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and father had hidden her away, kept her safe in their small and warm apartment. Some parents loved their Zeroes just as if they were Fivers or Stars. Meke thanked the heavens for that one small fortune: her memories of a warm childhood.  
    She could only remember the vaguest outlines of her father’s face—he had died in some sort of factory fire—and his dark blond hair, the same hair that Meke had. Meke and her father had dirty blond hair and light brown eyes where her mother had dark brown hair streaked with gray and light blue eyes.  
    Meke sighed and leaned back on the tree trunk, letting its roughness anchor her. “Okay,” Meke said, even if it wasn’t really okay. “So, what do you want with me?”
    “Just know this. I wanted to get everyone out years ago, but,” she shrugged, “we needed information. Now we have something big. Something that will tear this thing down.”
    “What thing? What does that have to do with me?”
    “Sterling would be the best one to explain it to you. He’s the leader. We’ll get you somewhere safe.” Arya blinked. “I’m sorry, but I can’t think straight right now. I need sleep. Maybe I’ll make more sense later.”
    Meke nodded. Her own thoughts dissolving into a mess of exhaustion, she inclined her head onto the tree and fell asleep.

CHAPTER FIVE

    MEKE SQUINTED into the direct sunlight, blinking away sleep.  
    “We have to go. They’re still on us. I don’t understand why they’re being so persistent,” Arya said, as she shook Meke awake.
    Meke’s sluggish brain wondered if it was because she had confronted Doctor Ball. The few more hours of sleep had made her thoughts clearer. She remembered Doctor Ball’s gleaming eyes when she had told him about her strange new sense. She didn’t want to see that gleam again in anyone’s eyes. It had been a proprietary gaze, as if Meke only existed for other’s ends.  
    As Meke’s thoughts sharpened, she wondered if this Sterling’s plan involved her and her new thing . No, she told herself, Arya wouldn’t allow that. Arya had saved her. One niggling thought poked at her. If Arya had cared ever so much, why had she sat by and watched Meke get turned into an experiment? Then, Meke remembered Arya’s words, “We needed information.”
    All five men and women weaved a haphazard path through the forests and valleys, ducking behind large rocks and crossing small ravines. It was springtime, so the air was warm, but the ground was still cold.  
    A few hours later, they reached a craggy formation where they rested. The guards trailed them somewhere far off, so far off that they could relax a bit.  
    Meke chugged some water from a bottle, her eyes roaming the world around her. She marveled at the colors—some grays, some reds, some browns, even some yellows.
    Arya walked up to Meke, the blond boy’s arm tucked under hers. “Cecil wanted me to introduce him to you,” Arya said, pointing at the blond-haired boy.
    Meke glanced at Cecil, who was smiling in her general direction. He had his hand out. For a moment, she was not sure what the hand was for until Arya poked her arm. Tentatively, Meke extended her hand and shook Cecil’s hand.  
    Cecil’s smile widened and he whispered something to Arya. “Cecil said don’t be nervous. He’s nice.”
    Meke laughed a little and supposed that she should return the friendliness. “Tell Cecil that it’s a pleasure to meet him and my name is Meke.”
    As Arya translated Meke’s signs into spoken words, Meke wondered at the halting nature of the exchange. She had grown too used to the easy flow of conversation between two signers.
    Arya’s moving fingers regained Meke’s attention. “Cecil wanted to know how long you were at the institution.”
    “Eight years.”
    Cecil’s eyebrows went up and his mouth fell open. “He’s shocked. He doesn’t know anyone who survived for more than a year there.”
    Meke knew that she had been at the institution for a long time, but