Crossed (Matched, #2)

by Ally Condie

“We have to go back and help them,” Eli says.

“Don’t you want to live?” I ask Eli, furious that he’s making this so hard,

“If anything happens, run for the Carving,” he said, and so I did it. As always, I wanted to survive.

Overall casualties were low, but your parents were killed.”

And I realized that forgetting was exactly what I was supposed to do. I pretended to forget. I nodded like the girl

They took away the broken paintbrush and asked why I had it. And for

“That one,” I say, pointing to the closest divide in the earth.

“Someone followed us,” Vick says. “And got shot down.”

“It’s fine,” he says. “It happens when I run, especially where there’s dust.”

“Who?” Eli asks, voice shrill. “I don’t know,” Vick says. “I really don’t.” “You don’t know?” Eli says. “No one knows anything,” Vick says. “Except Ky. He thinks he’s found the truth in a girl.”

When we land I want to be the first off the air ship, to see if Ky is there. But

“Remember,” the Official says to the boys, “treat these new villagers as you treat the others. No violence of any kind. We’ll be watching and listening.”

They don’t fight over the food; there is some for everyone. They fill their canteens from big blue barrels of water.

The girl stays straight and strong when others sink to their knees because she knew this all along. She can’t quit,

I realize I still don’t know what it was that she needed to hide. But

“He has dark hair and blue eyes,” I call out, louder. “He came from a city, but he knows this land, too. He has words.”

“Have you looked at their boots?” Indie whispers to me. I nod.

what they must mean, what they must mark. Days survived.

But I hold his gaze. I try to see. “You know him,” I say to the boy. “You know who I’m talking about.”

“Where is he?” I ask. “Dead,” the boy says. “You lie,”

“But I’ll listen to you when you want to tell the truth.” “What makes you think I’d tell you anything?” he asks. “You d...

The pack of boys returns, but something keeps them at a distance from our group.

The portions are so small here; anyone who’s been out here for long must be starving.

“Of course,” I say. “You’re the only one who was there. You’re the only one who knows.”

could take anything I wanted from you.” “You could,” I say. “But it wouldn’t be smart.” “Why not?” he says. “Because no one else will listen the way I will,”

“But it was in a different camp. The one I was in before I came here. It might not be the same person. The Ky I know had words, like you said.”

The boy shrugs. “Ones to say over the dead.”

“Something about a Pilot.” I blink in surprise. Ky knew the words of the Tennyson poem, too.

“I don’t know. It was something he said whenever people died. That’s all.”

“But he must have been saying those words for hours that last night.”

“What happened the last night?” “There was a firing,” he says, no more laughter....

“Two nights ago,” he says, as if he can hardly believe it. “Feels like it’s ...

“Not his face,” the boy says, “his back. He and his friend Vick ran off and left us for dead. They left us to die so they could save themselves. Only six of us survived.

“I’d have done the same thing. If too many of us ran, we’d have been caught. They tried to help us. Showed us how to make it so our guns would fire once,

Their timing was perfect. So many people died that night,

“Do you know where they are now?” Indie asks. “Somewhere in there.” He points toward the sandstone formations barely visible from here. “Our village was over near those rocks.

Eli. Only thirteen, probably, the youngest in our group, couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Why not take one of us?” It is Ky. Hope and disappointment both wash over me.

saw what happened to someone who did,” the boy says flatly. “He was too late. The air ships gunned him down.

“A long run from here,” he says. “Twenty-five, thirty miles.”

“Something you can use to survive in the canyons,” I say, “stolen from a medical center in the Society.

“Fine,” he says, looking interested. “But I don’t want another leftover meal that tastes like foilware.”

know why he’s not holding out: he wants to leave with us. He wants to escape,

Not when he was in Ky’s camp. Not now. He needs us as much as we need him. “It won’t...

She does what she wants. And this is the run of a lifetime.

Did they give you flashlights?” “Yes,” I tell him. “Bring them. The moon will help, but it’s not full any more.”

“You never know.” He sighs. “When they do come, the best place is the cellars. This village has them. Some don’t.”

She’s right. If you can look past everything that’s happening, the land is beautiful.

“Now,” he says. “Or you won’t make it before dawn.”

“Doesn’t anyone try to escape?” I ask. “Not often,” he says.