Another week or so moved by. Henry and I continued to go about our business during the days, but he seemed to have grown even more quiet, if that was possible. I noticed when we were alone but not really otherwise, and I'd stopped trying to guess at his mindset a while ago. I was too preoccupied, anyway, to worry about what was going on with him. There were the daily tasks we were supposed to do, bringing in random small things (everyone had realized Henry and I were particularly good at stealing and so gave us more and more to do . . . what they didn't realize is that we had money and were buying it all). Then there was the constant car moving. We'd continued to move the vehicle every other day or so until one day we'd come to it and it'd been booted. That was disappointing but not surprising. And if they'd booted the car, no doubt they'd run the plates soon enough and find out they were stolen. At that point, we'd figured it best to stop going to the car, but I didn't quite want to give it up and was trying to think of what to do about it. What was really keeping me preoccupied, though, were the complicated dynamics of the group, which I had to navigate each night.

I learned some things. I learned that they'd been mostly together for about a year and a half. That the police had pretty much left them alone, here, either because they didn't know about them or didn't care. Most of them had left neglectful or abusive home situations; most wouldn't elaborate, and I was fine with that, because I wasn't going to elaborate, either. Peale was the leader, but Jax and another one named Eon were responsible for going out and finding new people. They didn't bring them in often; apparently Henry and I had been the first in about two months. They didn't look for just anyone, Jax told me. I knew what that meant. It meant that the girls had to be relatively attractive, and the guys had to seem submissive enough. Peale didn't want anyone who wasn't going to listen to him. And I sensed, too, that when someone did leave the group--either by choice or by force--that person didn't fare well outside. No one told me anything directly; it was all in bits or insinuations, but it was like everyone else knew not to help them, to make things even harder for them to survive, isolated and alone on the streets, prey to whomever was out there. And maybe--probably--the other group members themselves preyed on them. Did I ever hear that any single person had killed another? No, not since July had implied something about Peale and some other girl, but I felt that, at least indirectly, they didn't let defectors alone once they defected.

Then there was Peale himself. He hadn't let me alone, as I'd hoped. He seemed to find ways to draw near me in the evenings, as much as I tried to avoid him. I did what I figured he wanted--I used sarcasm, I flirted, I played the game. And I think that my ability to keep him guessing was what enabled me to actually fend off his advances for so long. But it was only a matter of time before words wouldn't work, anymore. I knew that. I knew what I was doing was misleading and dangerous, but I had to keep it up. I felt so close to the information I wanted.

In fact, what I wanted--to find and talk to whomever this Halo person--was proving more difficult than I'd thought it would be. First of all, nobody just went up to anybody and started talking without a reason. There were these weird currents that ran throughout, as if everyone was keeping tabs on what everyone else was saying and doing. Someone had even questioned me about what July had said to me that night, when she'd been drinking, but I'd lied and she hadn't remembered our conversation, so nothing had come of it. But words formed webs amongst these people, and all the threads led back to Peale, who waited in the center to catch anyone who might be getting too nosy or disgruntled.

So the first thing I'd had to do is figure out who Halo was without asking. I'd had to listen for names being thrown around, and at length, I'd found that Halo was a black girl with pink hair who had a perpetual look of annoyance on her face. She wasn't one of the more vocal ones. After I'd figured out who she was, I looked for any opportunity to get close to her, to get a conversation going. While I waited for that chance, I tried to theorize what I would say to her, how I'd get around to asking whether she was a scab for the Circuit. It wasn't just something I could blatantly ask. Then again, maybe it was. Maybe it was best if, when I did get to talk to her, I just straight up said what I meant to.

All these things were on replay in my mind, and Henry was really no help at all. The small spark of energy he'd shown when we'd arrived, when he'd expressed his disinterest in staying with them, had dissipated. He barely talked to me at all, was always absent-minded. He did, however, stay pretty close in the evenings, true to the promise he'd made me. I suspected that in his own way, he did want to make sure I was all right, never alone with anyone. I was, after all, the only person he had in his corner. Nobody else in this place seemed to trust him, and I suspected that was because Peale didn't trust him.

