1269_UgliesFreeBook

292 Scott Westerfeld
seeing a magazine for the first time in the library, realizing
with horror what humanity had once looked like. The pictures
had made her sick that first day, and now here she was
ready to save them.
“Here’s the plan,” the Boss said. “I’ll go first, and when
that Special grabs me, I’ll give her a face full of pepper.
You run straight and fast and don’t look back. Got that?”
“Yeah.”
“With any luck, we both might make it. Though I
wouldn’t mind a face-lift. Ready?”
Tally pulled the bag farther up on her shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“One . . . two . . .” The Boss paused. “Oh, dear. There’s
a problem, young lady.”
“What?”
“You haven’t got any shoes.”
Tally looked down. In her confusion, she had stumbled
barefoot out of the bunkhouse. The packed dirt of the
Smoke compound was easy enough to walk on, but in the
forest . . .
“You won’t make it ten meters, kid.”
The Boss pulled the duffel bag away from her and
handed her the plastic container. “Now get going.”
“But I . . . ,” Tally said. “I don’t want to go back to
the city.”
“Yes, young lady, and I wouldn’t mind getting some
decent dental work. But we all have to make sacrifices.