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“Kitty Doe”
“Doe?” He eyed us both “You’re Extras?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to keep the snarl out of my voice
No one with an ounce of self-preservation talked to a Shield like that, but after what had happened that , I didn’t have it in me to kiss anyone’s ass
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Benjy frown, and I could al?
Stupidly risking my life, that’s what
The Shield stroked his pistol “Stay put Move, and I’ll kill you, got it?”
I nodded mutely But as soon as he turned away, Benjy touched my elbow, and our eyes met
Without hesitating, we bolted
Benjy and I pushed past the crowds, through the gates, and into the das and ducked down alleyways, and as we passed a fadeddown on us benevolently, I resisted the urge to spit on it
We ran through a hts, the easternmost suburb of the District of Coluns of the IIs that populated the area, anyone whoto snitch on us for a fresh loaf of bread, but during the day, while everyone orking at the docks or in the factories, the street was deserted
After the workday ended, adults and children spilled into the overcrowded streets, begging for food I usually had to elboay down the sidewalks and weave between men and women who couldn’t be more than twenty years older than rayed and their skin turned to leather—the results of decades of hard labor and struggling to make ends meet
My life wouldn’t besixty Now, as a III, I would be lucky to hit forty If I wasn’t careful, I would also be out on the streets begging for overnment had decided I orth
As we dashed around a corner, I spotted a sewer entrance a few feet away and sighed with relief We were safe
I shie of the sidewalk, and a minute later, Benjy climbed down from a manhole nearby The seas dark and smelled like rust and rot, but it was the only place our conversation would be private Even the euarantee Shields were everywhere, waiting for their chance to pounce the ainst the Harts or the Ministers of the Union According to Nina, the ot bonuses for each arrest they made, and they had fah
That , before I’d left, she’d said we all had our roles to play It just so happened that some were better than others We couldn’t all be VIs and VIIs, and all any of us could hope for was food in our bellies and a place to call our own I would have a roof over overnment eously lucky if it didn’t leak
In the speeches atched frorade on, Pried American citizens, ould be taken care of all our lives, so long as we gave back to the society that needed us If orked hard and gave it our all, ould get e deserved We were masters of our own fate
Up until today, I’d believed him
“What were you doing back there?” said Benjy “You could’ve been killed”
“That was kind of the point,” Ia III for the rest of my life”
Benjy sighed and reached for me, but I sidestepped him I couldn’t take his disappointment, too
He slouched “I don’t understand—sixty-eight percent of all people tested are IVs”
“Yeah, well, guess I’ht percent of the population” I kicked a puddle of rancid rainwater, splashing a few rats that squeaked in protest
“Eighty-four percent, actually, including the Vs and above,” said Benjy, and he added quickly, “but you’re not I mean, you’re smart You know you are You outwitted that Shield back there”
“That wasn’t smart That was reckless I told him my real name”
“You had no choice If he’d found out you were lying, he would have killed you for sure,” said Benjy
He stopped and facedmy chin in his hand
“I don’t care what the test said You’re one of the sht?”
“Not the kind of s he could get his hands on, and he forced ht By the tiroup home library twice I could recite whole articles seconds after he read them to me, but I couldn’t read them to myself
“Nina rong,” I added “You don’t get extra time if they read the questions to you The parts I reached were easy, but the reader was slow, and I didn’t finish
And they docked points because I can’t read”
Benjy opened and shut hiscenter,” he said, and I shook my head
“There’s nothing you could have done” A lump for, the preparation, the hope—it was all for nothing “I’m a III I’m a stupid, worthless—”
“You are not worthless” Benjy stepped closer, so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body He wrapped his ar to cry “You’re strong You’re brilliant You’re perfect exactly the way you are, and no matter what, you’ll always have me, okay?”
“You’d be better off without me and you know it,” I muttered into his sweater
He pulled away enough to look atering “I’ether I love you, and that’s never going to change, all right? I’m yours no o Elsewhere just to find you”
I tried to laugh, but it caiven to the people who couldn’t work or contribute to society, and once they were sent Elsewhere, no one ever saw theain “If I were a I, we probably never would’ve met in the first place”
“Doesn’t hI would know my life was pointless, even if I never understood why Even if we’d never met, even if you never existed, I would still love you beyond all reason for the rest of my life”