At some point, I grew tired of waiting for a chance to talk to Halo. I'd not found any way to pull her aside without someone noticing. I told Henry one morning that we were going to follow her during the day in the hope that we could find a moment to talk to her. He readily agreed, I think because he just wanted to get away from all these people, and he knew I wasn't going to go anywhere until I'd gotten what I wanted.

"Get some gasoline," Jax told me the morning I'd made my decision. I nodded approval of the errand, and then, entirely to my surprise, he drew in a little closer and whispered, "and don't come back tonight; it's not safe."

Then he acted as if nothing at all had just happened and went off to tell the next person what to do. I did my best to look normal, but I was shaken by what he'd said. I told Henry as much when we were on our own. Halo had headed uptown, toward the stadiums. There were games of some sort today, baseball I thought, and she and some others were going to hang around and see what they could get from unwary passersby or ticket hawkers. Maybe even sneak in and watch some of a game, I'd heard someone say. So it wasn't really a good time to try to follow her, but after what Jax had whispered to me, I wasn't sure I'd be going back. We'd lost sight of her, but since I knew where she'd been headed, we just wandered over that way.

"What should we do?" I asked Henry after telling him what Jax had said to me.

He was walking beside me, hands in pockets, something like curtains between us. Not walls, they weren't that hard. It was more like curtains because every so often, I thought I caught a promising glimpse of him, but then he'd hide himself again. I wanted so badly for him to be able to talk to me about what to do.

"I don't think we should go back, like he said."

"Ok . . . then where do we go? What do we do?"

"I don't know."

I growled in frustration. "You never have any suggestions. I think we have to talk to Halo. If we can't find her today, we'll have to go back. She's the closest thing to the Circuit that we've come across."

"We don't know that she knows anything. Maybe this Circuit is a dead end, anyway."

"It's the only thing possibly connecting us to your memories, and to them. I want to find them. The Circuit works with them. It's all I can think of."

"What happens if we even find this Circuit?"

I thought. "Haven't figured that out quite yet. I'm just making it up as I go. It's not like I have much help from anyone."

"But they hurt you--us, right? Why go back to them?"

"I've told you already. Your memories--finding the others. I've told you a million times."

"Just . . . what if it isn't worth it?"

I stopped walking and turned to him in anger, crossing my arms. "Henry, do you have better ideas? If so, I'm all ears."

He didn't look directly at me when he admitted, "No. I don't. But I really really don't trust Peale. You heard what Jax said. Peale probably intends to hurt you tonight."

I cocked my head. "Or you. Maybe both of us. But you forget that I've got a weapon. None of them know I have a gun. We just have to make sure we aren't caught off guard."

"It's not worth it."

"Well, unless you have a better idea, it's worth it to me. It's all we've got." I started walking again. I didn't tell him that as much as I didn't want either of us to get hurt, the curiosity of what might happen was enticing.

We looked for Halo all day at and around the stadium, but we never did find her. I was furious that I'd let her out of our sight to begin with, but as the day drew to a close, I realized we'd better get the gasoline and head back. It was another hour or so before we arrived, as the way was long and convoluted, so by the time we got back, everyone else was already there, hanging out, doing whatever their normal things were. A few of them approached me to ask for a light--I'd become a little popular after Jax had told them about my gadget. After that, they dispersed, and I approached Jax with the gasoline can. When I got to him, he gave me a surprised look, as if to ask why on earth I'd returned, but he didn't say anything, just took the gas and added it to whatever else had been collected for the day.

I was beginning to feel desperate. If indeed something was going to happen tonight, we were going to be kicked out or attacked or who-knew-what, then what did it matter if I found and spoke to Halo entirely bluntly? Why not ask her exactly what I wanted to, and then just take Henry and leave? They wouldn't follow us if they knew I could shoot them. But wherever I looked, I couldn't seem to find Halo. Hadn't she returned? If she hadn't, then even I couldn't think of a reason to stay. Unless . . . unless Jax were worth talking to. Hadn't July said something about Jax wanting them to go with Halo? Maybe that was an option.

Get out. Get out, now.

