Earthseed

patrolling the grounds outside.
    She ran swiftly to the toilet in the back of the shack, closing the door. Climbing up on the toilet seat, she peered out the small window. If she could remove the screen silently, she might be able to squeeze through. The area in back of the shack was not as well lighted, but she would have to crawl under the wires of the newly erected fence just beyond the yard. Small metal boxes had been attached to the posts; they might be alarms. She would have to take that chance; she could wait no longer.
    A door slammed. The floorboards creaked; someone had entered the shack. She climbed down from the toilet and opened the door a crack.
    A light shone at her. “Who’s there?”
    “It’s only me.” The beam of light was pointed at the ceiling, then revealed Ho’s face. He held the light under his chin, making his face resemble one of Earth’s fabled demons.
    “What are you doing here?” She kept behind the door.
    “What do you think? They don’t trust me yet, not completely. I have to stay here for a while now. They even took my knife away again.”
    “Why aren’t Bonnie and the others here?”
    “They’re behaving for the moment, except for Manuel—he’ll get beaten again if he’s not careful. If they act up again, they’ll be sent back.”
    She opened the door. “I’m going to sleep.” She walked past him, keeping near the wall, and went into a bedroom. As she stretched out, she realized that Ho was standing in the doorway; she could hear him breathe. “Go to sleep,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “There’s another bedroom, you know.”
    “Do you mind if I sit with you for a while?”
    She clenched her teeth. “Sit all you want. Just stay on the other bed.” His boots squeaked as he entered the room and sat on the other cot. She propped herself up on one elbow, staring into the shadows where he sat.
    “That accident of Willem’s,” he said. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”
    “I didn’t think you cared.”
    “He was on my team during Competition.”
    “And you used him, didn’t you, because he didn’t understand what you were doing. You didn’t seem to care much if people were hurt. I know what you did to Jen, too.”
    “It wasn’t the same, Zoheret. Sure, I wanted to win, but I didn’t want anyone to die. The injured kids recovered, didn’t they?”
    “Federico still gets headaches.”
    “He’ll get over it. Look, I didn’t know—I didn’t stop to think. I wouldn’t do it now. When I saw Willem’s body, it scared me that somebody could die so easily.”
    She sat up. “Ho, listen. Maybe we can get away. We could go out the back window and make for the woods.”
    “Impossible. There’re alarms all over the place.”
    “We could try.”
    “We’ll just get into more trouble. And we could get hurt out there. Look at Willem—he was just out by the field, and he died. You must have been terrified when you saw that—just a dumb accident.” Ho sounded plaintive, close to tears; she hadn’t thought he was capable of crying.
    “Ho, listen.” She spoke very softly. “We have to try. I’ve got to get out of here. I have something to tell you. Willem didn’t die the way you think. That man Caleb killed him. He beat him and then he kicked him. I think Willem already had internal injuries. I was the only one who saw it, so he thinks he can lie about it. Maybe he didn’t mean to do it, but he did. And he knows I know. He’s trying to keep me away from the others so I won’t tell, but maybe he won’t stop at that. And I have another reason for getting out, too. I’m surprised he let you come in here.”
    “He probably thought I wouldn’t believe you.” Ho paused. “How can we escape, though?”
    “The back window. If we can just remove the screen, we can get to the fence.”
    “The alarms.”
    “Can’t we go around the fence somehow?”
    “No. But maybe we can squeeze under the fence without triggering them. Come on.”
    They hurried to the back window; Ho stood on the toilet seat and looked out. “The guard’s too close,” he said. “We’ll have to wait. Look—I’ll try to get the screen loose while you get some sleep. I’ll wake you up.”
    “No. I’ll wait with you. I can’t sleep now.”
    Ho worked at the screen, prying it with the edge of his pocket light. The light flicked on suddenly; Ho quickly turned it off. “Be careful,” she whispered. “You don’t want them to see.”
    “All right, all