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the spear still positioned at his side.
    “She’s not a contributor,” Jo mumbled.
    “I …” I began, feeling as if I needed to say something, anything to defend myself, but Jo held up a hand to my face, silencing me.
    The young man glared at me, his cheeks flushing red. “Who is she then?” he demanded to know.
    Jo got to her feet and faced him. “She’s a Scave.”
    The boy she had called Rooney immediately began to inspect my face. “How can that be possible?”
    “It just is,” Jo told him.  
    “She’s one of us?” he asked, still a little uncertain.
    “She’s one of us.” Jo’s voice wasn’t as shaky now. “Take us back with you?”
    The boy’s eyes were still locked on mine. I stayed very still as he examined me, feeling as though I was failing some sort of visual inspection.
    “You have a lot of explaining to do,” he said, his hand easing up on the weapon along with the rest of his body.
    Jo nodded. “I know.”
    “Where is your sack of food?” he asked.
    A wrinkle appeared in Jo’s forehead. “I left it on the beach.”
    “How could you let that happen?” he yelled out, his temper flaring once again.
    Jo looked back at me and then faced Rooney again. “I was trying to save her.”
    “You,” he said, motioning toward me.
    I tiptoed out from behind Jo and stood beside her. He looked so frail. I wondered why Jo was so afraid of him. He looked as though if hit hard enough, he’d shatter into a million pieces.  
    “You’re a Scave?” Rooney questioned.
    I glanced at Jo who met my stare momentarily. “Yeah.”
    “What’s your name?”
    “Anna.”
    “I’m Rooney,” he introduced himself. “What’s your story?”
    “It’s a long one,” Jo interrupted. “She’s on the run from the contributors. It’s not safe to stay here.”
    After a slight moment of hesitation, Rooney turned around and moved at a fast speed toward the base of the mountain. Jo and I exchanged glances one more time, and I understood that if I didn’t go with them, I’d be left here alone to fend for myself. Either way, I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Wait for someone or something to come find me here by myself or dive head first into the domains of the Scaves. I could also tell by the way Jo was acting, that these scavenger people weren’t going to be the type to just accept me instantly when they laid eyes on me. I felt my hands tremble slightly. Taking a deep breath, I forced my legs to move and follow Jo and Rooney up the mountainside.

    Long before I actually saw where Scaves lived, the smell of the place reached me first. It reeked of body odor and feces, the combination strong and sour in my nostrils. I swallowed the impending vomit that made its way up my throat from the foul stench and paused for a moment to calm myself. My palms fell to my knees as I hunched over and stared at the ground, a sudden lightheadedness coming on.  
    “Anna?” Jo turned around and headed back for me. Rooney was so far ahead, he was barely visible anymore.
    “I’m okay,” I mumbled. “Just a little sick.”
    “It’s the smell, isn’t it?”
    I looked up at her. “It’s awful.”
    “It’s a terrible way to live, I know,” she whispered. “But it’s the way it is. We have nothing. We barely make it on our own, and we have no running water or anything.”
    “I’ll suck it up. Just give me a minute,” I promised, unsure if I believed myself.
    “This isn’t going to be pretty,” Jo whispered.
    “What do you mean?”
    She sighed. “The Scaves are a gruesome people. Most aren’t able to survive out here, but the ones that do, well, you’ll see what I mean. I need you to remember something though.”
    “What is it?” I asked, trying to continue to breathe through my mouth.
    Jo turned around anxiously to keep an eye out for Rooney. He hadn’t even noticed we had stopped following him yet. “Don’t show too much of your mouth.”
    “Huh?”  
    “You know, your