The Forsaken

true.”
    “Look at you. You’re wearing robes. If anyone sees you, they’ll say you’re a drone now for sure! They’ll try to kill you.”
    “I’m just living with the drones to get answers. If I were a drone, I’d be drunk and lobbing fireworks at everyone—or planning ways to tear down your village. Instead I’m risking my life to help you.”
    “How did you escape from your cell when the other prisoners got killed? You owe me some answers. Everyone says your people came and rescued you. That you set me up and tried to dupe me, so I’d help you become part of this village. So you could spy on us.”
    He’s shaking his head. “That’s crazy. That’s not what happened.”
    “I believe you, but others won’t. And honestly, it’s getting harder to tell whose side you’re on, David.”
    “I’m on my own side!” He moves even closer. “Haven’t you heard of individuality? Alenna, look, there are places on this island that are pretty much desolate. No drones, no villagers. Just lots of land. I’ve heard that sometimes kids just leave and go live on their own, or in small groups in the forest. There aren’t any natural predators on this island. The only things to fear are other people. I came here to tell you that we could leave together, and just go somewhere and create our own society. Or find a group of kids who aren’t fighting each other all the time.”
    “We’d just get killed.” I pause. “If you’re for real, then come back with me to the village right now. Tell Veidman and the others everything you learned from the drones. I can offer you safe passage.”
    He shakes his head. “I’d get locked up again and drugged. At least at the drones’ camp I can do whatever I want, pretty much. I lied and told them that I killed a villager, so now they think I’ve passed my initiation rite. But they’re not all evil. Most of them are just running wild and don’t know where to turn. That’s what makes them so dangerous.”
    “David, do you swear you’re telling the truth about everything?”
    “I swear it.”
    “You still haven’t explained how you escaped from the kennels,” I point out. “Especially when all the other prisoners got torched.”
    “I didn’t escape.” He pushes his glasses up his nose again. “All I know is that some drones turned up and opened my kennel, and I ran. Like anyone else would. I wanted to get away from Markus so he didn’t beat me anymore, and from Veidman so he couldn’t test his serums on me. I didn’t find out until later that the drones burned the other prisoners alive. Maybe they didn’t want me or anyone else talking to you. I’m as scared as you are. I’m just staying with the drones because there’s no place else to go. I’d rather be here with you than with them, if I could.”
    Before I can ask him any more questions, he speaks up again:
    “I need to get back to my camp in the orange sector before they notice I’m gone—or before one of your perimeter guards finds me. I’ll contact you again soon. Just be careful. Watch your back.”
    I nod. “I will.” I don’t mention Operation Tiger Strike. I wonder if he even knows about it.
    He raises his cowl and steps backward. “We could leave all this madness behind and start our own thing. Create a new New Providence on the wheel. That is, if you’re willing to leave your little boyfriend behind and take a chance.”
    “So you’ve been spying on me!”
    “Looking out for you is more like it. Just think about what I said.”
    I stare at him, my torch reflected in his glasses. His plan sounds suicidal. But I realize he might be one of the only kids on the wheel even making an attempt to straddle the two worlds of the village and the Monk’s camp. I think back to when it was just the two of us. When we first woke up on the island and everything seemed so peaceful. No villagers or drones. Maybe David has a point after all.
    He takes another step back, in between the trees. In the darkness, his robes make him nearly invisible.
    “Remember, civilization is what we make it,” his disembodied voice says. “It might turn out that Veidman and the Monk are equally wrong about how to approach life on the wheel.”
    Before I can think of a good response, he’s gone. Vanished back into the forest. I look for him, raising my torch. But there’s no sign of him.
    I want to run back and tell everyone in the village about David’s return, but I know it could jeopardize their trust in