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felt particularly satisfied with this week’s meet-up.
    He was in the middle of loading everything into his pack, which would be less conspicuous than the duffel on the way to Clover’s house, when the door between the rooms jiggled and one of the boys knocked on it.
    He finished putting the computer away and stashed his pack in the closet. Clover was right, these boys weren’t Freaks. Not yet, anyway. He wasn’t ready for them to know about his stolen equipment, or that he and Clover were hacking into a forbidden wireless signal to talk to West and the others.
    Jude expected the boys to be happier and fuller than they were before. They might be fuller, but none of them looked real happy. Tim stood in front of the younger boys, chin lifted in defiance.
    â€œWe’re staying here,” Tim said. “You can’t make us go back.”
    Clover sat on the bed. “We weren’t—”
    â€œYou don’t own this place.” Tim glared at Clover. “You can’t make us leave.”
    â€œI never said I wanted to.”
    â€œYou can stay,” Jude said. “But there are rules.”
    Wally pushed in front of Tim. “You can’t give us rules.”
    â€œYes, we can,” Clover said.
    â€œNo, you can’t!”
    â€œOkay, okay, wait.” Tim pulled Wally back. Food had made the boy feisty. “Jude showed us this place. We’ll listen.”
    â€œCome with me.”
    Jude led the way to the room where he and the others had set up a group meeting space, before Clover and West turned everything upside down. The boiler room, he’d called it then, as a joke that only Clover had watched enough old movies at the library to get. Tim, Wally, David, and Clover all took seats. Mango settled under the table.
    â€œI told you before, you have to be careful,” Jude said. “If you get caught here, it won’t do anyone any good.”
    â€œWe know that,” Tim said.
    Clover lifted her eyebrows. “Is that why we found you chasing geese through the hallways?”
    â€œYou needed food,” Jude said, before they could answer her accusation. “There’s enough here to last the week, if you’re careful. You should stay inside until next weekend, except for when you go to get dosed. We’ll have a plan by then.”
    â€œDon’t let anyone see you coming in and out of here,” Clover said.
    Tim crossed his arms over his chest. “We ain’t stupid, hoodie.”
    Clover opened her mouth in indignation at the derogatory term Foster City kids used for kids from the neighborhoods, then shut it again when Jude shot her a look.
    â€œListen to me,” Jude said. “You stay out of sight. You go into the bar, you keep your head down, you get your dose, and you get your asses back here.”
    Wally put his hand back and rubbed around the edge of the port hidden in his hair at the base of his skull. “You gonna help us get more food? Like meat?”
    â€œThis week, you’ll have to eat what we have here.” Wally’s thin face dropped, and Jude added, “I’ll see what I can do. But no more geese.”
    â€œHow many more like you are there?” Clover asked.
    The room went quiet and Tim looked at Jude before answering. “Like us?”
    â€œYou know,” she said. “Kids who need to get out of Foster City. Really need to get out.”
    â€œWe could have brought at least four more housefuls with us.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you?”
    â€œClover,” Jude said, under his breath.
    Tim’s face turned red and he narrowed his eyes into a glare. “We’re having a hard enough time feeding ourselves. We can’t save everyone.”
    â€œNo one said you have to.” Jude needed to talk to Clover and figure out their next step. It wasn’t time to tell Tim, David, and Wally where the Freaks were. Or that the Freaks existed. Not yet.
    â€œMe and David, in