CHAPTER
58
CHARLEY
DAY 90, AFTER DARK
The night was silent and still. Thad lay beside me, and I prayed he was asleep. And I prayed we didn’t have to go back to the City.
I’d barely been able to rip Thad away from that dang Wall. He’d stood there, running his hands over the carvings, only this time he was tracing crosses. I didn’t want to ask what was running through his head. I was afraid I already knew.
After leaving the City, we headed north, marching toward noon. Watching and waiting. Then today’s noon came and went without a gate, like a party popper that fizzled.
The rest of the day was weirdly shadowed.
We continued north, trying to get ahead of the gates. Thad’s time was running out, and I was scared to death. I was scaredofdeath—of Thad’s death. If he died, it would kill us both.
He had nine days left.
How did the end get here so fast?My mind couldn’t wrap around the pace, the frightening acceleration of time. It was like the more I wanted time to slow, the faster it sped up.
The entire island was mapped now. We’d skipped the mountain,because none of us had enough clothes to hike up there anyway, and so really, what was the point? We’d made gate schedules using the quadrants as a guide, and we’d identified every hot spot. Food sources, too, which was Thad’s idea. The mango groves, guava stands, fish ponds, and shrimp spots—all were marked on a separate food map; the idea was to give future visitors the best chance to survive long enough to get home, just in case anyone forgot to mention to a rookie where they found something to eat. Back in the City, the Master Map was nearly finished. Dex took over where Sergio had left off, ensuring Sergio’s legacy would live on.
Poor Sergio, I thought. Nil was not the place to get stung by a jellyfish. Jillian told me he’d died within minutes. Odd how something so small could be so deadly.
On the other hand, noon was killing us one day at a time.
Thad and I just kept saying good-bye, over and over, and I was terrified that the one day I forgot to say it would be the day he left. But that would be good.
Because that would be good-bye.
As I fell asleep, I prayed that tomorrow was Thad’s lucky day.
CHAPTER
59
THAD
DAY 363, MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
The last seven days passed so fast they blurred. Like cards flying through the hands of an expert dealer, flipping so fast you barely have time to spot the card’s edge before it vanishes into the deck, gone forever—those were my last days on Nil. I caught only the edges, unable to make time slow down, not sure I wanted to anyway.
Nil was the dealer, and I was so damn sick of playing. And making the game extra fun, I’d developed insomnia. Raging, vicious, rip-your-eyes-out insomnia.
I wanted to sleep, but couldn’t. And the more I thought about how much I needed it, the harder it was to fall asleep. It’s like when you watch the clock at home, thinking,If I fall asleep now, I’ll get five hours of sleep. If I fall asleep now, I’ll get four.
There were no clocks on Nil, but I knew exactly how much time I had left.
Two days.
Two noons.
Two chances.
And if I blow those chances? Simple. It’s checkout time.
Please just let me sleep, I begged.
