for a safer place. And Aberdeen will go back to the way it was. Only there’ll be a lot fewer of us.”
“What?” I looked at him, honestly bewildered. “But they can’t think that. I mean, look at everything we’ve got now. Why would people give up like that?”
He shrugged. “They wouldn’t be wrong. I’ve been trying to gather some information and from what people tell me, Catchers were taking fewer people wheneveryone was split apart and in hiding. There was a ton of food lying around so no one really went hungry. The only thing that is truly better now is that we’ve got electricity. And soon that won’t be enough.”
“Six months.” I looked blankly at the sheet of paper in front of me.
“It could be less than that. We lost Sally yesterday. That’s got
“I think it’s a big risk,” Noah called after me. “Be very, very careful, Rayna.”
“I will,” I called back cheerily. Then I was out the door, on the way to put my plan into action.
I headed to the hospital and bumped into Cody on the way. He was striding towards his office. “Hey, Cody!” I called after him as he disappeared down a corridor. “Wait up.”
I thought I heard him sigh, but he did stop.
“How’s Percy doing?” I asked as I jogged up to him.
A faint blush of colour crept across his cheeks, though his expression didn’t change at all. “He’ll be fine,” he told me. “Deborah says he has to stay in hospital a while longer, just to make sure he doesn’thave a concussion or anything. But he should be out by tomorrow evening.”
“That’s great,” I said enthusiastically.
“Hmmm…” Cody said noncommittally. “You want something. Now what is it?”
I stopped being jolly, which was a bit of a relief, and looked at him seriously. “What’s the plan?” I asked him. “The long-term one? How do we beat them?”
He laughed. “The plan? We survive as long as possible. You know that.”
“No, seriously. There’s always another level with you. So what’s your plan?”
He looked around then took my arm and guided me towards his office. “Come see this,” he said.
Cody had commandeered one of the conference rooms in the hotel and turned it into his own personal office. He had maps tacked to the walls, stacks and stacks of notes from who knows where, and a computer hummed in a corner. Jesse thought all he did was play Minesweeper when no one was looking. He could have been right.
“Look at this,” Cody said, closing the door behind me. The curtains were pulled tightly shut on the windows, only the electric lights showed anything. I looked at what he was showing me: a graph drawn on a piece of squared paper. I could make out a couple of lines, the boldest going steadily down.
“This charts how fast we’re losing people,” he told me. “At the rate we’re going everyone will have been taken within the next year.”
I looked at it, shocked. “That can’t be right,” I said. “We win a lot of the major engagements. People are mostly able to wander about freely. The scavenging teams are only hit about once a week.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he told me honestly. “There aren’t that many of us – two hundred, maybe three? I mean that’s a lot when you gather us all together but there are just so many more chickens. They grab a few of us at a time, we take out a few of them. But they’ve got the numbers to spare and we frankly don’t.”
“A year.” I looked at the red line, dipping steadily down. “We only have a year before all this collapses?”
He snorted, apparently amused. “Oh no, we’ve got much less time than that. Maybe six months?”
“What? What happens in six months? Why not a year?”
He pointed at the graph. “See that line there? That’s where I think panic will set in. Once we lose half our numbers, people will start to freak out. They’ll lose faith in the system, everyone working together. They’ll start splitting off, each group leaving to look for a safer place. And Aberdeen will go back to the way it was. Only there’ll be a lot fewer of us.”
“What?” I looked at him, honestly bewildered. “But they can’t think that. I mean, look at everything we’ve got now. Why would people give up like that?”
He shrugged. “They wouldn’t be wrong. I’ve been trying to gather some information and from what people tell me, Catchers were taking fewer people wheneveryone was split apart and in hiding. There was a ton of food lying around so no one really went hungry. The only thing that is truly better now is that we’ve got electricity. And soon that won’t be enough.”
“Six months.” I looked blankly at the sheet of paper in front of me.
“It could be less than that. We lost Sally yesterday. That’s got
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