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    “Why would Chris be in the Zone? No one’s allowed out there,” Tori wondered aloud, echoing Lena’s thoughts. “The supply party was headed for Wisconsin, and that’s a straight shot west . Last I heard, they’re not due back for a couple days.”
    “I don’t know.” Lena felt the slow, insistent leak of Chris’s warm blood through her fingers. Where was Sarah with those towels? “I guess Chris got back early.”
    “But why would he go through the Zone?” Tori persisted. “He’s got to know that the guards would never allow him back into the village if he came that way.”
    “Maybe he didn’t come that way,” Lena said.
    “But then what?” Tori pressed.
    “I don’t know,” Lena said again, and then looked over as Sarah bustled up with dish towels. “Do you understand any of this?”
    “No. Here, let up a second,” Sarah said, slipping a balled towel against Chris’s head and then nodding at Lena. “Okay, hold that while I tie it down.”
    “One of us has to go for Kincaid,” Lena said as Sarah twisted a second towel and then looped it around Chris’s head in a makeshift bandage.
    “No, what we’ve got to do now is tend to Chris,” said Sarah.
    “But you don’t need two of us.” Shuddering, Lena smeared her sticky palm on her thigh, painting her jeans with a purple exclamation mark. “I’ll get Kincaid. On Night, I could be there in fifteen, twenty minutes max.”
    “I need you here.”
    “More than we need a doctor?”
    “Yes.” Sarah pushed up from the couch. “We’ve got to strip him down, see if he’s hurt anywhere else. I’ll get some hot water. I filled the reservoir last night, so we—”
    “You can’t,” Tori broke in. “There’s no hot water. The stove’s out. That’s why it’s so cold in the house.”
    “What?” Sarah stared. “Jess never lets the stove go.”
    “Well, she did last night, which is strange, because I know she was up late. I came down for some tea a little after midnight, and Nathan was inside, with Jess. They were in the kitchen, and I kind of overheard them . . . ,” Tori fumbled. “You know, on the stairs.”
    “You mean, you were eavesdropping,” Sarah said.
    Tori flushed to the roots of her hair. “Well, I—”
    “Oh, shut up, Sarah,” Lena said. “What did they say, Tori?”
    “Nathan said that Greg brought in a boy, a Spared, and he was hurt pretty bad.”
    “A boy?” That grabbed Lena’s attention. “When? From where? Last night?”
    “No. Afternoon. And I think he came from around Oren, but I-I’m not sure. I didn’t get the rest because Jess must’ve heard me and she told Nathan to hush and then I . . .” Tori’s throat moved in a nervous swallow. “You know, I went back to my room.” “So you wouldn’t be caught spying,” Sarah said.
    “God, would you give it a rest ?” Lena snapped. To Tori: “Did you hear anything else?”
    “No, but there was something else kind of weird.” Tori’s forehead crinkled in a sudden frown. “I could’ve sworn that Alex’s door was shut last night. So why is it open now?”
    “Because Alex probably stayed to help Kincaid, and Jess got some clothes together for her, that’s why,” Sarah said, briskly. “There’s no mystery here, and we have things to do now. You get the fire going, Tori. I’ll see to the woodstove.” Sarah looked at Lena. “We’ll need clean cloths. Bandages, too, and whatever else you can find. The first-aid kit’s in Jess’s bathroom, linen closet, second shelf.”
    Now Lena didn’t want to leave. If Chris regained consciousness and if they had found a Spared . . .
    Slow down. You don’t know what this means. But Chris kept his word. He’s back early. He went to Oren, and maybe the boy he found—
    “Lena.” She looked up to see Sarah studying her with narrowed eyes. “What?” Sarah demanded.
    “Nothing.” She turned away before Sarah could ask anything more and pushed into the kitchen. Prancing up, tail wagging furiously,