In the After

all. . . . You have to if you want to avoid the Floraes.”
    “Did you teach her how to be quiet?”
    “No, I didn’t have to teach her anything. Even as a toddler, she already understood. Plus we’ve had years of practice. I can try to make more noise,” I offered, “if that helps.”
    “No, don’t worry about it. We’re here now anyway.” He led me into a clearing. “We keep all the emitters out in the open so the sun can get to their solar panels,” he explained. “They all have backup batteries that are good for forty-eight hours, and a distress beacon in case they are somehow damaged by a storm or an animal.”
    I expected it to be more imposing, but the emitter was just a two-foot-high box with a satellite dish attached.
    “The panels move to face the light,” Rice told me as he tinkered with the box panel. “This little guy can cover a four-mile radius.”
    “Impressive,” I said. “I wish I’d had one of these at my house.”
    “You seem to have done okay without one.” He stood, wiping his hands.
    “It would have been nice to have neighbors.” I was overcome with a great sense of loss for all the years wasted, when I could have been in New Hope. I turned away and put my hands over my eyes but a sob still escaped.
    Then there were firm arms around me and I was sinking into Rice’s chest. “I’m sorry.” I sniffled. “I guess I’ve been due for a breakdown since coming here.”
    “It’s okay,” he told me kindly.
    “How do you deal with it? You lost someone right in front of you.”
    He shifted away a little but kept an arm around me. “I work . . . a lot.” He paused. “Does running help you cope?”
    “It does . . .” I lifted my head and looked into his warm eyes. “Except when I hear you and think a Florae is after me.”
    He smiled down at me. We stared at each other, and suddenly he bent his head and kissed me softly. I was startled at first, then felt myself returning the kiss. It only lasted a few seconds. And as he pulled away, he looked in my eyes and said, “It’s all going to be okay, you know.” I stared at him and nodded, my legs feeling weak with nervous excitement.
    “Do you want to help me finish the rounds?” he asked, giving me a last squeeze before breaking away and adjusting his glasses.
    I looked at my watch. “Oh, I should really get back.” I was already going to be late, but Kay would kill me if I didn’t show up at all. “But I’ll see you later?”
    He nodded and I waved good-bye and hurried to the Rumble Room, where Kay was waiting. I expected to get yelled at, but instead she just smiled coldly. I would have preferred the yelling.
    “Here.” She threw something at me and I caught it between my fingers: a black cloth, smooth and light. “Go change, quickly. We have a lot to do today.”
    I was still thinking of Rice, of his lips on mine. I looked down and held out the material Kay had thrown at me. My heart surged. My very own synth-suit.
    • • •
    I lie awake as an orderly rolls a gurney into my room .
    “Ms. Harris, you need to lay down here, please.”
    I stare at him, weak and slow-minded from my last shot. I raise my head slowly, trying to prop myself up. My arms are unresponsive. The man is impatient or thinks I am being difficult to defy him. He picks me up roughly, hefting me onto the gurney. I let him fasten me in without complaint .
    As he pushes me out of my room, I wonder why I’m being carted around. “I can walk,” I tell the orderly. But he doesn’t even glance down at me. I move my hands, testing the straps at my wrists. I pull harder and Dr. Thorpe appears over my face, walking next to my gurney .
    “Amy, don’t struggle. You’ll only hurt yourself.” She smiles reassuringly. Her gray-blond bun has come undone into a ponytail that spills across her shoulder .
    “Why am I tied up?” I ask her, still puzzled. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
    “Remember, yesterday we talked about trying out a new procedure?” She glances down the hall, then back at me. “That’s what we’re doing now.”
    I tug at the straps again, this time more forcefully. “I’ll try harder,” I tell her .
    Dr. Thorpe ignores me. “Make sure she’s secure,” she tells the orderly. “I’ll get Dr. Reynolds and meet you downstairs.”
    “Wait . . .” I yell. Dr. Thorpe disappears from view as I am wheeled down the hall to an elevator, feeling helpless. I close my eyes tight, terrified .
    • •