1269_UgliesFreeBook

344 Scott Westerfeld
watching David coax their last few drops of bottled water
into the purifiers.
“No problem. We’ll hit the next river before midnight.”
She remembered something that Shay had said a long
time ago, the first time she’d shown Tally her survival gear.
“Can you really pee in a purifier? And then drink it, I
mean?”
“Yeah. I’ve done it.”
Tally grimaced and looked out the window. “Okay, I
shouldn’t have asked.”
He came up behind her, laughing softly, placing his
hands on her shoulders. “It’s amazing what people will do
to survive,” he said.
She sighed. “I know.”
The window overlooked a side street, partly protected
from the encroaching desert. A few burned-out groundcars
stood half-buried, their blackened frames stark against the
white sand.
She rubbed the handcuff bracelets still encircling her
wrists. “The Rusties sure wanted to survive. Every ruin I’ve
seen, those cars are always all over, trying to get out. But
they never seem to make it.”
“A few of them did. But not in cars.”
Tally leaned back into his reassuring warmth. The
morning sun was hours away from burning off the chill of
the desert.
“It’s funny. At school, they never talk much about how