Close enough,Melanie decided, as thrilled as I... 477
Close enough,Melanie decided, as thrilled as I was to be making some progressI turned north
eagerly, my steps lengtheningeep a lookout for the nextShe remembered another formation
for me, and I started craning my head around at once, though I knew it was useless to search for
it this early
It would be to the eastNorth and then east and then north again
The lift of finding another milestone kept me moving despite the growing weariness in my legs
Melanie urged me on, chanting encouragements when I slowed, thinking of Jared and Jamie
when I turned apatheticMy progress was steady, and I waited till Melanie okayed each drink,
even though the inside of my throat felt as though it was blistering
I had to admit that I was proud of myself for being so toughWhen the dirt road appeared, it
seemed like a fake white chanel watches rewardIt snaked toward the north, the direction I was already headed, but
Melanie was skittish
I don't like the look of it,she insisted
The road was just a sallow line through the scrub, defined only by its smoother texture and lack
of vegetationAncient tire tracks made a double depression, centered in the single lane
When it goes the wrong way, we'll leave it was already walking down the middle of the
trackst's easier than weaving through the creosote and watching out for cholla
She didn't answer, but her unease made me feel a little paranoidI kept up my search for the
next formation?a perfectM, two matching volcanic points?but I also watched the desert around
me more carefully than before
Because I was paying extra attention, I noticed the gray smudge in the distance long before I
could make out what cartier santos 100 xl men watch it wasI wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me and blinked
against the dust that clouded themThe color seemed wrong for a rock, and the shape too solid
for a treeI squinted into the brightness, making guesses
Then I blinked again, and the smudge suddenly jumped into a structured shape, closer than I'd
been thinkingIt was some kind of house or building, small and weathered to a dull gray
Melanie's spike of panic had me dancing off the narrow lane and into the dubious cover of the
barren brush'm sure it's abandoned
How do you know?She was holding back so hard that I had to concentrate on my feet before I
could move them forward
Who would live out here? We souls live for society heard the bitter edge to my explanation and
knew it was because of where I now stood?physically and metaphorically in gucci leather wallets the middle of
nowhereWhy did I no longer belong to the society of souls? Why did I feel like I didn't? like I
didn'twant to belong? Had I ever really been a part of the community that was meant to be my
own, or was that the reason behind my long line of lives lived in transience? Had I always been
an aberration, or was this something Melanie was making me into? Had this planet changed me,
or revealed me for what I already was?
Melanie had no patience for my personal crisis?she wanted me to get far away from that
building as fast as possibleHer thoughts yanked and twisted at mine, pulling me out of my
introspection
Calm down,I ordered, trying to focus my thoughts, to separate them from hersf there is
anything that actually lives here, it would be humanTrust me on this; there is no such thing as imitation rolex watch a
hermit among soulsMaybe your Uncle Jeb ?
She rejected that thought harshlyo one could survive out in the open like thisYour kind
would have searched any habitation thoroughlyWhoever lived here ran or became one of you
Uncle Jeb would have a better hiding place
And if whoever lived here became one of us,I assured her,then they left this placeOnly a
human would live this way I trailed off, suddenly afraid, too
What?She reacted strongly to my fright, freezing us in placeShe scanned my thoughts, looking
for something I'd seen to upset me
But I'd seen nothing newelanie, what if there are humans out here?not Uncle Jeb and Jared
and Jamie? What if someone elsefound us?
She absorbed the idea slowly, thinking it throughThey'd kill us immediately
I tried to swallow, to wash the taste of terror from my dry omega speedmaster diamond mou