I startled so bad I almost tripped. Who'd said it? My inner voice again—and didn't I know I shouldn't be there?

They're watching you. Get out.

I grabbed onto Henry's arm, and he asked what I was doing. Before I could say anything about my intuition, though, I felt eyes on us, and I looked over my shoulder to see Peale, thirty or so feet away, his eyes boring holes into me. An ominous vibe hovered in the air; it seemed people had grown a little quieter. I began to regret my insistence that we return.

"Let's go," I said quietly but firmly to Henry. "I'm sorry--you were right. Let's get out of here. Hold on." Rather than just start walking, I knew I had to get my gun; they wouldn't let us go unless I could threaten them. I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket, but the gun wasn't there.

Panic threatened. I frantically searched all my pockets, looked to Henry. I didn't have time to go through the bag before we were suddenly surrounded by several of them, Peale in front. "This what you want?" He held up my gun. It was in his dirty hand--my gun. Lucas's gun. How could he dare to touch it? Rage began to build, to boil over the animal fear in me.

"Give it back!" Even saying it sounded stupid. I had no power in this situation. I had no ability to get out our hoverboards and fly off--they were all too close. If they saw that I had them, they'd just grab them.

"You think you can hide shit from me? You think we can't get it off you? How do you think we get everything around here?" Peale nodded to someone and suddenly several guys jumped Henry. To his credit, Henry tried to fight them off, but he was no match for all of them. I was divided, unsure where to turn. Helping Henry was impossible; attacking Peale would be impossible too, without any sort of weapon. There were too many of them. I'd not prepared for all of them turning on us. Even July and Jax were in the mix. All of them. So I held my ground. I wouldn't show him how much I was internally freaking out. I wouldn't give him that.

Peale closed the several steps between us, stood right in front of my face. I wanted so badly to rip his stupid grin off. He circled me, laughed a little. I hated how he made me feel. I hated that I was drawn to his presence while also being repulsed by everything he was, the smallness of him. Even as I stood there and he walked around me, I felt my heart racing in my chest. Hated the way he thought he'd won but couldn't help feeling somehow special--that this ridiculous, terrible whatever-it-was was all about me.

"Still got those walls, Punky?" he sneered when he faced me again.

I had to say what I was most worried about, though it made me sound weak. "Don't hurt Henry." No please. Please was too close to begging.

He grabbed my chin, squeezed hard as he lifted my face closer to his. "You worried about your boyfriend? Too bad you got no say right now." He roughly let me go and backed away a bit.

I wouldn't say anything else to him. But Henry and I hadn't been separated since I'd found him; as dull as he could be, he was Henry. He was my Henry--or, at least, he was going to be my Henry, when he remembered--and I was terrified at the thought of him being taken from me again. There was no way I was going to try to explain that to Peale, who'd no doubt only want to separate us all the faster. I wasn't going to give him fuel.

"You been holding out, Punky. That's not how we do, here. Everything belongs to everyone, right?"

The others nodded, mumbled their agreement, their anger at me. It was cultish and bizarre, and I realized how naive I'd been about this all--they were far more entrenched with him than I'd understood. Peale was their absolute leader, and he'd no doubt told them all that Henry and I were stealing from them, in spite of all the stuff we brought in.

"What else you got, huh? What's in the bag?"

No . . . if he tried to take my bag, I'd fight him, all the others be damned.

"That jacket? What's in there? Your pockets? I think we need a full body search." He put out his hands in mock surprise. "And it's your lucky day, cause that's my speciality."

My stomach lurched. I was disgusted and livid and frightened and anxious and all of these things twisted inside me and tightened my entire body, but I wouldn't respond to him. He wouldn't get that satisfaction.

"Nothing to say now, huh? Punky got no game tonight?" He looked again at someone beyond me, and I was fast taken hold of, just like Henry. Peale spoke quickly to his people, telling them something about Henry, but I couldn't quite make out what it was, and then he was walking away from the tents and the fire and three people were dragging me along for the ride behind him. I had no idea where we were headed except down to the river, farther than I'd ventured out along the bank, and all I knew for sure was that the farther they dragged me from Henry, the more physically ill I became.