Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Author:Rory Power
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2019-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

“Is there anything you can think of in the lead-up? Anything off, different?”

I shrug. It was normal I guess

Hetty told me something, though. Some girls had a fight at breakfast the day it started

“What kind of fight? They argued?”

No like hair pulling

But I didn’t see

“Okay. And who got sick first?”

Mostly seniors I think and then teachers

Your age

Paretta snorts. “I won’t ask how old you think I am.” I start to write, and she laughs outright, holds her hand up over her eyes.

Born yesterday

“How kind.”

For most of the teachers, the end came quick. Our nurse was ancient—I think she died even before the Tox got to her—and a few of the others went out into the woods and never came back. To spare food for the rest of us, that’s what the note they left said. But the rest, women my mother’s age, gray just starting to thread through their hair, they died like it was a fever. Just dropped, their fingers not even turning black like ours.

“And how many of you girls would you say are left?”

The stack of files is looming. So many names, so many girls long gone. I stopped counting after a while, pulled the borders of the world in tight so only the three of us were inside.

Maybe 60 but not sure

“Your friends? Hetty and Reese? Are they okay?”

I never said. I would never say. I let the warmth drain away, jaw set, eyes narrowed.

How do you know them

She waves a hand. “We know all of you.”

There it is again. Said lightly, like it’s nothing, but the pill she gave me was labeled “RAX009.” And if I’m 009, will one of my girls be 010?

No. They’re mine, and I’m not letting them go.

She’s fine

We’re all fine

I know Paretta wants more. She can’t have it.

You’ve asked questions my turn

Paretta shifts on the bed, almost uneasily. She looks like the therapists my mother used to send me to when they realized I wasn’t going to open up the way they wanted. “Sure.”

Why me

I’m watching her closely, and when she smiles at me, I can spot the sadness underneath.

“I’ll tell you the truth, Byatt,” Paretta says. “There’s really no reason at all.”

I think she expected me to be hurt. But it’s a relief more than anything else. I’m not special. I’m not immune. I’m not better at fighting this off, and that’s good, because I don’t want to.

Right place right time?

“Sure.” She gets up. “Something like that.”

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