"What?"

My voice was barely a whisper. Allison and Azura simply stared at Oliver, their eyes wide with shock. I pressed my fingers to my temples, waiting for the familiar buzz of questions and theories to come.

Oliver nodded, suddenly awkward. "Rae is Governor Mason's daughter. That's why he orders troops never to go outside the border and try to kill us. Once he dies, though, from the sickness..." he trailed off, his eyes flicking anywhere except me. "So the only thing the government can do right now is send supplies to the Hopeful camp, but we intercept most of that." Oliver motioned to the small house around them.

I pursed my lips, letting that sink in for a minute. "Then why are they keeping Joanne?"

"My guess is that she has parents who were resistant and the government never found out. They're hoping she has a more flawless genetic code, something they can use to cure the disease."

"Will she..." I was surprised by the raspiness in Azura's voice, "Survive whatever they are doing to her? Will we ever see her again."

Oliver remained silent, scratching at the back of his head. "I wish I could tell you I knew," he said. "But we can't break her out right now. I'm sorry."

"She's one of us," Allison protested.

I nodded in agreement. "She'll be important to the camp here. She's a fighter. She..."

Oliver rubbed his eyes, sighing. "I'll let you guys talk to yourselves." But as he brushed by me, he mouthed three words.

River. At Dawn.

I dipped my head, hoping that was enough for him to know I understood.

After Allison had thoroughly scratched the floors with the scraggly broom, etching the nasty sound into my head, Azura and I helped set up the cots. We confirmed, as I brought up Chase, that we should set three cots on one side of the room and three on the other, using a blanket as a curtain to separate the boy's side from the girl's.

"He'll be glad for the space," Allison assured me after I looked out of the door for the third time. I kept expecting to see his face, standing there on the steps, with his stubborn gaze that saw right through me.

What are you thinking? I scolded myself, spreading a blanket on my cot. You've known him for two days.

My thoughts were interrupted as Azura finally dug up some girl's clothes from the boxes with a triumphant "Ha! Finally!" It was strange seeing her so jubilant. I was used to her serious demeanor.

"Score!" Allison wiped a smear of dirt off her cheek, and I couldn't help but notice the still- healing cuts on her face.

Self consciously, I reached up to touch my own face, feeling still- damp blood as I pulled away my fingers. Dirt was crusted under my nails, which were cracked and dry. My hands were normally calloused, but even more so after Allison and I were caught pulling our little stunt. A memory of the rows of cells flashed through my head.

"....kay?"

"Hm?" I asked, turning towards Azura.

"I said, are you okay?"

"Fine," I turned back towards her as she pulled out a pair of army pants. "Dibs!" I called.

Azura grinned and dumped the clothes on my cot. "Get whatever you want."

I plunged my hands into the pile, pulling out everything that seemed my style. Azura and Allison were hunting too, eager to get rid of their clothes that reeked of the Prime House.

"Technically we're still wearing the government's clothes," I realized, holding out a black shirt in front of me.

"Yeah, but they're stolen. Not intended for us," Allison said as she added a pair of leggings to her stash.

"After you change, you should go find Chase. Tell him what we found out," Azura suggested, dropping a pair of combat boots on the floor.

"Are you sure he can take it right now? He might get upset that Joanne is basically a lab rat."

Allison shrugged. "At least try to console him. Here." She tossed me some sturdy jeans that looked to be too big for her.

I set down most of my pile into my cardboard box, quickly crossing the room to change in the privacy of the little area we had fashioned out of blankets in one of the corners. "Alright. I'll go now."

Azura smiled. "Good luck."