I didn’t want to tell stories or share memories. I didn’t know if I could even say his name.
With the taste of blood in my mouth, I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned away.
“Max?” Nudge called after me, a quaver in her voice.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” I said as I walked away from my family. I trudged deeper into the camp, ducking under clotheslines and trying to lose myself in the sea of strangers.
“I just can’t.”
77
THE NEXT DAY, the camp buzzed with nervous energy as everyone prepared for battle.
Iggy and Gazzy had rigged up a catapult out of fallen trees, and Holden was shouting directions about angle placement and velocity. All around me, kids were trying to psych each other up, banging their weapons together like they’d seen in movies, even though no one knew what we were up against.
Most of us didn’t, anyway.
Angel was the one who’d gathered us here, and of course she was nowhere in sight. And Dylan was the one person who’d actually seen the underground layout, and so far, he’d told us nothing.
We were here. It was time. What were we waiting for?
Restless, I wandered through the muddy rows of the camp, veering right to avoid a damp-eyed prayer circle Nudge was leading, complete with candles. I ground my teeth.
“Not into that praying crap, either, huh?”
Startled, I turned to see Ratchet lying on a tarp, doing sit-ups.
“We’re gonna win or we’re gonna lose. Personally, I think we’re gonna lose. But either way, praying to some yahoo isn’t going to change anything.”
“Where’s Kate?” I asked.
“Over with the baby general.” Ratchet nodded past me without breaking rhythm.
About a hundred yards away, near the edge of the woods, Angel was talking to Kate and Dylan.
“If they wanna whisper secrets,” Ratchet said, taking a breath, “maybe they shouldn’t be so loud about it.”
I could barely see their expressions from here, let alone hear their voices, but with his extraordinary senses, not much got past Ratchet.
“What secrets?”
Ratchet did several more sit-ups, his trademark aviator glasses reflecting back at me with each one. Finally, he stopped and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
“Maybe you should go find out for yourself.”
When I approached, Angel seemed completely different than I’d ever seen her. Her voice was still the same, soft and young, but her tone was one of unmistakable authority. Sitting on a stump with her legs tucked under her, she looked like a child empress, consulting with her trusted advisors.
Which apparently didn’t include me.
As I approached, they stopped talking abruptly. Dylan coughed and shifted uneasily, and Kate flashed me a wide fake smile.
“Getting chummy in the cool kids’ club?” I asked.
“Hmm?” Angel said distractedly. “What is it, Max?”
“Sorry to break up this little party, but is someone going to explain what the heck is going on? Shouldn’t we be casing the entrances? Or at least organizing the giant mass of people you convinced to meet here?”
“Dylan and Kate have been working out a strategy of attack,” Angel said, standing. “And I was about to make an address on the field that should answer some of your questions.”