My heart lodges in my throat. “How bad? Is this like a ‘I put the fire out’ kind of fuck-up or?—”
“It’s worse.”
Damn it. Not “worse” again. “What do you mean?”
“I read the map wrong. I thought there was enough distance between us, but either I fucked up real bad or they’ve expanded their territory. I thought I could avoid them. I don’t think we can now.”
Panic. This is pure panic raging through me. I reach forward, clutching his sleeve. His shirt is dirt-stained and worn, and he traded it for a different one in his pack yesterday morning when we had a rare chilly dawn. I dig my fingers in, almost ready to tear the fabric as I demand, “What are you talking about? Who? What?” I shake my head, squeezing him. “Where are we?”
“We’re right on the edge of East Jersey,” Maverick says quickly before adding, “Here, tuck your hair up under the cap. Don’t let any of it hang out. And dirt—lots of dirt. Put some dirt on your cheeks, that should help.”
There’s no reason to refuse. I shove as much of my hair underneath the cap as I can before picking up a clump of dirt and rubbing it against my skin. “I’ve never heard of East Jersey before.”
Maverick is still staring accusingly at the trees over my shoulder.
“You would know it as Rahway, I believe. More dirt, you’re still too clean.”
I smear another handful of dirt along the edge of my jaw and my cheek. “You mean, like the prison?”
He freezes, then turns his head slowly to look over his shoulder at me. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. I just remember that about Rahway. There used to be a prison there, right?”
“Oh, yeah.Usedto be.”
“You’ve heard of it?”
Maverick nods, glancing back at the trees before facing me again. “That’s where the name comes from: East Jersey State Prison. All the cons got out when the warden Turned… I say all, the ones whosurvivedgot out and escaped. Most of them established their own place here. Made it a prison town.”
What the hell is a prison town?
And why are we standing here talking about it instead of bolting in the opposite direction?
There’s an easy answer to that last question. Before I can run, the high-pitched whistle sounds again. It’s impossibly closer.
Maverick scoops up a handful of dirt and starts on my other side. “Hear that? That’s their leader. Darryl. He knows we’re here.”
“How do you know all this?” And why didn’t he warn me before?
“Because I might’ve passed this way before in my travels. I’m so fucking sorry,” he says again. “If I had any idea we were so close… shit. One of your curls is escaping. You’ve got to tuck it all under the cap. Keep your head down, and this part is real important: don’t say a word. Leave all the talking to me. Got it?”
“I don’t think we’re in Rahway,” I point out, yanking down the back of the cap and shoving the rest of my hair up inside of it. His insistence isn’t helping my sudden anxiety at all. “It shouldn’t have taken so long to go… what, six miles from the Grave? And where’s the dome? Rahway Prison had a big dome. Jack used to point it out when we passed it on Route 1.”
Maverick looks at me in disbelief, almost like he can’t believe we’re having this conversation. I don’t know why he’s looking at me like that. He’s the one who’s standing here, having a chat instead of fleeing.
“We’re not in Rahway, kid,” he says gruffly, going slowly as if he’s speaking to a five-year-old. “This,” and he points at the ground, “is where the people who used to live in Rahway and the East Jersey Prison relocated to. Your Rahway is another town that doesn’t exist anymore. Trust me when I say this…” Maverick leans in so close that I can smell campfire smoke on him, plus feel the chill from his skin. He lowers his voice. “If you don’t do what I’ve just told you,youmight not exist either. So, please, fuckingdo it!”
The image of his gun flashes before my eyes again, plus all of the horror stories I used to hear of cops who snapped. Nine months after the Turning, maybe it’s just Maverick’s time to shine.
I don’t have a choice. I have to listen.
And that’s when I hear a loud shout split through the trees?—
“Maverick Brooks! Well, I’ll be damned! Never thought you’d come crawlin’ back to East Jersey. Good to see ya, boy.”
Because I’m staring down at the ground like he told me to, I can’t see the face of the man approaching, but if the size of his shadow is any indication, he’s a damngiant. My breath catches in my throat, my heart beating a mile a minute.
Okay. Maybe Maverick was right to freak out.
