1269_UgliesFreeBook

328 Scott Westerfeld
was what was left of nature, raw and wild, only hours after
the Smoke had fallen.
“Ready to go down?” David asked after an hour.
“No,” Tally said. “But I never will be.”
They approached slowly, ready to turn and fly if any
Specials appeared. But when they reached the edge of town,
Tally felt her anxiety turn to something worse: a horrible
certainty that no one remained there.
Her home was gone, replaced by nothing but charred
wreckage.
At the rabbit pen, footprints showed where groups of
Smokies had been moved in and out through the gates, a
whole community turned into cattle. A few rabbits still
hopped around on the dirt.
“Well, at least we won’t starve,” David said.
“I guess not,” Tally said, although the sight of the
Smoke had stilled her hunger. She wondered how David
always managed to think practical thoughts, no matter
what horrors were in front of him. “Hey, what’s that?”
At one corner of the pen, just outside the fence, clusters
of little shapes lay on the ground.
They edged the board closer, David squinting through
a drifting wall of smoke. “It looks like . . . shoes.”
Tally blinked. He was right. She lowered the board and
jumped off, running to the spot.
Tally looked around in amazement. Around her were