Then Strepp turned to my sister. “Cassie, your assignment is to stay here.”
12
CASSIE
MY WHAT WAS TO WHO now??
Hadn’t I just gotten my assignment? To go with Becca and be awesome?
“What?” I blurted.
Ms. Strepp walked around her desk and sat back down. She tapped a pile of papers into a tidy stack and went on coolly. “Everything that we know about the Outerlands, everything I’ve shown you, is just a tiny bit of what we need to battle the United, to overthrow its power,” she said. “We need more facts. I need you to head up the research department, integrating info that scouts bring back, as well as trying to hack into the information pathways of the United. Believe me, this job is every bit as important as Becca’s.”
I was speechless, like I’d just been thrown back into that damn cold river. Heat rose in my face and I knew I was turning pink. Maybe smoke was actually coming out of my ears. It felt possible.
This was a shit assignment. My fingers itched for my rifle—I’d been trained to be a soldier, not a paper-pusher. I wanted to scream, refuse, and throttle Ms. Strepp. It took everything in me to simply stand still without reacting, like a soldier. But my face tightened and my breath came fast.
After a moment she spoke again, her voice one tiny degree softer. “Look,” she said. “Things weren’t always like this. Something happened to change our world, to divide it into cells and non-cells, and people into cellfolk and Outerlanders. What happened? We don’t know! Your job is to find out. While you’ve been training, Resistance soldiers have been hunting down and collecting this information. It’s time for you to get to work.”
Still seemed like a shit assignment, though part of me could see how that info might be useful. But goddamnit! What was wrong with me that I couldn’t be a scout with Becca? Had it been about the leadership test?
I was humiliated and furious. The only good thing was that at least Tim and Nate would have Becca’s back.
13
BECCA
THIS WHOLE TIME, NATE AND Tim had been standing at attention. Without even seeing their faces, I could tell they’d both been excited to be on the scout squad, and been dumbfounded at Cassie’s assignment. I was crushed about leaving Cassie behind, but was glad I would still have Nate and Tim to back me up.
“Continuing,” Strepp said, looking up at us, “I’ve noticed that you four have paired up into couples. I think the whole camp knows that you’ve paired up into couples.”
I hadn’t expected this. So what? I thought. There wasn’t a law against it.
“It’s like you haven’t learned anything,” she said, suddenly enraged. “Like you haven’t learned that death is imminent, that the future is uncertain!” She slammed a paperweight down on her desk, angry spots showing in her thin cheeks. “Ties are lethal. You saw how Cassie’s tie to Becca almost cost her everything. It’s a weakness.” She practically spat the words. “It’s normal and useful to bond with your fellow soldiers—your lives depend on it. But what you’ve done is more than that, and it’s dangerous. It makes you vulnerable.”
I kept my face blank, sure that the other three were doing the same.
“And if you’re vulnerable,” she said, “then you’re risking all of us. Do you see that?”
Well, maybe. I guess. A little. But she was way overreacting.
Suddenly she slammed both hands on her desk, making me jump. “Do you see that?” she roared.
From me she got a sullen nod.
“My job is to keep you from putting all of us at risk,” she said. “Which is why Tim is going to stay here and help Cassie. He’s a strong fighter, but that’s his only strength. Helping with research will make him more rounded.”
“What?” Tim said, stepping forward. “No way! I’m going with Becca!”
Strepp emitted wafts of frigid air as she narrowed her eyes at him. When she spoke, her voice was very quiet and rigidly controlled, each word like a bullet. “You will stay here and help Cassie, or you will leave camp now, this minute, alone. Are we clear?”
I felt Tim’s anger, his indecision. Knowing that I wouldn’t have him on my team was a huge blow. No one else would have my back like he or Cassie would.
“Nate? You will be going with Becca.”
Nate opened his mouth to speak but Strepp held up her hand.
“The only answer I’m looking for here is ‘Yes, ma’am’!” she snapped. “This is not up for debate. These are not suggestions. These are your orders and you will carry them out as commanded or you will leave now, with only your self-righteous sense of entitlement to protect you!”